We Got An Asus ROG Phone 9 FE Before GTA 6!

The Asus ROG Phone 9 is a great option for someone who believes in the Android gaming community and is seeking a no-holds-barred approach to mobile gaming. An astronomical price, however, hasn’t helped it find many takers, just like many of its predecessors. That’s not a positive trend for any brand, let alone a PC manufacturer from Taiwan. 

Asus, however, decided to do something to increase sales. While lowering the price of the standard ROG Phone 9 wasn’t possible within months of its launch, Asus took a leaf out of Samsung, OnePlus, iQOO, Apple and every other phone maker in the world – launch a variant of your high-end product with last year’s chipset. The result? The ROG Phone 9 FE.

Asus isn’t elaborating on what FE means in its lineup but the price and the specs sheet could resonate with the audiences. The ROG Phone 9 FE is presently restricted to Thailand but we expect it to arrive on our shores within a few months. And whenever it arrives, this mass-market Asus gaming phone could put up a serious competition to the likes of the OnePlus 13R, iQOO 12, Samsung Galaxy S24 FE and the Apple iPhone SE.

Asus ROG Phone 9 FE: Old wine in a new bottle?

Kind of!

The ROG Phone 9 FE is designed to offer the thrills of Asus’ latest and greatest gaming phone at a much lower price, provided you are content with an older chip. How low, you wonder? Asus is charging a sum of THB 29,990 for the ROG Phone 9 FE’s single variant, which roughly translates to INR 78,000. That doesn’t seem like a good deal in India considering that you can procure phones like the OnePlus 13 and Oppo Find X8 for much lower prices. 

As a matter of fact, you can get an iPhone 16 for less than what the ROG Phone 9 FE costs!

However, we believe that Asus could adjust its supply chain and launch the ROG Phone 9 FE at a price less than INR 50,000 (or else it will perish!)

So, is it all about the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip?

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip is now a generation older but that isn’t a bad trait. Based on the newest 4nm fabrication process, the 8 Gen 3 chip is known to be reliable and highly power efficient. It might not have the raw power of the 3nm Snapdragon 8 Elite but there’s nothing in the Android universe that can overburden the 8 Gen 3. 

Coupled with 16 GB LPDDR5X and 256 GB of UFS 4.0 storage, this is a gamer’s package that will ensure solid performance over the next few years. Asus is shipping the device with Android 15-based ROG UI out of the box and you can expect the same set of gaming-centric features. 

The display is a familiar 6.7-inch 1080p AMOLED display with a peak brightness rating of 2,500 nits. Although the panel is set to a 120 Hz refresh rate, it can amp it up to 165 Hz in system settings and 185 Hz after enabling Game Genie. Asus is using Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for protection against scratches and dents.

The camera system is rather average though – a 50-megapixel Sony IMX890 sensor assisted by gimbal OIS, a 13-megapixel ultrawide shooter and a 5-megapixel macro shooter. For selfies, you get a 32-megapixel selfie shooter. The battery capacity stays put at 5,500 mAh and you get a 65W wired charging solution for quick refills. 

Other miscellaneous features include IP68 water and dust resistance, a 3.5 mm headphone jack and a stereo speaker setup. 

Is the ROG Phone 9 FE worth waiting for?

With players like iQOO, Poco and OnePlus offering compelling options to gamers in the sub-INR 50,000 category, the onus falls upon Asus to price it competitively and gain some traction in the midrange category.