5 features to watch out for in a gaming smartphone

Gaming phones offer high-end specifications paired with dedicated features for gaming.

Asus ROG Phone launched in India last summer. (Asus)

Gaming phones are now a thing with its popularity slowly catching up. Games like PUBG Mobile have also propelled the growth of smartphone and the need for dedicated devices. The interest in gaming phones is expected to grow even more with the entry of phones like Xiaomi Black Shark 2, and the upcoming Nubia Red Magic 3.

Gaming phones are essentially flagship smartphones with gaming-specific features. These phones come with boosters for enhanced performance, better display, top-end specifications and more. Flagship phones like OnePlus 7 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S10+ are also equipped to handle heavy gaming. But gaming phones add a lot more to the plate especially for gamers.

Here are the top features one will find on gaming phones.

Hardware

Gaming phones are powered by the latest and fastest chipsets along with GPU for graphics. Xiaomi Black Shark 2 and Nubia Red Magic 3 run on Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset paired with Adreno 640 GPU. The RAM capacity is also pretty high with phones offering up to 12GB of RAM.

Gaming mode

Gaming mode utilises more power on the phone for better performance. The CPUs are clocked to the highest for gaming when this feature is turned on. Smartphones like Asus ROG Phone even offer the highest binned Snapdragon 845 chipset clocked up to 2.96Hz.

Bigger and faster display

Gaming phones come with big displays sized up to 6.5-inches. Other than having high resolution, displays on gaming phones also offer high refresh rate. Most gaming phones like Asus ROG Phone offer 90Hz refresh rate, while Razer Phone 2 features even higher refresh rate of 120Hz. Refresh rates are the speed at how much displays update for smoother graphics.

Cooling mechanism

Any smartphone heats up due to prolonged use. One feature common in gaming phones is a dedicated cooling mechanism. This feature keeps the phone from overheating during intensive gaming. The Nubia Red Magic 3 is the first phone to come with an built-in fan in addition to a liquid cooling system. Asus ROG Phone also comes with an accessory for additional cooling.

Pressure-sensitive display

Xiaomi Black Shark 2's display has pressure-sensitive points similar to the 3D-Touch effect on iPhones. Users can also map these points for different gaming action. Asus ROG Phone also offers something similar called 'Air Triggers'. These pressure-sensitive buttons give a haptic feedback once you press on them.