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Key Takeaways
- Asus’ ROG Phone 9 offers new gaming features such as AirTriggers and an excellent AMOLED display.
- Battery life is decent at 21 hours, but everyday use, especially with the camera, is underpowered.
- The ROG Phone 9 excels at sports, but its design doesn’t stand out as a smartphone for non-gamers.
One of the biggest gains in the smartphone space in recent years is gaming — not the bloatware kind. Rather, it’s a slow adoption of high performance games as well cloud games. I’ve wanted to be an avid mobile game supporter for years at this point, but there have been obstacles that prevent this from being a platform I use often. When I had the opportunity to work with Asus’ ROG Phone 9, I felt that this would be a new lease on life as a mobile gamer.
Asus’ ROG Phone 9 has been developed to be the first high-end gaming smartphone. With every trace of ROG’s design philosophy, Asus packs in a host of great features to complement and enhance the gaming experience. ROG Phone 9 the series is compatible with the Pro plan. However, even the base model has a remarkably strong battery and a display that begs to be played on. Unfortunately, the ROG Phone 9 falls short when it comes to everyday use, especially with regards to its camera.
Recommended
Asus ROG Phone 9
Asus’ ROG Phone 9 is the first rugged gaming smartphone with innovative hardware and software benefits made for mobile gaming, including AirTriggers and AI-driven features.
- Amazing AMOLED display
- AirTriggers is a great addition
- Up to 21 hours of battery life
- The first player design and UI is terrible
- The camera quality is low
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Price, availability, and specifications
The Asus ROG Phone 9 was launched on Tuesday, November 19th. The base model of the series is available for $1,000. The device comes with a glossy 6.78-inch AMOLED E6 display. This screen features LTPO technology, with a variable refresh rate between 1 and 120Hz. However, the ROG Phone 9 offers up to 185Hz when using its Game Genie for an even smoother gaming experience. The display also supports a maximum brightness of 2,500 nits, which helps colors and contrasts stay clear even when outdoors during the day.
Looking at the internal specifications, the base ROG Phone 9 supports up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. The camera lineup supports a 50-megapixel Sony Lytia f/1.9 macro lens, a 13-megapixel ultra-wide free-form lens, and a 5-megapixel macro shooter. The front-facing camera is a 32-megapixel ultra-wide lens. Powering the phone is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, powered by a 5,800mAh battery.
All of this is packed into a 6.4 x 3 x 0.35-inch (163.8 x 76.8 x 8.9mm) form factor. Available in storm white and phantom black, the ROG Phone 9’s body features a glossy nano-texture. Finally, the device supports AirTrigger buttons on the right side of the unit. These act as subtle triggers that repeat the use of the controller.
Recommended
Asus ROG Phone 9
- Brand
- Asus
- Show
- 6.78-inch AMOLED
- RAM
- Up to 16GB LPDDR 5
- Storage
- 512GB
- Battery
- 5800mAh
- Ports
- USB-C
- Operating system
- Android
- Front camera
- 32-megapixel f/2.5 (ultrawide)
- Rear camera
- 50-megapixel f/1.9, 1/1.56″(main), 32MP f/2.4 (telephoto), 13-megapixel f/2.2 (ultrawide)
- Size
- 6.4 x 3 x .35-inch (163.8 x 76.8 x 8.9mm)
- Colors
- Storm White and Phantom Black
- Release
- November 19
Asus also offers several AI-powered features throughout the ROG Phone 9 series. Most of these, unsurprisingly, are designed for use while playing games. The ones that are available for regular everyday use are not all that unique or exciting. It’s also surprising that after spending a year testing various Android phones, the ROG Phone 9 doesn’t support it Circle to search when launched (although added during Q4 2024).
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What I like about the ROG Phone 9
Asus’ ROG Phone 9 bridges the gap between smartphones and the Steam Deck
Asus’ ROG suite is well known. The ROG Phone, however, flies a bit under the radar. However, it fits well with the Republic of Gamer family. Much of the company’s expertise in gaming hardware is coming to the mobile market. Whether the design philosophy is your style or not, the ROG Phone 9 is made to play games on. The first thing I did when testing the ROG Phone 9 was install a small collection of articles.
Of course, the mobile game is on everyone’s mind right now Pokémon TCG Pocket. It’s a game that I noticed a few frame rate dips when playing iPhone 15 Proespecially while scrolling through the Wonder Picks screen. Of course, Pokémon TCG Pocket does not set benchmarks for the ROG Phone 9. However, it shows that the dynamic refresh rate on the AMOLED display works wonders, even in idle games and in-game experiences.
Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile runs smoothly without screen tearing during online matches. Using the AirTriggers on the device side, I was able to simulate the use of aiming down and firing my weapon as I do when playing on Xbox or PlayStation.
Where the ROG Phone 9’s gaming power really shines is when it comes to high-performance games. Including titles like Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile and Genshin Impact, I had the opportunity to see the ROG Phone 9 shine under the most difficult conditions. Based on the Geekbench 6 benchmarks, the ROG Phone 9 scored an average of 3,207 CPU and an average of 10,186 GPU. Thanks to Snapdragon 8 EliteThe performance of Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile runs smoothly without screen tearing during online matches.
Using the AirTriggers on the side of the device, I was able to simulate the use of aiming down and firing my weapon as I do when playing. Xbox or PlayStation. With Genshin Impact, Asus is baking with its X Sense AI features. Using image recognition technology, objects were captured automatically, and the ability to drive them automatically was available. I can’t help but prove that this use of AI is incredibly innovative in the ROG Phone 9. Unfortunately, titles available that use X Sense are few and far between.
Thankfully, having invested heavily in its gaming, Asus has also included a very respectable battery this year. Based on regular use with intermittent video streaming and gaming, I squeezed about 21 hours of battery life out of the ROG Phone 9. Not surprisingly, the battery life’s longevity decreases significantly while gaming. Even if I use Xbox Cloud Gaming streaming some games while watching TV, I would usually drain the battery for about five hours. Asus has also improved the thermal cooling of the device. There are several ROG AeroActive Coolers sold separately to increase cooling based on CPU temperature. However, I can’t imagine using this while on the go.
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What I don’t like about the ROG Phone 9
The ROG Phone 9 is a gaming beast but it plays it safe elsewhere
Asus doesn’t shy away from this being a ‘gamer’ smartphone for better or worse. I’m not a big fan of how ROG’s design philosophy translates as a smartphone. The angular edges of the camera bumps look good to me. I understand the appeal of having a playful phone background. However, the ROG Phone 9 feels a little cheap in my hand.
If I were to use this as my primary device for a long time, I would invest in a case to cover it. The company set the example that ROG Phone 9 is a gaming device. This is mostly visible in the stock UI after setting up the device. The icons for the phone app, camera, and gallery apps are far from clear compared to other Android devices.
I also feel underwhelmed by the camera of the ROG Phone 9. It’s definitely not Asus’ strong suit. I am far from the shutterbug but I was able to quickly see the difference between the photos taken on my iPhone 15 Pro and the ROG Phone 9. On the phone made by Asus, the photos look sharp and clear. However, as soon as I dragged them to my PC, they looked unhealthy and washed out. I had to organize and contrast all of them in this review to make them more interesting for me to look at.
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Should you buy the ROG Phone 9?
A great mobile gaming rig if you ignore portable gaming devices
There’s no denying that Asus has packed in some impressive hardware to help make the ROG Phone 9 shine. The smartphone packs plenty of processing power and a stellar battery to keep you going on the go. Unfortunately, I think in doing so, the ROG Phone 9 doesn’t do much to stand out as a smartphone. In all of its phone designs, Asus plays it pretty safe.
As a mobile gaming smartphone, the ROG Phone 9 will serve you well. If you grind with Genshin Impact or want to play some games using the cloud, you will probably enjoy the user experience. My only wish is that the quality of its gaming performance is maintained across the board. If you’re interested in the ROG Phone 9 for its gaming capabilities alone, I’d probably be hard-pressed to recommend it ROG Ally or a The Steam Deck in turn.
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