Gaming smartphone test 2023: How to gamble better

Mobile games basically work on any smartphone. How well graphically impressive 3D games perform depends on the hardware involved. A gaming smartphone usually relies on the current high-end models like the Samsung Galaxy S series in terms of its internal workings. The games themselves usually don’t perform any better here than on traditional overhead models. Manufacturers like Asus or RedMagic make useful additions to two more points with their gaming smartphones: hardware and software.

For a gaming phone, the screen and the controls displayed on it are the most important features. We operate joysticks, buttons, and the like here with touch input. This is not entirely intuitive, especially for experienced players. Gaming smartphones can address this with additional haptic elements. The touch-sensitive trigger buttons deserve a special mention here. It is located on the top side of the smartphone horizontally, and vibrates when touched to simulate a physical button.

In the game, triggers can be set freely with actions. Because: pressing the trigger is the same as touching the screen at a point. For example, you can aim with the left trigger in shooters and shoot with the right – just like with a traditional controller. The triggers also often recognize the intensity of the pressure and the area where the finger is resting. This allows additional possibilities to set triggers with in-game actions.

Complex 3D games in particular tend to trigger a smartphone. Therefore, some mobile phones use wide ventilation holes on the edge of the device. However, this has two major drawbacks: on the one hand, it reduces or completely eliminates the protection of the smartphone from water and dust, and on the other hand, such fans rarely rotate silently.

So other manufacturers rely on external fans that are installed on the back of the device as needed. These are also audible, but they offer their own tricks. For example, the Asus AeroActive Cooler provides not only four additional touch buttons, but also a subwoofer. This audibly improves the sound of the mobile phone and makes external portable speakers almost unnecessary.

But not only the hardware, but also the software of gaming smartphones is cut for games. In some cases, this is already evident in the operating system. Some manufacturers offer their devices with a special version of Android, which is specifically focused on the gaming aspect of the cell phone. Not only are there some weird menu animations here, the pre-installed apps and shortcut menus also allow for more configuration of the gaming experience.

For example, you can select a performance mode here, display the refresh rate, block notifications while gaming, assign triggers to their actions, improve the touch sensitivity of the screen, and , and . In order not to lose track here, you need basic software that is easy to use and easy to understand.