Are smartphones now portable gaming consoles?

Learn about the explosion of smartphone gaming around the world and in every genre, and discover why we can now call smartphones portable consoles.

When the smartphone was first released, people immediately wanted to play games on the device.

Gaming and phones went together, even before the smartphone, when people would enjoy games such as Snake on their Nokia phones.

If you spend a lot of time deciding what game to play on your phone, you have probably realised that you are holding a very powerful gaming device.

Even though a phone is still primarily a communication device, there is no denying that smartphones are catching up with computers and gaming consoles in terms of graphics and processing power.

Below is an explanation of whether we can now consider smartphones to be portable gaming consoles. 

Processing power 

One of the ways that a smartphone has gotten closer to being called a portable console is because of its processing power. A quick look at the specifications for flagship smartphones to be released in 2022 shows that they are extremely powerful.

These are phones that can run desktop style applications and play intensive 3D games at high settings.

Both the CPU and GPU on high-end smartphones have a lot of power. The only issue that phones face in terms of performance is longevity, as they can throttle quickly and lose power as the system avoids overheating.

Whether you have the latest iPhone or an Android phone, you can likely play many top games on your device. While they might not have the same graphical quality as the best computer or console games, they are very close to console games from a few years ago.

Variety of games

There was a time when smartphone gaming was extremely limited. You could play titles such as Candy Crush as much as you wanted, but fully fledged games were few and far between.

People are now willing to pay more money for mobile games and spend more time on them. That is why developers are putting in the time to create in-depth and exciting games in nearly every genre.

Whether you enjoy sports, fantasy, puzzle, casino, or first person shooter themed games, you can try out titles in every genre on your smartphone.

The variety and depth of games available on smartphones is still not a match for current generation consoles and PC. Smartphones, however, have been closing the gap significantly in the past few years. 

Much better control systems

Another issue that gamers face with smartphones is the limitation of touch controls. When you grow up playing with a controller or a mouse and a keyboard, you can find playing games with on-screen controls very challenging.

Smartphone games, however, have come a long way in this respect. Not only are on-screen controls a lot more intuitive, but you do have other options these days. You can buy a Bluetooth controller and use it with your phone by propping up your phone on a stand to play a game.

Many high end phones also have compatible controller attachments, which you can connect to the phone like a cover. Then you can treat the phone like a portable gaming console, such as the Nintendo Switch.

Emulation

Do you have some older video games from previous console generations that you love? Perhaps there are Nintendo DS or PlayStation 1 games you adore but do not play anymore. You can download the relevant emulation app on your smartphone, install the game files on your phone, and play those games with ease.

Emulation truly allows you to call your smartphone a portable gaming console as you play actual console games, even if they are a few years old!

Cloud gaming brings console titles to phones

Video game streaming will take the industry by storm in the next couple of years. There are already cloud gaming services that you can use, such as Google Stadia, Nvidia GeForce Now, and Microsoft Xbox’s streaming service.

These services are growing, and they are beginning to support more devices. If you own a game on the Xbox platform, you could install the relevant app on your smartphone, connect to the Xbox servers, and play the fully-fledged console game on your phone. The same is true for PC games as well.

If you are in a position where you are not always at home and spend most of your time on the go, you can still enjoy your favorite console games on your phone.

Access to such games on your phone is a remarkable achievement for the industry. All you need is a great internet connection, and your experience will be seamless.

Experience the best of gaming

The days of smartphone gaming being second class to consoles and computers are long gone. You can now play the very best games on your iPhone or Android phone.

Whether you enjoy emulating older games, playing the best smartphone titles, or using games streaming to access console and PC titles on your phone, you can game to your heart’s content on a flagship and mid-range smartphone.

Not only are phones great for communication, taking photos and videos, social media, and other tasks, but they are well and truly portable gaming consoles as well.