Best smartphones with dedicated gaming modes to take your gaming to the next level

By Team Digit | Updated Feb 28 2020

Mobile gaming has become a phenomenon with games like PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty: Mobile, Clash of Clans and more going viral, amassing massive followership and even prize-winning competitions. Now not every smartphone can run all games smoothly. Some are good at it, others not so much. The ones that are good at it, all come with a dedicated gaming mode. What does the gaming mode do? That depends on phone to phone, but the best implementation lets you tweak everything from the CPU and GPU speeds to monitoring frame rates and blocking calls and messages. Let’s take a look at the best smartphones with a dedicated gaming mode to take your gaming to the next level —

10. Redmi Note 8 Pro

Apart from the fact that the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro is powered by the MediaTek Helio G90T and feature liquid cooling , it also hosts a dedicated gaming mode that lets improves the visual quality of games, frees up resources and lets you mute calls and messages to help you game better. You can also keep an eye on the CPU and GPU metrics while gaming.Click here to buy.

9. Realme X2

The Realme X2 is very much a gaming device thanks to the Snapdragon 730G under the hood, and there’s a dedicated gaming mode to make things even smoother. The game mode also hosts a competition mode and turning it on kills background apps and improves network latency and network switching so you don’t lag while gaming. More than that, you can start a screen recording, disable calls and notifications and more, on the fly. Click here to buy.

8. Oppo F15

The Oppo F15 also comes with a dedicated gaming mode which makes gaming on the aged Helio P70 SoC handle games better. The game mode can turn on competition mode which kills all background processes and improve network latency. It also helps boost frames which makes games like PUBG Mobile and CoD: Mobile run much smoother. Click here to buy.

7. Redmi K20 Pro

The Redmi K20 Pro is very much a flagship device with a Snapdragon 855, but it also handles games quite well thanks to a dedicated gaming mode. The mode keeps background apps from taking up too much RAM and even shows you the GPU and CPU metrics while gaming. More than that, you can change whether you want your calls and messages stopping your game mid-way. Click here to buy.

6. Realme X2 Pro

The Realme X2 Pro houses the same gaming mode that’s there on the Realme X2 with some more features like screen recording, notify when you are AFK and even lets you reply to messages on the fly. Click here to buy.

5. OnePlus 7T

The OnePlus 7T comes with the Fnatic Gaming Mode that turns on automatically when you start playing. The mode improves frame rates, increases visual quality, optimises network latencies and enable 4D vibration. Click here to buy.

4. iQoo 3 5G

The iQoo 3 5G is packed with the most advanced hardware you can get on a smartphone right now. That includes the Snapdragon 865, LPDD5 RAM and UFS 2.1 and even 5G connectivity. On top of that, it comes with a pretty fleshed out gaming mode that enables using the Monster touch buttons on the edges along with enabling 4D vibration and measuring CPU and GPU while gaming.

3. Black Shark 2

The Black Shark 2 is very much a gaming device that supports multiple accessories. But the gaming mode that is turned on by a physical switch lets you control everything from the CPU and GPU speeds to the cooling rate to how you want your audio and touch sensitivity to work

2. Nubia Red Magic 3s

Like the Black Shark 2, the Red Magic 3s is also a dedicated gaming smartphone that comes with a physical switch to enter the gaming mode. Once inside, you can see your stats, check the frame rates in real time and tweak processor modes all the way up to Xtreme. The phone also comes with a physical fan inside which can be controlled from the game mode.

1. Asus ROG Phone II

The Asus ROG Phone II is hands down the best gaming smartphone you can buy right now and it’s not just for the hardware inside. The phone offers a vast suite of game-specific options which includes macro-binding, ability to pair a keyboard and mouse along with viewing CPU, GPU, temperature in real-time. Along with that, you can map the air triggers on the fly, allow/disable calls and messages and even gain granular controls of the CPU, GPU and cooling tech. Click here to buy.