Since their inception, smartphones have had a rich library of games, but smartphones designed for games were rare and also not very popular (frankly, they were all failures) . So why are Xiaomi, ZTE and Asus throwing their efforts into making gaming smartphones? Let's take a closer look at this issue.
The most obvious reason is trivial imitation in the pursuit of additional revenue. Seeing that the Razer Phone was well received by the public (at least in the Western market), other manufacturers decided not to pass up the chance to grab a piece of the big pie.
Following Xiaomi Black Shark, Nubia Red Magic and others, at the opening of the 100th Anniversary Official Store Asus in the Philippines, CEO Jerry Shen spoke about plans to release a gaming smartphone called ROG Smartphone, as it were related to the well-known line of computers and accessories Republic Of Gamers from the same Asus. The full launch of the novelty is expected during the Computex 2018 exhibition, which will be held on June 5-9.
Powerful filling + aggressive design
Anyone who intends to enter the smartphone market for gamers should remember one cautionary tale: the egg-shaped hybrid of a smartphone and a portable console Nokia N-gage, which appeared in 2002, was defeated on all fronts. The more recent Xperia Play and Acer Predator 6 have also failed to gain acceptance from consumers and experts.
Gaming smartphones of the new generation have several common features, but at the same time they try to be distinguished by some of their unique features. They all lean towards being smartphones with extra gaming features rather than half console / half smartphones. That being said, looking at the summary table of specifications, we can see that only the device from Xiaomi has the new Snapdragon 845 processor, while Nubia Red Magic and last year's Razer Phone come with the still up-to-date. but not the freshest 835m 'dragon'.
In terms of appearance, the Razer Phone looks pretty conservative against the brutal Xiaomi and stylish Nubia with a memorable LED strip on the back. One thing is for sure: the design of gaming smartphones looks bright and fresh, making them stand out from the horde of clones with the stern look we are used to. Unlike the latter, the heroes of this article are distinguishable at first glance, they cannot be confused with each other, even from a great distance.
Naturally, the appearance of a gaming smartphone should not only be impressive and memorable, but also practical. That is, such devices must have excellent ergonomics and a cooling system for the case, which are mandatory for a long game. Marketers also did their bit: in addition to originality and practicality, a purely aesthetic component is also important – it is easier to hook a hardcore gamer with a fantastic style that reflects the virtual sci-fi reality taking place in games. It is these features that differentiate gaming smartphones from the usual powerful flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S9 +, Huawei P20 Pro or Pixel 2 XL.
In addition to the eye-catching design, an integral element of a gaming mobile device is its own unique chips, and each of the current representatives of this type of gadgets has them:
- The Razer Phone has a 120Hz refresh rate and higher resolution.
- Xiaomi Black Shark draws buyers in with a Nintendo Switch-inspired pluggable gamepad
- And Nubia Red Magic bets on the best system optimization, smart cooling and GameBoost function
Cooling, glowing housings, increased performance … what is it all for? To understand, let's take a look at the projects that have sparked a new wave of mobile gaming.
What about games?
It should be noted that despite each portable console or mobile OS having its own ecosystem, content distribution – in particular, games – developers do not get tired of working on the creation of large multi-platform projects that require large development funds. Among those, we can highlight, for example, Implosion: Never Lose Hope (Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS), PUBG (Xbox One, Android, iOS, Windows) and similar Fortnite with unique cross-platform multiplayer between players from PS4, Xbox One, Windows, iOS, Mac OS
Eventually
Without a doubt, China is the main platform for the mobile gaming market: due to the availability of cheap but productive mobile devices and the lack of powerful PCs and consoles for most Chinese people, mobile variations of the games that the rest of the world plays on stationary platforms are incredibly popular in the Middle Kingdom (also The f2p model is also in great demand). If gaming smartphones fall in price and become a little more adapted for the mass consumer, then this class of devices has every chance of gaining popularity at least in Asia, and then beyond its borders.
