ROG’s latest gaming phones are now in Malaysia, and naturally, the ROG Phone 9 series is powered by the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. This is quite a quick release, given that the previous ROG Phone 8 series was only launched here in late January 2024.

Three different variants of the ROG Phone 9 are offered. There’s the base ROG Phone 9 (12GB + 256GB) for RM3,999, as well as the ROG Phone 9 Pro (16GB + 512GB) for RM4,999. There’s also the ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition with 24GB RAM and 1TB storage for a cool RM5,999, and it’s bundled with the RM399 ROG AeroActive Cooler X Pro too.

The main difference between the base ROG Phone 9 and the Pro model is the fact that the latter has a more sophisticated screen on the back panel. The Pro’s AniMe Vision display has 648 programmable mini-LEDs, while the base model has 85 LEDs on the back panel.

While both the ROG Phone 9 and ROG Phone 9 Pro feature a triple camera system, the Pro model has a more versatile setup. It has a 50MP primary sensor, a 13MP ultra-wide shooter, and a 32MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. As for the regular ROG Phone 9, it swaps out the telephoto shooter for a 5MP macro lens.

Beyond these differences, both variants of the ROG Phone 9 share the same hardware. These include the aforementioned Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, a 6.78-inch 2400 x 1080 AMOLED display with 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate – it can supposedly go up to 185Hz in Game Genie – a 32MP selfie camera, and a 5,800mAh battery. Of course, the AirTrigger capacitive shoulder buttons are retained on both phones.

The ROG Phone 9, ROG Phone 9 Pro, and ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition are now available in Malaysia for RM3,999, RM4,999, and RM5,999 respectively. Those who purchase any of the three phones by 31 December can enjoy up to RM947 worth of freebies, which include a one-year extended warranty, a phone case, an ROG AeroActive Cooler X – for the base and Pro models – as well as a limited edition ROG Phone Crossbody Strap with every purchase of the Pro Edition.