Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro Smartphone Review – The Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro was announced in November 2024 and went on sale a day later. The new smartphone is already available in many regions globally and will expand to more countries. The Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro is designed to deliver a flagship gaming performance, which it can use thanks to powerful internal components, including 5G connectivity.
The new phone features an even more sophisticated design than its predecessor, and it is simply stunning. ASUS believes it has cracked the formula with the ROG Phone 9 Pro, but it remains to be seen. Let’s begin with a detailed review of the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro smartphone and find out if this smartphone is worth purchasing.
Table of Contents
Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro Smartphone Review
Highlights
- The Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro smartphone features a 6.78-inch LTPO AMOLED display with support for a 185Hz high refresh rate.
- The phone has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite 5G chipset, which is capable of reaching clock speeds of 2×4.32 GHz.
- The Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro smartphone arrives with Android 15 out-of-the-box with a stock user interface.
- The smartphone has a 50MP triple rear camera system with a 32MP selfie camera.
- The Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro has a 5800mAh battery with 65W wired and 15W wireless fast charging support.
Design and Display
The Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro features a gorgeous design that will certainly appeal to gamers. There’s an AniMe Vision Programmable Matrix display on the rear panel, which is made of Mini-LEDs. The LEDs are bright and can display any graphic animation or text you want. You can do a lot of customization with the LEDs except for the colors, which are fixed.
As for the build quality, it is extremely strong and durable with no bending or creaking. The side and mid-frame are made of aluminum, which gives the phones its rigidity. The use of such premium materials for the body’s construction makes this phone great to touch and hold. All in all, it’s a great phone in terms of build quality and design.
The Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro is protected against dust and water, thanks to the IP68 rating. It comes in Phantom Black color only. As for the display, you get a 6.78-inch LTPO AMOLED display with support for a 185Hz high refresh rate. This panel features an FHD+ resolution, HDR10, and is capable of featuring up to 1 billion colors to deliver a superior picture quality. The screen’s brightness can reach as high as 2500 nits under sunlight, so you won’t find any issues during outdoor activities. The display is also protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, so you don’t have to worry about drops or scratches.
Memory and Internal
The Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro is equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite 5G chipset, which is capable of reaching clock speeds of 2×4.32 GHz. This is the fastest Android chipset in the world as of this writing, and it can run anything you want without even breaking a sweat. Every day apps you use will launch quickly and run faster than ever, including Messenger, Snapchat, Instagram, and more. This level of performance is possible due to the high 4.32GHz clock speed.
Even graphically demanding games such as Genshin Impact, PUBGm, Summoners War, and CODm can be played with High graphical settings at the highest framerate on this smartphone, thanks to the power of this Snapdragon chipset. Even during gaming, the phone doesn’t overheat since ASUS implemented a large vapor chamber inside the phone.
The Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro also has 5G connectivity to deliver gigabit-level speeds and low latency, which is a must for online gamers. This smartphone comes with Android 15 out-of-the-box, along with a stock user interface and better theming support. The inclusion of the latest Android version out of the box will surely be appreciated by gamers. As for memory and storage, the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro is available for purchase in 16GB + 512GB and 24GB + 1TB of RAM and internal storage options.
Camera
The Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro features a 50MP triple camera module on the rear side. The primary rear camera is equipped with a 50MP sensor with gimbal OIS support. This camera can capture some great shots that have a lot of detail levels, saturated colors, and a high dynamic range. The second camera in this smartphone has a 32MP telephoto sensor with OIS, which can take some great 3x zoomed shots with a good amount of detail and great stability.
The third camera has a 13MP ultra-wide sensor, which is just as capable as the primary camera and can take some great shots with a wide field of view. The detail levels of the ultra-wide camera are slightly lower than the main camera, but they are close. The Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro supports night mode, which can deliver some stellar night shots with a lot of details and have lower noise levels.
On the front, the phone has a 32MP selfie sensor, which can take some great selfies that will impress you. It manages to capture the fine details of the subject’s face with a natural skin tone. When it comes to video recording, the primary rear cameras can shoot videos at up to 8K@30FPS, but the selfie camera is limited to 1080p@30FPS only. The videos from the primary rear camera are stabilized with gimbal OIS and gyro-EIS, so the footage will be stable. However, the selfie camera doesn’t have any stabilization, so videos from it may look a bit shaky when recorded in motion.
Battery and Others
The Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro is equipped with a 5800 mAh battery that can last one full day and the morning after with light to medium usage, which includes camera, music, texting, and a bit of social media. However, if you play a lot of games, the battery will drain significantly faster and may not even last a full day.
However, this is still a great battery life, which is possible due to the use of a larger battery capacity than its predecessor, Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro. For charging, the phone has support for 65W wired fast charging that can fully charge the battery in 45 minutes. There’s also a 15W wireless charging support, which will take around 3 and a half hours to fully charge the phone. Apart from that, the smartphone has support for tri-band Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, an under-display fingerprint sensor, stereo speakers, NFC, and a USB Type-C connector for charging. The smartphone will start at $1199 (Rs 1,03,990 in India) approx.
Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro Pros and Cons
Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro smartphone.
| Specifications | Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G |
| Announced | November 2024 |
| SIM | Nano-SIM + Nano-SIM |
| Dimensions | 6.45 x 3.02 x 0.35 inches |
| Weight | 227 g |
| Size | 6.78 inches |
| Display | LTPO AMOLED 1B colors 185Hz HDR10 1600-2500 nits brightness 20:9 ratio ~388 PPI density Always-On display |
| Protection/Others | Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 IP68 dust/water resistant Mini-LED (648 dots) programmable matrix (on the back) Pressure-sensitive zones (Gaming triggers) |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| OS | Android 15, up to 2 major Android upgrades |
| Chipset | 3nm – Qualcomm SM8750-AB Snapdragon 8 Elite |
| CPU | Octa-core 2×4.32 GHz Oryon V2 Phoenix L + 6×3.53 GHz Oryon V2 Phoenix M |
| GPU | Adreno 830 |
| Card slot | No |
| RAM | 16GB, 24GB |
| Internal | 512GB, 1TB UFS 4.0 NTFS support for external storage |
| Camera | 50 MP (wide), PDAF, gimbal OIS 32 MP (telephoto), PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom 13 MP (120˚ultrawide) LED flash, HDR, panorama Max – 8K@30fps, gyro-EIS, HDR10+ |
| Selfie | 32 MP (wide) Panorama, HDR Max – 1080p@30fps |
| Loudspeaker | Yes (stereo speakers) |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes 32-bit/384kHz Hi-Res & Hi-Res wireless audio |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e/7, tri-band, Wi-Fi Direct |
| Bluetooth | 5.4, A2DP, LE, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, aptX Lossless |
| GPS | GPS (L1+L5), BDS (B1I+B1c+B2a), GALILEO (E1+E5a), QZSS (L1+L5), NavIC (L5), GLONASS |
| NFC | Yes |
| Infrared port | No |
| Radio | No |
| USB | USB Type-C (side), DisplayPort 1.4; USB Type-C (bottom), OTG |
| Sensors | Under display fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass |
| Battery | 5800 mAh 65W wired, PD3.0, PPS, QC5 15W wireless (Qi) 10W reverse wired |
| Colors | Phantom Black |
| Expected Price | $1199 (Rs 1,03,990 in India) approx |
Conclusion
The Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro is designed to provide a flagship gaming experience, and this phone certainly achieves that. Every aspect of this phone is designed to provide a fabulous experience, whether that’s the design, display, performance, camera, or battery, and you will absolutely love it. For example, the display has some advanced features, including a high refresh rate and brightness.
The design of the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro is also quite enchanting, especially with the AniMe Vision Programmable Matrix display on the rear panel. It looks sophisticated and really cool, and gamers will absolutely adore it. The camera performance is also quite good, and comes close to the Samsung Galaxy S24 level of quality in a few shots but not always.
The battery life and charging speed are also quite good and you will have no issues in this regard. The best part about this phone is its gaming performance, which is simply outstanding. Due to the inclusion of the most powerful Snapdragon chipset as of this writing, the gaming performance is top-notch. The chipset is cooled by a large vapor chamber design, which is excellent here. All in all, it’s a true flagship gaming smartphone that has very little competition. The closest alternative to this smartphone is the Xiaomi Redmi K80 Pro, which has similar specs and features but at a slightly lower price tag. However, the final decision is up to you, so it is better to choose a smartphone based on your needs and requirements.
