Mobile gaming has come a long way in recent years, with console-quality titles regularly appearing on the Play Store, and new chipsets capable of emulating a large portion of my Steam library. I’ve tested countless games and phones (not to mention dedicated Android gaming handhelds), and I’ve honed in on what separates the best from the rest when it comes to mobile gaming. Depending on what you’re looking for, the options below represent the top gaming phones I recommend in 2026.
REDMAGIC 11 Pro: The best gaming phone overall
If you want the best performing gaming phone on the market, look no further than the REDMAGIC 11 Pro. I was blown away by the performance on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, and it’s the only phone I’ve tested so far that can handle the thermal load of Qualcomm’s latest chipset. The realme GT8 Pro provided wildly inconsistent results under stress, and the OnePlus 15 simply shut down in the middle of our benchmark test (although this was fixed in later updates).
