The best gaming phone has one job: to make games more fun. A gaming phone isn't like a gaming laptop, or a gaming handheld console. It needs to do so much more than just play games, though of course it also needs to play games better than any other phone. Our list only includes the best phones for gaming, with no compromises in performance or features.
The best premium gaming phone is the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro, but that phone isn't the top for gaming benchmarks. Still, it has enough features that make it a great phone gamers that we don't mind the compromise.
If you want a performance beast, the best gaming phone for most people is the ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro, and it tops all others in benchmarking, though it lacks the durability and slick extras that make the ROG phone special.
We've also got picks for budget gaming options and our favorite foldable phone for gaming, but check back soon because we know Samsung has new foldable phones arriving soon, so the Galaxy Z Fold 5 may be replaced by a rumored Galaxy Z Fold 6 if Samsung makes some key improvements.
Quick List
The Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro steps away from gamer chic to offer more durability, better cameras, and a more professional look. It's not the benchmark best, but it's better.
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The RedMagic 9 Pro is the benchmark beast among the gaming crowd, with the biggest battery, to boot. It's not tops all around, but it's the fastest, for sure.
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There are some games you can't play without an iPhone and iOS, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max has the best performance, biggest screen, and best battery for Apple Arcade fans.
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The Galaxy S24 Ultra can do everything, and of course that includes gaming. It's overkill if you just want to play games, but if you want games and cameras and productivity and...
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For a phone that starts at only $499.99 / £649, the OnePlus 12R gives you great performance, a huge display, and amazing battery life. Everything gamers want, for much less.
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The Galaxy Z Fold 5 doesn't look like much when it's closed, but open it up and you have a tabletop-sized screen fit for games and the biggest, best view of all the action.
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The best gaming phone 2024
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The best premium gaming
While a gaming laptop can be a glorified desktop, a gaming phone cannot ignore its duties as a great smartphone, and the latest Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro shows that Asus can build a phone that is more than just the fastest gaming phone, it's also the best.
The ROG Phone 8 Pro is not the top in benchmarks, that honor goes to the RedMagic 9 Pro, but the ROG Phone 8 Pro is a better choice all around if you need to take your phone everywhere and use it the way a smartphone is meant to be used.
The design is more staid this year, but the ROG Phone 8 Pro still has a cool LED dot display on the back that you can customize to flash game signs to folks around you.
This phone has much better cameras than we've seen on past ROG Phone devices, and in fact the cameras are better than on any dedicated gaming phone, including the RedMagic.
Best of all, the ROG Phone 8 Pro is IP68 water resistant, which means its much more durable than before. You'll have to sacrifice the wild, open-vent cooling from the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate, but you'll be able to play games in the bathtub. It's a worthy trade.
Read our full Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro review
The best gaming for most people
The fast following RedMagic 9 Pro, part of the Nubia line of gaming phones from ZTE, finally passed the champion this year in the sprint to the finish line. The RedMagic 9 Pro beat the Asus ROG Phone, a serious feat consider the RedMagic is a much less expensive device, and both of these phones are at the top of mobile computing performance.
How does the RedMagic 9 Pro deliver a higher-performance gaming phone for less? You don't get a superfast display, the RedMagic tops out at 120Hz. This phone can't handle water, so you won't be gaming in the rain like you might with the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro. You also don't get LED gamer lights, though maybe that's worth a pass to save some cash.
Instead, you get a phone that costs hundreds less than the Asus ROG Phone, but beats that phone by bare inches in almost every performance benchmark test we use, a real feat considering both phones use the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset as an engine.
If you want high performance for less money, you'll be happy with the RedMagic 9 Pro, and you'll have bragging rights secured. If you need a bit more, there are always premium options for big spenders.
Read our full Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro review
The best iPhone gaming
While Apple's MacOS computers may lag behind in gaming, the iPhone is an excellent game platform, and the best iPhone for gaming is easily the iPhone 15 Pro Max. It has the biggest, brightest display, the fastest performance, and the best design of any iPhone you can buy. If you can afford Apple's best, you'll be happier every time you play.
There are some things the iPhone simply does better when it comes to games. Many of the best controller accessories, like the Nomad Scuf and Sony Backbone, launched on the iPhone first. The iPhone also has access to Apple's exclusive Apple Arcade store, which gives you a heap of games for a monthly fee.
With its A17 Pro processor on board, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is the most future-proof of all the iPhone models you can buy, whether you're playing detailed games like Death Stranding or waiting for the latest Apple Intelligence features coming to iOS 18. If you don't have a Pro phone, Apple says you may get left out of the AI party.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max offers great battery life, stunning photography, and that futuristic titanium build. It's expensive, but it's also the best iPhone for gaming, and one of the best gaming phones you can buy.
Read our full iPhone 15 Pro Max review
The best gaming and more
It would be a pity if you bought the Galaxy S24 Ultra just to play games, because there is so much that you can do with this phone, you'd be ignoring too much, even if you're dominating the field on Call of Duty: Mobile.
Don't get me wrong, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is one of the best gaming phones you can buy. It has faster performance than even the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro on many of our benchmark tests, and it's design and features are head and shoulders above that gaming-focused phone.
It's also even more expensive than a dedicated gaming phone, but for the extra price you get the S Pen, a water resistant stylus with an accelerometer for gesture controls. You also get, like, six cameras, including the 5X telephoto zoom that can take astrophotography shots better than any iPhone.
If you want to play games, but you also need to get serious work done, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is the phone to get. In fact, if you want to play but you also need serious ANYTHING, the Ultra is the phone to get. It's the best phone for gaming and much more.
Read our review: Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review
The best budget gaming
What makes the OnePlus 12R a great gaming phone? That's easy. First of all, it has the best battery life of almost any phone we've tested. The RedMagic 9 Pro lasted less than an hour longer, but the OnePlus 12R has a smaller battery, a much smaller price tag, and a gorgeous design that most other phones on this list can't match.
The OnePlus 12R may be OnePlus' bargain phone, but that doesn't mean it uses bargain bin parts. The processor is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, which was the fastest Android processor we saw in 2023. Performance won't match the fastest gaming phones, but it will beat every Pixel and anything else shy of a Galaxy S23, for hundreds less than Samsung's flagship.
The OnePlus 12R also has a great, big display that is plenty bright for gaming outside. The cameras are solid, better than the dedicated gaming phones from Asus and ZTE. It's even durable, with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and enough water resistance to take a rain shower, if not a bathroom shower.
Watch for deals on this phone, especially if you live in the US, because OnePlus has a great history of discounts and guaranteed trade-in values. This is the best bargain gaming phone at its current price, but you may find it for an even better deal.
Read our full OnePlus 12R review
Take a look at our OnePlus discount codes for the best OnePlus offers and savings.
The best gaming foldable
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 is the best foldable gaming phone, with a huge inner display that opens up to 7.6-inches. It gives you only 10% less screen real estate than an iPad mini, even though it folds up slim and pocket-friendly like a smartphone.
The Galaxy Z Fold 5 uses a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset that has been specialized for Samsung, basically overclocking the big performance core. That makes the Galaxy Z Fold 5 the top performing foldable phone by far. The OnePlus Open uses a normal Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, and it falls to the Galaxy Z Fold 5 in all of our benchmark tests.
As a smartphone, I prefer the OnePlus Open, which has a more normal front display that feels like any other smartphone. The Galaxy Z Fold 5 is very narrow. That's my only big complaint about Samsung's big foldable, but it's a big enough problem that I prefer the OnePlus Open for daily use.
Open the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and it's a different story. The interior display is almost as big as the OnePlus Open, but it supports a Samsung S Pen, which makes it much more useful for drawing and productivity work. And while OnePlus brags about the peak brightness on its phone, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 5 was much more bright in our normal usage tests at Future Labs.
Read the full review: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
Best gaming phone FAQ
What makes a phone a gaming phone?
Unlike a gaming PC, a gaming phone often does not have different hardware than a premium non-gaming phone, like a faster CPU or GPU. Gaming phones usually offer better cooling, which helps performance over a long period of gaming. Gaming phones also include specialized software that optimizes performance while playing games. Gaming phones also include screen recording software so you can share you best gaming moments on your favorite social platforms or gaming networks.
Do I need a gaming phone to play games?
Almost any good phone can play your favorite Android and Apple Arcade games. A gaming phone will let you change settings to improve graphics, sound, or gameplay response. Gaming phones are less prone to overheating if you play an intense game for a long period. Dedicated gaming phones also have virtual controller buttons on the side of the phone that mimic a game controller, but all phones can work with a standard Playstation, Xbox, or other Bluetooth gaming controller.
Do I need a controller for my gaming phone?
Gaming phones are especially good at helping you control your games, and dedicated gaming phones have software options, sensors, and even accessories that give you more control over your gaming, without an external controller. The Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro comes with a cooling fan that also includes programmable buttons for gaming.
That said, pairing your phone with an Xbox, Playstation, or other Bluetooth gaming controller is a great experience, and you may not know what you're missing. Games often run more smoothly when you have a controller and don't need to rely on finger swipes for motion and action. You Android phone and iPhone will recognize a controller and offer default controls for most games when you pair over Bluetooth.
Is the iPhone a good gaming phone?
The iPhone is an exceptionally good gaming phone, and it may arguably be Apple's best gaming platform all around (since Apple TV games are really just iPhone games). The iPhone has amazing performance, no matter which iPhone you use, because Apple's processors have long outperformed every Android phone until only recently. Apple offers Apple Arcade, a subscription service with some exclusive games. There are also now emulator apps available on the Apple App Store, though you'll need to copy your own ROMs from your old cartridges to play.
