If you’re looking to get the best gaming phone for your hard-earned cash, it can be difficult to decide which one to go with. The problem is that many new phones are released every year, and you may not know about all of them. There’s also the fact that many of these phones fall under $1,000, which makes it hard to choose between the truly good options without some outside help.
To help you out, we’ve assembled five of the top gaming phones that will be available in 2022 based on quality and affordability.
1. Asus ROG 5
The ASUS ROG 5 is the best gaming smartphone you can buy, thanks to its design features and software advantages that enhance your gaming experience. The Asus ROG phone 5 is truly gamer-focused, but this means that it is missing a few mainstream features, while the software has a few rough edges. Like its ROG Phone 5s Pro predecessor, the Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro is a very capable gaming phone, boasting high-end specs, a spectacularly fast display, and helpful extra hardware controls for the dedicated gamer.
Pros
- Superb performance
- 144Hz AMOLED display
- Great display and speakers
- Excellent battery life
Cons
- Expensive
- Large, heavy, and dense
- No wireless charging
- Disappointing night mode camera
Read Our Full Review: ASUS ROG 5
2. RedMagic 7 Pro
The 7 Pro is the most polished gaming phone Nubia has made, yet it is also its most divisive. With all of the hardware and software features in place in the RedMagic 7 Pro, it is difficult to call one gaming phone that checks more boxes. This latest gaming smartphone from Nubia Nubia has one major differentiating factor compared to The RedMagic 7 which launched just five months back. If you are looking for a phone that shouts premium and plays games at the same time, then Nubias REDMAGIC 7 Pro is easily one of the prettiest-looking phones I have seen so far.
Pros
- Powerful performance
- Useful gaming and cooling features
- Under-display selfie camera
- Impressive battery and Speedy
- Fast-charging
Cons
- No wireless charging
- Expensive
- Refresh rate down to 120Hz
- Cameras can't compete with others
- The software can be frustrating
Read Our Full Review: RedMagic 7 Pro
3. Black Shark 4 Pro
The Black Shark 4 Pro is being touted as the ultimate cheap gaming handset -- it packs a vibrant AMOLED display, a tuned-to-the-max Snapdragon 888 from last year, and physical shoulder buttons on top of touch surfaces. There are bigger gaming phones out there, such as the ASUS ROG Phone 5, but if you do not mind the more stock dimensions, you cannot go wrong with Xiaomi Black Shark 4 Pro. With its trigger buttons, gaming-specific adjustments for Android 11, and its larger, brighter screen, the Black Shark 4 Pro is very much a device designed for folks who play lots of games on their phones.
Pros
- Large 6.67-inch, 144Hz AMOLED display
- Incredible performance from an older chipset
- 120W fast charging
- Consistent gaming performance
Cons
- Middling 4,500mAh battery
- No wireless charging
- Standard camera quality
- Price doesn't reflect the age of internals
Read Our Full Review: Black Shark 4 Pro
4. iPhone 13 Pro Max
The iPhone 13 Pro Max is the most powerful iPhone up until now, and it is going to be useful for gaming, downloading, and running big games and files. Its predecessor was already able to withstand much more than a day of heavy usage for most people, gamers will be pleased to hear you are getting great battery life on that front, as scores here are also breaking the 10 hours mark.
Pros
- Excellent battery life
- Great low-light photography performance
- Bright and colorful 120Hz display
- A15 Bionic CPU more powerful than the competition
Cons
- Big and bulky
- Another year of near-identical external looks
- The battery could charge faster
- Cinematic mode is quite basic
5. Motorola Edge Plus 2022
One notable thing about the Motorola Edge Plus (2022) is the fact that it is powered by Qualcomm's latest and greatest, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 mobile platform. While not without merit on its own, you are not going to find the real, all-around premium experience on the Motorola Edge Plus (2022). While it brings many core features from the original 2020 model, it includes some meaningful - and badly needed - improvements that should help it do a better job of competing with other flagships. Not only is the new Motorola Edge Plus the first true premium handset Motorola has launched in the U.S. in 18 months, the 2022 edition of the Edge Plus packs in a larger battery, higher-refresh display, more rear cameras, and is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor.
Pros
- Great display
- Fast performance
- Solid battery life
- Best cameras on any Motorola phone
Cons
- Pricey
- Night Vision photos don't look great
- Want better water and dust resistance
- No headphone jack
Read Our Full Review: Motorola Edge Plus 2022
What Should I look for when buying a gaming phone?
If you are looking to get yourself a gaming phone, or just one that is capable of doing more than the average in gaming, there are a few crucial factors that need to be considered. The CPU and other internal components are the first and foremost aspects that should be considered when buying a new gaming phone. The first and most important aspects to consider when buying a gaming phone are the processor and other internal components. Consider the processor, cooling system, display, memory, storage, hands-on experience, and game-optimized software, if you want a gaming-friendly phone.
For instance, if you want the fastest, most powerful gaming phone on the market, look for products built around innovative processors like Snapdragon 888 and A15, which have faster refresh rates and larger storage capacities. While recent phones from Apple and Samsung can handle the most demanding mobile games, there is such popularity in this market that dedicated gaming phones such as Asus ROG Phone 5, Red Magic 7, and Black Shark 4 are available. Samsungs Galaxy Note smartphones have always been some of the best super-premium phones on the market, so it should not be surprising to see that the latest series, the Galaxy Note 20, is one of the best gaming phones out there. If you are looking for a phone that is excellent at gaming, as well as many other things, then the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and S22 Ultra are solid options.
If you are looking for one of the best gaming phones out right now, it is right there; if you are looking for an excellent smartphone that is good for gaming too, it is a solid choice, although you should look at others on this list before buying. Since only a few are, we also included an occasional regular phone that offers a great gaming experience as well. If you are planning on a gaming smartphone, pick a minimal one. When you think about gaming phones, first and foremost, you think about how awesome they look.
Below, we will break them down for you, since they are going to be some of the terms that are seen the most often when looking at the displays on phones or tablets. While they might not all be as good (and some might just be pure cheating), a good way to judge how awesome the cooling capabilities of your next gaming phone are by looking at credible reviews on the device, which will detail how well the phone plays games and looks awesome.
Your phone is probably going to be hot while running games, so it is important to look for a handset that has good cooling mechanisms in place so the heat does not negatively affect processor performance. Many phones designed to be used for mobile gaming will have advanced cooling mechanisms built into the device.
Before buying a phone that is designed to play games, determine what size of the display is best for you and how well it works with your game. If you are looking to play casino games like slots, you might even find the phone cannot provide a smooth experience if the display resolution is not high enough. If you are serious about mobile gaming and do not want to settle for anything but the highest frame rates, sharpest graphics, and longest battery life, then the ASUS ROG Phone 5 is the device for you.
