Shortly after Qualcomm showed their latest and most powerful processing chip, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite, a number of smart device brands have shown their latest offerings that use this processing chip, and one of them is the ASUS ROG Phone 9, which is the same as the previous model , comes with three models that offer different memory and storage.
ASUS Malaysia has sent us one of these new smart devices, the ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro for us to test before its launch in the Malaysian market soon, and in this first look article, we'll show you what else (and the same) about this device .
Design And Specifications
ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro
6.78″ AMOLED screen, 185Hz
1080 x 2400 pixels
Snapdragon 8 Elite processor (3 nm)
2x 4.32 GHz Chip – Oryon (Phoenix L)
6x 3.53 GHz – Oryon (Phoenix M)
Adreno 830 Graphics Chip
RAM 16GB LPDDR5
Internal Storage 512GB UFS 4.0
Primary Camera 50 MP, f/1.9, (wide), PDAF
32 MP, f/2.4, (telephoto)
13 MP, f/2.2 (telephoto)
32MP f/2.5 Selfie Camera
5800 mAh battery
Wired 65W
Wireless 15W
SIM/Telephony Dual SIM nano / 5G
NFC Yes
Audio Jack Available
Waterproof IP68
Scan System Fingerprint scanner
Face Scan
Starting with the design of the ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro, in short it comes with the same design and screen size as the previous model, the ASUS ROG Phone 8 Pro. It comes with a 6.78-inch AMOLED screen display with a resolution of 2400×1080 and a brightness value as high as 2500 nits.
The only major difference is the screen refresh rate, where the ROG Phone 9 series all come with a 185Hz refresh rate on all device models in this series. Just like the ASUS ROG Phone 8, this latest series of ROG Phone devices also comes with an IP68 dust and water resistance rating, making it a rugged device as well.
As said before, ASUS ROG Phone 9 series of devices is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processing chip. For the Pro model, it also comes with 16GB of LPDDR5X memory and 512GB of built-in UFS 4.0 storage.
The camera module on the ROG Phone 9 Pro also shows almost the same design, but this new camera model uses the latest Sony Lytia 700 50MP sensor that comes with a 6-axis Hybrid Gimbal Stabilizer 4.0 system that promises more stable images and even faster shutter speeds with severe tremors.
The use of a camera system like this is seen as ASUS' effort to make the ROG Phone series a premium smart device that has better overall capabilities, and not just a smart device specifically for gaming.
The uniqueness of the ASUS ROG Phone device series is also shown in several other ways, such as the use of two USB charging plugs on the bottom and also on the side of the device. This appears to be retained on all ASUS ROG Phone 9 devices, along with the 3.5mm audio plug for wired earphone connection with the Dirac Virtuo for Headphone audio technology featured on previous models.
Another unique feature is the AniMe Vision screen display on the back of the device, specific to the ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro and ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition models. This time, the screen display offered by AniMe Vision is larger with 648 LED points that are not only capable of supporting larger images, but also text in Mandarin and Japanese.
Not only that, specifically for the two devices ROG Phone 9 Pro and ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition, this AniMe Vision display comes with the ability to play some simple games offered through the Armory Crate software which also houses various settings to improve the performance of this device.
Control for these games is done via the AirTrigger shoulder button. You'll need to familiarize yourself with the Armory Crate software to play these games, but they're not too hard to find after poking around the software's menus a bit.
Perhaps one strange decision still made for this device is that even though the battery volume is increased to 5800mAH, it still uses 65W charging technology even though there are other brands that already offer 200W charging technology.
Accessories
For this review, the ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro seems to come with a pretty big box. It not only houses the device, but also additional accessories such as charging heads, cables, device casings and even the latest ROG Phone cooler, the AeroActive Cooler X Pro.
This latest model comes with a larger fan diameter and thicker built-in thermal insulation material to further cool the ROG Phone 9 Pro device. I'm told that technically, the AeriActive Cooler X used on the previous ROG Phone 8 can also be used on the ROG Phone 9, but may not be as efficient as what is offered with the new model.
Gaming Performance
I had the opportunity to test games such as Honkai: Star Rail and Zenless Zone Zero on this ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro, and my initial tests showed the device performing similar to what is offered on the ROG Phone 8, but at a lower temperature level.
I was able to play both devices at a frame rate of 60FPS on high settings without issue, and even without a cooling fan, I didn't feel that the devices got hot at all.
For a later review, I will try some other games such as Genshin Impact, Wuthering Waves and others, especially to test the ability to process graphics at high frame rates. If you have any suggestions about games that you want us to test for this review, you can suggest them in the comments section.
Cover
My initial honest opinion, the ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro is basically an identical twin on the outside. Even if you use this device without checking its internal functions, you may not be able to distinguish one device from another.
However, ASUS seems to be aware of this, and has added many new features to their latest and most powerful smartphone to make it a worthwhile upgrade for all.
We will review this device for a few weeks and see if it is worth it for you to get this device for a more satisfying gaming experience.