Asus’ ROG Telephone 9 assessment: a gaming standout

One of many main boons within the smartphone area in recent times is gaming — and never the bloatware sort. As a substitute, it is the sluggish adoption of higher-performance video games and cloud gaming. I’ve wished to be an avid supporter of cell gaming for years at this level, however there have been hurdles stopping this from changing into a platform I exploit extra typically. After I had the possibility to go hands-on with Asus‘ ROG Telephone 9, I felt as if this could possibly be a brand new lease on life as a cell gaming participant.

Asus’ ROG Phone 9 is developed to be a cutting-edge gaming-first smartphone. With all the trimmings of the ROG design philosophy, Asus packs in a collection of nice options to complement and energy the gaming experience. The ROG Telephone 9 collection is complemented with a Professional lineup. Nonetheless, even the bottom mannequin has a noticeably strong battery and a show that begs for video games to be performed on it. Sadly, the ROG Telephone 9 underwhelms in the case of day-to-day use, particularly concerning its digital camera.

Beneficial

Asus ROG Telephone 9

Asus’ ROG Telephone 9 is a strong gaming-first smartphone with innovating {hardware} and software program perks made to play cell video games, together with AirTriggers and AI-driven options.

Professionals

• Gorgeous AMOLED Show
• AirTriggers are a modern addition
• As much as 21 hours of battery

Cons

• Gamer-first design and UI is ugly
• Digital camera high quality is subpar

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Worth, availability, and specs

The Asus ROG Telephone 9 launches on Tuesday, November nineteenth. The bottom mannequin of the collection is obtainable for $1,000. The gadget comes with a stunningly crisp 6.78-inch AMOLED E6 show. This display screen options LTPO expertise, with a dynamic refresh fee between 1 and 120Hz. Nonetheless, ROG Telephone 9 does provide as much as 185Hz when utilizing its Sport Genie for a fair smoother gameplay expertise. The show additionally helps a peak brightness of two,500 nits, serving to colours and distinction keep vivid even when outside within the daytime.

Wanting on the inside specs, the bottom ROG Telephone 9 helps as much as 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. The digital camera array helps a 50-megapixel Sony Lytia f/1.9 foremost lens and a 32MP f/2.4 telephoto lens with a 13-megapixel ultra-wide Free-form lens. The front-facing digital camera is a 32-megapixel ultra-wide lens. Powering the cellphone is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, leveraging a 5,800mAh battery.

All of that is wrapped in a 6.4 x 3 x 0.35-inches (163.8 x 76.8 x 8.9mm) type issue. Obtainable in storm white and phantom black, the ROG Telephone 9’s physique includes a crystallized nano-texture. Lastly, the gadget helps AirTrigger buttons on the suitable facet of the unit. These act as refined triggers that replicate using a controller.

Asus additionally gives a number of AI-powered options throughout the ROG Telephone 9 collection. Many of those, unsurprisingly, are designed for use whereas enjoying video games. These which can be out there for traditional day-to-day use aren’t all that distinctive or thrilling. It is also odd that after spending the 12 months testing varied Android telephones, the ROG Telephone 9 does not help Circle to Search at launch (although it’s being added throughout This fall 2024).

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What I like concerning the ROG Telephone 9

Asus’ ROG Telephone 9 bridges the hole between smartphones and the Steam Deck

Asus’ ROG suite is fairly well-known. The ROG Telephone, nevertheless, flies somewhat underneath the radar. Nonetheless, it matches inside the Republic of Gamer household properly. A lot of the corporate’s experience in gaming {hardware} comes over into the cell market. Whether or not or not the design philosophy is your model, the ROG Telephone 9 was made to play video games on. The very first thing I did when testing the ROG Telephone 9 was set up a small assortment of titles.

In fact, the cell recreation on everybody’s thoughts proper now could be Pokémon TCG Pocket. It is a recreation that I’ve famous a number of body fee dips when enjoying on iPhone 15 Pro, particularly whereas scrolling the Marvel Picks display screen. Actually, Pokémon TCG Pocket is just not setting benchmarks for the ROG Telephone 9. Nonetheless, it exhibits that the dynamic refresh fee on the AMOLED show does wonders, even for extra passive video games and in-app experiences.

The place the ROG Telephone 9’s gaming capabilities start to shine is when approaching extra performance-intensive video games. Putting in titles like Name of Responsibility: Warzone Cellular and Genshin Influence, I bought an opportunity to see the ROG Telephone 9 shine underneath extra demanding circumstances. Based mostly on Geekbench 6 benchmarks, the ROG Telephone 9 garnered a 3,207 CPU ranking with a ten,186 GPU ranking. Because of the Snapdragon 8 Elite‘s efficiency, Name of Responsibility: Warzone Cellular ran silky clean with no noticeable display screen tearing throughout on-line matches.

Utilizing the AirTriggers on the facet of the gadget, I used to be capable of mimic using aiming down sight and taking pictures my weapon like I do when enjoying on Xbox or PlayStation. With Genshin Influence, Asus bakes in its X Sense AI options. Utilizing picture recognition expertise, gadgets have been mechanically picked up, and an auto-run potential was out there. I can not assist however attest that this use of AI is extremely progressive for the ROG Telephone 9. Sadly, the out there titles that use X Sense are few and much between.

Fortunately, given it invested a lot into its gaming suite, Asus additionally included a really respectable battery this 12 months. Based mostly on common use with intermittent video streaming and gaming, I squeezed round 21 hours of battery life out of the ROG Telephone 9. To no shock, the longevity of the battery life dwindles exceptionally whereas gaming. Even when I used to be utilizing Xbox Cloud Gaming to stream some video games whereas watching TV, I would sometimes run the battery dry for round 5 hours. Asus can be optimizing the thermal cooling of the gadget. There’s the cumbersome ROG AeroActive Cooler offered individually to extend the cooling based mostly on the CPU temperature. Nonetheless, I can not think about utilizing this whereas on the go.

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What I do not like concerning the ROG Telephone 9

The ROG Telephone 9 is a beast for gaming however performs it secure elsewhere

Asus does not draw back from this being a really ‘gamer’ smartphone for higher or worse. I am not a giant fan of how the ROG design philosophy interprets as a smartphone. The rugged angular edges of the digital camera bump look gaudy to me. I perceive the enchantment of getting a textured rear for a gaming cellphone. Nonetheless, the ROG Telephone 9 feels somewhat low-cost in my hand.

Had I used this as my major gadget over an prolonged interval, I would in all probability spend money on a case to cowl it. The corporate set a precedent of the ROG Telephone 9 being a gaming gadget. That is very obvious within the inventory UI after organising the gadget. The app icons for the Telephone, Digital camera, and Gallery apps are removed from modern in comparison with different Android gadgets.

I am additionally frankly underwhelmed by the digital camera array of the ROG Telephone 9. It is undoubtedly not Asus’ sturdy go well with. I am removed from a shutterbug however I might instantly see the disparity in images taken from my iPhone 15 Professional and the ROG Telephone 9. On the Asus-made cellphone, images look crisp and vivid. Nonetheless, as quickly as I pulled them onto my PC, they seemed much more lifeless and washed out. I needed to edit and bump the distinction in every of them for this assessment simply to make them a bit extra interesting for me to have a look at.

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Do you have to purchase the ROG Telephone 9?

An excellent cell gaming rig should you ignore gaming handhelds

It is simple that Asus packed in spectacular {hardware} to assist refine the ROG Telephone 9. The smartphone options ample processing energy and a stellar battery to service on-the-go gaming. Sadly, I believe in doing so, the ROG Telephone 9 does not do a lot to face out as a smartphone. Throughout all of its cellphone properties, Asus performs it fairly secure.

As a cell gaming smartphone, the ROG Telephone 9 will serve you effectively. When you’re grinding by way of Genshin Influence or need to play some video games through the cloud, you will doubtless benefit from the consumer expertise. My solely want is that the standard of its gaming efficiency was maintained throughout the board. When you’re within the ROG Telephone 9 for its gaming capabilities completely, I would virtually be extra compelled to counsel an ROG Ally or a Steam Deck as a substitute.

Beneficial

Asus ROG Telephone 9

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