If you plan on playing serious mobile gaming, a phone with powerful CPUs and high quality, high refresh rate displays is ideal. Gaming phones may also include features like framerate limits or performance settings to improve gameplay experience.

Asus’ ROG Phone 8 Pro returns this year with a slimmer profile and an LED matrix display on the back, offering superior gaming performance over standard flagship phones.

1. Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro

Though costly for a gaming phone, the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro boasts serious smartphone specs and specific gamer-focused functionality to satisfy gamer enthusiasts. As it reigns as one of the premium gaming phones well into 2024.

Asus’ recent ROG phones signal a dramatic design evolution. While previous games-centric models were overt and flashy, this year’s models look more like mainstream Android phones with slimmer profiles and subtler color options.

The ROG Phone 8 Pro is lighter and smaller than last year’s model, though it lacks front-facing speakers. Still, it features an amazing 6.78-inch AMOLED display capable of reaching 2500nits maximum brightness under direct sunlight with a 165Hz refresh rate for smooth gaming experience.

Among its key features of the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro are an in-game dashboard for accessing settings and an AI-grabber that scans text from games; additionally it features the AeroActive Cooler X fan to keep things cool, as well as a gaming-focused background mode that keeps apps active even if the screen goes black.

2. RedMagic 9 Pro

Red Magic may not offer as many bells and whistles, but its performance rivals that of its larger competitor. Red Magic features a bigger battery as well as support for more specialised hardware such as shoulder triggers. Plus it boasts 120Hz refresh rate to make seeing frame rates easier during gameplay.

Nubia has released the Red Magic 9 Pro as their latest smartphone designed specifically for gamers. Equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset – faster than most competition – and its Ice 13 cooling system with its vapor chamber plate under display as well as fan spinning at 22,000rpm speeds, the Red Magic 9 Pro delivers power and performance for gaming on any surface.

The phone features a large 6.8-inch OLED display with 120Hz refresh rate and 1,600nits peak brightness; plus it supports 80W wired charging with its massive 6,500mAh battery paired with transparent silver case to protect it without blocking fan or extra capacitive shoulder triggers.

3. iPhone 15 Pro Max

Apple’s new iPhone 15 Pro Max is the premier smartphone on the market, boasting top performance and features. I was impressed with its ability to easily handle demanding games such as Resident Evil: Village and Call of Duty: WarZone Mobile without slowdown or stuttering. Furthermore, its A17 Pro processor represents a major upgrade over last year’s model, providing hardware accelerated ray tracing graphics usually only found on high-end PCs or consoles; plus there’s also a cool red tint feature in low ambient light conditions that makes viewing easier on eyes at night – nice touch!

The iPhone 15 Pro Max boasts an astounding 6.7-inch Super Retina display, offering stunning colors and Dolby Vision support, an always-on display feature and thinner bezels than previous iPhone models. However, its new Action button may disappoint some as it only does one thing – opening calculator apps. However, upgrading from an earlier iPhone model should definitely consider the Pro Max as it offers faster processing, longer battery life, 5G connectivity, and increased security features.

4. Galaxy S24 Ultra

Samsung’s new supersized flagship device is an eye-catcher, boasting a titanium frame and impressive octa-core processor with vapour cooling chamber – two standout features of this incredible machine. Additionally, there is a USB-C port supporting DisplayPort 1.2 external monitor support as well as outputting Samsung DeX desktop environment using touch or the S Pen; additionally it boasts IP68 certification which means it can survive being dunked into water for 30 minutes!

The Galaxy S24 Ultra’s greatest advantage lies in its extensive list of smart software tools and features. It comes equipped with numerous artificial intelligence (AI) functions that can summarize web pages, rewrite text messages to correct handwriting issues, translate phone calls in real-time translation mode and even reposition objects in photos for enhanced slo-mo video effects.

It runs One UI 6.1 on Android 14 and promises seven years of OS updates, similar to what Google offers with their Pixel 8 series. While not flawless and its oversaturated photo processing may become annoying over time, overall experience remains outstanding for productivity and content creation purposes. A great option for users seeking value!

5. OnePlus 12R

The OnePlus 12R continues their ‘Never Settle’ philosophy with a flagship-level experience at an accessible price point. Featuring the same ‘Trinity Engine’ overlay and technologies as its more expensive sibling, plus offering its AMOLED display’s same killer adaptive refresh rate, touch response speed and peak brightness (4500nits). Running Android 14 and OxygenOS, supporting 5G connections as well as offering under-display fingerprint sensor support as well as their new Dual Cryo-velocity VC Cooling System that boasts three times larger cooling surface area than their older design does compared with 11’s design.

Under its hood, it features Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip and UFS 3.1 storage, giving it performance comparable to current flagship phones when put through artificial benchmarking tests. Furthermore, in use it’s very smooth; even demanding games like Genshin Impact and PUBG Mobile played on Highest graphics preset are running at 60fps or above without signs of throttling or slowdown. Furthermore, Aqua Touch recognizes wet finger inputs on screen to reduce eye strain in bright lighting environments.