The ROG Phone series has long been known for its cutting-edge gaming performance, but what happens when you bring a more affordable variant into the mix with the ROG Phone 9 FE? That’s exactly what I set out to discover after using it as my primary smartphone and gaming device for a week. And I’m excited to say, the experience is truly ROG like no other.
This phone combines top-tier hardware, an impressive display, and long-lasting battery life—making it nearly the complete package.
The ROG Phone 9 FE is priced competitively at PhP 39,995 and is available in 12GB+256GB configuration.
What we like:
- Great price to performance ratio
- Uber smooth 185Hz AMOLED display
- Immersive Sound
- AI aided gaming ;)
- "Bling bling" AniMe Vision
What needs improvement:
- Lack of significant camera improvements
- Only 256GB storage option
Serious Gaming Aesthetic
From the moment you pick up the ROG Phone 9 FE, it’s clear that ASUS has carefully considered both its aesthetics and ergonomics. If you're familiar with the previous generation ROG Phone 8 Pro, you'll immediately notice the design similarities, if not for the prominent branding on the body of the Phone 9 FE.
ROG calls the finish of the Phone 9 FE a “Crystalized-nano Texture”—a combination of matte and glossy surfaces that offers a premium feel in the hand. Despite its gaming-centric design and tall aspect ratio, it remains compact at just 8.9mm thick and 225g in weight. This makes it comfortable for both one-handed smartphone use and two-handed gaming.
Like other ROG Phones, the Phone 9 FE retains a 3.5mm audio jack, a left-positioned USB-C port at the bottom, a second USB-C port on the left side, and on the right, you'll find the triggers, volume rocker, and power button.
Even being the more affordable variant, the ROG Phone 9 FE still includes the AniMe Vision on the back panel. This LED display lights up to show various information such as incoming calls, battery and charging status, notifications, or simply to display an atmospheric ROG logo for a distinct gamer vibe. It's pretty cool especially if you enjoy flexing at people who'll see you gaming in public.
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| ROG Phone 9 FE AniMe Vision |
The ROG Phone 9 FE also comes with AirTriggers, which include two pressure-sensitive buttons with haptic and display feedback, along with motion control settings. You can program tilt and turn motions to map specific functions in a game, giving you a more customized gaming experience.
Feast for your eyes (Display)
The ROG Phone 9 FE boasts a 6.78-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display with a blistering 185Hz refresh rate and a 720Hz touch sampling rate. This display is as beautiful as it gets at this resolution. It's incredibly smooth, has deep blacks, and the vibrancy truly makes anything it displays a visual feast.
In fast-paced games like Call of Duty: Mobile, the refresh rate makes a huge difference by offering smoother motion and responsiveness for quicker reactions. It's easy to spot if you've been gaming on non-gaming smartphones; the phone further enhances precision, and every tap, swipe, and drag feels ultra-responsive.
Gaming on this display feels like I've been cursed—it’s hard to go back to a regular phone. The vivid, dynamic graphics make every game feel immersive, while standard displays now appear dull and lifeless in comparison. With HDR10+ certification, the display ensures that both the brightest highlights and the darkest shadows are rich in detail.
Whether you’re streaming, browsing, or gaming, the display offers fluid visuals, and its peak brightness of 2500 nits guarantees excellent outdoor visibility.
Pure Performance
Powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset and up to 12GB of RAM, the ROG Phone 9 FE delivers impressive gaming performance. While it may not feature the fastest chip—reserved for the ROG Phone 9 Pro—its performance still rivals many flagship phones on the market.
In our testing, the AnTuTu score easily surpassed the two million mark, demonstrating the phone’s ability to handle demanding games at maximum settings. Whether you’re exploring the vast world of Genshin Impact, tackling the heavy graphics of Wuthering Waves, or engaging in intense Call of Duty: Mobile battles, the ROG Phone 9 FE stays cool and composed under pressure.
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| ROG Phone 9 FE running Wuthering Waves |
I couldn't measure the exact frame rate during gameplay, but Genshin Impact ran flawlessly at the default high settings and even handled max settings with ease.
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| ROG Phone 9 FE with Genshin Impact |
Clearly, the upgraded cooling system in the ROG Phone 9 FE is a game-changer, keeping the device performing at its best no matter what game you throw at it.
AI Gaming
The ROG Phone 9 FE comes with a few AI enhancements for gaming. The X-Sense 3.0 which uses AI to auto upgrade your character skills, auto collect items, X Capture 2.0 which uses AI imaging to detect and auto record moments of victory in fights, and AI Grabber 2.0 which
The latter two may catch some interest, but I believe the feature most people will likely find genuinely useful is X-Sense 3.0. And yes, it works exactly as promised.
While playing Mobile Legends, it automatically upgrades character skills and even notifies you when a buff item appears. This allows you to focus less on managing skills and items and more on planning your next move. It’s pretty handy and gives you a slight edge over your opponents.
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| ROG Phone 9 FE X-Sense 3.0 on Mobile Legends |
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| ROG Phone 9 FE X-Sense 3.0 on Mobile Legends |
Big Battery, so-so 65W charging
Battery life is critical for gaming phones, and the ROG Phone 9 FE packs a large 5,500mAh battery. On normal use with lots of screen time for gaming, I easily managed over a full day of use. It could easily last up to two days on a single charge.
The phone supports 65W fast charging. While this isn't really very fast by today's standards, this can charge the phone from 20 to 100 percent in just around 39 minutes.
Cameras
The ROG Phone 9 FE is built for gaming, but its camera setup also matches the flagship standards we see on other phones. It features a 50MP primary camera and a 13MP ultra-wide camera. While you probably won’t catch me using this for serious street photography or professional work, the images it produces are quite nice.
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| ROG Phone 9 FE Camera Wide |
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| ROG Phone 9 FE Camera Ultrawide |
Colors are pleasant, sharpness is clear, though the contrast is a bit higher than I would normally prefer.
Like most phones, it does tend to oversaturate some colors, such as green grass or a blue sky, but it’s generally to a degree that most people will find appealing.
Even in low light, the results are serviceable.
The Phone 9 FE lacks a dedicated telephoto camera, unlike the ROG Phone 8 Pro, but it offers lossless in-sensor zoom. By maximizing the resolution of the main camera, you can zoom in up to 2x without any noticeable drop in quality.
The front-facing camera, a 32MP unit, also takes decent selfies. There are some noticeable softening in dimly lit environments, but in total, I’m happy with the quality.
Overall, I wouldn’t hesitate to use this camera while traveling if it were the only one I had.
Conclusion: Should You Buy the ROG Phone 9 FE?
Personally, I'm still drawn towards smartphones that have more to offer when it comes to their camera capabilities. But for those looking for a gaming phone that delivers flagship-level performance without the flagship price tag, the ROG Phone 9 FE is an excellent choice.
It has the power to run the latest games at highest settings, has a fast 185Hz display, immersive sound quality, it simply offers everything a mobile gamer needs for a premium experience.
Top that with exclusive features like the AirTriggers, AniMe Vision, and the AI gaming enhancements, this phone truly gives that ROG Phone experience at a lower cost.
Whether you’re a casual gamer or a competitive player, this phone will provide you with the tools you need to dominate your game of choice and is easily one of the top choices we can recommend.
The ROG Phone 9 FE 12GB + 256GB is currently available for PhP 39,995.