Lenovo’s new Legion Phone Duel 2 gaming phone, for example, offers a display that has a 720Hz touch sampling rate. The company claims the sampling rate is more than double the responsiveness and accuracy of similar gaming phones. New features can make top-of-the-line phones a better choice for gamers. “Phones, in general, aren’t good for most types of action games due to the difficulty in user control and interaction,” Hai Ng, CEO of Spawn Point, an esports consultancy, said in an email interview. “Having a ‘specially designed’ gaming phone may tip the scales in the competitive landscape.”
Gaming Speed with Looks to Match
To keep temperatures under control while playing demanding titles, the Legion phone is cooled with a large, passive, integrated vapor chamber and a fan. The Legion comes with a semi-translucent case that reveals the internals, in a choice of Ultimate Black or Titanium White. It includes the latest flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chip, which provides a speed boost over earlier models for faster gameplay. The 6.92-inch AMOLED screen has a 144Hz refresh rate so everything from games to videos should look smoother. “The Legion Phone Duel 2 has what any good gaming phone needs,” Edward Eugen, a tech reviewer for the site 10 Beasts, said in an email interview. But the phone’s body may be fragile, Eugen noted. A recent video from the JerryRigEverything YouTube channel shows the host breaking it into three pieces with his bare hands. “Let’s keep in mind that serious gamers don’t have to buy a gaming phone, though,” Eugen said. “Many top smartphones are excellent gaming phones, as well. For example, the Samsung Galaxy S21 series, OnePlus 8T/8 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, among others.”
Competition for the Top Phone
The Legion isn’t the only gamer-centric phone on the market. Other gaming phones amp up the screen responsiveness to give players an edge. The new Asus ROG Phone 5, for example, offers a touch sampling rate of 300Hz. It’s got the same Snapdragon 888 chipset as the Lenovo and up to 16GB of RAM; it also has a screen refresh rate of 144Hz. Matt Weidle, of Buyer’s Guide, recently bought the Xiaomi Poco X3 Pro. “I can say that my gaming experience has never been better,” he said in an email interview. “I can play Mobile Legends, Call Of Duty Mobile, League of Legends Wild Rift, PUBG on high resolution with no lag and no frequent charging. Charging time is only 1 hour, and I can play 4-5 hours with no downtime.” If you’re looking to buy a phone for gaming, Weidle recommends a powerful chipset such as the Snapdragon 888 in the Asus or the Legion, which will run your games smoothly even with high resolution. A big battery is also crucial. “Mobile games can drain the battery fast, especially if you run the graphics on ultra HD,” Weidle said. “A 5000-6000 mah battery is the best for a gaming phone.” The phone’s display also should be top-notch. “If your display is poor, you will not enjoy your games to the fullest,” Weidle said. “Phones that support HDR and a high refresh rate provide the best gaming experience.” Ng has used both the Razer Phone and the Asus ROG Phone for gaming. “Both are probably the best takes at a game-oriented device,” he added. “They have good screens (ROG has a dual-screen option), great sound (Razer has Dolby), [and] definitely points on the cool-factor (both actual cooling as well as bragging rights).” But Ng wouldn’t use either phone as his only device. “That’s simply because they are more specialized for one use, and I would want my daily phone to be more of a generalist or [have] a good camera,” he said. “It’s like a Porsche 911 or Ferrari 812. I’d definitely want one for the track, but not for a daily driver for trips to the supermarket or IKEA.”
