Xperia gaming

The Japanese tech giant makes high quality 4K TVs and has stakes in the movie making business, so of course it would equip its new flagship phone with a cinematic 4K OLED display and a 60Hz refresh rate.

Rivals like the OnePlus 8 Pro are roughly half as sharp and twice as smooth. Sony makes high-end audio gear and is the second-biggest record company in the world, so of course it would feature a high-grade 3.

A pair of front-firing stereo speakers are also particularly gamer-friendly. And the company that makes some of the finest DSLR cameras in the business is bound to have a different perspective on smartphone cameras. The triple 12MP unit here gives you uncommonly natural shots, freakish autofocus speeds, and extensive manual control options.

This uniformity is a good thing when you're talking about gaming performance. The Sony Xperia 1 II runs all the usual system hogs with contemptuous ease. Of course, there are fewer potential frames to miss thanks to Sony's decision to go with a 60Hz display rather than the Hz of the OnePlus 8 Pro or the 90Hz of the Black Shark 3. Sony's display approach is arguably better suited to cinematic content than gaming.

Of course the super-powerful A14 Bionic processor also makes it ideal for gaming. From battery life to build quality, there are plenty of reasons to consider the iPhone 12 if you want the best gaming phone money can buy. It's difficult to beat in terms of raw power, you've got a vast choice of games to pick from on iOS including the Apple Arcade subscription service , and it's going to work seamlessly with any other bits of Apple kit you happen to have set up around the home.

The OnePlus 9 Pro is the best Android phone in the world and, as you would expect, it's got top gaming credentials, too. It's not specifically marketed as a gaming phone, but let's count the ways the OnePlus 9 Pro is one of the best gaming phones of the moment anyway: that giant, 6.

Turn it sideways and it's perfect for gaming, with virtually no bezels to distract from the gaming action. Then there's all the power and performance that this phone is capable of, with the latest Snapdragon CPU running inside and 12GB of RAM to ensure that your mobile games absolutely fly along. So fantastic visuals, fantastic performance, and fantastic audio as well, thanks to some very capable stereo speakers.

The OnePlus 9 Pro also stands out due to its Hz display refresh rate for keeping up with your favourite first-person shooters , as well as an upgraded Gaming Mode to enhance the picture quality and to improve haptic feedback. The Gaming Mode can also block calls and notifications while you're playing, and it's part of an overall OxygenOS software experience that continues to impress.

Overall, then, the OnePlus 9 Pro isn't just the best premium Android phone on the market, but also one of the absolute finest gaming phones, too. And this makes it easy to recommend. Want a large screen powerhouse gaming phone from one of the world's best makers? Then pick the Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus. The Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus is everything a modern flagship-grade phone should be — it's powerful, has a stunning screen, and is packed with top class features. It's screen, which is a 6. And, thanks to its long lasting 4,mAh battery stack you'll be enjoying experiences like that day in day out without running to a charger.

The phone also comes with the very latest version of Android, Android 11, and also offers a very impressive camera system, which includes a triple lens array on the rear 12 MP, 12MP, 64MP , and a single 10MP selfie camera. Oh, and gamers will also love the fact that downloading and playing mobile games online is a buttery smooth experience too thanks to the S21 Plus' built-in 5G modem.

If you want a smartphone with a slender, smart style but packs a serious punch in gaming performance, the OnePlus 9 will be a great choice. Paired with the Hz refresh rate, it had no problems coping with big games. To say that it feels smooth is an understatement, the silky feel can only be fully appreciated in games with frame rates higher than 60fps, like Minecraft. All on a 6. It also has a handy Pro Gaming mode which blocks out all distractions from other apps, reduces latency, improves app launch speed and increases performance overall.

For avid mobile gamers who care about aesthetics, the OnePlus 9 will be a superb choice. Want an ultra-wide display to see enemies coming better in-game?

Then plump for the Sony Xperia 1 II. If you're after the very best gaming phone of then there's a lot to like about the Sony Xperia 1 II: not least that aspect ratio, 6.

Sony has packed all kinds of tech into this phone, including HDR support for the display and Dolby Atmos audio so your gaming and movie watching is guaranteed to be as immersive as possible. That Snapdragon processor and up to 12GB of RAM keep games ticking along nicely as well, and new this year is the introduction of 5G to the phone. Away from gaming, that triple-lens rear camera is capable of some impressive shots while you're out and about, and it comes with Android 10 on board as well — clean and largely free from bloatware so you can get on with your gaming.

Definitely worth investigating for your next gaming phone. Sony makes several Xperia models targeted at gamers. You can customise the screen settings for specific games, and it supports Hz touch scanning for very precise control.

That superb display is brilliant for video, and the triple-camera setup delivers impressive results. All-day battery life and fast but not wireless charging complete a very solid package. Want a great gaming phone that also has digital stylus functionality? Then scope out the Samsung Galaxy Note The Galaxy Note 20 from Samsung simply isn't messing about, what with its screamingly fast internal components and that huge 6.

With GB of storage too, you can get a lot of games installed before you're running out of room. The integrated S Pen stylus is of course the main selling point for the Note series, and it can come in handy in a whole variety of games, as well as for all the other tasks you can use it for as a remote control for the rear camera, for example.

While this is an expensive handset, we think that it justifies the cost. This gives you more than enough power and space to handle any game that you want to throw at the Galaxy Note 20, and thanks to the high capacity 4, mAh battery you should get plenty of gaming done between charges as well.

Recommended if you want a top-tier gaming experience. Can't stretch to the cost or the size of the iPhone 12? The 4. It's super small, super light and super affordable, and that makes it a super buy if you prefer to game on iOS but don't want to buy a bigger, more expensive iPhone.

There's one really big question you have to ask yourself when buying a gaming phone, and that is do you want a gaming phone with gaming aesthetic and extra features, or just a quality mobile that has buckets of power to play games?

Because the truth is that the vast majority of phones are perfectly capable of playing almost all mobile games with ease, and certainly any mid-tier or flagship phone. You won't find hardly any games in the iPhone App Store or Google Play that can't be run well by most phones made today, as that is very much where these game makers make their money. They want the most people to be able to play their games, so you tend to find very few titles that have any sort of elite demands in terms of power.

As such, unless you specifically want the gamer aesthetic and features like built-in triggers and advanced cooling systems, you're almost certainly best picking up a handset like the Apple iPhone 12 or OnePlus 9 - rapid, powerful handsets that play games really well but also are just great all-round phones.

Basically, though, it's a win-win for gamers looking to buy one of the best gaming phones, as basically whatever they purchase will be able to crush the games that they want to play. It's just down to how much extra spend the gamer is prepared to drop for fancy gamer-focussed features.

The very best gaming phones are technological triumphs. The very best ones combine super-speedy silicon with streamlined software and optimised operating systems to deliver incredibly immersive experiences. They combine all the qualities we love here at T3: design, engineering and innovation — and because games demand so much from your phone it means that you can be sure your new gaming phone is superb at all the everyday stuff too.

For gamers looking to squeeze maximum performance from the phone, there are a couple of things to note. As mentioned previously, the display is set at 60Hz to help extend battery life, but you may want to run at Hz for an even smoother experience. Related: The best 5G phones you can buy right now. However, the phone only supports sub-6GHz bands and not ultra-fast mmWave spectrum. This is unlike rival smartphones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. In fact, you can probably expect two full days with a lighter routine.

My typical day saw the phone offer about seven to nine hours of 60Hz screen-on time. Enabling the Hz display and long photography and gaming sessions will obviously knock battery life down a lot faster. But you can prioritize battery life at the expense of gaming frame rate to avoid running out of battery while on the go. On top of that, the Sony Xperia 1 III supports Qi wireless charging, which is better for short regular top-ups rather than a full charge.

This is a pretty handy feature to charge up your Qi-enabled wireless earbuds while out and about. Before diving into the photos, I want to give kudos to Sony for addressing a major bugbear of mine from the Xperia 1 II.

The result is a more refined experience that avoids the headache of juggling apps to find the settings you want. The Basic mode is missing HDR controls, seamless pinch-zooming between camera lenses, and a dedicated Night mode, for example. But the changes are definitely a step in the right direction. This smartphone can take some seriously amazing pictures. Sony seems to have addressed some underlying exposure and HDR detection capabilities this time around.

Consistency is improved, with fewer dark or overblown images. Related: The best camera phones you can get. Unfortunately, all of the cameras perform worse in low light. However, turning the lights down lower results in a notable lack of exposure and an increase in grain. This equates to roughly a 2. As well as providing longer zoom, a single image sensor ensures consistent image quality and colors when switching focal lengths.

Unfortunately, image quality ranges from excellent to unusable. This is most prevalent when switching to mm and shooting landscape and long-distance shots. I reached out to Sony about the issue and the company noted that the telephoto lens is more susceptible to camera shake and blur than the main or wide angle cameras.

The 16mm wide-angle camera is also decent, offering a very wide, distortion-free field of view.