The Best Gaming Smartphones of 2024
Gaming on smartphones has gotten better with each passing year, with several devices bringing cutting edge performance. Among the standout devices, the Red Magic 10 Pro+, ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro, and Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max lead the pack as some of the best gaming smartphones of 2024. So here’s a quick breakdown of why these models dominate the gaming landscape this year.
1. Red Magic 10 Pro+
The Red Magic 10 Pro+ is easily one of the best smartphones for mobile gaming fans. From the ground up, this smartphone is built specifically for gaming. There are various ways in which it has an advantage over its competitors thanks to the brand’s choices for its design and specs. It has a starting price tag of 5,999 Yuan (roughly 832 US Dollars). On the front, you get a tall 6.85-inch OLED display that offers a 1.5K resolution, a 144Hz refresh rate, and a 960Hz touch sampling rate. The screen has no punch hole cutout, so you’re also getting a seamless gaming experience on the big display.
Under the hood, the Red Magic 10 Pro+ is equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Elite, which makes it one of the fastest Android smartphones in the market. Performance is key, but so is the battery life. And the Red Magic 10 Pro+ doesn’t disappoint with its massive 7,050mAh battery pack, which supports 120W wired fast charging. For a better experience, the smartphone features 520Hz gaming shoulder keys. Cooling is key in high-end devices, and the phone optimizes gaming performance with composite liquid metal cooling along with a physical fan to avoid performance throttling in long gaming hours.
2. ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro
Soon after the Red Magic launch, ASUS also unveiled the ROG Phone 9 Pro. This model is a flagship-grade gaming phone that houses top-notch hardware. It packs a 6.78-inch AMOLED panel with up to 185Hz refresh rate and FHD+ resolution. But what makes it one of the best phones for gaming is its processor. Just like the Red Magic 10 Pro+, the ROG Phone 9 Pro also features the Snapdragon 8 Elite, which offers impressive upgrades in performance.
Gaming phones need to have a robust cooling system, and the ROG Phone 9 Pro features a 360° SoC Cooling System Gen 3 design for enhanced heat dissipation. For enhanced gameplay, this phone houses a subwoofer for 2.1 stereo surround and also packs hardware shoulder buttons. Since a smartphone isn’t as big as a controller, the shoulder buttons just give you an edge when gaming on a phone. This model has a starting price tag of 1,199 US dollars.
3. Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
The other two models on this list were dedicated gaming smartphones, but the last on this list is a great all-rounder. Apple is one of the popular brands for professional mobile gamers, be it an iPhone or iPad. So this year’s iPhone 16 Pro Max is easily one of the best smartphones for gaming. It packs the A18 Pro Bionic chipset, which offers impressive performance. Keeping the experience ultra smooth, the iPhone 16 Pro Max sports a 6.9-inch LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED that offers a 120Hz refresh rate.
You miss out on the shoulder buttons, dedicated cooling mechanisms, super fast charging, and much more. But Apple makes up for it with flagship-grade camera performance, good battery life, and even Artificial Intelligence powered features. So if you’re not looking for a phone that screams gaming even from its design, prefer a versatile device, and want good cameras, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is a great pick. This model was first announced for a starting price of 1,199 US Dollars.
