Our picks of the best gaming phones for 2020, whether you’re looking at Android or Apple, budget or premium.

There’s never a bad time to break out the best gaming phone; the mobile space is one of the most vibrant in all of gaming, so there’s always something new to play, try, or geek out over (especially with services like Apple Arcade now offering hit after hit). However, it can be tricky to know where to start. There are so many different options clamoring for your money, be it Apple, Google, Samsung, Huawei, and beyond. And are any of them actually good at playing games?

That’s where we come in. Our team of experts is on hand to point out the best gaming phones currently gracing the market, not to mention at the best prices. We’ve worked hard to make sure you know about big discounts and bargains as soon as they happen, so be sure to pop back in every now and then.

Broadly speaking, we’d recommend going for as large a screen as possible if you want a great gaming experience. Although it’s not essential, it helps if you aren’t squinting to see what’s going on beneath your thumbs (and if size is still a concern, be sure to check out the best gaming tablets as well). Having a good amount of memory is also handy – that means you won’t be running out of space after downloading a few apps. We’d suggest 64GB as a bare minimum for storage. That way you can store as many of the best Android games and iPhone games as you like, which is always nice.

1. ROG Phone 2

The best gaming phone

OS: Android Pie (ROG UI) | Screen size: 6.59-inch AMOLED 10-bit HDR | Resolution: 2340 x 1080 pixels | Dimensions (HxWxD): 170.99mm x 77.6mm x 9.48mm | Weight: 8.47oz (240g) | Cameras: 48MP main lens – 13MP ultra-wide – 24MP front camera | Storage: Up to UFS 3.0 1TB | CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 855

RoG stands for the Republic of Gamers, and ASUS has brought a ton to the table that will satisfy anyone who seriously enjoys playing PUBG Mobile, Fortnite, or other device-intensive mobile games.

The ASUS RoG Phone 2 stands out from the rest of the pack with its unique design that includes secondary charging and headphone ports along the side for easier use while gaming, Air Trigger touch sensors that let you use the corners of your phone as customizable inputs for shooting games, and an external Aero Active Cooler accessory included in the box designed to line up with the exposed heat sync on the back to keep things cool while you game.

The 6.6-inch FHD+ display features a 120Hz refresh rate and the phone does a great job running games on the admittedly busy software skin ASUS included. ASUS has refined its vision for the perfect gaming phone this time around. It’s still a large chunk of change to spend on a phone, which expands when you consider the extra gaming accessories — if you can track them down online.

2. Xiaomi Black Shark 2 Pro

The Black Shark 2 Pro is the most obvious competitor, particularly so in the absence of a current Razer phone. The Fall refresh of the Black Shark 2 includes the newer Snapdragon 855+ chipset and shuffles up the RAM and storage options a bit (UFS3.0 too), but remains essentially the same phone.

That means a 60Hz display, which, while otherwise a great OLED, doesn’t have the ROG Phone II’s gaming creds. The Shark does extract a lot of life out of its 4,000mAh battery, but can’t keep up with the ROG Phone II in our everyday tasks testing at 60Hz. The Shark’s not quite up there in the audio department either, be it the stereo loudspeakers or through the 3.5mm jack (technically through a dongle).

We did like the GamePads, the sole accessory controller that you can mount on the Black Shark 2. But only the left half comes bundled, while you need to buy the right one separately? It does sound like a bargain, however, compared to ROG’s Kunai Gamepad. Which is, in fact, what the Black Shark 2 Pro has going for it in the first place – it’s more affordable. Plus, more widely available, in fact.

3. ZTE nubia Red Magic 3s

Another member of the gaming droids roster, the Nubia Red Magic 3s is like the Black Shark 2 Pro – a chipset refresh more than anything else. That’s fine, but it wasn’t particularly great, to begin with. For starters, while its display is a 90Hz one, which is nice, you can’t switch to 60Hz if you want to, it’s much too dim for our liking, and it’s not great with colors either. Then there’s the matter of the single and a rather meh camera, and that’s before you get to the poorly translated bits of custom software.

On the plus side, the Red Magic 3s is affordable, ships to pretty much everywhere and it looks plenty cool. And what the ROG Phones need an accessory for, the Nubia has built-in – a cooling fan.