How To Choose A Gaming Smartphone In 2020

Games, especially on a smartphone, look frivolous for many. However, this is a dynamically developing industry, in which professional cyber athletes and streamers even appear.

Processor and video accelerators

In games, smartphone performance comes first. Therefore, the more powerful the chipset, the better. Of course, the benchmark is Apple’s Bionic. But its optimization “decides” ‒ it is easier for developers to customize their games for a small variety of “hardware”. In the second place, of course, are the flagship chips from Qualcomm. Of the current Snapdragon 855, 855 Plus, and 865. We cannot say that in a real game they are very different. With processors from Huawei, you can face the fact that a particular game is not optimized for the Mali video system. Well, and the saddest sight is the processors from Samsung ‒ on paper the Exynos 990 is almost the coolest, but unacceptable slowdowns in games.

Screen

In my opinion, it is most convenient to play on IPS-matrices. But now all flagships are moving towards OLED. They are good for watching movies, but in games, PWM (pulse width modulation) strains the eyes. And even all sorts of software methods for suppressing flicker do not help ‒ for example, I still see it with my own eyes. The new 90 and 120 Hz ramps are, of course, the future. But there are practically no games for them now. Finally, if you are looking for a gaming smartphone, you will have to put up with the large size, now it is also fashionable.

Autonomy

The smartphone consumes a lot of energy during games. This means that it will discharge quickly. Therefore, it is better to have a battery of not less than 4000 mAh, although every smartphone consumes energy in its way. But I do not advise playing on the charger ‒ after six months of such work, the degradation of the battery may begin when the capacity drops.

The best gaming smartphones

ASUS Rog Phone 3

Our ranking of the best gaming smartphones of 2020 opens with ASUS Rog Phone 3. A smartphone for those who know what they are looking for. Expensive, heavy, but super powerful and with such a small container of supported gaming accessories (optional, of course). Compared to its predecessor, Rog Phone 3 has updated Air Triggers. They were retrofitted with motion sensors, which greatly expanded the list of customizable reactions. The display has become even faster. Its refresh rate is already in line with that of typical gaming monitors (144 Hz), and the responsiveness of the touch layer is unattainable for competitors.

By the way, if anyone doubts the relevance of screens with a “smooth” picture, we note that 144 Hz scan is supported by more than a hundred popular games. Finally, performance. According to the reviews, Rog Phone 3 has an overclocked Snapdragon 865 Plus and the fastest memory in the world (LPDDR5 and UFS 3.1), which allows the device to score 9,700 units in the 3DMark Sling Shot test and use extreme graphics settings in PUBG Mobile. But the mini-jack is no longer there, and this is sad since the response time of wireless headphones is still longer.

The main advantages:

• record gaming performance;
• display with a refresh rate of 144 Hz and a response time of 1 ms;
• sensory layer with a sampling rate of 270 Hz and a response time of 25 ms;
• multifunctional sensory triggers;
• a large number of compatible accessories.

Minuses:

• no jack for wired headphones;
• no wireless charging;
• moisture protection is not declared;
• price.

Nubia Red Magic 5G

With a touch of irony, Nubia Red Magic smartphones can be considered inexpensive with all the specialized gaming attributes. In principle, their merits are comparable to the talents of ASUS gaming products, but with a lag of about a generation. For example, the display of the Red Magic 5G supports a 144 Hz sweep frequency, but in terms of the polling rate of the sensor layer, it does not reach Rog Phone 3. There are triggers, but “outdated”, without the understanding of gestures. We consider the contact pad for connecting accessories not the most successful design of the phone in question. The developers frankly saved on battery capacity, although they motivated their decision with the desire to maintain the continuity of dimensions.

The chamber formula of the latest Red Magic is poorly matched to the price. On the other hand, for keeping the classic jack for wired headphones ‒ definitely like it. And the physical switch for the special mode is a convenient and reliable thing. Moreover, there is an attempt to finally implement a semblance of adaptive synchronization. For reference, the Red Magic 5S only features an improved cooling system.

The main advantages:

• more than 9000 points on the 3DMark SSE test and 550K on AnTuTu;
• high-speed display;
• dynamic change of the screen refresh rate;
• a modification with 16 GB of RAM;
• useful Air Triggers;
• the physical way to enable the game mode;
• mini-jack for wired headphones.

Minuses:

• mediocre autonomy in-game scenarios;
• the chamber part is interesting only for the main module;
• not the most reliable way to connect special accessories;
• no fast charging included in the global version.

Black Shark 3 Pro

For those mobile gamers for whom size matters, we advise you to take a closer look at the Black Shark 3 Pro smartphone, which received a 7.1-inch display. And the latter surprises with compromise speed characteristics. If it can update the picture itself 90 times per second, then it polls the sensor layer with a frequency of 270 Hz. However, maybe the designers decided to sacrifice increased smoothness for the sake of increasing the autonomy of the phone. Please note that the smartphone in question has a younger “relative” claiming the laurels of the most affordable specialized gaming device based on Snapdragon 865. Not the Pro version is more compact, but it does not have retractable triggers. 

The main advantages:

• huge screen;
• the highest gaming performance (over 9100 points);
• polling frequency of the sensor layer 270 Hz;
• relatively weak heating under load.

Minuses:

• dimensions and weight;
• not the highest screen refresh rate;
• simple chamber part;
• there are complaints about the firmware.

The best gaming flagship smartphones

OnePlus 8 Pro

The first place of the current flagship OnePlus has not been surprising anyone for a long time, insofar as the company pays a lot of attention to the issues of achieving maximum performance in its smartphones, I optimize their firmware. In fairness, we note that the eighth generation 1+ did not receive the fastest RAM possible, but it still has not lost its leadership position, if we do not take into account the Galaxy Note 20 that appeared much later on the overclocked Snapdragon 865 Plus.

Moreover, as a gaming device, the OnePlus 8 Pro is still more interesting due to the fast sensor layer (polling at 240 Hz) and specialized settings. The model can even be called iconic because it finally got IP68 protection (only Pro version). But both modifications have stereo speakers, so you won’t have any problems with full immersion in the game world. According to testing in 3DMark, the performance of smartphones is at least 7000 points (for OpenGL ES 3.1 / METAL).

The main advantages:

• excellent gaming performance;
• large, bright and fast display (120 Hz sweep and 240 Hz polling of the sensor layer);
• special game mode Fnatic Mode;
• stereo speakers.

Minuses:

• curved edges of the screen;
• expensive.

OnePlus 7 Pro

Smartphones of this brand have always been distinguished by the highest performance within the same hardware platform, so they can rightfully be considered as the closest to gaming. The OnePlus 7 Pro’s 90Hz display, which has the potential to give you a competitive edge in fast-paced genres, is an additional argument in favor. Of course, there are still very few games that can control the frequency of image formation, but this trend is only gaining strength and their number will certainly grow. And not necessarily through new projects. A useful feature of the phone in question is the Fnatic Mode function, which is responsible for optimizing the resources of the smartphone when launching the toy. In particular, it maximizes the priority of the latter’s tasks for the processor, restricts access to the network for other applications, and some of them can even be automatically unloaded from memory.

The main advantages:

• powerful single-chip system;
• fast memory;
• the display is capable of refreshing at a frequency of 90 Hz;
• special game optimizer.

Minuses:

• does not have a slot for a memory card;
• does not support wireless charging technology;
• battery life is not impressive.

Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max

If the belonging of a mobile phone to the group of gaming devices was determined only by the results of testing its performance, the leading places would always go to iPhones. The new A13 Bionic, which runs the latest generation of Apple communicators, is ahead of the overclocked Snapdragon 855 in AnTuTu by fifty “parrots”, and its graphics subsystem is faster than its competitors by more than a dozen percent. Besides, the playability of the iPhone 11 Pro Max is indicated by the presence of a gigabit LTE module and super-fast Wi-Fi (802.11ax).

Another “lure” for gamers is the emergence of a gaming service from Apple, to which many well-known developers have already agreed to participate. Moreover, on the Android platform, most of the upcoming projects should not be expected. Finally, iOS 13 promises to provide compatibility with gamepads from SONY and Microsoft. However, iPhones are not well suited for dynamic games is the display part. Only 60 Hz sweep and low readout speed of the sensor layer.

The main advantages:

• the most productive filling to date;
• has a subscription to the Apple Arcade game service;
• support for common lines of gamepads.

Minuses:

• low-frequency display;
• very expensive.

Xiaomi Poco F2 Pro

Let’s continue our ranking of the best smartphones for games with Xiaomi Poco F2 Pro. If the first Pocophon was not initially positioned as a flagship, insofar as it was the most affordable smartphone with top-end hardware, the second generation of this line has noticeably more external signs of premium. Besides, considering the Poco F2 Pro in a less prestigious category does not allow its “matured” price tag. So, what is the heir to the favorite of mobile gamers good for? There are no questions about performance ‒ more than 7 thousand points on the SSE test. There is only advice to take a closer look at the older version of the phone, which features more modern RAM chips. The Poco F1 had a frankly mediocre IPS-screen.

Poco F2 has a bright and juicy AMOLED responsible for displaying the picture. True, it cannot be called advanced gaming due to its modest refresh rate (60 Hz). One consolation is the increased polling rate of the sensor layer (180 Hz). We believe that the main advantage of the display part of Poco F2 Pro is the absence of holes and cutouts ‒ the front camera of the recommended smartphone is retractable, and its lens does not interfere with the gameplay.

The main advantages:

• excellent gaming performance;
• display without cutouts;
• accelerated polling of the sensor layer.

Minuses:

• no stereo speakers;
• standard screen refresh rate;
• no wireless charging;
• no full moisture protection.

Samsung Galaxy S20

If the Galaxy Note 20 is more powerful than its S-line sibling, why would we prefer the latter? It’s simple. Only the Ultra version of the Note boasts a display with high refresh and polling rates, which even the base Galaxy S20 has (albeit without dynamic throttling). As for gaming power, the recommended smartphone scores more than 6 thousand in specialized 3DMark SSE tests and this is on the Exynos 990 chip.

If you have the opportunity to buy the Galaxy S20 on Snapdragon 865, do not even doubt that it is cooler in terms of gaming appeal. And those who prefer the SD version of the S20 + will be able to enjoy the game on a larger screen. In fact, this pair of smartphones differs only in size and batteries. However, the Galaxy S20 + has an additional TOF sensor and it blurs the background more accurately when shooting portraits. We also remind that the most advanced camera phone in the series is the S20 Ultra.

The main advantages:

• very high gaming performance;
• fast display;
• gorgeous sound of stereo speakers;
• there is a slot for a memory card.

Minuses:

• modest autonomy and strong heating (on Exynos);
• low-frequency PWM;
• price.

The best mid-range gaming smartphones

Realme 6 Pro

“Spring” flagship of the young brand. In September 2020, the company managed to present the realme 7 Pro smartphone, which is somewhat ambiguous, in our opinion. The hardware platform has not changed, but the display module of the novelty is built based on the AMOLED matrix. It seems to be an improvement, but the “seven” screen does not have a refresh rate of 90 Hz, which is preferable for a gaming phone. Also, the rear camera has been simplified ‒ the realme 6 Pro has a 12-megapixel telephoto camera with an honest 2x zoom, and its successor has this position taken by a not very useful depth sensor.

Let’s get back to the stuffing. The gaming performance of smartphones is provided by Snapdragon 720G with Adreno 618 graphics, which gives out about 285K in AnTuTu and almost 2500 points in the 3DMark profile test. Some particularly “heavy” projects with ultra-graphic beauties can be pulled by the recommended smartphone with great difficulty, but at high settings, it will be quite comfortable to play.

The main advantages:

• decent gaming performance;
• large memory capacity and triple tray;
• screen refresh rate 90 Hz;
• good camera part (optical zoom, RAW recording).

Minuses:

• poor arrangement of hardware buttons;
• “side” fingerprint scanner;
• no notification indicator.

Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite

The main feature of this smartphone is considered to be 5G networks support, but in terms of gaming capabilities, it is quite interesting. It is not for nothing that its performance indicators were named “the best among equals” in the review on the authoritative GSMArena resource. The phone is powered by the Snapdragon 765G chip and therefore supports Elite Gaming’s proprietary technology, which provides hardware and software improvements to the gaming experience. For example, reducing delays when using Bluetooth headphones. However, the Mi 10 Lite also has a 3.5 mm audio jack.

Some disappointment is caused by the standard refresh rate of the screen of the smartphone in question, here the company decided to save money. Nevertheless, the display is quite suitable for displaying action scenes due to its fast pixel response. But the Mi 10 Lite does not have a slot for a memory card, so it is better to focus on the older configuration.

The main advantages:

• good gaming performance;
• 5G.

Minuses:

• low-frequency PWM;
• an abundance of advertising.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S

Xiaomi was clearly haunted by the diversity of the Huawei / Honor product line, and this year the first company decided to follow the example of the second. If the advancement of cameras in a gaming smartphone is the last thing you are interested in, pay attention to the Redmi Note 9S model. It has the same hardware filling as the ninth pro-version (with all the ensuing gaming talents), but a less cool main photosensor, slower charging and no NFC module. But there is a modification with a smaller amount of memory, which allows you to save a thousand or two.

Judging by the reviews of the owners, the recommended smartphone will run the WoT game with the maximum graphics and give at least 45 FPS in the most “difficult” scenes. At the same time, an hour of such a game will drain the battery by 12 percent.

Note that the manufacturer at the same time decided to support the returning fashion for side fingerprints, but not all left-handed people will find this location of the scanner convenient.

The main advantages:

• decent gaming performance;
• wide range of brightness changes at the display;
• separate slot for a memory card.

Minuses:

• controversial advantages of the side fingerprint scanner;
• there is no contactless payment module (Note 9S);
• embedded advertising.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro

How to ignore a smartphone running on the latest gaming SoC? Even if the latter is made by MediaTek, whose chips were not previously well-optimized for the respective applications. Rather, on the contrary, it could not afford to pay game developers for optimization for the SoCs it produces. Nevertheless, the Helio G90T outperforms the Snapdragon 710 and is not that much inferior to the 730 “dragon” in the much more expensive Mi 9T. There are still some nuances with the optimization of individual game projects, and the characteristic for Xiaomi 40% throttling is present, but at medium graphics settings everything should “fly”. And Note 8 Pro is also interesting for the presence of an exclusive 64-megapixel camera and the long-awaited appearance of the NFC module in the Redmi lineup by the fans of the brand.

The main advantages:

• gaming single-chip system of the middle class;
• useful software chips;
• capacious rechargeable battery;
• the latest 64 megapixel camera;
• there is an NFC module.

Minuses:

• poor optimization for individual games;
• strong “drawdown” of performance at a maximum load;
• noticeable heating.

HONOR 30S

HiSilicon’s single-chip systems have never been famous for gaming performance, but their new Kirin 820 chip is good enough in that regard. At least in synthetic tests, it not only outperforms last year’s flagship of the company (Kirin 980), but also is not that much inferior to the results of Snapdragon 855. Another thing is that the games themselves are practically not optimized for the Kirin 820 features, and some of them may cause drawdowns …

As you may have guessed, Honor 30S is powered by a new processor and may be of some interest to mobile gamers (about 4 thousand in 3DMark SSE). Of course, if they are not scared by the lack of Google services and the exotic format of compatible memory cards. The first is unpleasant in the sense that some toys simply do not start without GMS. Well, I would like to see a more modest price tag.

The main advantages:

• good gaming performance;
• fast display sensor;
• decent autonomy;
• support for 5G networks.

Minuses:

• no Google Mobile Services;
• memory cards of a rare format;
• still expensive.

The best low-cost gaming smartphone

Realme 6i

Rounding out our top of the best gaming smartphones is a relatively entry-level phone when judged in terms of suitability for running today’s demanding games. “Modest” 200K in AnTuTu and slightly more than 1300 points according to Sling Shot Extreme ‒ this is exactly the performance of realme 6i provided by the Helio G80 chip and it is much better than the capabilities of the mid-range SoC Snapdragon 660, which once served as an indicator of affordable coolness for mobile gamers.

The model is not sinless, but the main complaints from the owners are caused by minor inconsistencies in its shell. For example, problems with the touch, which are now being solved by disabling the continuous input mode in the standard keyboard. At the same time, the company has put realme 6i in the plan for updating to the 11th Android and the second version of the custom shell, so there is hope for a fix. If to talk about the ineradicable shortcomings, only the single-band Wi-Fi module deserves a separate mention.

The main advantages:

• good gaming performance for this price range;
• support for contactless payment systems;
• capacious battery;
• triple tray for cards.

Minuses:

• single-band Wi-Fi;
• selectivity in relation to routers;
• bad firmware.

What is the best smartphone for gaming?

If you are an esports player or a wealthy fan of mobile gaming, it makes sense for you to look at specialized models of smartphones for games. The most fundamental approach to business here is from ASUS.

Among the flagships, the best gaming results are demonstrated by smartphones based on the Snapdragon 865 Plus platform. The models based on the non-overclocked version of this chip are slightly inferior to them. Next, come to the top-end Samsung on the Exynos 990, and smartphones on the Kirin 990 traditionally lag behind the leaders. We are now considering only the actual hardware platforms, so the iPhones with their Apple A13 Bionic were left behind. In addition, they cannot be judged by the 3DMark benchmarks. If you focus on the opinion of the overwhelming majority of well-known experts, then the gaming talents of the iPhone 11 allow them to count on the fourth result overall.

For those who are willing to make a small compromise, we recommend looking towards smartphones with Qualcomm’s new 700-series ‘G’ processors. The most productive of these chips came close to the results that the 855th “dragons” provided literally a year earlier, but even with Snapdragon 720G on board, you won’t want to leave the graphics at maximum only in exceptional cases.

Everyone loves to play, so we include not only expensive models in our rating of the best smartphones for gaming. The most interesting offers in the low-cost segment, as it seems to us, are now offered by realme. Here you should be guided by chips from MediaTek (G80, G90), but you need to be prepared for their increased power consumption.