Qualcomm’s announcement of its next-generation smartphone chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Elite, is expected to power the best Android phones launching next year. However, we actually won’t have to wait that long because the Asus ROG Phone 9 series is expected to make its debut next month in November.
Apart from the official invitation that Asus has sent out, the only details we know about the upcoming Asus ROG Phone 9 series is that its official launch date will be November 19, 2024 — as well as the fact that it will be powered by Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Elite Platform. The new chipset is expected to bring these phones to levels we haven’t seen before, potentially making them some of the fastest phones ever.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Mobile Platform also consists of the second-generation Oryon CPU and enhanced Adreno GPU, all to deliver the necessary gaming performance that these phones are known for. Asus describes its upcoming phones as offering an immersive, lag-free gaming experience unlike anything else out there.
Given how last year’s Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro earned top marks in various benchmark tests that we ran, we’re confident that the 3nm manufacturing process of the Snapdragon 8 Elite should allow it to push ahead of the leading contenders — including the A18 Pro powered iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max. Early benchmark scores of the Snapdragon 8 Elite look promising according to what Qualcomm has shared. On a reference device, it averaged single and multicore scores of 3,221 and 10,426 on Geekbench 6.
But beyond pure muscle power, we’re eager to see how the ROG Phone 9 stacks up with its battery life. That’s because the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro currently stands at the top of the leaderboard in our best phone battery life list — which at a time of 18 hours and 48 minutes — is still faster by over an hour than the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s time. Qualcomm's reputation for making some of the most power efficient chips should undoubtedly give the ROG Phone 9 series a leg up against the competition.
We should know more details about the Asus ROG Phone 9 series at the phone maker’s event next month, but the first set of images show that its distinctive design language once again caters to mobile gamers.
More from Tom's Guide
