Key Takeaways

  • The ROG Phone 9 and 9 Pro are powerful gaming phones with enhanced specs and efficient cooling systems.
  • Both models feature Snapdragon 8 Elite chips, boasting significant performance gains on paper.
  • The base model starts at $1,000 and the Pro model carries a $1,200 price tag. There’s also a Pro bundle that comes with an AeroActive Cooler X Pro accessory for $1,500.



If you’re an avid mobile gamer with extra money to spend, your day has finally come: The ROG Phone 9 is here. We’ve known this was coming for a while now, (and have even known most of the specs), but now that the news is official, the rumors can be put to rest, and we can look forward to a gaming phone with specs that will put even some PCs to shame.

A photo of a white gaming phone on the left, and a smartphone with the homescreen on the right with the AndroidPolice logo and the words

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The ROG Phone 9 is a gaming beast

The secret is in the silicon

When it comes to gaming, Asus spares no expense with its ROG phones, and this year’s models are no exception. Both phones, the ROG Phone 9 and 9 Pro, are built around the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip which has two blazing fast 4.3GHz cores and six “efficiency-focused” cores clocking in at a mere 2.8GHz. Compare this to the ROG Phone 8 which maxed out at 3.3GHz.



Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip promo image
Source: Qualcomm

As for memory, the new 9 models match the specs from the 8 lineup. The “base model” ROG Phone 9 will have 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, the 9 Pro will have 16GB/512GB, and the awkwardly-named 9 Pro Edition will have 24GB/1TB. All three models will have 9600Mbps LPDDR5X RAM (up from 8533Mbps on the 8 models) and UFS 4.0 storage.

How the ROG Phone 9 keeps cool

With all of that processing power going on in such a small space, the new ROG phones use many of the same tricks as the last model. Asus split the battery in two and placed the chip in the middle of the phone to more evenly distribute the heat and keep it away from your hands when you’re playing a game in landscape mode.

man and woman playing on ROG Phone 9

Source: Asus


It uses a special boron nitride thermal compound to move heat from the silicon to the enlarged graphite heat sinks, which are over 50% larger than those in the ROG Phone 8 models. Finally, for the ultimate in heat management, there’s the AeroActive Cooler X Pro, a moderate step up from the non-Pro version with more thermal material and a slightly larger fan.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

There’s not a lot that’s drastically different from the ROG Phone 8 lineup in these new phones. The main camera is still 50MP, just with a Sony Lytia 700 sensor instead of an IMX890. The OIS system now has five degrees of correction compared to three. The 32MP telephoto lens is still 3×, and the ultrawide lens is the same 13MP as well. Likewise, the selfie camera is 32MB with an RGBW filter array. The one big difference is in the base ROG Phone 9 5MP macro camera, which the 9 Pro will not have.

ROG Phone 8 Pro held in hand in front of christmas tree

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The display also remains largely the same. The AMOLED screen is 6.78 inches, just as on the 8 lineup, with the biggest difference being the 9 series can crank its refresh rate up to 185Hz for supported titles, up from a peak of 165Hz on the 8 phones. When it’s not overclocking to ridiculous speeds, the display refreshes at a brisk 120Hz. Where things start to diverge is with the AniMe Vision mini-LED display on the back of the phone. The 8 Pro has a 341 LED array on its back whereas the 9 Pro has nearly double at 648. And this year, the regular 9 has an 85 LED array compared to the base model 8 which only had an illuminated ROG logo.

Woman taking a photo with the ROG Phone 9

Source: Asus



Sonically, the phones will sound the same when listening through your headphones, but the new 9 phones have a few tricks for when you’re using the phone’s speakers. The first is in the new AeroActive Cooler X Pro. More than just a fan and some buttons, the new Pro model also packs in a subwoofer to boost your bass. The second trick is in the first-party cases included with the phones, which redirect the sound forward from the bottom speakers, mimicking a dual front speaker setup.

Finally, the battery is also marginally better with 5,800mAh instead of 5,500mAh. Otherwise, it’s the same as the 8 phones with 65W fast charging and 15W wireless charging.


Do you need a new gaming phone?

That depends on how much money you have

The base model ROG Phone 9 will cost $1,000, the ROG Phone 9 Pro will cost $1,200, and the ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition (which comes with the AeroActive Cooler X Pro) will cost $1,500. Given that you can pick up the ROG Phone 8 Pro for around $930, I’d say the base-model 9 is the best deal, but the Pro models don’t add enough features beyond what the ROG Phone 8 models offer to justify their higher price tag.



Having said that, these phones look sick (especially the one with the white body) and there’s not much that they won’t be able to play. So, if you have the money, and you love playing mobile games, you’d be hard-pressed to find something better. The ROG Phone 9 lineup is available to order starting today.