Best gaming phone TL;DR
The Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro is the best gaming phone right now thanks to its powerful performance, refined design and and strong cameras system. If you looking to spend less the RedMagic 11 Pro has great performance for its price and a unique liquid cooling system. And the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is worth considering for a folding gaming phone, with its 8-inch inner display.
The best gaming phones sport dedicated hardware and software features that help you take your mobile gaming experience to the next level. But gaming phones are perhaps the most specialized smartphone niche, which can make selecting a great one a little tricky.
While the best camera phones are often just normal phones with great cameras attached, gaming phones can appear to be closer to a handheld games console with a built-in smartphone, in both form and function. We’re talking optimized software environments, light-up elements, shoulder buttons, or even unique cooling systems. Some even have the ability to stream directly to Twitch.
We’ve reviewed every phone on this list, so you can be sure our advice is based on real-world experience and plenty of in-game hours (just don’t look at our K:D ratios). We test gaming phones on the best mobile games, like Call of Duty Mobile, PUBG: Battlegrounds, Marvel Snap, and Genshin Impact.
At the top of our list is the ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro, which still holds strong due to its powerful performance, great display, and bespoke gaming-centric design. However, ASUS has announced it won’t release any phones in 2026, so the aging ROG Phone 9 Pro could soon be dethroned.
Elsewhere on our list, RedMagic is featured twice, for its flagship RedMagic 11 Pro handset and also for the surprisingly affordable RedMagic 10 Air. There are also some subtler options in the form of the iPhone 17 Pro Max and iPhone 17 Pro, or the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra.
The best premium gaming
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The Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro is a performance beast. It’s the most powerful phone we’ve reviewed so far. It’s got a subtle design for a gaming phone, amazing battery life, and tons of handy features.
Asus streamlined its gaming phone design last year, and the ROG Phone 9 Pro continues that trend. It’s still a bit chunky, but the soft-touch glass back makes it comfortable to hold. Asus even added some cool features like wireless charging and IP68 water resistance, which you don’t usually see in gaming phones.
For gamers, the larger 5,800mAh battery means you can game for hours on end, and the secondary USB-C port makes it easy to charge while you play.
The real star of the show is the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor. This new chipset flies through games and benchmarks, and the improved cooling system keeps it running smoothly even during long gaming sessions. Plus, you get a choice between a gamer-focused UI or a more traditional Android look.
Overall, the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro is a fantastic phone for gamers and everyday users alike. It’s expensive, but it delivers top-notch performance, a sleek design, and a ton of useful features. If you’re looking for a phone that can do it all, the ROG Phone 9 Pro is definitely worth considering.
However, buyers to be should keep in mind that ASUS won’t be releasing any new phones in 2026, and that the hardware specs of the ROG Phone 9 Pro will soon be eclipsed by newly released models. It seems likely that the ROG Phone 9 Pro could lose its crown this year.
Read our full Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro review
The best gaming phone for most people
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The RedMagic 11 Pro builds on the pattern set by its predecessor, the RedMagic 10 Pro, by offering a high-powered gaming experience for quite a bit less than the flagship ASUS handsets. This is a gaming-focused handset through and through, and one that isn’t shy about making some compromises in less essential areas if it means going all out when it’s game time.
To start with, the RedMagic 11 Pro has the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, which is even more powerful than the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset you’ll find in the ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro. How much RAM you get scales with storage, starting at a reasonable 12GB and topping out at a huge 24GB.
For the gamers, the RedMagic 11 Pro has shoulder buttons, a dedicated slider to activate “game mode” and a unique liquid cooling system that draws on gaming PC design for inspiration. It’s a big, heavy, and distinctly gamer-fied phone, but some will appreciate the bold aesthetic.
As for battery life, the RedMagic 11 Pro sports a huge 7,500mAh battery – even bigger than the cell in the OnePlus 15 (which tops our list of the best Android phones). As our review notes, this is enough charge to keep you going through marathon gaming sessions.
Where the RedMagic 11 Pro misses out is in camera quality, particularly its under-display selfie camera, which makes for great media viewing but takes awful photos. It’s also got a pretty clunky Android wrapper in the form of RedMagicOS 11. Still, for its low starting price of £629 / $749, it’s hard to find better value in the gaming phone niche.
Read our full RedMagic 11 Pro review
The best budget gaming phone
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The RedMagic 10 Air earns its place in our list of the best gaming phones thanks to its unique blend of capable performance, specialist gaming features, and a surprisingly low price tag. At just $549 / £439 for the model with 12GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. That’s closer to the price of a midrange handset like the iPhone 16e or Google Pixel 9a than a full-fledged gaming phone.
You might expect that the RedMagic 10 Air compromises on hardware to account for its lower price tag, but this is a phone with some serious power under the hood. For one thing, it’s got the Snapdragon 8 Elite, which powered plenty of flagship phones released between 2023 and 2024 and is still a powerful contender. Paired with 12GB or 16GB of RAM (depending on configuration), and the RedMagic 10 Air has plenty of headroom for demanding graphics rendering and responsive gameplay.
The phone also comes with unique gaming features, like shoulder buttons that work particularly well in shooters like Call of Duty Mobile or in RPGs like Genshin Impact. It comes with a massive 6000mAh battery, giving you enough power for even the longest play sessions.
All of this shines on the phone’s 6.8-inch display, and a dedicated button takes you to the Gaming Space UI, which makes it easy to optimize and organize your games. There are some let-downs, like the cluttered OS and middling cameras, but for gaming on the go it’s hard to find a phone that hits such a great balance between power and price.
Read the full review: RedMagic 10 Air
The best iPhone for gaming
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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 17 Pro Max. Sporting the new A19 Pro chip and a vapor cooling system, the latest large iPhone is basically the best iPhone and the Apple phone to get for gaming.
Thanks to Apple’s work on porting games to iOS, you can now get true console-quality games on iPhone, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max should be able to handle them with ease. Then there’s all the games on offer in Apple Arcade, but I feel these don’t hugely push the power of the A19 Pro.
You’ll need to be prepared to pay the premium price iPhone Pro models command, but for that you also get great cameras and some slick software, once you get used to iOS 26.
Battery life is also very solid for all the smartphone tech on offer here, which should mean you’ll be able to get in some lengthy gaming sessions, especially if you pair the iPhone 17 Pro Max with a controller from the likes of Backbone, which can really change the phone into mini handheld console.
Read our full iPhone 17 Pro Max review
The best for gaming and more
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The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is here to replace its predecessor, the Galaxy S25 Ultra. While there’s not been a mass of changes from the model that came before, the Galaxy S26 Ultra offers big performance gains thanks to the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, which few games will really push to its limits.
When you add in a fantastic, bright and colorful 6.9-inch AMOLED 2X display with its 120Hz refresh rate, you’ve got a killer gaming phone in a flagship frame. Aside from just fast performance, the use of the ProScaler engine from Samsung, means the Galaxy S26 Ultra can upscale any lower-resolution content; handy if, say, you’re playing an older game on the Quad HD+ screen.
Also, that screen has a hidden talent in the form of the new Privacy Display, which can switch off pixels across the screen or in certain parts of it to effectively blackout the screen for anyone looking at is indirectly. This is all to keep snoopers at bay, and could be handy if you want to keep your gaming private while out and about.
On top of the gaming power, the Galaxy S26 Ultra is also one of the best Android phones money can buy, with excellent cameras, a host of AI features and other slick software tools. Plus, a 5,000mAh battery is plenty in our testing experience to keep the phone juiced up for a good day’s worth of use.
The only minor caveat is the size of the phone might be a bit big for some people, but that’s arguably the lay of the land when it comes to flagship phones. But refinements in the design have made the S26 Ultra a little easier to wield. In short, you can’t really go wrong with this phone.
Read our review: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review
The best gaming foldable
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As well as being one of the best folding phones on the market, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is our pick for the best foldable gaming phone thanks to its 8-inch inner screen, improved 6.5-inch cover display, and class-leading internal hardware. Its square-ish inner screen might not be a natural choice for first-person shooters or scrolling games, but for RPGs, puzzle games, and strategy titles it’s an absolute winner.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is packed with performance-centric silicon. The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset is the most powerful Android chipset on the market, and with up to 16GB of RAM the Z Fold 7 has plenty of power for long gaming sessions. Its 4400mAh battery has enough charge for a decent amount of play time, and games look simply wonderful on its large inner screen.
For games where screen real estate is an advantage, like Clash of Clans, Ballatro, or Stardew Valley, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 simply offers more. It loses the S-Pen support from last year’s Galaxy Z Fold 6, but makes up for it with a new thin and light design, making this mobile gaming powerhouse more portable than ever. Samsung DeX means the Galaxy Z Fold 7 also connects to external monitors, though game performance may vary.
Furthermore, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is also just a great phone overall: in true Samsung fashion it’s loaded with settings, features, AI assistance, and productivity tools, making it a real jack-of-all-trades. It’s a great choice for people who want the best of all worlds in one gaming-ready device.
Read the full review: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7
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 9 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.
