Asus ROG Phone 5 vs Apple iPhone 13
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.78-inch Asus ROG Phone 5 (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 888) that was released on March 10, 2021, against the Apple iPhone 13, which is powered by Apple A15 Bionic and came out 6 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Asus ROG Phone 5
- Higher display refresh rate – 144 Hz
- Comes with 2773 mAh larger battery capacity: 6000 vs 3227 mAh
- Has a 0.68 inch larger screen size
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
- Supports higher wattage charging (65W versus 20W)
- Fingerprint scanner
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2750 MHz
- Slow-motion recording at 480FPS
- Has 2 SIM card slots
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 13
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Shows 12% longer battery life (36:10 vs 32:18 hours)
- Handles wireless charging up to 7.5W
- Optical image stabilization
- Apple releases software updates and supports their phones a few years longer than Asus
- 35% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1236K versus 919K)
- 16% higher pixel density (460 vs 395 PPI)
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
- Ready for eSIM technology
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Value for money
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | AMOLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.78 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2448 pixels | 1170 x 2532 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 395 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 144 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 800 nits | 800 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1200 nits | 1200 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | Ceramic Shield |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 82% | 86% |
| Display features |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 99.7% | 129% |
| PWM | 568 Hz | 609 Hz |
| Response time | 2.4 ms | 7.5 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 173 mm (6.81 inches) | 146.7 mm (5.78 inches) |
| Width | 77 mm (3.03 inches) | 71.5 mm (2.81 inches) |
| Thickness | 9.9 mm (0.39 inches) | 7.65 mm (0.3 inches) |
| Weight | 239 g (8.43 oz) | 174 g (6.14 oz) |
| Waterproof | No | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black | White, Black, Blue, Green, Red, Pink |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | No |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 | Apple A15 Bionic |
| Max clock | 2840 MHz | 3230 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 680 Silver (Cortex-A55)
- 3 cores at 2.42 GHz: Kryo 680 Gold (Cortex-A78) - 1 core at 2.84 GHz: Kryo 680 Prime (Cortex-X1) |
- 4 cores at 2.02 GHz: Blizzard
- 2 cores at 3.23 GHz: Avalanche |
| L3 cache | 4 MB | - |
| Lithography process | 5 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Adreno 660 | Apple A15 GPU |
| GPU shading units | 1024 | 640 |
| GPU clock | 792 MHz | 1338 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1622 GFLOPS | ~1712.6 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 256350 | 279447 |
| GPU | 294646 | 395073 |
| Memory | 168511 | 190761 |
| UX | 198377 | 363150 |
| Total score | 919215 | 1236420 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 40.9 °C | 45.7 °C |
| Stability | 90% | 78% |
| Graphics test | 34 FPS | 52 FPS |
| Graphics score | 5728 | 8702 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 14724 | - |
| Video editing | 7538 | - |
| Photo editing | 43685 | - |
| Data manipulation | 12806 | - |
| Writing score | 19470 | - |
Memory
| RAM size | 8, 12, 16 GB | 4 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 2750 MHz | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256 GB | 128, 256, 512 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 12) | iOS 15 (Can be upgraded to iOS 17) |
| ROM | ROG UI | - |
| OS size | - | 18 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 6000 mAh | 3227 mAh |
| Max charge power | 65 W | 20 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes | No |
| Fast charging | Yes, Quick Charge 5 (70% in 30 min) | Yes (54% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:05 hr | 1:46 hr |
| Web browsing | 11:04 hr | 13:11 hr |
| Watching video | 16:01 hr | 14:33 hr |
| Gaming | 06:14 hr | 05:23 hr |
| Standby | 95 hr | 123 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 64 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 9000 x 7000 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | Dual LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Digital | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 30FPS | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 480 FPS (720p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 125° | 120° |
| Lenses | 3 (64 MP + 13 MP + 5 MP) | 2 (12 MP + 12 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens |
- 64 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.7", Sony IMX686 (CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.6 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1.7 micron - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
| Ultra-wide lens |
- 13 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 11 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/2.9" (CMOS) |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 14 mm - Sensor: 1/3.4", Sony IMX372 (Exmor-RS CMOS) |
| Macro lens |
- 5 MP
- Aperture: f/2.0 - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/4" (CMOS) |
- |
| Camera features |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode |
| Samples | - | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 13 from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 24 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 6000 x 4000 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.5 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 35 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor type | CMOS | Exmor-RS CMOS |
| Sensor size | - | 1/3.6" |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
DxOMark camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features |
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.2 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE, A2DP | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | - |
| USB version | 3.1 | 2 |
| USB features |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC * | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM * | 2 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support * | No | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat * | 20 | 18 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | Yes | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | March 2021 | September 2021 |
| Release date | March 2021 | September 2021 |
| SAR (head) | - | 0.99 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 0.98 W/kg |
| Sensors |
- Hall-effect sensor
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
*
Disclaimer!
NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the camera, performance, gaming, software, and design are more important to you, then choose the Apple iPhone 13 . But if the display, battery life, connectivity, and sound are more of a priority – go for the Asus ROG Phone 5 .