Hence, below we have prepared Top 10 Best Gaming Phone 2019 List, especially compatible with PUBG and Fortnite Mobile. In order to run these wonderful titles with playable smooth performance above 30 frames per second you need to have android phone with following minimum specs.
Making sure that you've got the best gaming phone is important, as upgrading to or buying a new phone is an expensive commitment. Not only are you locking yourself to a brand new handset, but you're probably looking at a two or three year contract too. Games get bigger, more power-hungry, and graphically superior with each major release, so you need something that's going to be able to keep up. And take great pictures. And let you watch TV shows. And have a good signal when you're video-calling your Gran.Our guide to the best gaming phones is skewed towards finding you something that works well for actual games. Whereas there may be better phones out there for day-to-day use, we've picked the ones that kick ass in or, and that offer big enough screens for adventure games like Life is Strange.
Of course, we do test all the everyday features too, but a great selfie camera and a posh voice assistant isn't going to be the deciding factor on whether a phone makes the cut. Our top pick, the Honor 20 Pro is fine-tuned for gaming, even offering tech that changes the performance to get more out of play.We test with the / and always look at factors like battery-life, screen-size, ease of use features, 4G and wireless connectivity, and the size of the storage included. Here are our top picks of the best gaming phones. No 3.5mm socketThe Honor 20 Pro is an absolute beast for gaming. Not only does it have a powerful Kirin chipset and 8GB of RAM, which easily chews through the most demanding of games, but it's also optimized for play on the go. It boasts the ability to not only lock Fortnite Mobile to 60fps, but also includes a series of features that boost your online connection, and specially tunes other features on your phone to increase battery life and divert resources to make everything run as smoothly as possible.
There's a generous 256GB of storage, which means you can download a whole lot of games before filling the device up, and the 6.26-inch screen is large enough to offer decent control over most titles.As a phone, the 20 Pro is extremely versatile. The 48Mp main camera brings crystal clear shooting, and there's a decent macro lens on there too.
The wide-angle and zoom lenses are. Just fine, and there's a great selfie camera too. The main drawbacks are that there's no 3.5mm socket here, so you're reliant on Bluetooth connections for headphones (the phone speakers are pretty good, if you're gaming alone), and that the screen isn't QHD like some competitors, so you can't display ultra-HD content.
The other issue is that Honor is owned by Huawei, who are currently in dispute with Google (and the US) over the use of the Android OS on its phones. This situation changes almost daily, but be aware that it's a factor.As a phone, however, the Honor 20 Pro is superb for gaming, and works well as a day-to-day handset. It's competitively priced, too, so won't break the bank like all Apple phones, or the likes of the Galaxy S10 and Note 10. No headphone jackThe really is a marvel when it comes to gaming.
That 5.7-inch screen, which does both HDR and 120Hz refresh rate is a thing of beauty, and it enhances pretty much any game you stick on there. No, it isn't edgeless, and it still sticks to the 16:9 aspect ratio, but the quality of the picture more than compensates for this. Add in the Dolby Atmos sound, and the terrifyingly fast Snapdragon 845 processor, and this will run anything you throw at it with panache. The overall build and feel of the phone is large, chunky and well made, so you know it won't break if you get a bit excited on the train, playing PUBG.It runs Android, so you're getting a phone with a neat, customizable OS, and there are loads of settings within the system to allow you to prioritize gaming and movie watching. The battery is commendable too, offering both rapid charging (which means you're fully charged from 0% in under two hours) and a whopping usage time of 10+ hours.
That's not just messaging and occasional use either; that's playing games, using the camera, and accessing the media player. The battery especially stacks up very well against this phone's competition.The Razer Phone 2 is only let down by everyday use features.
Yes, it's large, and no it doesn't have a headphone socket, but it's a powerful phone specifically designed for gaming. If that's your primary concern, this is way ahead of the competition. Lacks a 3.5mm jackThe Apple iPhone XS Max is the biggest iPhone yet, both in physical size and in price. This is the big boy of Apple's latest lineup, and its 6.5-inch screen just skirts the divide between tablet and phone. There's not much bezel here, fortunately, but the screen alone is enough to make the iPhone XS Max unmanageable in one hand for any but the largest palmed.Gaming on the iPhone XS Max is a dream, though the $1,099 price tag for the 64 GB model might make it seem like an unattainable one. These phones are expensive, though holding one in your hand(s) you see where the money goes.
The XS Max has the traditional Apple polish and lacks the rough edges that many Android devices have. LG, Samsung, Google, and some other major Android device manufacturers have caught up considerably, but Apple is still the one to beat when it comes to fit and finish.Gaming on iOS brings you face to face with one of iOS's most significant strengths for some and greatest weakness for others. Your selection of titles has only one source: the Apple App Store. While there are thousands of great titles to choose from, and you have very little to worry about when it comes to malware or incompatibility, the iPhone XS Max, like its brothers, just can't match the flexibility of Android. The iPhone XS Max is a premium device with a price to match, and it's not worth the money for some. However, if you're locked into the iOS ecosystem and you love gaming, there's no better phone available right now.
Frequent recharges neededFor those who opted out of an iPhone X or even the larger-than-life iPhone 8 Plus, the Galaxy S9 Plus is a fantastic alternative. Its capable Snapdragon 845 processor packs this smartphone full of power that's noticeable in just about every single aspect of the phone.Whether you're looking to run a few rousing games of The Elder Scrolls Legends or put the phone through its paces with a resource-heavy game like Fortnite, this pocket powerhouse can handle anything that throws at it, even if you're looking to multitask. You can also utilize the special proprietary Game Tools app if you want to capture gameplay footage or screenshots, which works quite well.Colorful casual games offer eye-popping color with the AMOLED display, and you get vibrant visuals and the blackest of blacks when tackling realistic titles as well. The phones' extensive storage and stereo speakers round things out for an incredible package that could only be improved by extending its battery life.Unfortunately, you'll be forced to charge it after only few hours' use if preoccupied with heavy gaming sessions. Despite that, it's by far one of the best Android-centric options for gaming currently on the market. Less offerings for the price than its competitionWhen you want a quality smartphone experience for gaming, look no further than the manufacturer of the PlayStation 4 itself: Sony. The Sony Xperia XZ2 is an exercise in decadence that may not measure up to the rest of the never-ending cavalcade of smartphone releases over the rest of the year, but it still sports several features that push it quite far ahead of the rest of the pack.Its top-of-the-line Snapdragon 845 chipset powers a stunning 1080 x 2160 HDR display with 5.7 inches of screen real estate that's perfect for any game, bolstering performance in a big way.
But other phones offer largely the same setup – it's the Xperia XZ2's stereo speakers that end up setting it apart. Its dual front-facing speakers are something to marvel over, especially when playing games where sound matters and earbuds just won't do. Coupled with its haptic feedback, dubbed the 'Dynamic Vibration System,' it offers one of the closest things to a true console experience any other smartphone has yet to deliver.With decent battery life thanks to its 3,180 man battery and microSD support for an abundance of storage, Sony's excellent smartphone is a viable contender for on-the-go gaming, no matter what your preferences lean toward.
High price doesn't match the performance compared to other flagship phonesIf you want Android the way it was meant to be, look no further than the Google Pixel 3 XL. This phone, straight from the creators of Android themselves, offers a stock Android experience on an absolute beast of a device. It's not a massive improvement over the Google Pixel 2 XL, but if you're looking to upgrade from a phone that's a couple of years old, you'll be hard-pressed to find a model that can top the Pixel 3 XL.The Pixel series is the spiritual successor to Google's Nexus line, but where the Nexus cut corners to offer a premium product at a low price, the Pixel goes for broke.
It touts a camera that surpasses the iPhone in many tests, and the new mode of OLED screen fixes any of the problems the Pixel 2XL had with washed out colors. However, all that comes at a cost. Though gaming on the Pixel 3 XL is a pleasure, the $900 price tag is getting into iPhone territory. Given that it shares the same CPU with many current flagships, and even has less RAM than some, you may do better to shop around for a similar phone.If money is no object, though, the Google Pixel 3 XL is one of the best ways to experience Android.
It receives updates straight from Google, so you're not stuck waiting months for the latest version of Android, and it has a lively development community, so if the stock feel isn't your thing you can tinker until you find something that is. Camera is a downgrade over the iPhone XThe iPhone XR has all of the meat of the iPhone X and none of the gristle. While some might miss the dual cameras or OLED screen, when it comes to gaming the iPhone XR matches and perhaps even exceeds its predecessor. The new A12 Bionic processor that the iPhone XR shares with its bigger brothers, the XS and XS Max adds a little more oomph over the A11 found in the iPhone X, and as mobile games continue to grow more sophisticated you'll be glad for the extra horsepower.The biggest appeal of the XR over other current iPhone models is the price. At $799 unlocked, the iPhone XR gives you performance matching that of the XS for $200 less.
Despite some Android phones having more impressive stats on paper, you'll find that games tend to be better optimized on iOS, an advantage of only having to support a small number of devices.However, the XR also comes with the iPhone's biggest weakness. If you're someone who likes to tinker with new phone ROMs or wacky stuff like streaming your PC games to your phone, the iPhone XR just doesn't have that flexibility. When it comes to gaming it's the Apple App Store or bust, and that might be a dealbreaker depending on what you desire out of your phone.
Less RAM than other similar modelsIf the best and the brightest mobile tech doesn't concern you and you just need a formidable piece of hardware suitable for gaming, the Nokia 6.1 is a viable option. It's perfect for mobile gamers who want a more cost-effective option than the latest and greatest selections out there, and while it sacrifices newer tech for a lower price, it's still capable of reliable performance.The stylish Nokia phone comes standard with the Snapdragon 630, which obviously isn't the top of the line when it comes to processing power, but the phone's decent amount of RAM ensures there are few issues when playing labor-intensive games. Still, it’s a bit less than what you may be used to. You won't be able to crank up your graphics settings to Ultra or anything like that, but it's perfectly fine if all you care about is having an available mobile device to jump into the most popular titles out on the App Store or Google Play Store with friends.You get a decent suite of additional specs as well for the price, but the spotlight here is the price, since it's the most affordable out of the current crop of phones out there appropriate for regular gaming.
It's nowhere near top-tier with its list of specs, but the price is certainly right, and that lets it hang with the best of them. Moto Mods can be priceyThe Motorola Z3 is another midrange phone in Motorola's confusingly-named lineup.
Not to be confused with the Motorola Z3 Play, the Z3 is a Verizon-exclusive phone that offers excellent performance in an affordable package. Of course, this device will have limited appeal, being sold exclusively through Verizon Wireless. However, if that happens to be your carrier and you're looking to get a (close to) top-of-the-line Android phone for a little more than half of what Samsung, LG, and Apple's offerings retail for, the Z3 is worth checking out.Besides the more than adequate device specs, the Moto Z3 will appeal to gamers because of Moto Mods.
The Z3 is one of the only phones to allow you to expand its capabilities with add-ons. You can get a gamepad that fits the phone perfectly and adds two joysticks, a D-pad, four face buttons, and two shoulder buttons on each side.
The Moto Gamepad also adds another 1035 mAh battery to augment the Z3's internal power so you can game longer.The Moto Mods can be a bit expensive, but they're custom made to fit the platform and add extendability to the Z3 that other phones just don't have. If you're looking at mid-range Android phones and happen to use Verizon as your carrier, consider the Z3 if you plan on using your device for a lot of gaming.Some online stores give us a small cut if you buy something through one of our links. Read our for more info.
Sascha Segan Steven Winkelman The Best Phones for 2019 We test and rate hundreds of mobile phones each year. Whether you're looking for Apple, Android, or even a simple feature phone, these are our top picks for a variety of budgets across the major US wireless carriers.Dial Up the Perfect PhoneFor most of us, mobile phones are at the center of our universe. The typical feature set of these palm-size marvels is astounding. It's your phone, your messaging device, your web browser, your camera, your music player, your GPS, and more. We're a smartphone-dominated nation, with 4G LTE networks beating many home internet connections in terms of speed, and 5G just beginning to launch in select cities. We have more good wireless carrier options than we've had in years, thanks to vigorous competition between the four major carriers and smaller virtual carriers like. But some of our choices have constricted a bit: The smartphone OS marketplace is basically down to Apple's iOS and Google's Android, and it's hard to find a really good simple voice phone nowadays.Here at PCMag, we review almost every smartphone released on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, and many of their sub-brands such as Boost, Cricket, and Metro.Rather than purely choosing the phones with the highest ratings here, we're trying to deliver a list of phones that are spread broadly across different price points.
The list is focused on the hottest, newest devices, but you can also find great value in slightly older phones —products like the and the, which are still very good devices.What should you be looking for when buying a cell phone? Here are some key points to consider: Which Cell Phone Carrier Should You Choose?Despite all the recent hardware and mobile software innovation, your wireless service provider remains your most important decision. No matter what device you buy, it's a doorstop unless you have solid wireless coverage. Maybe you have friends and family on the same carrier that you talk to for free, and you don't want that to change with your next phone. Maybe you're lusting after a certain device—say, an unlocked smartphone for international travel.
And of course, you want to choose a carrier that offers fair prices, and provides the best coverage in your area. These are all good reasons to put the carrier decision first. We have two major features to help you choose a carrier. For our, PCMag readers tell us which carriers they prefer based on coverage, call quality, device selection, and other factors. And for our feature, we send drivers to 30 US cities to scope out which smartphone carriers have the best data coverage.
Because each of the national carriers sells a wide variety of phones, choosing your service provider should be your first move. Here's a quick rundown of what each one offers:AT&T's strongest areas of the country are the Midwest, Southeast, Texas, and northern California. The latest phones are better able to take advantage of AT&T's spectrum, so it's our Fastest Mobile Network for 2019 —but only if you're using a recent, top-of-the-line device. AT&T owns DirecTV, so it has some pricing bundles if you're also interested in satellite TV services.Sprint and T-Mobile are in the middle of a contentious merger right now, which will probably go through, although we're not sure when.
If and when it goes through, that will result in Sprint and T-Mobile customers being able to use each other's networks. Sprint's network has gotten better recently, but it's still in fourth place in our Fastest Mobile Networks tests, with less 4G reach than other carriers. All the phones Sprint and T-Mobile sell right now will work on a merged network, but older ones may not.
Verizon Wireless is famed for its top-notch network quality and good customer service. Its prices can be higher than the competition, but its combination of very reliable coverage and good speeds made Verizon a Fastest Mobile Networks winner five years running. It lost the nationwide position this year, but still won many cities.US Cellular is only available in about half the country.
It has a reputation for good customer service, but has been suffering recently in our surveys as readers have said its prices and LTE network quality don't match up to some of the alternatives.There are also plenty of virtual operators that use the big four networks, but offer lower monthly rates, cheaper international calls, or other benefits. They're usually better for lighter users and most don't have family plans. The winner of our Readers' Choice award this year was a virtual carrier, Consumer Cellular, which runs on AT&T's and T-Mobile's networks.AT&T owns Cricket; Sprint owns Boost and Virgin; T-Mobile owns Metro by T-Mobile; Verizon owns Visible; and Google owns Google Fi. Tracfone is another prominent virtual carrier, with spinoff brands like Straight Talk, Family Mobile, and Net10, all of which have their own plans. We spotlight some of our favorites in. Do You Need a 5G Phone?arrived in April, and there are now several 5G phones available.
But while 5G may change everything in the future, it's not going to happen immediately. Our tests of 5G so far have shown limited coverage, inconsistent speeds, and devices that frequently overheat. We're definitely in the 'public beta' phase of this new technology, so we don't heavily recommend any 5G phones yet. We continue to track the buildouts on our page. (One note: you may see a '5G E' icon on your existing AT&T phone. That is not 5G;. Your phone is still running on 4G.)The 5G networks and devices will get much more interesting, and more widespread, toward the end of 2020.
The real differentiating coverage and speeds will initially be in large cities. If you consider yourself an early adopter, you live in a large city, and you want the ultimate in connectivity, you should assume you'll probably want a 5G phone next year. By 2021, the 5G situation will be even better.That could affect your 2019 purchase if your budget is limited. Instead of buying a super-expensive, $1,000-plus phone on a three-year payment plan, you should buy a somewhat less expensive phone on a two-year payment plan, or even a one-year quick-upgrade plan. That's one reason we recommend the Samsung Galaxy S10e over the more expensive S10+. Unlocked PhonesAs carriers have moved to increasingly more confusing service and pricing plans, the value of has been rising accordingly.Unlocked phones are bought from a third-party store or directly from the manufacturer, and aren't tied to any specific carrier.
Usually, you can use them with AT&T or T-Mobile. But some popular unlocked phones work on all four major carriers. If you want the best flexibility, look for a recent Apple, Google Pixel, Samsung flagship, or a Motorola phone.
If you buy an unlocked phone, you'll be able to move it freely between compatible carriers. But even if you don't intend to ever change your carrier, unlocked phones are free of carrier bloatware and (with Android phones) often receive software and OS updates more quickly than the carrier versions do.
What Is the Best Smartphone?As more people become accustomed to instant email, web, music, and messaging access at all times of the day, regardless of where they are, smartphones have become almost indispensable. That said, there's plenty of variety out there—not to mention devotees of specific OS platforms. That makes sense, though; sometimes, a platform's user interface or app selection just speaks to you, and that's all there is to it.
With that in mind, and at the risk of attracting flames, let's break it down as well as we can for those who aren't so fully vested.There's actually less diversity in smartphone platforms and designs than there was a few years ago. Right now, and are the two top smartphone platforms, both in US sales and in the availability of third-party apps. The iPhone has the best app store and the best media features. But Apple's tightly controlled ecosystem can feel stifling to some, and iOS isn't easy to customize or modify. There's far more variety among Android handsets, and its open-source nature makes it a tweaker's dream.
But it also means fragmented third-party app compatibility, occasional bugs, carrier-installed bloatware you can't remove, and scattered, often sporadic OS updates.In terms of form factor, it's difficult to find a smartphone that isn't a solid black slab anymore. The best phone with a physical keyboard is the BlackBerry Key2 LE. It's a good device, and worth choosing if the physical keyboard is important to you, but fewer and fewer people seem to consider that a key feature with time.
Phones are available in a wide range of sizes and shapes, to fit various types of hands. Samsung's Galaxy S10e and the Google Pixel 3 are narrower than most other phones, giving them big screens that are easy to hold in one hand. The Galaxy Note 10+, the OnePlus 7 Pro, and the iPhone XS Max, on the other hand, are gigantic, for people who want big windows into their online world.
The Best Feature PhonesA good portion of the US population is still using simpler phones, but there are surprisingly few current choices out there. There are still reasons to get a simple, less-expensive device: They're easier to use, and they charge much lower monthly fees because data isn't involved. There are some killer deals for voice-only usage on virtual carriers like TracFone and Consumer Cellular.There's a big problem with voice phones and current networks, though.
Because all of our carriers are eliminating or reducing the quality of their 2G and 3G networks, voice phones must be verified by the carriers for 4G voice-over-LTE coverage to get good quality and connectivity in the future. Older voice phones don't have that, and there aren't many voice-over-LTE voice phones, period.
It's frustrating.We have one voice phone on this list, the Sonim XP3 for AT&T and Sprint. The is good for Verizon.
We hold out hopes for the Light Phone 2 and the, neither of which are properly VoLTE certified yet but both of which are trying to get through the process. Unlike smartphones, feature phones are a matter of 'what you see is what you get.' They don't receive software upgrades or run thousands of additional apps (some feature phones come with app stores, but don't be fooled, they exist primarily to sell you additional-cost services, ringtones, wallpapers, and basic games).For voice quality, read our individual phone reviews.
Wireless network coverage is always the biggest factor, but individual phones can vary in reception, earpiece quality, transmission quality through the microphone, and side-tone (the echo of your own voice that helps prevent you from yelling at the other person). A phone with middling to poor reception quality can be almost impossible to use in a marginal coverage area, while one with excellent reception can make the best of the little signal that's available. Another point to consider: Some phones have much louder speakerphones than others.For more, see our picks for. We also have a roundup of. The Best Cheap PhonesThis story tends to be headlined by very expensive phones, but you can get a perfectly good smartphone for between $200 and $300 upfront.We're big fans of Motorola's low-end and midrange phones. They're unlocked and compatible with all US carriers, and they use a fast, clean version of the Android OS.
The Moto E series is available from carriers for under $100, and the Moto G7 Power is available online for $250; they're great deals. Because of the current trade war between the US and China, the low-cost market has been hollowed out a bit recently. We used to recommend several phones from Honor, Huawei, and ZTE, but their future in the US is still in doubt. For the moment, look primarily at lower-end Motorola and LG phones if you're trying to save money.The least expensive iPhone we currently recommend is the $449.
Apple tends to program its operating systems so that once a model is about three years old, it can no longer handle some of the latest features. That means iPhone models older than the 7 are getting to the end of their fully supported lives. Don't buy an older iPhone model, including the iPhone SE.The Best Chinese PhonesWe don't recommend using phones imported from China in the US. This isn't about trade wars or spying: it's because those devices usually don't have the appropriate 4G frequency bands to perform well on US networks, and they rarely have warranties or service plans that apply in the US.That said, there's a lot of exciting phone innovation happening in China that we aren't getting in the US market. Flagship phones are cheaper over there, and cameras have better zoom. We recently and found that the and the have the best overall performance. The Best Cell Phone Plan Pricing.
Cell phone pricing is more confusing than ever. Some carriers still have the old-school, binding two-year contracts where you pay a higher monthly rate in exchange for a discounted phone. But there are also now payment plans where you pay the full retail cost of your phone, but pay less on your service plan; fast-upgrade and leasing plans where you pay a monthly fee and trade in your phone for a new one every year; as well as more carriers just selling phones for their retail price upfront.Which one you choose depends on how long you intend to keep your phone and what you want to do with it after you're done with it. If you intend to upgrade frequently, you'll get the most financial advantage by buying phones upfront and reselling them on eBay when you're done with them, but that takes effort. Traditional two-year deals make sense if you stick with the plan of getting a new phone every two years and you're OK with the long-term commitment. T-Mobile and Verizon don't offer two-year contracts anymore; you either pay upfront, or pay in installments over 24 months. Apple offers leasing and installment plans just like the carriers do.There are also your monthly carrier fees.
And this is where things gets tricky, as the carriers make it exceedingly difficult to figure out how much you'll actually pay per month. T-Mobile now includes fees in its base advertised plan prices, and we hope other carriers will follow. AT&T and Verizon plans tend to cost the most, but those two carriers have the best voice and data coverage in the nation. Sprint and T-Mobile offer considerable savings, especially on unlimited voice, data, and texting plans.To see our most recent reviews, check out our. Strictly interested in Android? Head over to our roundup. And if you want to document the world around you with your phone, we've rounded up the too.