Smartphones dedicated to gaming are becoming more and more popular on the market. The Razer Phone paved the way, and other manufacturers are now stepping into the breach. But as we will see, you don’t need a smartphone with an extravagant design and a “gaming” name to enjoy a device with excellent gaming comfort. If you are more often on an Android game than on WhatsApp or Facebook, this buying guide is for you.
Our selection of the best gaming smartphones
Free or paid, there are many quality games on Android. Some can be played without necessarily needing a big configuration behind, but for the most demanding 3D games, it’s a different story.
And when you’re a gamer, it’s still a shame not to be able to fully enjoy the experience that a good game offers because of a smartphone that doesn’t hold up. With the ones we offer you here, you shouldn’t have too many problems.
Asus Rogphone 5
Asus ROG Phone 5 at the best price
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Fnac
789€
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Rakuten
1099.99€
The Asus Rog Phone 5 is a beast of power, a real smartphone dedicated to gaming. It is available in five configurations, divided into three models. ROG Phone 5 8/128 GB. ROG Phone 5 12/256 GB. ROG Phone 5 16/256 GB. ROG Phone 5 Pro 16/512 GB. And ROG Phone 5 Ultimate 18/512 GB. We advise you to read our article dedicated to the formalization of the ROG Phone 5 to know everything about these three versions.
The standard ROG Phone 5 does not come with the AeroActive Cooler 5, the new version of the cooling accessory. It is sold separately at 59 euros. It comes with Pro and Ultimate versions. Pity. During the formalization of the smartphone, Asus announces that it has achieved a score of 742,776 points on AnTuTu. By exceeding the 720,000 point mark, the ROG Phone 5 easily takes the lead in the ranking of the most powerful smartphones.
| The + | The – |
|---|---|
| Latency further reduced |
Heavy and not easy to use with one hand |
| Good autonomy against the competition | AeroActive Cooler 5 not included |
| Front speakers more powerful than ever |
No optical stabilization or optical zoom |
| A smart design where the ports are in the best place |
Black Shark 4
Black Shark 4 at the best price
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Amazon
399€
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Rakuten
429€
The Black Shark 4 is the great replacement for the Black Shark 3, which featured a Snapdragon 865 chip from Qualcomm. Xiaomi’s new smartphone this time features a more powerful Snapdragon 870 chip. It comes with an Adreno 650 graphics chip, 8 or 12 GB of RAM (LPDDR5) and 128 or 256 GB of UFS 3.1 Flash memory. Either a configuration quite similar to the old model.
Positioned in a “sandwich”, the system cools all the components from above and below to prevent overheating. The tubes cover a 100% larger area than on the previous version. Black Shark claims to improve system efficiency by 50%. Finally, the manufacturer has positioned the most heated components away from the grip areas. Smart.
If it is fast and fluid in daily use, it is of course during gaming sessions that the smartphone shows its full potential. The most demanding licenses such as Call of Duty Mobile, Fortnite, PUBG Mobile or Asphalt run with the maximum graphics configurations.
| The + | The – |
|---|---|
| A smartphone calibrated for gaming | Some models suffer from battery issues |
| 6.67″ 144 Hz screen of very good quality | Heavy and thick |
OnePlus 9 Pro
OnePlus 9 Pro 128GB at the best price
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Fnac
718€
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Rakuten
718€
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Amazon
760€
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Cdiscount
982.77€
For people who want a smartphone for both gaming and general use, the OnePlus 9 Pro meets the criteria very well for both uses. The OnePlus 9 Pro is sold from 919 euros (8 GB RAM + 128 GB) or 999 euros (12 GB + 256 GB).
The OnePlus 9 Pro is one of the most powerful smartphones on the market today, standing alongside behemoths like the Galaxy S21 Ultra, the Asus ROG Phone 5 or the Xiaomi Mi 11. It is ideal for people looking for a versatile and reliable gaming smartphone.
| The + | The – |
|---|---|
| Gorgeous design |
Autonomy too fair |
| Ultra powerful |
Slightly low fingerprint sensor |
| Great AMOLED display |
Software processing sometimes a little heavy on the photos |
| Very good photo part and ultra fast charging |
Read also: the best offers to buy the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro at the cheapest price
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra 128GB at the best price
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Amazon
925.37€
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Fnac
1259€
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SFR
1259€
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Darty
1259€
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Baker
1259€
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is Samsung’s new flagship, released in February 2022. A true concentrate of technology, it brings something more than the competition: the presence of a stylus. As a smartphone of excellence, it is technically perfect and succeeds in satisfying many segments (screen, autonomy, photo, etc.).
If we could however blame it for its lack of innovation compared to the S21 version, the S22 Ultra is simply one of the best Android smartphones on the market in 2022. Gaming question, no noticeable improvement compared to the S21 Ultra or the Snapdragon 888, which is a shame. Despite everything, you will be able to play the most recent games without any display or performance problems, while enjoying one of the best smartphones of the moment on a daily basis.
| The + | The – |
|---|---|
| Impeccable finishes | Some in-game display issues |
| High quality screen | Correct autonomy, but no more (one day) |
| 5G, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 |
A fairly massive smartphone |
| Excellent in photography |
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 128GB at the best price
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Rakuten
818.22€
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Fnac
879.69€
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Shopping street
959.49€
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Amazon
1152.75€
The most high-end smartphone in the new S21 range is the Galaxy S21 Ultra. Larger than the S21 and S21 +, the terminal sports a superb AMOLED screen with a diagonal of 6.8 inches and benefits from a WQHD + definition when the other two are satisfied with Full HD +. Its battery is also larger since we are now on a capacity of 5000 mAh. The definition of the selfie sensor is 40 megapixels.
Four 108 + 12 + 10 + 10 megapixel photo sensors are present at the rear, with laser autofocus. The hybrid zoom reaches the ratio of 100x. The S21 Ultra is S-Pen compatible. It includes 12 or 16 GB of RAM and between 128 and 512 GB of storage. Benchmarks show that the new Soc Exynos 2100 really has a response. It is even more efficient than the Kirin 9000 which equips the Huawei Mate 40 Pro, also engraved in 5 nm. Enough to play the most demanding games without any problem.
| The + | The – |
|---|---|
| Really good screen quality |
No microSD slot |
| Video stabilization |
Fast charging less efficient than that of the S20 Ultra |
| Audio quality |
|
| Battery management |
Read also: the best offers to buy the Samsung Galaxy S21 / S21+ / S21 Ultra at the cheapest price
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 256GB (5G)
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Fnac
718€
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Cdiscount
723€
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Rakuten
907€
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Amazon
1069€
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Shopping street
1181.99€
The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is also more expensive. It is available at a starting price of 1309 euros for the 256 GB version and 1409 euros for the 512 GB edition. The smartphone is compatible with the future 5G network and comes in 3 colors: Mystic Bronze, Mystic White and Mystic Black . For an in-depth analysis, we invite you to read our test and opinion on the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.
If most manufacturers now have in their catalog a phone intended for the most gamers, this was not yet the case for Samsung. The manufacturer has therefore found in its Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra two potential candidates to fulfill this function. The Note range, until now mainly dedicated to the professional world, therefore takes the plunge and is aimed at gamers.
| The + | The – |
|---|---|
| autonomy management |
The protrusion of the rear photo sensors |
| Performances |
Color balance due to Scene Optimizer enabled by default |
| The adaptive 120 Hz |
The price |
| The quality of photos in low light |
Read also: the best offers to buy the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra at the cheapest price
Xiaomi Mi 11
Xiaomi Mi 11 256GB (5G) at the best price
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Fnac
685.7€
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Amazon
774.19€
The Xiaomi Mi 11 features one of the most powerful mobile processors ever designed to date, namely the Snapdragon 888. The display is entrusted to a 120 Hz OLED screen with 2K definition. Its autonomy is ensured by a battery with a capacity of 4,600 mAh compatible with 55W fast charging. Regarding the photo part, the terminal has a triple photo sensor, the main one being 108 megapixels, the second a 13 megapixel ultra wide-angle sensor and the last a 5 megapixel macro sensor.
The smartphone easily exceeds 685,000 points on AnTuTu, which is significantly higher than the 626,000 points of the Galaxy S21. The main difference is at the level of the GPU. We noticed during the Galaxy S21 test that the Exynos is a bit light on the graphics level. The Snapdragon 888 does not make this same mistake.
Geekbench confirms that the Snapdragon 888 CPUs are slightly more powerful, but not that much: a few dozen points separate them, in single-core or multi-core. On the 3D Mark side, it’s the big surprise: the Mi 11 is the first smartphone to exceed the limits of the Slingshot test. Fortunately, the Wild Life test takes over. Surprisingly, on the latter, the Snapdragon 888 does no better than the Exynos.
| The + | The – |
|---|---|
| Very good autonomy and very fast recharging | Platform that heats up quickly and hard |
| Very nice power under the hood |
Colorimetry of the screen sometimes very whimsical |
| Fluid and complete interface |
Colorimetry of the screen sometimes very whimsical |
| Beautiful things in pictures, day and night | No optical zoom and very average digital zoom |
Read also: the best offers to buy the Xiaomi Mi 11 at the cheapest price
What criteria should be taken into account before buying a gaming smartphone?
Before making your choice to buy a smartphone for gaming, there are several criteria to take into account. Storage space is one of them. If you want to install a lot of games on it, make sure that the device has at least 128 GB as a minimum. Some smartphones immediately offer comfortable storage space, such as the Asus ROG Phone 5, available in 12 GB and 256 GB of internal memory.
The amount of RAM memory is also very important to run the latest games without difficulty, often very greedy in software resources. Finally, the screen. The higher the refresh rate, the better. In 2021, the majority of gaming and very high-end smartphones offer screens with a refresh rate of 120 Hz. An excellent point therefore.
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