The best gaming phones can do far more than bring you all your favorite thumb tappers. These devices can pack some serious power, with high-powered processors and GPUs, bags of RAM, and speedy refresh rate displays.
There are plenty of gaming-oriented devices hitting the market these days as well, so there's a lot for Play Store power users to dive into right now. Not only that, but with the rise of Xbox's Cloud Gaming solutions, smaller screens are becoming an even bigger business.
However, there are many models out there - all claiming to be the best gaming phones on the market. That makes it difficult to work out exactly what you need from your smartphone, and how much you need to pay for a gaming-specific device.
Thankfully, as gaming phones develop, we're seeing prices on the biggest and best falling slightly down the scale. That means there are now options for all budgets, and we're rounding up our favorites right here.
Our team of experts is on hand to point out the best gaming phones currently gracing the market, not to mention the best prices. We've drawn on our own hands-on experience with the latest and greatest releases to ensure you're getting an overview of the whole space before making that critical decision.
Of course, you're not going to get the performance of a gaming laptop, or even the best gaming tablets, here - but for a pocket-sized thumb twitcher, these are the models we'd recommend.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3
SPECIFICATIONS
Screen size: 6.2" OLED external / 7.6" AMOLEDResolution: 2268 x 832 external / 2208 x 1768 internalProcessor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 888Cameras: 12-mp ultrawide, 12-mp wide, 12-mp telephoto, 4-mp front (under display), 10-mp front (front cover)Storage: 256GB, 512GBWater resistance: IPX8 (up to 1.5 meters)Dimensions: 158.2 x 67.1 x 16.0mm (folded) / 158.2 x 128.1 x 6.4mm (unfolded)Weight: 9.55 oz (271g)
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 finally achieves what the foldable phone movement set out to achieve all those years ago. The latest iteration feels like the first to truly deliver on that promise of smartphone form factor and tablet functionality, with an impressive set of specs under the hood and some incredible UI improvements up top.
The horizontal folding action means you're getting a full 7.6-inch display when fully open, which we found excellent for multi-tasking (especially paired with a split view) and gaming alike. From browsing the web while checking emails to adding an extra window for on-the-fly Spotify controls, Samsung has moved beyond providing a larger phone screen here and more into the world of a tablet productivity machine.
When it comes to gaming, the impressive tech on display certainly doesn't disappoint either. We never ran into any heating problems while running heavier titles like Call of Duty Mobile, and the 120Hz refresh rates on every screen meant we were really pushing those demanding apps to their fullest potential. We did, however, stumble across a slight issue with some more retro side-scrolling titles - losing a moment of control as we slid over the crease in the middle of the two screens. There was only one game that we tested that produced this, however.
We also got some great action out of those Dolby speakers. Aside from their obvious employment in streaming and music apps, they performed brilliantly in our gaming tests as well, carrying a full sound stage with plenty of detail.
Speaking of streaming, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 finally brings some innovations to its entertainment apps. While 'Flex' mode (fold the screen horizontally like a laptop for playback controls on the lower half of the panel) is yet to be implemented across some apps, Netflix ran beautifully while propped up in this way.
It's certainly costly, but the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 takes foldable phones' first real steps into the future, and it's easily the best phone released this year.
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