Asus has announced its latest gaming smartphones: the ROG Phone 9 and ROG Phone 9 Pro. The powerful devices have a number of striking features and a special back.
Asus ROG Phone 9 (Pro) officially unveiled
The ROG Phone series consists of smartphones aimed at real gamers. The latest devices have now been announced in the form of the ROG Phone 9 and ROG Phone 9 Pro. The phones have the necessary improvements and can now be pre-ordered. The ROG Phone 9 costs 1099 eurowhile the Pro for 1299 euro goes over the counter.
Let’s start with the internal hardware of the Asus smartphones. The devices are very powerful and equipped with the fastest processor of the moment: the Snapdragon 8 Elite. This allows you to play any game at the highest settings. The chip is not only faster, but also ensures that the ROG Phone 9 (Pro) heats up less.
A special cooling system helps keep the phones cold, which is nice when you are gaming a lot. Because the smartphones heat up less, they run games at higher frame rates. Asus also provides the ROG Phone 9 smartphones with a lot of RAM and storage space. You choose a maximum of 24GB of RAM and 1 terabyte of storage.
At 5800 mAh, the battery is larger than the ROG Phone 8, which means you can play intensive games for up to 4.5 hours on a full charge, according to Asus. If the ROG Phone 9 (Pro) is empty, they can be recharged with a maximum of 65 watts. It is useful that Asus ‘simply’ supplies the necessary charger. Wireless charging is also available, but is a bit slower: 15 watts.
Back with mini LEDs
It is striking that mini LEDs have been placed on the back of the ROG Phone 9 Pro. It consists of 648 LEDs that light up when you receive a call, play music, charge the phone or receive a notification. If you do not use this ‘AniMe Vision’ function, the mini LEDs are invisible. This makes the design look more neutral.
It’s nice that you can play games yourself with the LEDs on the back. Think of classic games like Brick Smasher and Snake, where you use the shoulder buttons for control. You start the games from the Anime Play app that is standard on the devices.
These ‘Air Trigger’ buttons are not physical buttons, but touch sensors that are placed under the side of the ROG Phone 9 (Pro). You then get a console-like experience while gaming.
There are also all kinds of AI functions on the Asus ROG Phone 9 phones. This way you can use artificial intelligence to generate unique wallpapers and translate conversations live. AI is also used during gaming, so that great moments are automatically captured while playing.
Screen, cameras and updates
The Asus ROG Phone 9 and 9 Pro both have a 6.78 AMOLED screen with an extra high refresh rate of 185Hz. Smartphones only achieve that refresh rate when playing games. If you are not gaming, the Asus phones switch between 1 and 120Hz. The brightness is a maximum of 2500 nits.
Then the cameras. The ROG Phone 9 and 9 Pro have a 50 megapixel main camera with gimbal stabilization for stable photos and videos. There is also a 13 megapixel wide-angle lens for zoomed out photos. The Pro also has a 32 megapixel telephoto lens for 3x optical zoom, but the ROG Phone 9 has to make do with a simple 5 megapixel macro camera. This allows you to take snapshots up close.
The new Asus smartphones run on the new Android 15, the Android version recently launched by Google. Unfortunately, the update policy is disappointing: the devices will only receive two major Android upgrades in the future, to version 16 and 17. They will receive security patches for five years; with the ROG Phone 8 series this was still four years.
Asus ROG Phone 9 (Pro) release and prices
The ROG Phone 9 and 9 Pro can be pre-ordered from official webshop of Asus. The Phone 9 has a suggested retail price of 1099 euros for the black version. The device is also available in white, but you pay 1149 euros for that. You will then get more storage.
- Asus ROG Phone 9 (zwart, 12/256GB): 1099 euro
- Asus ROG Phone 9 (wit, 12/512GB): 1149 euro
- Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro (black, 16/512GB): 1299 euro
- Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro (zwart, 24GB/1TB): 1499 euro
The ROG Phone 9 Pro is only available in black and costs no less than 1299 euros. Asus also sells the smartphone in combination with the AeroActive Cooler X Pro for 1499 euros. This is an external cooler that you can click on to the device and blow cold air against the back. The cooler also has physical buttons, making it look a bit like a controller.
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Source: www.androidplanet.nl
