Shortly after Qualcomm unveiled its latest and most powerful processor, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite, a number of smartphone brands have unveiled their latest offerings powered by this processor, and one of them is the ASUS ROG Phone 9, which, like its predecessor, comes in three models offering different memory and storage options.
ASUS Malaysia sent us one of these new smartphones, the ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition, for us to test ahead of its upcoming launch in the Malaysian market, and in this first look article, we’ll show you what’s different (and the same) about this device.
Design And Specifications
ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition
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 24GB LPDDR5
Internal Storage 1TB 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
Cap Scanner Scan System fingerprint
Face Scan
Price
Starting with the design of the ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition, 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 of 2500 nits.
The only major difference is in the screen refresh rate, where the ROG Phone 9 series all come with a refresh rate of 185Hz on all device models in this series. Just like the ASUS ROG Phone 8, this latest ROG Phone device series also comes with an IP68 dust and water resistance rating, making it a durable device as well.
As mentioned earlier, the ASUS ROG Phone 9 device series is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor chip. For the Pro model, it also comes with a total of 16GB of LPDDR5X memory and 512GB of built-in UFS 4.0 storage.
The camera module on the ROG Phone 9 Pro jEdition also features a similar 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 faster shutter speeds even with severe shaking.
The use of such a camera system is seen as ASUS's effort to make the ROG Phone series a premium smart device with better overall capabilities, and not just a smart device specifically for gaming.
The uniqueness of the ASUS ROG Phone series of devices 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 seems to be maintained on all ASUS ROG Phone 9 devices, along with a 3.5mm audio plug for wired earphone connection with Dirac Virtuo for Headphone audio technology shown on previous models.
Another unique feature is the AniMe Vision screen display on the back of the device, specifically for the ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro and ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition models. This time, the AniMe Vision screen display offered is larger with 648 LED dots that can not only support larger images, but also text in Mandarin and Japanese.
Not only that, specifically for the two ROG Phone 9 Pro and ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition devices, the AniMe Vision display comes with the ability to play some simple games offered through the Armoury Crate software which also houses various settings to improve the performance of this device.
Controls for these games are done via the AirTrigger shoulder buttons. You will need to familiarize yourself with the Armoury Crate software to play these games, but it is not too difficult to find after you browse the software menu a little.
Perhaps a strange decision that was still made for this device is that even though the battery capacity has been 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 Edition seems to come with a pretty big box. It not only houses the device, but also additional accessories such as charging heads, cables, device cases 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 Edition device. I was told that technically, the AeroActive Cooler X cooler used on the previous ROG Phone 8 can also be used on the ROG Phone 9, but it may not be as efficient as what is offered with the new model.
Software
The ASUS ROG Phone 9 series uses the Google Android 15 operating system with the ROG UI interface, where ASUS has confirmed that this device will come with support for two generations of operating system updates in the future and also security updates for five years.
For a premium gaming smartphone, the update period for this operating system version is seen as very short, especially when device brands like Samsung have promised support for seven generations of operating system updates until Android 21 in 2031.
There is not much I can say about this ROG UI interface because most of its appearance and functions look the same as what was shown on the previous ASUS ROG Phone 8 device. Yes, there are new features on display on this device, but we will explain some of them in the paragraphs below.
Gaming Performance
I had the opportunity to test games like Honkai: Star Rail and Zenless Zone Zero on this ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition, and my initial tests showed the device's performance to be similar to what is offered on the ROG Phone 8, but at lower temperatures.
I was able to play both devices at 60FPS frame rates on high settings without any problems, and even without the cooling fan, I did not feel that the device was even hot.
After using this ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition for a few weeks, and playing with popular games like Genshin Impact, Honkai Star Rail, Zenless Zone Zero and Wuthering Waves, I found that its frame rate performance is more or less the same as what is offered on the ASUS ROG Phone 8 Pro Edition device that I have been using as my daily device for a long time.
But if there are some noticeable differences that I can see on this ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition device is in terms of frame rate stability and also the better average temperature of the device. In terms of dropped frames in games, I found that with a game that can be moved at a frame rate of around 60-120FPS, it is much more stable than what can be done on my ROG Phone 8 Pro Edition.
In terms of temperature, it will also exceed 40 degrees Celsius when downloading game files or updating the game version, probably due to the use of the built-in WiFi7 modem for higher data transmission and reception rates.
Typically, when playing games like this for a long time (30 minutes-1 hour), I found that the device temperature will stabilize at 38-40 Celsius with games like Honkai Star Rail, Genshin Impact and Zenless Zone Zero, which are among the most intensive games for smart devices.
This is because the GameCool 9 cooling system introduced in this series of devices features the use of Boron Nitride as the latest SoC cooling material, and the use of a larger graphite layer helps in transferring heat from other components of this device.
If you want to game at a lower device temperature, every purchase of the ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition also comes with an AeroActive Cooler X Pro cooler that can cool your device by 6-8 degrees Celsius without any problems.
Battery
The ASUS ROG Phone 9 series all come with a 5800mAH battery, which is 300mAH larger than the previous model. In terms of day-to-day use, the ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition can be used all day without any problems, even if you use it for short gaming activities of 5-10 minutes once or twice a day.
What is interesting here is that ASUS is still using their 65W HyperCharge charging technology. ASUS says that this is because fast charging like 100W and above is fast, but it will cause the battery to heat up, especially when ASUS uses a dual battery system which is said to help in more efficient charging and discharging of battery power.
However, in my experience using the ROG Phone 9, charging the battery using the 65W HyperCharge charger still feels quite hot to the touch, but in this aspect ASUS may be saying that it is not as hot as other devices that use faster charging technology.
Artificial Intelligence
One of the new focuses for ASUS on the ROG Phone 9 series is the integration of artificial intelligence features into their devices. This feature was introduced on the ROG Phone 8 device through the X Sense feature last year, where games like Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail featured a function to speed up in-game dialogue, and Genshin Impact received a function where items around the world of Teyvat could be picked up automatically.
On the ROG Phone 9 device series, a new X Sense feature has been added for e-sports games like Mobile Legends, Arena of Valor and League of Legends Wild Rift. The feature, called Auto Skill Upgrade, is a feature that detects when the character you play has gained a new skill, and maps it to the appropriate button automatically without the user having to do anything.
This feature can help players to focus on the game action and no longer have to rush to map it manually. Another AI feature, AI Grabber, which was previously introduced to facilitate tutorial searches on Google, will soon come with a built-in translation feature.
If you're a gacha gamer like me, the ASUS ROG Phone 9 also comes with an AI recording feature called X-Capture which will automatically record certain parts, such as when you press the gacha button in the game, or perform actions to defeat opponents in games such as Mobile Legends, Honor of Kings and so on.
These videos will be automatically recorded and can be watched after you exit the game.
The X Sense feature can be accessed through the Game Genie menu by swiping your finger from the top left or right corner of the device when you are in the game. Various other settings such as the device performance monitoring menu and others can be accessed through the menu.
ASUS also confirmed that the ROG Phone 9 series will also come with the Circle To Search function by the end of this year. When this review was written, this feature seems to have not yet been introduced.
Camera
Another major upgrade shown on the ASUS ROG Phone 9 series of devices is in terms of the camera. Yes, it may be a bit strange to see a gaming-focused smartphone to care about the quality of the photos it takes, but since the ASUS Zenfone series seems to be out of the local market for a while, maybe this is a good thing for users.
The ASUS ROG Phone 9 uses the latest Sony Lytia 700 sensor which is currently only seen on select smartphones such as the OPPO Find X8 and several recently launched Motorola devices.
The image quality shown looks sharp, and has interesting color saturation thanks to Sony's focus on color processing through HDR technology in situations where there is sufficient light.
The device's camera also has Night Mode, but in this mode, the HDR function and shooting in 50MP and 32MP resolutions are deactivated.
Meanwhile, ASUS also introduced two new camera features on the ROG Phone 9, namely AirTrigger Capture which allows users to use the right AirTrigger capacitive button to take photos or start video recording and the Document Scanner feature which allows users to scan documents using the camera.
Benchmark Scores
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor is the latest flagship processor from Qualcomm that will power many of the latest flagship smartphones coming to the market in the near future.
The combination of 3nm design and the latest power efficiency technologies featured in this chip results in some pretty impressive benchmark scores.
Antutu
Geekbench 6
PCMark (Work 3.0)
3DMark (Solar Bay)
3DMark (Wild Life Extreme)
3DMark (Steel Nomad Light)
What's in the Box?
This is what is offered in the ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition box when you buy this device:
1x ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition
1x HyperCharge 65W charger
1x 65W charging cable
1x AeroActive Cooler X Pro
2x silicone case
Cover
My honest opinion about the ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition is that it is basically a similar looking twin, but there are useful features for gamers that are seen as useful especially if they play supported games.
Yes, the benchmark scores on the ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition are impressive, thanks to the use of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor chip. However, in terms of daily use for gaming and leisure purposes in particular, there is not much difference between this device and the previous model.
This issue, combined with the fact that support in terms of operating system updates is limited to only two upcoming versions of Android (Android 16 and Android 17) and five years of security support makes this device a bit difficult to recommend.
That said, I will say that if you are someone who wants to buy a new powerful premium smartphone because you want to upgrade from an old or broken device, you will not be disappointed with this ROG Phone 9 series.
You do not need to buy the most expensive ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition model, because what is important for this device is the use of a very efficient and very powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor chip.
Pros:
High and stable frame rate performance during gaming
Does not heat up even when playing games for long periods
New AI features
Expanded AirTrigger function
Game gimmick uses an interesting AniMe Vision display
Cons:
No reason to upgrade from the ROG Phone 8 in terms of performance
Camera quality is more or less the same as before
Still uses 65W charging
Limited Android operating system updates compared to other flagship devices