Gaming on mobile phones has been in vogue since ancient times, when Snake was installed on the Nokia 3310. Since then, the mobile gaming industry has come a long way, and smartphones have slowly but surely evolved from dialers to full-fledged gaming devices almost at console level. What are the most important smartphone parameters for gamers and what are the top 10 smartphones for gaming?
What is a gaming phone and who needs it?
Only 10 years ago, mobile games were so simple and banal that it seemed fantastic that one day we would be able to play mobile shooters with multiplayer. But time passed, the development of the mobile segment grew exponentially. As technology advances, so does the mobile gaming market.
At the moment, profits from mobile games have surpassed those from consoles and PCs. Gamers are ready to download worthy projects, play them and spend their money on cosmetic items, all kinds of upgrades and experience boosters.
Gamers want to play powerful, cool games with excellent graphics and multiplayer on their smartphone, developers are ready to provide all this, but for a comfortable game, powerful smartphones with support for modern graphics are needed. Such a device should be easy to use, powerful, with excellent cooling and a capacious battery. This is a «smartphone for gaming», which is now in great demand.
The best gaming smartphone must, first and foremost, have the latest hardware, a large battery and a good display. You should also pay attention to cooling. Every smartphone heats up, but some models have the ability to dissipate this heat, while others simply reduce the performance so that the heating does not exceed the permissible level.
10th place - Poco X3 Pro
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Screen: 6.67 inches, 120 Hz
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Built-in memory: 128/256 GB
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RAM: 8 GB
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Cameras: four, 48/8/2/2 MP
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Processor: Snapdragon 860
When it comes to the best gaming smartphones of 2022, the Poco X3 Pro takes the top budget spot. For your money, you get a Snapdragon 860 processor - not bad for a budget phone - from 6 to 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage. And the 6.67-inch display with a 120Hz refresh rate has a 240Hz touch sensitivity.
The 5160mAh battery is enough for a few very intense gaming sessions, and the 33W wired charging, while not the fastest on the market, will charge the device in about an hour.
Advantages:
- excellent price/performance ratio
- cheap
- large battery
Disadvantages:
- no 5G
- boring design
- average camera quality
9thPlace - Red Magic 6R
- Screen: 6.67 inch AMOLED
- Built-in memory: 128/256 GB
- RAM: 6/12 GB
- Cameras: four, 64/8/2/5 MP
- Processor: Snapdragon 888
The Red Magic 6R, which is now available on the market, is one of the cheapest gaming smartphones. The “Six” has a 6.67-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 1080 x 2400, a touch rate of 400 Hz and a refresh rate of 144 Hertz.
In terms of performance, the smartphone can compete with top gaming phones, but its cooling system fails - it does not have a special active one with fans. The second disadvantage of the "Red Magic" is a 4200 mAh battery.
Advantages:
- good performance
- display of the refresh rate of 144 Hz
- built-in shutter buttons
Disadvantages:
- low battery capacity
- Mediocre camera.
8th place - Asus ROG Phone 5
- Screen: 6.78 inch AMOLED
- Built-in memory: 128/256 GB
- RAM: 12/16 GB
- Cameras: three, 64/13/5 MP
- Processor: Snapdragon 888
This smartphone was created specifically for gamers: AMOLED screen with a frequency of 144 Hz, two 3000 mAh batteries, the once top Snapdragon 888 and RAM up to 16 GB. It is quite capable of handling even the heaviest games out there and has plenty of power - and all this at a fraction of the price of today's flagships.
You can only complain about the weight and size of the device - a thickness of 10.3 mm and a weight of 238 grams, which is a lot even by the standards of gaming smartphones.
Advantages:
- great display
- high performance
- created for gamers
Disadvantages:
- heats up quickly
- big and heavy
7th place - Find X5 Pro
- Screen: 6.7 inch AMOLED
- Built-in memory: 128/256 GB
- RAM: 12/16 GB
- Cameras: three, 50/50/13 MP
- Processor: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
Externally, the Oppo Find X5 Pro does not resemble a gaming phone. It is only 8.5 mm thick and weighs 218 g.
However, inside the elegant case hides a filling comparable to top gaming gadgets. Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, 12 GB of RAM (LPDDR5 memory), 256 GB of storage and a WQHD + AMOLED display with a refresh rate of 120 Hz. And the results of benchmarks and expert reviews directly confirm that the Oppo Find X5 Pro performs at the level of the latest gaming phones.
In addition, the Oppo model offers everything you would expect from a flagship today - and 80W fast charging that “saturates” the phone in just half an hour, as well as excellent cameras with excellent detail even in low light conditions.
Advantages:
- interesting design
- Good performance
- bright display
Disadvantages:
- no gaming accessories
6th place - iPhone 13 Pro Max
- Screen: OLED 6.7 inches
- Built-in storage: 128/256/512 GB, 1 TB
- RAM: 6 GB
- Cameras: 12/12/12 MP
- Processor: Apple A15 Bionic
The iPhone 13 Pro Max has an Apple A15 Bionic processor in 5 nm; it is currently one of the most powerful chipsets on the mobile market. It can handle all games, even the "heaviest" and highest settings - and tests of numerous benchmarks and customer reviews confirm this. The iPhone 13 Pro Max has a great display. Super Retina XDR makes every game magical.
The iPhone 13 Pro Max is another of Apple's first to switch to a variable refresh rate of 120 Hz and improve response times. The storage volume is 1 TB; that is, the entire library of smartphone games can literally be carried in your pocket. The battery life of the iPhone 13 Pro Max is excellent - at the moment this is the best indicator for any iPhone.
Advantages:
- Latest A15 Bionic chipset
- long battery life
- beautiful display
Disadvantages:
- no charger in the box
- Price
5th place - Red Magic 7 Pro
- Screen: 6.8 inch AMOLED
- Built-in memory: 128/256/512 GB
- RAM: 12/16/18 GB
- Cameras: three, 64/8/2 MP
- Processor: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
Red Magic 7 Pro can be called an advanced smartphone. First of all, the Red Magic 7 Pro display is amazing with the number of touches per second it can recognize - their number goes up to 960! The downside of this amazing sensitivity is the refresh rate. The "Pro" version has "only" 120 Hz, compared to 165 Hz in the regular version. Another feature of the "Pro" version is a selfie camera under the display.
Advantages:
- Super-Touch sampling rate 960 Hz
- selfie camera under the screen
- long battery life
- fast charging 135W
- Page trigger with a reading frequency of up to 500 Hz
Disadvantages:
- big and heavy
- Price
4th place - Poco F4 GT
- Screen: AMOLED, 6.67 inches
- Built-in memory: 128/256 GB
- RAM: 8/12 GB
- Cameras: 64/8/2 MP
- Processor: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
The creators of the Poco F4 GT decided to reach two audiences in their networks at once - both people who are looking for a powerful gaming phone and regular users who are no strangers to the desire for power, but also want to look solid.
Underneath the sleek design with a 120Hz AMOLED display is a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, up to 12GB of RAM, and 120W super-fast charging. There are even magnetic bumper buttons on the ends of the body.
Advantages:
- 120 W super-fast charging
- magnetic bumper buttons
- Non-gaming, elegant design
Disadvantages:
- no accessories for games
3rd place - Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro
- Screen: 6.78 inch AMOLED
- Built-in memory: 128/256/512 GB
- RAM: 18 GB
- Cameras: three, 50/13/5 MP
- Processor: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
This option is designed specifically for people who can afford to buy a chic flagship - and this is the Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro. When creating it, the authors put power and performance at the forefront, so the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip is installed in its body - at the moment it is the most productive of the existing ones.
The rest of the components are on par: an AMOLED screen with a refresh rate of 165 Hz, an impressive 6000 mAh battery and up to 18 GB of RAM.
Advantages:
- luxury screen
- large battery
- Good sound
Disadvantages:
- no built-in fan
- big and heavy
- Price
2ndPlace - Black Shark 5 Pro
- Screen: 6.67 inch OLED
- Built-in memory: 128/256/512 GB
- RAM: 12/16 GB
- Cameras: three, 108/13/5 MP
- Processor: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
While the Black Shark 5 Pro doesn't exactly stand out for the number of innovations per square inch of surface, its creators have taken care to make it as attractive as possible for gamers. A 144 Hz refresh rate, luxurious performance and, above all, gaming features such as magnetic trigger buttons at the end of the case, shortcuts that can be activated not even by touch but by gestures and much more. The 120 W charging can charge the battery to 100% in less than 30 minutes. The Black Shark's battery is admittedly slightly smaller than that of its counterparts (4650 mAh).
Advantages:
- great gaming performance
- 144 Hz display
- magnetic shutter buttons
- great camera
- liquid cooling
Disadvantages:
- heats up during prolonged play
1st place - Nubia Red Magic 7
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- Screen: 6.8 inch AMOLED
- Built-in memory: 128/256/512 GB
- RAM: 8/18 GB
- Cameras: three, 64/8/2 MP
- Processor: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
Smartphones of the Red Magic series have long been known in the gaming market, and the seventh model of the series is no exception. The main reason why I put it at the top of my list of the best gaming smartphones of 2022 is the display. OLED with a diagonal of 6.8 inches, a frequency of 165 Hz and a sampling rate of 720 Hz. According to this indicator, "Red Magic" bypasses almost any smartphone on the market.
Add the flagship specs of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, 12GB to 18GB of RAM, 128GB to 256GB of storage, and the latest triple-fan cooling system to keep Red Magic running smoothly even during long gaming sessions.
The battery capacity is 4500 mAh and the refresh rate of the display is 165 Hz. This means that the smartphone discharges much faster than we would like.
Advantages
- great presentation
- Good performance
- price/playability ratio
Disadvantages:
- big and heavy
- evaporates quickly
Best gaming phone at a low price
In 2022, there are enough smartphones on the market that are available to gamers at different prices. The Janado online store offers its customers not only new devices, but also used devices. This allows the user to save money and buy a powerful gaming device.
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Smartphone buyers receive a guarantee from Janado and a right of return within 30 days after receiving the product. All used smartphones are sold after a preliminary test by experts. So it's high time to buy a suitable gaming smartphone cheaply from Janado!