Things to Consider Before You Buy a Gaming Phone

What to Consider When Buying a Gaming Phone?

There isn’t any official term like a gaming phone. Great interest of numerous consumers in gaming has led many brands to manufacture gaming-focused phones all over the globe. Most of us see specs and guides to buy a gaming phone without considering elements like cooling, UI/UX, touch sampling rate, etc. These are important indicators of a phone’s gaming performance.

You may also like:

Best Mobile Companies in Pakistan

It is important to learn about the elements that make a smartphone great in gaming before you buy one. So, we have listed out the most important factors to consider when buying a smartphone for gaming.

Let’s start with the first one.

Chipset & CPU

A chipset is among the most important factors you need to consider before buying a gaming phone. It is the primary element on which gaming performance depends. But, don’t confuse the CPU with the chipset as they are different. CPU is a part of Chipset.

You should be looking to buy a gaming phone with the latest and most powerful chipset if budget is not a problem. The best way to identify the best chipset is to see its AnTuTu scores. Here are some of the best phone Chipsets with AnTuTu 9 Score.

Chipset	AnTuTu 9 Score
Dimensity 9000 Plus	1102309
Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1	1088648
Snapdragon 8 Gen 1	1029599
Dimensity 9000	1012754
A16 Bionic (Only in Apple iPhone)	976510
Exynos 2200	936802
Snapdragon 888 Plus	837697
Snapdragon 888	801424
A15 Bionic (Only in Apple iPhone)	793344
Dimensity 8100	778836

GPU

GPU is another important component you should look for when buying a gaming phone. It coupled with the Chipset & CPU are mainly responsible for playing games. Adreno GPUs are considered better as compared to Mediatek Mali GPUs. But you will have to see the latest version of Adreno GPU.

Here are the best Adreno and Mali GPUs.

Adreno 730 (comes with Snapdragon 8 Gen1)
Mali-G710 (comes with Dimensity 9000)

RAM

Most of us know that RAM also contributes to the loading and running of games smoothly. It is not all about the RAM size but also about its speed. You should also consider the type that we mostly overlook when going through specs. For example, an LPDDR5 RAM comes with a data rate of up to 6400MT/s whereas the LPDDR3 RAM has a data rate of up to 1600MT/s.

It is a major reason why even older flagship phones (with old RAM type) don’t perform as better as mid-range phones (with new RAM type) these days.

OS

Many will argue what an Operating System (OS) has to do with gaming performance. Well, some operating systems are optimized while others are not. Moreover, many game developers make the games more optimized for the OS of popular smartphone brands. So, the brand and smartphone OS do matter for gaming performance.

Cooling System

This factor is important for only heavy gamers who can’t afford even a slight lag while playing a game. Some mobile phones come without any special cooling system which might be OK with normal gamers. But a liquid cooling system is available in some phones which can be a plus for pro gamers.

Display Refresh Rate

Data refresh rate in the simplest form is the speed of your display. Yes! If you have a 60Hz display, you won’t get 90fps gameplay on it but 60fps at max. Now, gamers must have understood the difference a screen can make in their gameplay. There are many phones with 90 Hz, 120 Hz, and even 144 Hz display refresh rates. Go get them.

Touch Response Time / Sampling Rate

After the refresh rate, the touch response rate is also important. When playing intense games like PUBG, COD, Fortnite, etc. you have to touch the mobile phone at a rapid rate. The screen should be able to analyze and respond to your touch. It only happens if a device has a higher response time/touch sampling rate. Try to get a gaming phone with over 180 Hz touch sampling rate.

Battery

Many of us overlook this important factor when choosing a gaming phone. Battery capacity matters gaming consumes energy way quicker than the other tasks on mobile phones. You need a larger battery to enjoy a decent time while gaming.

Batteries also affect gaming performance as many brands limit the use of power after the battery percentage drops below 25% / 15%. It can vary depending on different mobile phones. Dropping below that threshold will significantly reduce the performance of the phone to conserve battery.

So, you need a gaming phone with battery backup.

Gyro

A gyroscope helps a gamer to move the viewpoint of the character according to the tilting direction of the device. You can consider it simply a motion sensor in your phone. Many pro gamers like it as it improves their efficiency and effectiveness while playing the game. So, do search if the gaming mobile you want to buy has a gyro sensor (hardware-based not electronic).

Conclusion

If you want to buy a gaming phone, the above-mentioned factors are important to consider. But, these factors only help in playing games without any interruption. Having all the boxes checked doesn’t necessarily mean you will become a pro player. It requires a lot of practice and learning.

Is something missing in this list that must be there in a gaming phone? Tell us in the comment section below.

You may also like: