ASUS Republic of Gamer (ROG) have recently released their all-new AI gaming phone, the ROG Phone 9 Pro - a powerful device that is developed in order to provide the best gaming devices to you! In this review article, we’re going to test the capabilities of this smartphone through its design, display, camera and performance in order to showcase why the phone is something you can consider getting.
Design
The design for the ROG Phone 9 Pro is beautifully crafted, blending together design and performance into a single device. The phone comes in two colour variants for users to choose from, the Storm White and the Phantom Black, which is the version that I received.
The ROG Phone 9 Pro consists of a sleek and lightweight design, measuring at 163.8 x 76.8 x 8.9mm and weighing at approximately 227g. It also comes with a crystalised nano-texture, giving it a silky texture and makes it comfortable to touch while also maintaining a fingerprint-free surface.
Furthermore, the smartphone also comes with the innovative AniMe Vision mini-LED display on the back of the phone, which helps give the phone a more stand-out design. The ROG Phone 9 Pro also boasts up to 648 LEDs which allows the users to be able to upload custom GIF files and even texts from the Japanese and Chinese language.
In addition, the ROG Phone 9 Pro also comes with a feature called AniMe Play which allows users to play several retro mini-games such as Brick Smasher and Snake Venture, that can be played on the AniMe Vision display. Users will be able to play these games via the AirTrigger buttons located on the side of the phone.
Display
The ROG Phone 9 Pro features a 6.78-inch AMOLED E6 display which comes with LTPO technology, allowing the refresh rate of the device to be adjusted dynamically from 1Hz to 120Hz. Additionally, it is also able to support up to 185 Hz which can be activated in Game Genie, ensuring that users will be able to enjoy a smooth gaming experience in supported titles. Paired together with the impressive refresh rate is the screen’s 2400x1080 screen resolution for clear quality while gaming.
The device also comes with an incredible peak brightness of 2500 nits, allowing users to be able to have a good viewing experience even while outdoors under the bright lights.
Performance
The ROG Phone 9 Pro is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite, ensuring that the device will be able to deliver exceptional gaming performance. It also comes with 24GB of RAM alongside an astounding 1TB of storage space.
Furthermore, in order to enhance the gaming experience for its users, this smartphone also comes with a Game Genie dashboard, which provides a wide range of gaming enhancement features without interrupting your gameplay. With it, you’ll be able to adjust the overall performance of your device with various modes that the smartphone provides, such as Ultra Durable Mode, Dynamic Mode and X Mode.
▲ Game Genie Dashboard
With the X Mode, this makes the CPU and GPU in the phone to boost the overall performance of the device while also monitoring the thermal limits of the ROG Phone 9 Pro, to prevent the phone from overloading.
▲ X Mode
Gaming Test
The main highlight for the ROG Phone 9 Pro would be its gaming performance, and in order to test how effective this device truly is, I decided to conduct some game tests on the phone. In total, I used three games in order to carry out the test, Genshin Impact, Wuthering Waves and Honor of Kings.
Genshin Impact
Genshin Impact is one of the most well-known games since launching in 2020, and due to it being an open world RPG game, the game is known for having its issues on mobile devices, especially when it comes to the lag. Though, I can confidently say that the issue does not apply to the ROG Phone 9.
Even when the settings were set at the highest settings, the performance in the game was splendid and there were no issues of lag when playing the game, in fact the quality was incredibly smooth.
Furthermore, in the hour of playing Genshin Impact, the game was able to run smoothly at 60 Fps throughout the entire hour and in that time, the phone’s temperature increased to 39°C.
Wuthering Waves
The second game that I tested out with was Wuthering Waves, a game that is known for its issues such as lag and quality since its launch earlier this year. Once again, I played the game at the maximum settings, and it’s safe to say that when playing the game on this device, there were no issues faced. Similarly to Genshin Impact, the game quality was crisp and the movement was incredibly smooth.
During the hour of gameplay on Wuthering Waves, the game was able to run smoothly at 60 FPS during the hour, and the temperature of the device went to 37°C in that time.
Honor of Kings
Honor of Kings, an MOBA game that’s popular in Malaysia, was the second game that I decided to test out. Similarly to the other two games, the game’s graphics are really smooth and there weren't any issues that I encountered while playing even when the settings were set to the max.
While in Honor of Kings, in the hour of playing the game, the FPS for the game often fluctuated between 115 FPS and 124 FPS. As for the temperature, the change was astounding as it rose to 40°C in the hour.
Thermal
As for the thermal performance for this smartphone, the ROG Phone 9 Pro ensures that the device will not overheat even while playing any graphically-demanding games. It comes equipped with the GameCool 9 which comes with a 360° SoC Cooling System Gen 3 design, ensuring that users will be able to play without concerns of their device.
In addition to this, the ROG Phone 9 Pro also comes with an AeroActive Cooler X Pro for users who enjoy prolonged gaming periods.
When equipping the AeroActive Cooler X Pro onto your device, not only will you be able to enjoy the vibrant lights emitting from the back of it, but it is also able to increase the cooling of your device up to 29% which is vital during an intense gaming session.
Camera
Aside from just gaming, the ROG Phone 9 Pro also comes with a good camera setup, featuring a 50MP Sony Lytia 700 sensor, which will allow you to be able to capture stunning images, whether for landscape shots or for food photography. In addition to this, it also comes with a 32MP telephoto camera, ensuring that snapping pictures that are at a distance would be no issue whatsoever.
While the phone’s focus isn’t geared towards its camera performance, this smartphone also ensures that it will still be able to take impressive pictures. Built in with the 6-Axis Hybrid Gimbal Stabilizer 4.0, users will no longer have to worry about shaking hands when taking pictures as the phone enhances the stabilisation when you’re in the middle of snapping pictures on your device.
AI Features
In addition to its incredible features, the ROG Phone 9 Pro also offers a wide range of AI features that benefits the user. One of the features is the AI Call Translator, which allows users to be able to freely communicate with others even through a language barrier. Asides from that, another AI feature would be AI Transcript which utilises the Recorder app and converts your audio into text and also summarises the text, making it easier for users to review them all.
Besides that, the ROG Phone 9 Pro also comes with two AI features to help assist users in searching for what they are looking for. The Semantic Search is an AI feature used in the Gallery App where you will be able to write down what image you are looking for in the Search bar and the App will automatically provide you with the related images.
The second AI Search feature would be the Circle to Search feature. With this feature, you’ll easily be able to search for any object, landmark and even text just by drawing a circle around them, and users will instantly get search results related to the content.
Aside from just assisting you in your everyday life, the ROG Phone 9 Pro also comes with many AI features in order to enhance your gaming experience as well, this feature is called X-Sense. With the X-Sense feature turned on, it offers several features in order to make your gaming experience much more convenient. Some of the AI features that the X-Sense offers are Auto pickup, Auto run, speed up conversations, Quick escape and Auto Skill Upgrade.
In open-world RPG games such as Genshin Impact and Wuthering Waves, there are many of those features which are extremely helpful and help make things easier for the players, such as the Auto run and Auto pickup features. Besides that, the Auto Skill Upgrade is vital for MOBA games like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, as this will allow players to be able to fully focus on the game itself rather than look away for a brief moment to level up their skills.
▲ Auto run Feature in X Sense
In addition to this, if you’re a content creator and want to record small highlights of your gameplay such as your gacha pulls in Genshin Impact, or even your kills in MOBA games like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, then the ROG Phone 9 Pro has you covered as the X Sense also comes with the X Capture feature. When this feature is active, then the phone will automatically record these highlights, ready for you to upload them.
Battery
The battery for the ROG Phone 9 Pro is another highlight that is worth mentioning as it comes with an impressive 5800mAh battery, a 300mAh increase compared to its predecessor, ensuring that users will be able to game for prolonged periods without needing to charge it often. In fact, this smartphone is capable of up to 26+ hours of daily usage.
I decided to test out the phone’s battery life with an hour-long gaming session on Genshin Impact. After the hour, the result showed that the game consumed 19% of the phone battery while in X Mode. Similarly, in one hour, 10% of the battery was consumed when I played Wuthering Waves and an astounding 18% on Honor of Kings.
▲ After an hour of gameplay on Genshin Impact
▲ After an hour of gameplay on Wuthering Waves
▲ After an hour of gameplay on Honor of Kings
Aside from gaming, the ROG Phone 9 can also be used for watching videos, and after watching a 1440p video for a total of one hour, the phone only consumed 6% of its battery, even when the audio was playing at an average rate.
Furthermore, the ROG Phone 9 also comes with a 65W ROG HyperCharge adapter which ensures speedy charging for the smartphone. With this, the phone will be able to be fully charged from 0 to 100% in an astounding 46 minutes. In addition, the ROG Phone 9 Pro also comes with not one, but two charging ports on the device. One located at the bottom left of the device and the other left-side of the phone.
Verdict
In conclusion, the ROG Phone 9 Pro is an incredible new smartphone device with exceptional gaming performance. With its powerful processor, a long-lasting battery life and high refresh rate, users will be able to get a more immersive and enjoyable experience while gaming on this device. Priced at RM5,999, the ROG Phone 9 Pro is definitely something worth considering, especially if you’re an avid mobile gamer.
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