The next Asus gaming phone might pack modest upgrades

Key Takeaways

• Leak suggests the Asus ROG Phone 9 will get an upgraded display.
• It will supposedly use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 SoC to deliver an even better gaming experience.
• China’s 3C certification listing suggests the ROG Phone 9 will support 65W fast charging.

If you want an Android gaming phone, there are hardly any offerings better than the Asus ROG Phone series. This year’s ROG Phone 8 Pro received a huge makeover by switching to an edge-to-edge display and featuring a slimmer, sleeker chassis. It also launched earlier than usual, debuting at CES 2024 at the beginning of the year. Now, it seems Asus is already hard at work on ROG Phone 9, which might launch in the next few months, with a new leak detailing the upgrades it could pack.

Leaker Smart Pikachu on Weibo shared some details about the ROG Phone 9, claiming it will feature an “upgraded” screen, though there’s no mention of what changes Asus is planning (via Playful Droid). The ROG Phone 9 sports a 6.78-inch FHD+ screen with a 165Hz refresh rate. The Taiwanese company might use a newer-generation OLED panel with a higher peak brightness and lower power consumption for a better viewing experience and longer battery life. Or it could bump the resolution for better sharpness and clarity.

Unsurprisingly, Asus’ next gaming phone will use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 SoC to deliver the best performance possible. Qualcomm’s upcoming flagship chip will reportedly introduce a big leap in CPU and GPU performance, so the Phone 9 should deliver even better gaming performance than its predecessor.

Asus ROG Phone 9 could launch before the end of 2024

Like the Phone 8, Asus will equip the ROG Phone 9 with up to 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. Based on China’s 3C certification listing, the leaker also says the ROG Phone 9 will support 65W fast charging, the same as the current ROG Phone.

While too early, it seems the ROG Phone 9 will pack modest upgrades to deliver a better user experience. Given the ROG Phone 8 introduced a new design, a smaller update for the Phone 9 with a focus on refinements makes sense.

Given that the ROG Phone 8 launched internationally right at the beginning of the year, the Phone 9 could also follow a similar launch trajectory. If so, Asus will likely unveil the phone in China towards the end of the year, with a global release in early 2025.