The Asus ROG Phone 9 promises to take Android gaming to “new heights”

Qualcomm’s annual Snapdragon Summit is taking place this week, and that’s where we’ll get our first look at the new Asus ROG Phone 9 Android device in action. We’ve seen Asus work together with Qualcomm before, but this feels a bit special, suggesting that both brands are eager to show off the potential of their latest technological developments.

Until today, we hadn’t heard much about the upcoming gaming handset, but now Asus has officially revealed the phone, its design, and its Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, telling us to expect a special launch event on November 19, 2024. Considering the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro’s place at the top of our guide to the best gaming phones, we’re expecting big things from this next-generation handset, as it takes on solid performers like the RedMagic 9S Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Previous ROG phones have been among the most powerful and feature-packed gaming handsets on the market, and the ROG Phone 9 promises to deliver more of the same thanks to its state-of-the-art Qualcomm processor. Asus says we can expect “industry-leading speed, power, and gaming-changing graphics,” and that the phone will “elevate mobile gaming to new heights.” Of course, we’ll know much more about the performance when lucky journalists get to take the phone for a spin at the Snapdragon Summit. Asus says they’ll be offering a live preview of the new device at the event, which we’re sure to hear about soon after.

For now, we just get a glimpse at the design, which is rather reserved, for a gaming handset. It appears to have a matte black rear, with a dot-matrix pattern, similar to a lot of the ROG gaming laptops. There’s an illuminated ROG logo near the base, but it’s not clear if you can customize it, as you can on some laptop models. While this doesn’t give us a lot to go off, it’s confirmation that Asus is seemingly committing to more discrete designs for its gaming phones, which are a world away from the wacky looks of the brand’s earlier devices.

Around the front, we can see a large flat screen with minuscule bezels, but the specs, and everything else about the phone, remain a mystery. We’re eagerly anticipating Asus’ event on November 19 to find out more, but if you can’t wait that long for a new phone, check out our guides to the best Samsung phones and the best Google Pixel phones.