RedMagic 10 Pro+ vs ROG Phone 9 Pro: 2025’s Ultimate Gaming Showdown

Two flagship phones, one ultimate decision. The RedMagic 10 Pro+ and the ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition are bringing console-level power to your hands. With super-fast displays, active cooling, and super chipsets, this test will figure out everything from benchmark scores to emulator performance so you can know what will matter in 2025’s mobile gaming space.

Before we get to comparing these flagship phones and how they will fare against the competition in the market, first, how do emulators stress the hardware, and what do they ask from us?

Emulators will stress the hardware like nothing else, so I’ll start by explaining why emulators demand more from the hardware.

Emulators are for mobile gamers who want to emulate console hardware but differently, in terms of software translation. That emulation requires real-time use of both CPU and GPU resources—unlike running a mobile game optimized for ARM processors. Emulators emulate hardware systems that run on completely different architectures, like MIPS (PSP), PowerPC (GameCube/Wii), or x86 (in some experimental PC emulators). For the same reason, consistent frame pacing, cooling, and sustained performance under heavy loads are a must.

RedMagic 10S Pro Plus: A Beast for Emulators

With the Snapdragon 8 Elite clocked at 4.32 GHz, the RedMagic 10S Pro Plus has an Adreno 800 GPU and 24GB of LPDDR5T RAM. While behind Adreno 830 on paper, the performance gap is theoretical for most use cases.

Its real strength is in the cooling system. ICE-X Magic Cooling with a 23,000 rpm internal fan can keep top performance for hours. Combined with a 7,500 mAh battery and 120W fast charging, this phone is designed for long emulator sessions without FPS drops.

What this means in real-world emulation:

•    AetherSX2 (PS2): Locked 60 FPS in heavy titles like God of War II at 2x or 3x internal resolution. No overheating reported.

•    Dolphin (Wii/GameCube): 60 FPS with advanced rendering options like anisotropic filtering and anti-aliasing enabled.

•    PPSSPP (PSP): High-resolution rendering with shader effects applied. Crisis Core and Tekken 6 run smoothly.

•    Yuzu (Switch): Light games like Hollow Knight and Celeste run 35-40 FPS. Demanding games like Zelda BOTW are playable at lower resolutions.

ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition: Power Meets Display Polish

The ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition runs on GHz Snapdragon 8 Elite with Adreno 830 GPU and 24GB of LPDDR5X RAM. 1TB UFS 4.0 storage for storing dozens of large console ISOs.

But its cooling is not specified. While ASUS has good thermal performance through vapor chambers and optional AeroActive Coolers, the out-of-box thermal limit is still unknown. No internal fan means under heavy emulation, heat buildup can cause minor performance drops without the optional cooler.

What to expect during emulation:

• AetherSX2: Good for light and mid-range PS2 titles. Throttling observed in graphically heavy games during 30+ minute sessions. 

• Dolphin: 60 FPS with some frame skipping in Metroid Prime. Better with AeroActive Cooler.

• PPSSPP: Smooth. The phone heats up faster with HD texture packs and custom shaders.

• Yuzu: 30 FPS in low-end titles. Performance drop during intense boss fights in Astral Chain.

Key Emulation-Focused Spec Comparison

The Bottom Line for Emulator Enthusiasts

If you're looking for performance without throttling and heat, the clear winner is the RedMagic 10s Pro Plus. The cooling system is not merely a gimmick — it works. As the user who may be interested in longer sessions of gaming and therefore does not want an external cooling unit and enjoys the performance benefit, the RedMagic offers a much better ROI.

The ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition has great display fidelity, GPU capability, and wireless capability. It has Wi-Fi 7 support and a brighter screen than even the ROG Phone 7 (2500 nits), and thus may provide a better experience when streaming or playing online. Although the ROG Phone can stack with an ASUS external cooling add-on for performance, the ROG Phone has no thermal consistency out of the box versus the RedMagic.

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