ASUS ROG Phone 6D Ultimate review

Synthetic benchmarks

Now we're finally in the thick of it. The main difference between the older ROG Phone 6/ 6 Pro and the new ROG Phone 6D/ 6D Ultimate is the chipset swap from Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 to the MediaTek Dimensity 9000+. This officially marks the first time a MediaTek chipset finds its way into a Republic of Gamers phone. Naturally, it's MediaTek's top-dog Dimensity 9000+.

Better still, Asus has managed to essentially overclock the CPUs on the Dimensity 9000+ as well. Inside the ROG Phone, 6D/ 6D Ultimate, users get a single primary Cortex-X2 core, clocked at up to 3.35 GHz instead of the default 3.2 GHz. The three Cortex-A710 cores are also overclocked to 3.20 GHz instead of their default 2.85 GHz. The remaining four "small" Cortex-A510 cores are left at their default 1.8 GHz, which makes sense seeing how they are meant for efficiency instead of performance.

In terms of GPU, the ROG Phone 6D and 6D Ultimate are rocking the Mali-G710 MC10 with no mention of an overclock of any sort. So, we expect similar performance out of it to other Dimensity 9000+, as well as Dimensity 9000 -equipped devices. Unfortunately, we have none of those in our performance database for now.

The ROG Phone 6D Ultimate pairs the Dimensity 9000+ chipset with 16GB of RAM, which is a bit odd at first glance since the ROG Phone 6 Pro offers 18GB of RAM. However, the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate uses LPDDR5X RAM, which currently only goes to 16GB modules, which explains the decision.

Let's kick things off with some CPU testing and GeekBench. This is where the Dimensity 9000+ and its overclocked cores really come through.

GeekBench 5 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate (X Mode+)
  4575
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate (X Mode)
  4528
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  4300
• nubia Red Magic 7S Pro
  4231
• Realme GT2 Explorer Master
  4021
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  3980
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode)
  3889
• ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 Pro
  3845
• Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate
  3728
• iQOO 9 Pro
  3708
• Xiaomi 12 Pro
  3682
• Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro
  3665
• nubia Red Magic 6S Pro
  3660
• Xiaomi 12
  3652
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  3636
• Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro
  3521
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate
  3505
• iQOO 9
  3503
• Realme GT2
  3487
• vivo X70 Pro+
  3469
• OnePlus 10 Pro
  3447
• OnePlus 10T
  3401
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  3191
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
  3189
• vivo X70 Pro
  2956
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro
  2659

GeekBench 5 (single-core)

Higher is better

• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate (X Mode)
  1374
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate (X Mode+)
  1360
• nubia Red Magic 7S Pro
  1345
• Realme GT2 Explorer Master
  1336
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  1329
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  1324
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode)
  1300
• ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 Pro
  1251
• iQOO 9 Pro
  1231
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
  1207
• Xiaomi 12
  1187
• Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro
  1176
• Xiaomi 12 Pro
  1169
• iQOO 9
  1143
• nubia Red Magic 6S Pro
  1140
• Realme GT2
  1131
• Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate
  1128
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  1126
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  1126
• Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro
  1117
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro
  1110
• vivo X70 Pro+
  1106
• OnePlus 10T
  1043
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate
  1001
• OnePlus 10 Pro
  975
• vivo X70 Pro
  875

The difference between the different performance modes Asus has on the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate is also clearly visible. X Mode and X Mode+ (accessible only with the AeroActive Cooler 6 attached) are tuned for noticeably higher burst performance than the regular Dynamic performance mode.

AnTuTu has the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate trading close blows with its ROG Phone 6 Pro sibling as well. Seems like the difference in raw performance between the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and the MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ is not that major at all.

AnTuTu 9

Higher is better

• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate (X Mode+)
  1107464
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  1103188
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode)
  1094300
• nubia Red Magic 7S Pro
  1087412
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate (X Mode)
  1085829
• ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 Pro
  1056511
• Realme GT2 Explorer Master
  1045876
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  1039412
• Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro
  1007133
• iQOO 9 Pro
  997948
• Xiaomi 12 Pro
  985226
• Xiaomi 12
  985115
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1080p)
  940400
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate
  931170
• OnePlus 10 Pro
  886248
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
  884923
• nubia Red Magic 6S Pro
  866437
• iQOO 9
  852898
• vivo X70 Pro+
  837833
• Realme GT2
  810512
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  794016
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  789332
• OnePlus 10T
  786238
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro
  762090
• Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro
  735588
• vivo X70 Pro
  694499

GPU testing with GFXBench was kind of a mixed bag on the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate. In some tests, particularly more intensive ones and those on the Vulkan API, the phone seems to perform as expected.

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate (X Mode+)
  63
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate (X Mode)
  62
• nubia Red Magic 7S Pro
  62
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode)
  61
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  61
• Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro
  61
• OnePlus 10T
  60
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate
  59
• Xiaomi 12
  59
• Realme GT2 Explorer Master
  59
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro
  58
• ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 Pro
  58
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1080p)
  51
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
  46
• iQOO 9
  43
• Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro
  40
• Realme GT2
  40
• nubia Red Magic 6S Pro
  40
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  38
• OnePlus 10 Pro
  37
• iQOO 9 Pro
  36
• Xiaomi 12 Pro
  36
• vivo X70 Pro
  31
• vivo X70 Pro+
  25
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  24
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  23

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  46
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  46
• Realme GT2 Explorer Master
  46
• nubia Red Magic 7S Pro
  46
• OnePlus 10T
  46
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate (X Mode+)
  45
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate (X Mode)
  45
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate
  43
• ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 Pro
  43
• OnePlus 10 Pro
  43
• Xiaomi 12
  41
• Xiaomi 12 Pro
  41
• Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro
  41
• iQOO 9 Pro
  40
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode)
  37
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
  35
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro
  33
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1080p)
  32
• nubia Red Magic 6S Pro
  29
• Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro
  28
• iQOO 9
  28
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  28
• Realme GT2
  27
• vivo X70 Pro+
  27
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  27
• vivo X70 Pro
  21

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• nubia Red Magic 7S Pro
  69
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate (X Mode+)
  64
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate (X Mode)
  64
• ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 Pro
  64
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate
  63
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  63
• Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro
  61
• OnePlus 10T
  60
• Xiaomi 12
  59
• Realme GT2 Explorer Master
  59
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1080p)
  46
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro
  45
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode)
  45
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
  45
• nubia Red Magic 6S Pro
  44
• iQOO 9
  44
• Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro
  42
• OnePlus 10 Pro
  41
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  39
• Realme GT2
  38
• iQOO 9 Pro
  37
• Xiaomi 12 Pro
  37
• vivo X70 Pro
  29
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  27
• vivo X70 Pro+
  26
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  25

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• nubia Red Magic 7S Pro
  52
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  51
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  51
• OnePlus 10T
  51
• Realme GT2 Explorer Master
  50
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate (X Mode+)
  49
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate (X Mode)
  48
• ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 Pro
  48
• OnePlus 10 Pro
  48
• Xiaomi 12
  45
• Xiaomi 12 Pro
  45
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate
  44
• iQOO 9 Pro
  44
• Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro
  44
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
  42
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro
  36
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode)
  36
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1080p)
  34
• nubia Red Magic 6S Pro
  32
• Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro
  31
• iQOO 9
  31
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  31
• Realme GT2
  30
• vivo X70 Pro+
  29
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  29
• vivo X70 Pro
  20

However, numbers are all over the place in some of the other tests. We re-ran these multiple times just to be sure and seemed to get consistent results. It is good to see that X Mode and X Mode+ either manage to push slightly higher or identical frame rates to the default performance mode consistently across all tests.

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro
  82
• nubia Red Magic 7S Pro
  81
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro
  79
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode)
  79
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  79
• ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 Pro
  77
• Xiaomi 12
  75
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1080p)
  69
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate (X Mode+)
  68
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate (X Mode)
  68
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate
  68
• iQOO 9
  65
• nubia Red Magic 6S Pro
  62
• Realme GT2 Explorer Master
  60
• OnePlus 10T
  60
• Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro
  59
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
  58
• Realme GT2
  56
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  51
• OnePlus 10 Pro
  48
• iQOO 9 Pro
  46
• Xiaomi 12 Pro
  46
• vivo X70 Pro
  40
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  36
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  34
• vivo X70 Pro+
  33

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  104
• nubia Red Magic 7S Pro
  104
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro
  103
• Realme GT2 Explorer Master
  103
• OnePlus 10T
  103
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  102
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode)
  101
• ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 Pro
  97
• OnePlus 10 Pro
  97
• Xiaomi 12 Pro
  96
• Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro
  96
• iQOO 9 Pro
  95
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate (X Mode+)
  89
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate (X Mode)
  88
• Xiaomi 12
  84
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate
  82
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
  80
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1080p)
  76
• nubia Red Magic 6S Pro
  74
• iQOO 9
  74
• Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro
  70
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  70
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  69
• Realme GT2
  68
• vivo X70 Pro+
  66
• vivo X70 Pro
  45

The same exact trend continues as we go lower down the difficulty stack on testing. Mind you, some of these numbers start to make little sense and are clearly bumping up against other limitations or optimization issues as we start to get scores above 100 fps.

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 Pro
  147
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  140
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate (X Mode+)
  124
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate (X Mode)
  124
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate
  122
• Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro
  120
• Xiaomi 12
  117
• iQOO 9
  110
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro
  108
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode)
  107
• nubia Red Magic 6S Pro
  107
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
  105
• Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro
  103
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1080p)
  103
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  91
• nubia Red Magic 7S Pro
  90
• OnePlus 10 Pro
  89
• Xiaomi 12 Pro
  86
• iQOO 9 Pro
  84
• vivo X70 Pro
  77
• Realme GT2 Explorer Master
  60
• Realme GT2
  60
• OnePlus 10T
  60
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  60
• vivo X70 Pro+
  58
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  57

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 10T
  183
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  182
• Realme GT2 Explorer Master
  182
• nubia Red Magic 7S Pro
  181
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  180
• OnePlus 10 Pro
  175
• ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 Pro
  171
• Xiaomi 12 Pro
  168
• Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro
  167
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate (X Mode+)
  164
• Xiaomi 12
  164
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate (X Mode)
  163
• iQOO 9 Pro
  160
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate
  137
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro
  134
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode)
  134
• nubia Red Magic 6S Pro
  127
• iQOO 9
  126
• Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro
  120
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  119
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  116
• Realme GT2
  115
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
  114
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1080p)
  114
• vivo X70 Pro+
  105
• vivo X70 Pro
  85

GFX Manhattan ES 3.0 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 10T
  274
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  268
• Realme GT2 Explorer Master
  267
• nubia Red Magic 7S Pro
  267
• ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 Pro
  267
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  263
• OnePlus 10 Pro
  261
• Xiaomi 12 Pro
  249
• Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro
  241
• Xiaomi 12
  236
• iQOO 9 Pro
  236
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate (X Mode+)
  230
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate (X Mode)
  226
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
  216
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode)
  211
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro
  204
• nubia Red Magic 6S Pro
  181
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate
  178
• iQOO 9
  178
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  174
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  174
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1080p)
  172
• Realme GT2
  168
• vivo X70 Pro+
  147
• Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro
  144
• vivo X70 Pro
  129

GFX Manhattan ES 3.0 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 Pro
  165
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode+)
  161
• nubia Red Magic 6S Pro
  149
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro
  144
• Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro (X Mode)
  136
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate (X Mode+)
  131
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate (X Mode)
  130
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate
  129
• Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro
  128
• Xiaomi 12
  121
• Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro
  120
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
  120
• iQOO 9
  119
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1080p)
  119
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  118
• Xiaomi 12 Pro
  117
• OnePlus 10 Pro
  116
• iQOO 9 Pro
  115
• vivo X70 Pro
  108
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  96
• vivo X70 Pro+
  94
• Realme GT2 Explorer Master
  60
• Realme GT2
  60
• nubia Red Magic 7S Pro
  60
• OnePlus 10T
  60
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  60

3DMark usually offers more legible results overall in our experience, but for better or worse, the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate only managed to post a score in its default performance mode. Enabling X Mode or X Mode+ just results in a maximum score in both the Wild Life and Slingshot Extreme tests. Hence, you can imagine those lines sitting at the very top of the following chart.

3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  10533
• ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 Pro
  10112
• Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro
  10008
• iQOO 9 Pro
  9673
• Xiaomi 12 Pro
  9664
• OnePlus 10 Pro
  9610
• Xiaomi 12
  9535
• ROG Phone 6D Ultimate
  8687
• ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
  8670
• Realme GT2
  5879
• nubia Red Magic 6S Pro
  5865
• iQOO 9
  5814
• Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate
  5745
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  5701
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  5676
• Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro
  5556
• vivo X70 Pro+
  5332
• vivo X70 Pro
  4148

Overall, the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate is unsurprisingly one of the best-performing handsets currently on the market. The difference between it and its Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 -equipped siblings isn't all that substantial in RAW numbers. However, there is a very valid argument to be made when it comes to drivers and optimization. There are certain use cases, notably game emulation, that just run better and are better optimized on Qualcomm chips. That's one major thing to consider if you find yourself choosing between, say, the ROG Phone 6 Pro and ROG Phone 6D or 6D Ultimate.

Thermals and thermal-throttling

As far as thermals go, the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate, unsurprisingly, gets hot to the touch with prolonged loads. Very hot, in fact, way past the point of comfort. This is just a compromise that has to be made since Asus has clearly decided to engineer and tune the cooling and internals in a way to maximize performance - both peak and sustained and prioritize it over hand comfort. Heat is dissipated away from the chips and onto the body as fast as possible.

We made sure to test just how well the internals handle prolonged exposure to heat. Throttling is kind of an inevitability in a passive system. And looking at the graph of the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate in its default Dynamic performance mode with no AeroActive cooler attached, plenty of throttling is taking place. Thankfully and crucially, in a very gradual manner which is non-disruptive to gameplay smoothness.

Thermal throttling in Dynamic performance mode

When set to X Mode without the AeroActive Cooler 6 attached, the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate tunes itself for better peak performance and pushes itself harder in the beginning. A trend that is clearly visible on the corresponding performance throttling graph.

Thermal throttling in X Mode performance mode

Moving on to X Mode+ with the AeroActive Cooler 6 attached and set to full blast (Frozen mode with a USB cable attached to meet the power requirements), we can see much less thermal throttling. That's perfectly expected, seeing how we've effectively transformed the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate from a passive closed system into an actively-cooled one.

Thermal throttling in X Mode+ performance mode with the AeroActive Cooler 6

You can get an even smaller throttling curve with the AeroActive Cooler 6 and the default Dynamic performance mode, which is also perfectly expected. Plus, it should be noted that the synthetic all-core max CPU load we are testing with is absolutely unrealistic and not representative of real-world tasks.

In practice, playing AAA demanding mobile games on the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate is as pleasant of an experience as they come. The gameplay is always smooth as butter, and the body of the phone, while gradually hotter with time, never gets too uncomfortable to hold.

Adding the AeroActive Cooler 6 to the mix results in a gaming experience like no other. The added hand comfort and additional input buttons elevate the experience from casual to professional. That's what Asus set out to achieve with the ROG Phone line - create a tool for the gaming enthusiast, and despite all of the ups and down and ever-mounting competition, we believe the Republic of Gamers handsets still remain top dog and ahead of the pack in the gaming niche.

Asus software, Armoury Crate and Game Genie

Asus hasn't done anything specific to the Dimensity version of its software. We made sure to dig around pretty deep for any changes or new additions and just discovered the singular new menu for manually opening the AeroActive Portal on the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate for maintenance.

Apart from that, everything is identical to the ROG Phone 6 and 6 Pro. In case you were wondering, despite the new chipset, Asus' signature Hardcore Tuning of low-level parameters is still present. Naturally, the sliders and values available are slightly different, but non the less, the tuning options are there and remain unparalleled in the industry as a whole.

Hardcore performance tuning options

For anything else regarding the pretty clean, yet surprisingly in-depth, particularly in the gaming and performance departments, software experience on the ROG Phone 6D and 6D Ultimate, we invite you over to the software section of our ROG Phone 6 Pro review.