ROG Phone 9 leak hints at a refresh rate so fast it might melt your face

ASUS has officially announced that the ROG Phone 9 will debut on November 19. The upcoming lineup is expected to follow last year’s multi-device launch pattern with the ROG Phone 9 and possibly a Pro variant. While last year’s ROG Phone 8 didn’t leave much room for upgrades, recent leaks suggest ASUS may have found a few ways to raise the stakes.

First reported by 91mobiles, tipster Digital Chat Station recently shared some specs for the ROG Phone 9 on Weibo. As per the post, the ROG Phone 9 will feature an unprecedented 185Hz refresh rate display. While it’s certainly impressive from a technical standpoint, one has to wonder how many mobile games can actually take advantage of such ludicrous specs.

DCS indicates that the phones will utilize LTPO technology, allowing for a variable refresh rate to optimize power consumption. For context, the ASUS ROG Phone 8 offered a 1Hz-120Hz LTPO display with a maximum refresh rate of 165Hz while gaming. It’s likely that the 185Hz refresh rate on the ROG Phone 9 will also be reserved for the phone’s Game Genie mode.

Inside, the ROG Phone 9 series could run on Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Edition (Snapdragon 8 Gen 4). The post further claims that the ROG Phone 9 series will feature a SOC mid-mounted design that could offer “the best heat dissipation efficiency at present.”

The post further reiterates that ASUS will continue with its signature flat-screen design for the ROG Phone 9, add new functionalities for the AniMe Vision lighting system, and offer some new AI features. To round things out, the ROG Phone 9 could carry over the IP68 rating that ASUS added to the ROG series last year.

Based on these speculations and previous leaks, ASUS appears poised to deliver yet another gaming powerhouse experience with the ROG Phone 9. Now, if only the Android gaming library could catch up with the hardware capabilities on these devices.