Looking for a new phone that can game.

darealsoulless · April 13

Edit: Seems like an iPad is going to be the best device for me. Even the M1 iPads absolutely smash my iPhone 13 in performance tests. I'm currently looking at the M3 iPad Air.

I've recently picked up several mobile games (not a console or PC gamer anymore) and I'm just wanting to maximize my performance capabilities. I currently use an iPhone 13, which I got on release day and I have absolutely loved, but it is getting long in the tooth. Battery life is poor, some lag is starting to become noticeable and it gets super hot in games.

I mainly play Ark Survival's mobile version and while it does run good at the lowest resolution, I'm still probably only getting 40 fps and the fidelity is not good.

With that out of the way, what phone currently has the fastest silicon? Looking to be able to turn that resolution way up and still get at least 40fps. I would consider either something from Apple or any gaming-focused Android phone. I see that Asus has some compelling looking offerings these days.

Seems like I'll be choosing between the iPhone 16 Pro Max or something like a Samsung or Asus phone. Help is greatly appreciated.

P.S. please don't just tell me to get a console or a PC. Been there, done that, I'm just not a serious enough gamer to have dedicated hardware for it. I use a thin & light as my main PC and no longer own any consoles. (Sold my PS5 because it was just sitting around not being used.) A top of the line phone works as a phone AND gaming device for me, and I like it that way.

emosun · April 13

1 minute ago, darealsoulless said:

Battery life is poor, some lag is starting to become noticeable and it gets super hot in games.

well you could replace the phones battery. that would save quite a lot of money and allow the phone to last longer thus making the phone worth the cost a bit more

darealsoulless · April 13

Just now, emosun said:

well you could replace the phones battery. that would save quite a lot of money and allow the phone to last longer thus making the phone worth the cost a bit more

the GPU in the 13 just struggles too hard in Ark Survival Mobile. I'm hoping to upgrade to something with faster silicon.

emosun · April 13

Just now, darealsoulless said:

the GPU in the 13 just struggles too hard in Ark Survival Mobile. I'm hoping to upgrade to something with faster silicon.

ok well the phone only came out 3 years ago so i'm not too sure much has happened in terms of technological advancements in cellphone graphics.

that being said if your plan is to keep replacing phones every 3 years then i;d prob just get another apple device as thats typically what the company wants you to do vs trying to repair or maintain the device.

Blue4130 · April 13

30 minutes ago, darealsoulless said:

I've recently picked up several mobile games (not a console or PC gamer anymore) and I'm just wanting to maximize my performance capabilities. I currently use an iPhone 13, which I got on release day and I have absolutely loved, but it is getting long in the tooth. Battery life is poor, some lag is starting to become noticeable and it gets super hot in games.

I mainly play Ark Survival's mobile version and while it does run good at the lowest resolution, I'm still probably only getting 40 fps and the fidelity is not good.

With that out of the way, what phone currently has the fastest silicon? Looking to be able to turn that resolution way up and still get at least 40fps. I would consider either something from Apple or any gaming-focused Android phone. I see that Asus has some compelling looking offerings these days.

Seems like I'll be choosing between the iPhone 16 Pro Max or something like a Samsung or Asus phone. Help is greatly appreciated.

P.S. please don't just tell me to get a console or a PC. Been there, done that, I'm just not a serious enough gamer to have dedicated hardware for it. I use a thin & light as my main PC and no longer own any consoles. (Sold my PS5 because it was just sitting around not being used.) A top of the line phone works as a phone AND gaming device for me, and I like it that way.

Well if you want to keep the games that you already bought, you are stuck in the apple world. Get the newest apple whatever pro.

nitrosheep · April 13

23 minutes ago, emosun said:

ok well the phone only came out 3 years ago so i'm not too sure much has happened in terms of technological advancements in cellphone graphics.

that being said if your plan is to keep replacing phones every 3 years then i;d prob just get another apple device as thats typically what the company wants you to do vs trying to repair or maintain the device.

I wouldn't be so sure, since I tried out assasin's creed on my dad's old 13 pro and my new 16 pro, and there's a massive increase in performance. maybe OP's phone service company has an option for trading in the old phone and getting a new one free? that's how I upgraded from a dying x to a 16 pro

btw cloud gaming is less painful now so maybe that would be an option

CatTNT · April 13

I think if you replace the battery for a new one, and maybe find some sort of phone case with cooling, it would noticeably increase your performance. Even my Iphone 15 pro max lags just swiping around the home screen when it's hot from charging / the sun. I have kept this phone on an 80% maximum power limit since I first got it in October 2023. It now has a 90% battery health and 305 cycles.

If you don't believe your phone running at stock brand new performance + let's just say 10% faster with a coling solution, then yeah buy the newest Iphone pro / pro max as others have said. If want to get an Ipad they are almost certainly much faster, using M series CPUs and not A series.

darealsoulless · April 13

33 minutes ago, CatTNT said:

I think if you replace the battery for a new one, and maybe find some sort of phone case with cooling, it would noticeably increase your performance. Even my Iphone 15 pro max lags just swiping around the home screen when it's hot from charging / the sun. I have kept this phone on an 80% maximum power limit since I first got it in October 2023. It now has a 90% battery health and 305 cycles.

If you don't believe your phone running at stock brand new performance + let's just say 10% faster with a coling solution, then yeah buy the newest Iphone pro / pro max as others have said. If want to get an Ipad they are almost certainly much faster, using M series CPUs and not A series.

Mine is currently at 80% of maximum capacity (or so it says, I believe it's far lower than that), has done 720 cycles. I'm sure the battery is limiting the performance somewhat but this phone is not worth fixing. Both glass panels are cracked, main camera lens is cracked also. Fixing that and adding a new battery would cost almost as much as a new device. I'm ready to upgrade anyway, I tend to replace my phones about every 3 years.

I assumed iPads still used identical silicon to the phones, the same way they did many years ago. I will look into one and compare its performance to the 16. If it's 25% faster or more, I'll just grab one of those and keep the 13 until it totally craps the bed.