The best gaming smartphones of 2025: I put them all to the test to crown the ultimate winner
Perhaps the most demanding thing you can do with the best smartphone is play games on it. No other task or app puts as much strain on its processor or its battery life.
The mobile games market is also expected to reach over $120 bn (£94.6bn) in revenue by the end of 2025. It is no surprise, then, that a sub-category of gaming smartphones has emerged.
This growing selection remains a small niche, with only two manufacturers (Asus and Nubia) producing fully dedicated gaming phones. Still, several established smartphone brands now treat gaming as a key priority.
Whether you want a purpose-built gaming phone or a flagship that handles games with ease, you will find a suitable option further down in this guide, followed by the answers to some frequently asked questions. But if you're in a hurry, here's a quick look at my top five:
The best gaming smartphones: At a glance
How we test gaming smartphones
I am an experienced freelance journalist who began covering mobile gaming at the dawn of the smartphone era. Since then, I have broadened my focus to cover consumer technology. As such, I have strong knowledge of games, phones, and gaming phones.
The following selection includes five top picks and one honourable mention, chosen from dozens of phones tested over time. Many were excellent all-rounders, but did not offer a gaming experience strong enough to stand out.
Each handset was used as my main device for at least a week. I tested them across five areas: design and features, display, performance and battery life, software and AI, as well as camera capabilities.
As the focus for this guide is on the gaming experience, I placed more weight on performance, battery life, and the quality of the display. Camera and design were considered, but less central.
The final list reflects only the best gaming experiences available today.
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The best gaming smartphones of 2025
1. Best Buy Gaming Phone: Nubia Redmagic 10S Pro
The Nubia Redmagic 10S Pro is awarded my Best Buy pick, not because it is the best all-round phone on this list, but because it offers excellent gaming features at a competitive price.
These include the fastest mobile processor I have used, backed by a cooling system with a physical fan. This allows the Redmagic 10S Pro to maintain performance for longer.
It has a large 6.85-inch screen with an elevated 144Hz refresh rate, though only a few gaming titles will take advantage of this speed fully. The selfie camera sits under the display, meaning there is no notch to distract from the action.
It also has the largest battery of any smartphone I have used - 7,050mAh - which lasts a full day, even if you've played games on your commute to and from work.
The design may divide opinions, with a bulky body, bright rear lights, and a semi-transparent back. The small dot-matrix display on the back of the phone seems superfluous, and it lacks any official water resistance.
The phone incorporates a pair of useful side-mounted buttons that can be mapped to in-game controls, as well as a physical switch that boots the phone directly into Nubia's gaming software. This lets you tweak every last setting to get the most out of games.
For those who value battery lie, strong performance, and gaming-specific tools over style or polish, this phone represents exceptional value.
Key specifications
2. Best Value Gaming Phone: Nubia Redmagic 10 Air
The Redmagic 10 Air is a cheaper, lighter alternative to the Redmagic 10S Pro above. It lacks the 10S Pro's cutting-edge performance, huge battery, extensive cooling system and 144Hz refresh rate display.
In its favour is a much slimmer and less off-putting design at an even cheaper price. It is competent in terms of performance too. While it uses last year's flagship processor, it remains capable of playing the most advanced games fluidly at high graphical settings.
You still get Nubia's shoulder triggers, which can be assigned to key game controls. The company's Game Space gaming software, accessed via a button on the left edge, offers an effective way to optimise and organise your games library.
While the camera system isn't accomplished, and Nubia's Android-based software remains fundamentally messy, the Redmagic 10 Air supplies an excellent gaming experience in an approachable package.
Key specifications
3. Best Mobile Games Library: Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
Apple doesn't make gaming phones, but its iPhones represent some of the best phones for playing games on. As its current flagship offering, with the biggest display (6.9-inches) and the largest battery, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is my pick for gamers wanting a more traditional smartphone.
Running on Apple's custom A18 Pro chip, it's one of the fastest gaming handsets right now. It is capable of running high-end games with flawless performance, and even benefits from extra graphical effects over its Android rivals.
It is the level of software support on iOS that marks the iPhone 16 Pro Max apart from any other phone on this list. Apple's App Store is host to more high-quality games than Android, including console titles such as Resident Evil 8 and Death Stranding.
Elsewhere, Apple Arcade is a subscription gaming service that serves as the Netflix of mobile gaming, offering dozens of games for £6.99 per month.
Besides its enviable games library, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is a fantastic phone in its own right. It features a high-grade titanium design, slick software, and an outstanding camera system.
Key specifications
Screen: 6.9in OLED, 120Hz refresh rate
Cameras: Triple (48MP main, 48MP ultrawide, 12MP 5x zoom), 12MP selfie
Processor: Apple A18 Pro
Storage: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB
Operating system: iOS 18
Dimensions: 163 x 78 x 8.3 mm
Weight: 227g
Colours: Black Titanium, White Titanium, Natural Titanium, Desert Titanium
4. Best All-Round Gaming Phone: Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro
If money is no object, then the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro is the best all-round gaming phone on the market. Its performance is competitive, it has the most responsive 185Hz display available, and it packs in gamer-friendly features such as dedicated shoulder buttons.
It also has a second USB-C port on one of the phone's longer edges. This makes charging while gaming in landscape orientation far more pleasant, and also facilitates the addition of an external cooling fan stand.
The ROG Phone 9 Pro's 5,800mAh battery supplies superb stamina, with the longest sustained battery life of any 2025 flagship phone I've tested. Asus bundles in a speedy 65W charger, and unlike Nubia's gaming phones, you also get wireless charging support.
What helps justify the ROG Phone 9 Pro's steep price is that it is surprisingly pleasant to use, even outside of gaming.
While it doesn't stack up to the best phone cameras on the market, the ROG Phone 9 Pro will take pleasing pictures in all conditions. It features an advanced gimbal stabilisation system, which helps to alleviate bouncy footage, and there's also a dedicated zoom camera. The design, too, is of a higher quality with less of the awkward gamer aesthetic.
Key specifications
Screen: 6.78in AMOLED, 185Hz refresh rate
Cameras: Triple (50MP main, 32MP 3x zoom, 13MP ultrawide), 32MP selfie
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite
Storage options: 512GB, 1TB
Operating system: Android 15
Dimensions: 164 x 77 x 8.9mm
Weight: 227g
Colours: Phantom Black
Also consider:
Xiaomi's Poco sub-brand often promises gaming-focused performance at competitive prices, and the Poco F7 Ultra is the most capable example yet. For a reasonable £569.45, you're getting top-level performance, decent battery life and a good 6.67in display.
It isn't an out-and-out gaming phone, with no dedicated gaming controls or advanced gaming software. However, it's a much nicer smartphone to use daily than either of my top two picks, with a relatively traditional design and a competent triple camera system.
5. Best Budget Gaming Phone: Poco X7 Pro
The Poco X7 Pro isn't explicitly positioned as a gaming phone. That said, Xiaomi, its manufacturer, certainly pushes gaming performance as a key feature. The Dimensity 8400 Ultra processor at its heart isn't quite a flagship component, but it is extremely capable, especially considering its price.
That is the key to the Poco X7 Pro's appeal. While it only costs a little over £300 at RRP, it outperforms a £1,000 phone such as the Google Pixel 9 Pro. Being able to run advanced games such as Genshin Impact and GRID Legends smoothly on a phone at this price is quite something.
The X7 Pro's gaming credentials are bolstered further by a large 6,000mAh battery that should stand up to lengthy gaming sessions. There's also 90W wired charging support, which is another specification you don't always expect to see at this end of the market.
Xiaomi's design comes across as either dull or gaudy, depending on the colour you opt for. My test model's black-and-yellow finish is the latter. However, this is a solidly built phone with an impressive IP68 resistance rating, allowing you to dunk it in water at a depth of 1m for up to 30 minutes.
The company's custom Android software is rather cluttered, and you're not getting a particularly great camera system here. If all you're after is excellent gaming performance on a budget, however, you won't find better for the price.
Key specifications
Gaming phone FAQs
How do I choose the best gaming phone?
There are only a handful of dedicated gaming phones on the market. To choose one, simply establish your budget (ideally between £400 and £1,100). Next, consider whether gaming is an absolute priority, or whether you'd like a phone that can, for example, also take good pictures.
Do I need a specific gaming phone, or are iPhones or Samsung Galaxy smartphones sufficient?
It depends on what type of games you intend to play, and for how long. If you intend to play power-hungry 3D games for protracted periods (upwards of 20 minutes), a specialist gaming phone is advised, as they're designed to perform well for longer without running out of battery. Competitive games, too, benefit from the special gaming controls that such phones feature.
However, if you're a more casual player, a flagship Samsung phone or iPhone will prove perfectly acceptable. Indeed, Apple's iOS platform grants access to the biggest library of high-quality games.
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