ROG Phone 9 Pro: specs, price and full review in 2026

The ROG Phone 9 Pro is still, in autumn 2026, one of the most complete gaming phones ever made, and it is also the last big Asus smartphone. Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, 185 Hz AMOLED screen, ultrasonic triggers, a 5,800 mAh battery and IP68 certification: on paper, it has very little to envy in 2026 models. But in mid-January 2026 Asus announced it would no longer launch new smartphones, and its stock is drying up. That makes it a phone for demanding gamers who can find it for under €900 (about 590,000 FCFA), not for anyone who would still pay full price.

Introduction: the ROG Phone 9 Pro, last flagship of a line that ends here

Asus unveiled the ROG Phone 9 series on 19 November 2024. The Pro reached France in early December 2024, and the standard model followed in January 2025. It is an evolution of the ROG Phone 8: same silhouette, a much faster chip, a slightly bigger battery and a new camera sensor.

The context has changed since then. In mid-January 2026, at the group’s year-end party in Taipei, chairman Jonney Shih confirmed that Asus would not add any new phone models to its line-up. The company calls it a pause and is putting its resources into artificial intelligence. So there will be no ROG Phone 10, and no successor to the Zenfone 12 Ultra either.

This page answers one simple question: what is this phone worth if you buy it in 2026? It is based on the official specifications, published reviews and the current state of the market.

Verdict at a glance

ROG Phone 9 Pro review: what the published tests say

The specialist press gave it a very warm welcome at launch. Notebookcheck scored it 90%, praising its high and consistent performance. Phonandroid and TechRadar highlight its stamina and its thermal control.

The same criticisms come up from one review to the next: a design almost identical to the ROG Phone 8, a camera that trails the best camera phones, and only two major Android updates. That last point weighs far more heavily in 2026.

Three figures sum up the spec sheet. The Snapdragon 8 Elite, built on a 3 nm process, tops 3 million points on AnTuTu in GSMArena’s review. The 6.78-inch screen reaches 185 Hz in supported games and 2,500 nits peak brightness according to Asus. The 5,800 mAh battery charges at 65 W, from 0 to 100% in 46 to 47 minutes, and supports 15 W Qi wireless charging.

A useful detail: Asus’s official spec sheet confirms that only the Pro Edition gets 24 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage. The other two versions make do with 12 or 16 GB.

ROG Phone 9, 9 Pro or 9 Pro Edition: the differences

All three models share the chip, the screen, the battery and the main sensor. What sets them apart fits in a few lines:

• ROG Phone 9: 12 GB of RAM, 256 GB, a 5 MP macro camera instead of the telephoto, and a simplified light matrix on the back (85 mini-LEDs according to Liliputing).
• ROG Phone 9 Pro: 16 GB of RAM, 512 GB, a stabilised 32 MP 3x telephoto, and the AniMe Vision rear display with 648 mini-LEDs, which can run small retro games (AniMe Play).
• ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition: 24 GB of RAM, 1 TB, and the AeroActive Cooler X Pro fan in the box.

For gaming, the 16 GB Pro model is more than enough. The extra cost of the Pro Edition mostly pays for the fan and the storage.

ROG Phone 9 Pro Design: understated, with one exception

The ROG Phone 9 Pro copies the ROG Phone 8’s design almost line for line. The matte black glass back, called Phantom Black, hides its 648 mini-LED matrix while it is switched off. Once lit, it shows the time, the battery level or animations.

It is still a big phone: 163.8 x 76.8 x 8.9 mm and 227 grams. In landscape, the weight is well balanced and the triggers fall right under your index fingers. Held upright in one hand, it is another story.

Build quality is good: Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front, an aluminium frame and Gorilla Glass on the back. Above all, the phone is IP68 rated, which is still rare among gaming phones. The ROG Phone 9 Pro also keeps the 3.5 mm headphone jack and two USB-C ports, one at the bottom and one on the side, so you can charge while playing in landscape without the cable getting in the way.

The AirTrigger buttons

The two ultrasonic zones on the frame act as shoulder buttons. They handle a single tap, a double tap, pressure and swipe gestures, and you can map macros to them. In shooters, your thumbs handle movement while your index fingers fire.

Display: a 185 Hz AMOLED among the brightest around

The 6.78-inch LTPO AMOLED panel has a resolution of 2,400 x 1,080 pixels. That is less than a 1.5K screen, but the difference is hard to see and battery life benefits. The refresh rate ranges from 1 to 120 Hz in everyday use and climbs to 185 Hz in Game Genie, for supported games.

Those 185 Hz are partly a marketing argument. Phonandroid sees little point in it, since very few mobile games go beyond 120 or 144 frames per second.

Brightness, on the other hand, really matters. GSMArena measured 1,958 nits in auto mode, and Notebookcheck up to 2,455 cd/m² under certain conditions. In direct sunlight, the screen stays readable.

One drawback noted by Notebookcheck: the minimum brightness of 6.25 cd/m² is a little high for reading in the dark. GSMArena reports PWM dimming at 670 Hz, a decent figure for sensitive eyes, though not the best on the market.

ROG Phone 9 Pro Performance: still at the top in 2026?

The Snapdragon 8 Elite was the most powerful Android chip of late 2024. In 2026, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 has overtaken it, but the gap is invisible in most games. Genshin Impact, Honkai Star Rail, Call of Duty Mobile, PUBG Mobile and Free Fire all run at their highest settings. The ROG Phone 9 Pro is no longer the fastest phone on the market, but no game pushes it to its limits.

Published benchmark scores

GSMArena recorded 3,042,971 points on AnTuTu, 10,179 points multi-core on Geekbench 6 and 6,718 points on 3DMark Wild Life Extreme. Notebookcheck got 3,215 points single-core and 10,323 multi-core on Geekbench 6.

Heat and cooling

Asus advertises a GameCool 9 system with a graphite sheet 57% larger than before. Results vary from one review to another. TechRadar measured 99.6% stability in a 3DMark stress test, an exceptional figure. Phonandroid, by contrast, recorded more than 50°C in benchmarks and over 60°C in a stress test, with the AeroActive Cooler X Pro fan bringing the temperature down by more than 10°C.

Our reading: performance holds up, but the casing gets hot during long sessions. In a hot climate, the fan becomes almost essential beyond an hour of play. It comes with the Pro Edition and is sold separately for the other versions.

Camera: the best of the gaming phones, not a camera phone

The main camera uses a 50 MP Sony Lytia 700 sensor, 1/1.56 inch, with an f/1.9 aperture and gimbal-style stabilisation. Next to it sit a 13 MP 120° ultra-wide and, on the Pro, a stabilised 32 MP 3x telephoto. On the front, the 32 MP selfie camera uses an RGBW sensor.

In daylight, published reviews describe natural colours and good detail from the main sensor. At night, night mode does a decent job with that module, but the ultra-wide and the telephoto lose a lot of detail as soon as the light drops. TechRadar puts it well: it is the best camera on a gaming phone, but still far from an iPhone Pro or a Pixel Pro.

For video, it shoots up to 8K at 30 frames per second and 4K at up to 120 frames per second. The selfie camera is limited to 1080p at 30 frames per second, a disappointing choice for streamers who film their face with the phone. For social media, results will be very decent; for night photography, look elsewhere.

Battery and charging: the ROG Phone 9 Pro’s big strength

At 5,800 mAh, the battery is no longer huge next to the 7,000 mAh and more of recent Chinese models. But the efficient chip and the LTPO screen make up for it. GSMArena measured an active use score of 16 hours 41 minutes, a clear improvement over the ROG Phone 8.

TechRadar reports a 15-hour day with 4 hours 30 minutes of screen-on time, after which 60% of the battery was left. Asus promises at least 4 hours 30 minutes of intensive gaming. In practice, normal use lasts two days, and a heavy gamer gets to the end of the day without worrying.

65 W wired charging takes the phone from 0 to 45% in 15 minutes and to 76% in 30 minutes, according to GSMArena. A full charge takes 47 minutes. 15 W Qi wireless charging and 10 W wired reverse charging round things off. When power cuts are frequent, 15 minutes on the charger is enough for several hours of use.

Software and updates: what the end of Asus smartphones means

The ROG Phone 9 Pro launched on Android 15 with the ROG UI skin. The interface stays close to stock Android, with a very complete gaming mode, Game Genie, and AI tools such as X Sense 3.0, which detects events in some games. Asus preinstalls very little bloatware.

ROG Phone 9 Pro Android update: up to Android 17, no further

Asus promised two major Android updates and five years of security patches. The Android 16 update began rolling out in waves on 14 November 2025. Android 17 will therefore be the last major version the phone receives. As of 1 October 2026, Asus has not yet announced a schedule for that rollout, which the company still has to confirm.

Security patches should run until around the end of 2029, five years after launch, as Asus has not specified the exact starting point of that period. For a phone costing over €1,000 (about 656,000 FCFA), that support was already short in 2024, compared with the seven years promised by Samsung or Google.

Asus quits smartphones: what is guaranteed

During the mid-January 2026 announcement, Jonney Shih said the rights of existing customers would be protected. According to details reported by the Taiwanese press, after-sales service stays the same, and neither the warranty nor software updates are affected. Asus talks about a pause, but no return date has been mentioned.

In practical terms, three things change for buyers:

• the promised schedule should be honoured, but it will never be extended: there is no chance of getting Android 18;
• spare parts and dedicated accessories, such as cases or the fan, are likely to become scarce within a few years;
• resale value will drop faster than that of a Samsung or an iPhone, because the brand is leaving the market.

ROG Phone 9 Pro price and availability: stock is drying up

Launch prices in France

At launch, the range sold for €1,099 (about 721,000 FCFA) for the ROG Phone 9 with 12 + 256 GB, €1,299 (about 852,000 FCFA) for the ROG Phone 9 Pro with 16 + 512 GB, and €1,499 (about 983,000 FCFA) for the Pro Edition with 24 GB + 1 TB and the fan.

In 2026: no big clearance sale

You might have expected deep discounts after Asus’s announcement. That has not happened. The big retailers have gradually withdrawn the phone from sale, Galaxus lists it as out of stock, and most new units are now sold by third-party marketplace sellers.

Prices can double from one offer to another. French price tracker Bonne Promo recorded a low of €847.40 (about 556,000 FCFA) on 11 March 2026 on Rakuten, then a peak of €1,543.49 (about 1,012,000 FCFA) in August 2026. On 1 October 2026, an offer at €1,436.99 (about 943,000 FCFA) was still listed on the Rue du Commerce marketplace. The standard ROG Phone 9 was spotted at €849 (about 557,000 FCFA) on Asus’s official store in Belgium. These prices and stock levels move quickly, so check the day’s price with the retailer.

Our advice: under €900 (about 590,000 FCFA) new, it is a good deal. Above €1,000 (about 656,000 FCFA), paying for a late-2024 phone that will only get one more major update makes little sense. If you buy refurbished, check the battery health and the warranty.

In West and Central Africa

As far as we know, Asus does not officially sell its ROG Phones in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire or Senegal. It is mostly found as an import from Europe, Dubai or Asia, with a warranty tied to the country of purchase and no local after-sales service. On the network side, the European version covers the main 4G and 5G bands, including n78, the band most widely used by African operators. Go for a global version if you can, and keep the invoice.

No listing for a new unit sold directly by Amazon.fr, Fnac, Darty or Cdiscount could be verified as of 1 October 2026. The offers still visible come from third-party sellers, which you should check carefully before buying.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Top-tier performance, still more than enough for every game in 2026
• Very bright AMOLED screen, 185 Hz in games
• Excellent battery life and a full charge in under 50 minutes
• AirTrigger buttons, headphone jack and two USB-C ports
• IP68 certification and a light software skin

Cons

• Android 17 will be the last major update
• Asus is leaving the smartphone market: resale value and accessories are uncertain
• New units are rare, and prices vary widely between sellers
• Weak secondary cameras at night, selfie video capped at 1080p
• Heavy (227 g) and the surface heats up during long sessions

If you want the best gaming phone of 2026 at the best price, the RedMagic 11S Pro is the most logical alternative: newer, with a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, a built-in fan and a 7,500 mAh battery, it launched at €799 (about 524,000 FCFA) in Germany. We have also pitted the ROG Phone 9 Pro against the RedMagic 11 Pro, its predecessor, in a separate head-to-head. On a tight budget, the Infinix GT 50 Pro offers shoulder triggers and liquid cooling for roughly half the price, with a less powerful chip. The Poco F9 Ultra is aimed at those who want a 185 Hz screen and a recent chip in a more all-round phone.

Conclusion: should you buy the ROG Phone 9 Pro in 2026?

Technically, the ROG Phone 9 Pro has not aged. It is still powerful, long-lasting, bright, waterproof and designed for gaming down to the smallest detail.

What has changed is its future. With Android 17 as its last major version, Asus leaving the market and new stock now scarce, it should be bought as an end-of-line model. New at around €850 (about 558,000 FCFA), or properly refurbished, it is still an excellent deal for a gamer. Above €1,000 (about 656,000 FCFA), a recent RedMagic gives you more for less.

Frequently asked questions