Asus ROG Phone 9 FE vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max

Compared 2 smartphones : Asus ROG Phone 9 FE Manufactured in February, 2025, with display 6.78 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, vs Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max, Manufactured in September, 2024 with chipsetApple A18 Pro. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

Key Differences

Device key advantages
Reasons to choose Asus ROG Phone 9 FE
  • Higher refresh rate: 185Hz
  • Lighter design: 225g vs 227g
  • Higher battery capacity: 5500mAh vs 4685mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.4 vs 5.3
  • Includes charger
  • Fingerprint scanner
Reasons to choose Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
  • Larger display: 6.9in
  • Higher pixel density: 458ppi
  • Built-in eSIM

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options 16/256 GB - 8/256 GB
- 8/512 GB
- 8/1024 GB

Review

Key Specs Asus ROG Phone 9 FE and Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
Display
Color accuracy, sharpness & brightness
Camera
Main & front camera tests
Performance
App & system performance
Games
3D gaming performance
Battery
Battery life, charging speed & type
Connectivity
Connectivity features
NanoReview Score
Overall score by NanoReview
Adjust each parameter’s importance to find the best match for you.
Customize your score
Function
Importance (Weight)
Display:
Camera:
Performance:
Gaming:
Battery:
Connectivity:
Higher weight means greater impact on NanoReview score.

Tests & specs

Specs & test comparison

Display

Display quality comparison
Type AMOLED OLED
Size 6.78 in 6.9 in
Resolution 1080x2400 pixels 1320x2868 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
Pixel density 388 ppi 458 ppi
Refresh rate 185 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes Yes (1-120 Hz)
Max brightness 2500 nits 2000 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes Dolby Vision
Touch Sampling Rate 720 Hz n/a
Screen-to-body ratio 88.2 % 92.3 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Asus ROG Phone 9 FE
n/a
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
1813 nits
sRGB gamutn/a99.6 %
PWM (Flicker)n/a240 Hz
Response timen/a1 ms
Contrastn/a∞ Infinite

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 163.8 mm (6.45 in) 163 mm (6.42 in)
Width 76.8 mm (3.02 in) 77.6 mm (3.06 in)
Thickness 8.9 mm (0.35 in) 8.25 mm (0.32 in)
Weight 225 g (7.94 oz) 227 g (8.01 oz)
Water resistance IP68 IP68
Cooling system Vapor chamber n/a
Back panel Glass Glass
Frame Metal Metal
Colors Black - White
- Black
- Silver
- Gold
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display No
Screen-to-body ratio
Asus ROG Phone 9 FE
88.2 %
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
92.3 %

Performance

Testing Asus ROG Phone 9 FE and Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Apple A18 Pro
Max Frequency 3300 MHz 4040 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 2 + 2) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 2/2.27 (Cortex-A520)
- 2/2.96 (Cortex-A720)
- 3/3.15 (Cortex-A720)
- 1/3.3 (Cortex-X4)
- 4/2.42 (Sawtooth)
- 2/4.05 (Everest)
Process TSMC TSMC
Transistor Size 4 nm 3 nm
Neural Processor Hexagon Neural Engine
Graphics Adreno 750 Apple A18 Pro GPU
GPU Cores 1536 768
GPU Frequency 903-1000 MHz 1490 MHz
FLOPS 2774 GFLOPS 2289 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Asus ROG Phone 9 FE
2233
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
3564
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Asus ROG Phone 9 FE
7088
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
8880
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)22333564
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)70888880
Geekbench Compute (GPU)n/a33019
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Asus ROG Phone 9 FE
2256113
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
1813449
CPU512568465726
GPU904693721738
Memory421740250875
UX417112375110
NanoReview Score22561131813449
3DMark Wild Life

Memory

RAM
RAM Size 16 GB 8 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Memory Frequency 4800 MHz n/a
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage Capacity256 GB256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 4.0NVMe
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 15 iOS 18 (Upgradeable to iOS 18.5)
OS Size n/a 18 GB
UI Skin ROG UI n/a

Battery

Volume 5500 mAh 4685 mAh
Max Charging Power 65 W 30 W
Battery Type Li-Po Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging Yes (15 W) Yes (15 W)
Reverse Charging Yes Yes
Fast Charging Yes (81% in 30 min) Yes (46% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 0:39 h 1:57 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Asus ROG Phone 9 FE
n/a
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
35:01
Web Browsingn/a14:34 h
Video Playbackn/a22:01 h
Gamesn/a07:12 h
Standby Moden/a163 h

Main camera

Matrix 50 MP 48 MP
Photo resolution 8192x6144 pixels 8064x6048 pixels
Zoom Digital 142
Flash LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K Recording Yes (Up to 30 fps) No
4K Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 120 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 120 fps)
Slow Motion 120 fps (2160p) 240 fps (1080p)
Wide-angle lens 120 ° 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 50 MP
Ultra-wide: 13 MP
Macro: 5 MP
Standard: 48 MP
Telephoto: 12 MP
Ultra-wide: 48 MP
Depth
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix50 MP48 MP
Aperturef/1.9f/1.8
Focal length24 mm24 mm
SensorSony Lytia LYT-700CSony IMX803
Sensor size1/1.561/1.28
Pixel size1 μm1.22 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrixn/a12 MP
Aperturen/af/2.8
Focal lengthn/a120 mm
Sensorn/aSony IMX913
Sensor sizen/a1/3.06
Pixel sizen/a1.12 μm
Stabilizationn/aOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix13 MP48 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal length13 mm13 mm
Sensorn/aSony IMX972
Sensor sizen/a1/2.55
Pixel sizen/a0.7 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Asus ROG Phone 9 FE
n/a
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
157
Video quality
Asus ROG Phone 9 FE
n/a
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
159
Overall camera score
Asus ROG Phone 9 FE
n/a
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
157
Bokehn/a80
Previewn/a93

Front camera

Matrix 32 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution n/a 4032x3024 pixels
Aperture f/2.5 f/1.9
Focal length 22 mm 23 mm
Sensor CMOS Sony IMX714
Sensor size 1/3.2 1/3.6
Pixel size 7 μm 1.12 μm
Autofocus No Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Optical
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 fps 2160p (4K) at 60 fps
TOF 3D sensor No Yes

Connectivity

Wi-Fi version 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
Connectivity
SIM Count*2n/a
SIM TypeNanoeSIM
SIM ModeDual SIM Standbyn/a
eSIM Support *NoYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900MHzGSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
3G BandsWCDMA 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1800 / 1900 / 2100MHzUMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz)
LTE Bands*LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B32/B34/B38/B39/B40/B41/B42/B43/B48/B66)LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B14/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B29/B30/B32/B34/B38/B39/B40/B41/B42/B48/B53/B66/B71)
LTE category18n/a
5G SupportYesYes

Sound

Speakers Stereo n/a
3.5 mm Jack Yes No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Asus ROG Phone 9 FE
n/a
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
92.6 dB

Other

Class Flagship Flagship
Announced February, 2025 yr September, 2024 yr
Release Date February, 2025 yr September, 2024 yr
Launch Price ($) 890 n/a
MSRP ($) n/a 1199
Sensors - Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Face Sensor
Charger Included Yes 65 W No

Note

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max:

The US version of the smartphone exclusively supports eSIM, while the international model features both a physical SIM slot and eSIM capability. In China, the device is available with dual physical SIM card slots only.

* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

After analyzing the data, we consider Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max the clear winner in this comparison.

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