ASUS ROG Phone 9 Flexes Snapdragon 8 Elite And A Big Battery For Gaming Dominance

Asus revealed its latest gaming phone today, the predictably named ROG Phone 9 and ROG Phone 9 Pro. These devices are the first retail devices to run the brand-new Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, and you can eke every bit of performance from that chip with the performance-tuned ROG Phone 9. You can even attach a cooling fan to keep the device frosty during long gaming sessions, but neither the fan nor the phone are cheap.

The new ROG Phones look a lot like last year's big redesign—they're both flat aluminum and glass sandwiches built around a 6.78-inch OLED screen. The panel is only 1080p, but the refresh rate goes as high as 185Hz. The AniMe Vision light show is again present on the back, but there are more LEDs now. The Pro phone has an array of 648 LEDs that can display status, notifications, and even play simple games. The non-Pro phone has a smaller 85-LED setup.

These phones stress gaming prowess even if they don't have the aggressive gamer aesthetic of older ROG Phones. There are configurable shoulder buttons that you can map to almost any game control, and there are integrated tools for recording gameplay and filtering background noise for better voice chat. The phones can even automate repetitive tasks in certain games, like upgrading stats and picking up items.

While the body of the phone is unchanged from last year, Asus managed to boost the battery capacity, adding 300mAh to reach 5800mAh. It also charges at 65W, much faster than the majority of phones we see in the US. Asus offers extensive performance tuning, so you can make that battery last multiple days if gaming isn't on the agenda. However, the phone will switch to the high-performance "X-mode" as soon as you open a game to get you the best performance.

This is a gaming phone, so the cameras don't get as much attention as the rest of the specs. There's nothing wrong with the sensors, but don't expect it to compete with Google or Samsung. There's a 50MP primary camera, along with a 13MP ultrawide. The non-Pro phone has a 5MP macro camera, but the Pro gets a more useful 32MP 3x telephoto shooter. The selfie camera is 32MP.

With the Snapdragon 8 Elite inside, this phone can get toasty when running at full speed. Asus says it improved the cooling setup (known as GameCool 9) to keep the phone from getting uncomfortably warm. There's also a "cooling case" that can help to dissipate heat. And then there's the ostentatious fan that connects to the secondary side-mounted USB-C port. The AeroActive Cooler X Pro comes bundled with the most expensive version of the phone, but otherwise, it'll cost you $120 extra.

The ROG Phone 9 starts at $1,000 with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The ROG Phone 9 Pro with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage is $1,200. For $1,500, you get a whopping 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, plus the cooling fan. The phones will launch in Europe late this year, expanding to the US in January 2025.