Asus’ ROG Cellphone 9 assessment: the gaming powerhouse

One of many main boons within the smartphone house 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 cellular gaming for years at this level, however there was various hurdles in the way in which. After I had the possibility to go hands-on with Asus‘ ROG Cellphone 9, I felt as if this might be a brand new probability to get in on cellular gaming.

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 Cellphone 9 collection is complemented with a Professional lineup. Nevertheless, 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 Cellphone 9 underwhelms on the subject of day-to-day use, particularly relating to its digicam.

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Asus ROG Cellphone 9

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

Professionals

• Beautiful AMOLED Show
• AirTriggers are a smooth 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 Cellphone 9 launches on Tuesday, November nineteenth. The bottom mannequin of the collection is on the market for $1,000. The system comes with a stunningly crisp 6.78-inch AMOLED E6 show. This display screen options LTPO know-how, with a dynamic refresh price between 1 and 120Hz. Nevertheless, ROG Cellphone 9 does provide as much as 185Hz when utilizing its Recreation Genie for an excellent smoother gameplay expertise. The show additionally helps a peak brightness of two,500 nits, serving to colours and distinction keep vivid even when outdoor within the daytime.

Wanting on the inside specs, the bottom ROG Cellphone 9 helps as much as 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. The digicam array helps a 50-megapixel Sony Lytia f/1.9 major lens, a 13-megapixel ultra-wide Free-form lens, and a 5-megapixel macro shooter. The front-facing digicam is a 32-megapixel ultra-wide lens. Powering the telephone is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, which leverages 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) kind issue. Out there in storm white and phantom black, the ROG Cellphone 9’s physique incorporates a crystallized nano-texture. Lastly, the system helps AirTrigger buttons on the suitable facet of the unit. These act as refined triggers that replicate the usage of a controller.

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

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What I like concerning the ROG Cellphone 9

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

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

After all, the cellular sport on everybody’s thoughts proper now could be Pokémon TCG Pocket. It is a sport that I’ve famous a number of body price dips when enjoying on iPhone 15 Pro, particularly whereas scrolling the Surprise Picks display screen. Definitely, Pokémon TCG Pocket isn’t setting benchmarks for the ROG Cellphone 9. Nevertheless, it reveals that the dynamic refresh price on the AMOLED show does wonders, even for extra passive video games and in-app experiences.

The place the ROG Cellphone 9’s gaming capabilities start to shine is when approaching extra performance-intensive video games. Putting in titles like Name of Obligation: Warzone Cell and Genshin Impression, I obtained an opportunity to see the ROG Cellphone 9 shine beneath extra demanding circumstances. Primarily based on Geekbench 6 benchmarks, the ROG Cellphone 9 garnered a 3,207 CPU score with a ten,186 GPU score. Because of the Snapdragon 8 Elite‘s efficiency, Name of Obligation: Warzone Cell ran silky clean with no noticeable display screen tearing throughout on-line matches.

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Utilizing the AirTriggers on the facet of the system, I used to be in a position to mimic the usage of aiming down sight and taking pictures my weapon like I do when enjoying on Xbox or PlayStation. With Genshin Impression, Asus bakes in its X Sense AI options. Utilizing picture recognition know-how, gadgets had been mechanically picked up, and an auto-run capacity was accessible. I am unable to assist however attest that this use of AI is extremely progressive for the ROG Cellphone 9. Sadly, the accessible 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 yr. Primarily based on common use with intermittent video streaming and gaming, I squeezed round 21 hours of battery life out of the ROG Cellphone 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 system. There’s the cumbersome ROG AeroActive Cooler bought individually to extend the cooling based mostly on the CPU temperature. Nevertheless, I am unable to think about utilizing this whereas on the go.

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What I do not like concerning the ROG Cellphone 9

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

Asus would not shrink 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 digicam bump look gaudy to me. I perceive the attraction of getting a textured rear for a gaming telephone. Nevertheless, the ROG Cellphone 9 feels a little bit low-cost in my hand.

Had I used this as my main system over an prolonged interval, I would most likely put money into a case to cowl it. The corporate set a precedent of the ROG Cellphone 9 being a gaming system. That is very obvious within the inventory UI after organising the system. The app icons for the Cellphone, Digital camera, and Gallery apps are removed from smooth in comparison with different Android gadgets.

I am additionally frankly underwhelmed by the digicam array of the ROG Cellphone 9. It is undoubtedly not Asus’ sturdy go well with. I am removed from a shutterbug however I might instantly see the disparity in pictures taken from my iPhone 15 Professional and the ROG Cellphone 9. On the Asus-made telephone, pictures look crisp and vivid. Nevertheless, as quickly as I pulled them onto my PC, they regarded 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 Cellphone 9?

An amazing cellular gaming rig in case you ignore gaming handhelds

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

As a cellular gaming smartphone, the ROG Cellphone 9 will serve you nicely. In the event you’re grinding by way of Genshin Impression or wish to play some video games by way of the cloud, you may probably benefit from the consumer expertise. My solely want is that the standard of its gaming efficiency was maintained throughout the board. In the event you’re within the ROG Cellphone 9 for its gaming capabilities completely, I would virtually be extra compelled to counsel an ROG Ally or a Steam Deck as an alternative.

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Asus ROG Cellphone 9

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