With Apple Arcade reigniting our interest in mobile games, now's a good time to pick up the best gaming phone so you can take advantage of them. The tricky bit is working out which one's right for you; Apple, Samsung, Razer, Google and beyond all have killer devices that are worthy of your cash. That's where we come in. To help point you in the right direction, our team of experts have rustled up a list of top-tier phones that are also perfect for playing games.
Don't fall into the trap of thinking that the best gaming phone will be the biggest and most powerful device, though. I mean, sure, that helps. But mobile games don't normally require tons of horsepower anyway, so there's no need to drop a fortune on cutting-edge tech. It's more important that your device can run apps without slowing to a crawl when you've got a few open at a time. A larger screen is handy too, and high-definition HDR displays are a good way to future-proof yourself.
Storage space is just as important, though - if not more so. Although smaller memories will get you by, you'll frequently have to delete games or beloved photos if you want to install something else. And trust us, that sucks. As a result, we'd advise grabbing something with as many gigabytes as possible (64GB is a good amount, if you're wondering). That way you can store as many of the best Android games and iPhone games as you like.
Best gaming phone
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Few phones are truly games-focused; most of the time they get little more than a cursory nod. The OnePlus 7 Pro is an exception to that rule. Designed in collaboration with eSports competitors, its dedicated ‘Fnatic Mode’ promises an "aggressive CPU focus, with almost all available resources being concentrated into the game". It does this by blocking network access from other apps and banning all calls or notifications while activated, leaving every scrap of power for your game. It's PC-style overclocking, in other words - and that's something we very rarely see on mobile devices.
Another feather in this phone's cap is its speed. Honestly, this is one of the fastest phones we've ever used. That's due to a blistering 90Hz refresh rate, which in turn is 30Hz more than most other phones. The quad HD+ display with a resolution of 3120 x 1440 help tie a bow around what is already a top-quality offering (oh, and that telescoping front camera is really cool).
This year's iPhones have arrived with the pizazz of a fireworks display, and they're arguably the best yet - particularly the triple-lensed iPhone 11 Pro. Even though you may not notice much of a difference between it and the older iPhone XS range at first glance, look closer and you'll find enough to wow you here. To begin with, its battery life is far better than those older models. That'll definitely come in handy if you like to play Fortnite or Pokemon Go on your morning commute. It also has a gorgeous 5.8-inch OLED screen that'll make your games a visual delight.
However, the biggest improvement would have to be its trio of high-quality cameras. You get 12MP wide, ultra-wide, and telephoto lenses, not to mention a 12MP front-facing camera and 'Night Mode' for shots in dark environments as well. Yes, it's not a gaming-related feature, but that still puts the iPhone 11 Pro head and shoulders above older iPhones.
The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus is a step up from the S9 (and even the standard S10) in practically every way. Packing the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor as the OnePlus 7 Pro, it has horsepower to spare. Its beautiful Super AMOLED screen is also something to behold; you get vibrant visuals and the blackest of blacks when tackling realistic titles or movies. Thanks to a larger 6.4" display, you also won't miss a thing no matter whether you're playing Mario Kart Tour, Fallout Shelter, or The Elder Scrolls: Blades.
There are a few non-gaming perks to this upgrade, too - it's got Wireless Powershare functionality, an in-screen fingerprint sensor, 12MP main, telephoto, and ultra wide lens, and 93.1% screen-to-body ratio. That makes it a must-have if you're set on a Samsung device.
The Honor 20 Pro is an absolute beast for gaming. Not only does it have a powerful Kirin chipset and 8GB of RAM, which easily chews through the most demanding of games, but it's also optimized for play on the go. It boasts the ability to not only lock Fortnite Mobile to 60fps, but also includes a series of features that boost your online connection, and specially tunes other features on your phone to increase battery life and divert resources to make everything run as smoothly as possible. There's a generous 256GB of storage, which means you can download a whole lot of games before filling the device up, and the 6.26-inch screen is large enough to offer decent control over most titles.
As a phone, the 20 Pro is extremely versatile. The 48Mp main camera brings crystal clear shooting, and there's a decent macro lens on there too. The wide-angle and zoom lenses are... just fine, and there's a great selfie camera too. The main drawbacks are that there's no 3.5mm socket here, so you're reliant on Bluetooth connections for headphones (the phone speakers are pretty good, if you're gaming alone), and that the screen isn't QHD like some competitors, so you can't display ultra-HD content. The other issue is that Honor is owned by Huawei, who are currently in dispute with Google (and the US) over the use of the Android OS on its phones. This situation changes almost daily, but be aware that it's a factor.
As a phone, however, the Honor 20 Pro is superb for gaming, and works well as a day-to-day handset. It's competitively priced, too, so won't break the bank like all Apple phones, or the likes of the Galaxy S10 and Note 10.
The Razer Phone 2 really is a marvel when it comes to gaming. That 5.7-inch screen, which does both HDR and 120Hz refresh rate is a thing of beauty, and it enhances pretty much any game you stick on there. No, it isn't edgeless, and it still sticks to the 16:9 aspect ratio, but the quality of the picture more than compensates for this. Add in the Dolby Atmos sound, and the terrifyingly fast Snapdragon 845 processor, and this will run anything you throw at it with panache. The overall build and feel of the phone is large, chunky and well made, so you know it won't break if you get a bit excited on the train, playing PUBG.
It runs Android, so you're getting a phone with a neat, customizable OS, and there are loads of settings within the system to allow you to prioritize gaming and movie watching. The battery is commendable too, offering both rapid charging (which means you're fully charged from 0% in under two hours) and a whopping usage time of 10+ hours. That's not just messaging and occasional use either; that's playing games, using the camera, and accessing the media player. The battery especially stacks up very well against this phone's competition.
The Razer Phone 2 is only let down by everyday use features. Yes, it's large, and no it doesn't have a headphone socket, but it's a powerful phone specifically designed for gaming. If that's your primary concern, this is way ahead of the competition.
When you want a quality smartphone experience for gaming, look no further than the manufacturer of the PlayStation 4 itself: Sony. The Sony Xperia XZ2 is an exercise in decadence that may not measure up to the rest of the never-ending cavalcade of smartphone releases over the rest of the year, but it still sports several features that push it quite far ahead of the rest of the pack.
Its top-of-the-line Snapdragon 845 chipset powers a stunning 1080 x 2160 HDR display with 5.7 inches of screen real estate that's perfect for any game, bolstering performance in a big way. But other phones offer largely the same setup – it's the Xperia XZ2's stereo speakers that end up setting it apart. Its dual front-facing speakers are something to marvel over, especially when playing games where sound matters and earbuds just won't do. Coupled with its haptic feedback, dubbed the "Dynamic Vibration System," it offers one of the closest things to a true console experience any other smartphone has yet to deliver.
With decent battery life and microSD support for an abundance of storage, Sony's excellent smartphone is a viable contender for on-the-go gaming, no matter what your preferences lean toward.
If you want Android the way it was meant to be, look no further than the Google Pixel 3 XL. This phone, straight from the creators of Android themselves, offers a stock Android experience on an absolute beast of a device. It's not a massive improvement over the Google Pixel 2 XL, but if you're looking to upgrade from a phone that's a couple of years old, you'll be hard-pressed to find a model that can top the Pixel 3 XL.
The Pixel series is the spiritual successor to Google's Nexus line, but where the Nexus cut corners to offer a premium product at a low price, the Pixel goes for broke. It touts a camera that surpasses the iPhone in many tests, and the new mode of OLED screen fixes any of the problems the Pixel 2XL had with washed out colors. However, all that comes at a cost. Given that it shares the same CPU with many current flagships, and even has less RAM than some, you may do better to shop around for a similar phone.
If money is no object, though, the Google Pixel 3 XL is one of the best ways to experience Android. It receives updates straight from Google, so you're not stuck waiting months for the latest version of Android, and it has a lively development community, so if the stock feel isn't your thing you can tinker until you find something that is.
The iPhone XR has all of the meat of the iPhone X and none of the gristle. While some might miss the dual cameras or OLED screen, when it comes to gaming the iPhone XR matches and perhaps even exceeds its predecessor. The new A12 Bionic processor that the iPhone XR shares with its bigger brothers, the XS and XS Max adds a little more oomph over the A11 found in the iPhone X, and as mobile games continue to grow more sophisticated you'll be glad for the extra horsepower.
Despite some Android phones having more impressive stats on paper, you'll find that games tend to be better optimized on iOS, an advantage of only having to support a small number of devices. However, the XR also comes with the iPhone's biggest weakness. If you're someone who likes to tinker with new phone ROMs or wacky stuff like streaming your PC games to your phone, the iPhone XR just doesn't have that flexibility. When it comes to gaming it's the Apple App Store or bust, and that might be a dealbreaker depending on what you desire out of your phone.
If the best and the brightest mobile tech doesn't concern you and you just need a formidable piece of hardware suitable for gaming, the Nokia 6.1 is a viable option. It's perfect for mobile gamers who want a more cost-effective option than the latest and greatest selections out there, and while it sacrifices newer tech for a lower price, it's still capable of reliable performance.
The stylish Nokia phone comes standard with the Snapdragon 630, which obviously isn't the top of the line when it comes to processing power, but the phone's decent amount of RAM ensures there are few issues when playing labor-intensive games. Still, it’s a bit less than what you may be used to. You won't be able to crank up your graphics settings to Ultra or anything like that, but it's perfectly fine if all you care about is having an available mobile device to jump into the most popular titles out on the App Store or Google Play Store with friends.
You get a decent suite of additional specs as well for the price, but the spotlight here is the price, since it's the most affordable out of the current crop of phones out there appropriate for regular gaming. It's nowhere near top-tier with its list of specs, but the price is certainly right, and that lets it hang with the best of them.
The Motorola Z3 is another midrange phone in Motorola's confusingly-named lineup. Not to be confused with the Motorola Z3 Play, the Z3 is a Verizon-exclusive phone that offers excellent performance in an affordable package. Of course, this device will have limited appeal, being sold exclusively through Verizon Wireless. However, if that happens to be your carrier and you're looking to get a (close to) top-of-the-line Android phone for a little more than half of what Samsung, LG, and Apple's offerings retail for, the Z3 is worth checking out.
Besides the more than adequate device specs, the Moto Z3 will appeal to gamers because of Moto Mods. The Z3 is one of the only phones to allow you to expand its capabilities with add-ons. You can get a gamepad that fits the phone perfectly and adds two joysticks, a D-pad, four face buttons, and two shoulder buttons on each side. The Moto Gamepad also adds another 1035 mAh battery to augment the Z3's internal power so you can game longer.
The Moto Mods can be a bit expensive, but they're custom made to fit the platform and add extendability to the Z3 that other phones just don't have. If you're looking at mid-range Android phones and happen to use Verizon as your carrier, consider the Z3 if you plan on using your device for a lot of gaming.
