ROG Cellphone 9 and ROG Cellphone 9 Professional Intro
The ROG Cellphone 9 duo repeat of the “third technology design”, which implies they do not have the chin and brow with front-firing audio system that older ROG Telephones did. Asus is attempting to stroll the road of creating them extra mainstream-looking and extra manageable, whereas nonetheless retaining the DNA of that heavy gamer telephone that the ROG model is understood for.
However for one more bit of excellent information — the subwoofer within the AeroActive Cooler is again! There’s now a brand new AeroActive Cooler X Professional accent, which is offered individually or included with the ROG Cellphone 9 Professional Version, which we now have. The excellent news is that it is also suitable with the older ROG Cellphone 8 sequence, in case you simply need to improve to having a subwoofer.
As one may count on, it is a heavily-specced telephone, which you will get in a configuration of as much as 1 TB UFS 4.0 storage and as much as 24 GB of LPDDR5X RAM. It is launching internationally this December, coming to the US as early as January 2025. We ran it by all our checks, and it handed them with flying colours, after all. Effectively, the digital camera nonetheless wants some love, however it’s a gamer’s telephone before everything!
Desk of Contents:
ROG Cellphone 9 and 9 Professional Specs
Sooner than a dashing bullet
In fact, Asus went excessive with the {hardware}, to some extent we marvel the way it all matches in these telephones. However subtlety has by no means been part of the ROG Cellphone vocabulary!
| Specs | ROG Cellphone 9 | ROG Cellphone 9 Professional |
|---|---|---|
| Dimension and Weight | 163.8 x 76.8 x 8.9mm 227g |
163.8 x 76.8 x 8.9mm 227g |
| Show | 6.78”, 2400×1080, AMOLED 185 Hz, 2,500 nits peak |
6.78”, 2400×1080, AMOLED 185 Hz, 2,500 nits peak |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite 4.3 GHz, 3 nm |
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite 4.3 GHz, 3 nm |
| Software program | Android 15 | Android 15 |
| Cameras | 50 MP primary 13 MP ultrawide 5 MP macro 32 MP entrance |
50 MP primary 13 MP ultrawide 32 MP 3x telephoto 32 MP entrance |
| Battery Dimension | 5,800 mAh | 5,800 mAh |
| Charging Speeds | 65 W wired cost 15 W wi-fi charging |
65 W wired cost 15 W wi-fi charging |
| Worth from | $999 | $1,199 |
The ROG Cellphone 9 and ROG Cellphone 9 Professional have very comparable spec sheets. They primarily differ within the digital camera setup, because the Professional has a devoted zoom lens, and the LED lights that adorn the telephones’ backs — we’ll get to that within the subsequent part. In any other case, should you select to avoid wasting cash and never get the Professional — the common mannequin performs simply the identical, no corners lower!
ROG Cellphone 9 and ROG Cellphone 9 Professional Design and Show
The refined gamer
The ROG Cellphone 9 fashions include a reasonably matte glass on the again, a metallic body, and a fullscreen entrance, like final 12 months’s fashions. The display screen is kind of huge, at 6.78 inches, however due to the super-thin bezels, it feels manageable. Effectively, so long as you’re used to telephones of the caliber of a Galaxy Word, Galaxy S Extremely, iPhone Professional Max, and different such big-screened handsets.
In fact, it has distinctive buttons, as all the time. The ROG Telephones rock two shoulder triggers, which could be mapped for gaming. They’re pressure-sensitive areas on the body with ultrasonic tech beneath them, as a substitute of precise mechanical buttons. You possibly can edit and fine-tune the strain they reply to, and the telephone does offer you a pleasant, clicky suggestions by its vibration motor every time a press is detected.
Your selection in colours is proscribed, although. The common ROG Cellphone 9 is available in Phantom Black and Storm White. The Professional fashions solely are available in Phantom Black.
The place the ROG Cellphone’s taste comes from is the lighting on the again. This time round, not one of the fashions has an RGB-lit brand. As a substitute, each the Professional and the non-Professional have an space of dotted LED lights that may present various pre-made ROG animations, notifications, clock, and climate situations. Or, you may add your customized picture, however there is a ruleset for picture decision and colours, which you need to observe.
Asus calls these LED areas the AniMe Imaginative and prescient. As earlier than, you may unlock particular AniMe logos should you meet one other ROG Cellphone consumer within the wild and faucet your telephones collectively. The ROG Cellphone 9 Professional has 648 LED dots and now you can play small video games on it, too, when it is advisable shortly go the time. Assume video games like Snake and Aero Invaders (sort of like House Invaders however not fairly), the place you merely use the shoulder triggers to maneuver left and proper. Enjoyable little contact.
The non-Professional ROG Cellphone has 85 dots, so its animations are a lot smaller and no video games right here.
However, with each telephones, if you’d like them to be extra refined, merely disable AniMe from the Armoury Crate app (the gaming hub app that each ROG Cellphone has). The LEDs disappear underneath the matte glass again.
The show is a wonderful AMOLED panel, made by Samsung. It now goes as much as 185 Hz refresh price, sure you learn that proper. Small caveat, you may solely allow 185 Hz when in-game, from the Asus gaming console. We are able to barely complain right here — the ROG Telephones had been already overkill at 165 Hz, however hey, extra bragging rights!
The colours are fairly amped out of the field, however the excellent news is that Asus provides you 5 completely different colour calibrations to choose from, plus further sliders for heat and saturation should you actually need to get in there. We discovered it simple to get a hotter, extra pure tone with the “Commonplace” and “Cinematic” choices.
Peak brightness is rated at 2,500 nits for HDR, however the ROG Cellphone 9 fashions additionally comfortably hit 1,600 nits of fullscreen brightness, so they’re completely seen open air.
PhoneArena Show Measurements:
As earlier than, there is a fingerprint scanner underneath the glass. It is fast and correct, however not ultrasonic tech, so it may be a bit choosy in case your arms are dry or if there’s some smudging.
ROG Cellphone 9 Professional Digicam
Look… it is a gaming telephone. Not unhealthy, although
IMPORTANT: Clarify Digicam Rating in a few sentences, what are the highlights and hyperlink to filter web page with different Digicam Cellphone Scores.
Final 12 months, we famous that the ROG Cellphone 8 made strides to present you a extra… acceptable digital camera efficiency. That is normally the weak spot of gaming smartphones — plenty of R&D and cash go into the efficiency, and the digital camera is an afterthought.
Important Digicam
The oversharpening is on show right here, seen within the leaves and bricks within the cityscape photographs. Additionally, the photographs have a pale look to them, as a result of digital camera not being snug with large dynamics, and the marginally washed-out colours.
Night time photographs look a bit higher by way of colours, with extra saturation and life into them. Nevertheless, the oversharpening turns into much more seen. And highlights can simply get burned out. However we did word that there is barely higher night time digital camera efficiency this 12 months, so Asus has been engaged on it!
Zoom High quality
The zoom digital camera holds it collectively fairly nicely. Even at 10x zoom, we get loads of good element. Although noise is beginning to creep in. We would say as much as 10x can nonetheless get you a “share-able” photograph. The ROG Cellphone 9 Professional caps out at 30x, the place it is nonetheless usable, however extra in a “assist me see what’s on the far-away info board” kind of method.
Selfies
The selfie digital camera has fairly good colours, although a slight battle with dynamics, like its back-facing counterpart. Normally, the selfies come out detailed and trustworthy. They get a bit washed out in night time time, however the entrance digital camera nonetheless holds it collectively — perhaps up the saturation a bit after you have taken that night time selfie.
Video High quality
The ROG Cellphone 9 Professional is able to recording 8K footage at 30 FPS, should you even have the place to view that. At 4K, the picture seems fairly good. We are able to see that hybrid gimbal stabilizer placing up further work to easy out our steps! The dynamics listed below are OK, and the colours are vibrant. Put side-to-side with an iPhone, the latter nonetheless information a extra pristine-looking clip, however by itself the ROG Cellphone 9 digital camera is a effective recorder.
ROG Cellphone 9 and 9 Professional Efficiency & Benchmarks
Welcome to the Elite!
Efficiency Benchmarks:
Yep, we now have a contender to beat Apple’s A18 Professional. Standing toe-to-toe in Single-Core scores, hitting the next lead to Multi-Core within the GeekBench take a look at. And, within the 3DMark stress take a look at, the ROG Cellphone 9 Professional completely ate the competitors for breakfast. Not solely that, it did not even throttle. Admittedly, the ROG Cellphone 9 Professional routinely goes into X Mode when such demanding apps are detected, however it did not warmth up, and it did not eat away on the battery greater than different telephones would.
Every day use efficiency is simply lightning quick. Truthfully, it could take you some time to get used to simply how fast and responsive this telephone is. In fact, any recreation on the Play Retailer runs on the highest settings.
And should you connect the AeroActive Cooler X accent, you get two further {hardware} buttons on the again of it, and extended cooling for lengthy gaming classes at peak efficiency.
ROG Cellphone 9 and 9 Professional Software program
Many of the particular ROG options are held in an app referred to as Armoury Crate. It is the sport launcher hub, but in addition the place you customise the AniMe Imaginative and prescient LED lights on the again, the way in which the shoulder triggers reply, and the lights of the AeroActive Cooler.
- AI translation throughout calls — first seen on Galaxy AI, that is now obtainable on ROG Telephones, too
- AI transcript — transcribe audio recordings into textual content with bulletpoints
- AI wallpaper — generate a brand new wallpaper to take pleasure in
- Semantic search — makes it simpler to seek out issues in Settings. Simply describe what you want, you do not have to recollect the precise title. Additionally, the Gallery app acknowledges and tags objects and places in pictures, so you may simply seek for particular photos
- Circle to look — carry out a Google Picture seek for something in your display screen
- Gaming AI options — when particular video games are acknowledged, AI may help you with auto-running, auto object pickup, performing escape maneuvers, trying to find guides for you, or automated talent upgrades in MOBA titles
Right here comes the unhealthy information, although. Asus nonetheless guarantees 2 years of Android updates, and 4 years of safety patches submit launch. That is in stark distinction to Samsung and Google now committing to 7 years of total updates. In a time when these flagship telephones comfortably push past the $1,000 boundary, that is an vital level to contemplate.
ROG Cellphone 9 Professional Battery
Marathon runner
The ROG Telephones have all the time been endurance beasts, and the ROG Cellphone 9 sequence is not any exclusion. The battery capability has now been upgraded to five,800 mAh and it simply appears like it could actually go on without end. Try these benchmark outcomes:
PhoneArena Battery Check Outcomes:
Yeah, that is 18 and a half hours of screen-on time for normal utilization, greater than 12 hours of gaming. Protected to say, we felt zero “battery share phobia” when utilizing that telephone within the day-to-day. We even took it out to take digital camera samples when it was at 24% and our solely thought was “Yeah, it’s going to final”.
Even when you find yourself emptying that tank, you may nonetheless cost it shortly with the included 65 W charger:
PhoneArena Charging Check Outcomes:
You rise up to 49% in solely quarter-hour of charging. Lower than an hour for the complete 100%. Retaining in thoughts that this 49% can final you thru the day comfortably, you may all the time get out of a pinch with minimal time on the charger.
The ROG Cellphone 9 sequence do assist wi-fi charging, however it’s not Qi2 — Asus lists it as Qi 1.3. The specs sheet says 15 W, however it feels slower.
ROG Cellphone 9 and 9 Professional Audio High quality and Haptics
Sadly, since Asus moved the audio system to a bottom-firing woofer and a robust earpiece, as a substitute of the front-firing stereo audio system of earlier than, the audio high quality dropped. Our favourite from the sequence was the ROG Cellphone 7, with its robust, detailed, and meaty sound, plus the subwoofer within the AeroActive Cooler that got here out with it.
This is the excellent news — the audio system within the ROG Cellphone 9 are barely higher than the ROG Cellphone 8. There’s much less of an higher midrange hump, they usually really feel extra balanced. They’re nonetheless sort of muffled within the low mids.
Much more excellent news — the ROG Telephones nonetheless have headphone jacks!
The haptics really feel nice, correctly on a gaming telephone. They’re exact, quick, and pronounced, so you understand precisely whenever you’ve tapped on the display screen or pressed a shoulder pad.
Must you purchase it?
That mentioned, there is a good purpose why the ROG Telephones have a robust following within the gaming area of interest. Asus maintain nothing again and they’re all the time the highest performers to match others to. They’re really an fanatic’s smartphone. In case you are in that area of interest, you may have in all probability already selected shopping for it. And we’re right here to say — it will not disappoint you!