Asus ROG Phone 9 vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.78-inch Asus ROG Phone 9 (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite) that was released on November 19, 2024, against the Apple iPhone 16 Pro, which is powered by Apple A18 Pro and came out 3 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Asus ROG Phone 9
- Comes with 2218 mAh larger battery capacity: 5800 vs 3582 mAh
- 74% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (3116K versus 1793K)
- Higher display refresh rate – 185 Hz
- Has 2x more RAM: 16GB versus 8GB
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.4)
- Has a 0.48 inch larger screen size
- Supports higher wattage charging (65W versus 30W)
- Fingerprint scanner
- CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
- Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 16 Pro
- The rear camera has a 5x optical zoom
- Slow-motion recording at 240FPS
- 18% higher pixel density (458 vs 388 PPI)
- Better grip in hands – the body is 5.5 mm narrower
- Weighs 28 grams less
- 11% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 3534 and 3198 points
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
- Ready for eSIM technology
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
Choose the importance of each parameter to more accurately identify the smartphone that best meets your particular needs.
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | AMOLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.78 inches | 6.3 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels | 1206 x 2622 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 388 ppi | 458 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 185 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (24-120 Hz) | Yes (1-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 2500 nits | 2000 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | - | 1600 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Touch sampling rate | 720 Hz | - |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus 2 | Ceramic Shield |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 88% | 91.1% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | - | 99.9% |
| PWM | - | 239 Hz |
| Response time | - | 1 ms |
| Contrast | - | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 163.8 mm (6.45 inches) | 149.6 mm (5.89 inches) |
| Width | 77 mm (3.03 inches) | 71.5 mm (2.81 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) | 8.25 mm (0.32 inches) |
| Weight | 227 g (8.01 oz) | 199 g (7.02 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black | White, Black, Silver, Gold |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | No |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite | Apple A18 Pro |
| Max clock | 4320 MHz | 4040 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (2 + 6) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 6 cores at 3.53 GHz: Oryon (Phoenix M) - 2 cores at 4.32 GHz: Oryon (Phoenix L) | - 4 cores at 2.42 GHz: Sawtooth - 2 cores at 4.05 GHz: Everest |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 3 nanometers | 3 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | Neural Engine |
| Graphics | Adreno 830 | Apple A18 Pro GPU |
| GPU shading units | 1536 | 768 |
| GPU clock | 1100 MHz | 1490 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~3379.2 GFLOPS | ~2289 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 710901 | 408349 |
| GPU | 1251000 | 739305 |
| Memory | 671144 | 281199 |
| UX | 483081 | 365064 |
| Total score | 3116126 | 1793917 |
| Samples | Less then 3 | [8 tests] |
Memory
| RAM size | 12, 16 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5X |
| Channels | 2 | 4 |
| Storage size | 256, 512 GB | 128, 256, 512, 1024 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 4.0 | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 15 | iOS 18 (Can be upgraded to iOS 18.2) |
| ROM | ROG UI | - |
| OS size | - | 18 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 5800 mAh | 3582 mAh |
| Max charge power | 65 W | 30 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes | Yes |
| Fast charging | Yes (76% in 30 min) | Yes (58% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 0:47 hr | 1:38 hr |
| Web browsing | - | 11:41 hr |
| Watching video | - | 17:46 hr |
| Gaming | - | 05:35 hr |
| Standby | - | 132 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8192 x 6144 | 8000 x 6000 |
| Zoom | Digital | Optical, 5x |
| Flash | LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 30FPS | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 120FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 120FPS |
| Slow motion | 120 FPS (2160p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Ultrawide: 13 MP 3) Macro: 5 MP | 1) Standard: 48 MP 2) Telephoto: 12 MP 3) Ultrawide: 48 MP 4) Depth |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.9 | f/1.8 |
| Focal length | 24 mm | 24 mm |
| Sensor | Sony Lytia LYT-700C | Sony IMX803 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.56" | 1/1.28" |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1.22 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | - | 12 MP |
| Aperture | - | f/2.8 |
| Focal length | - | 120 mm |
| Sensor | - | Sony IMX913 |
| Sensor size | - | 1/3.06" |
| Pixel size | - | 1.12 micron |
| Stabilization | - | Optical |
| Image resolution | 13 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | 13 mm |
| Sensor | - | Sony IMX972 |
| Sensor size | - | 1/2.55" |
| Pixel size | - | 0.7 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Image resolution | 5 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | - |
| Stabilization | No | - |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | - | 80 |
| Preview | - | 93 |
| Zoom | - | 142 |
| Samples | - | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 16 Pro from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 32 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | - | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.5 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 22 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor | CMOS | Sony IMX714 |
| Sensor size | - | 1/3.6" |
| Pixel size | 7 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Autofocus | No | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Digital | Optical |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | Yes |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.4 | 5.3 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 3.2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | Yes, DP 1.4 | Yes |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | - |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | eSIM |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support* | No | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 18 | - |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | Yes | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | November 2024 | September 2024 |
| Release date | November 2024 | September 2024 |
| Launch price | $999 | $999 |
| SAR (head) | - | 1.24 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 1.48 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint | - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
| Bundled charger | Yes, 65 W | Not included |
Further details
Notes on iPhone 16 Pro:
- In the US, the smartphone only supports eSIM, while the international model comes with 1 physical SIM slot plus eSIM capability.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

