Best gaming smartphone 2021 - ASUS, Xiaomi or ZTE?

If you put gaming smartphones and regular ones on the table, you will immediately notice the difference. Especially if you turn them upside down. The fact is that devices for gamers have an atypical design. Asus ROG Phone 5 stands out the most in this regard. On its back panel there is a grid of LEDs, with which the logo of the branded line of gaming devices is drawn. Colors and effects are customizable. If the performance mode is disabled, then the logo disappears. By the way, there is a protective glass here - the same one that covers the display. Asus also received a couple of additional buttons used in games.

The remaining two devices are not able to surprise with backlighting. Xiaomi instead uses a signature pattern that looks very impressive. The main highlight of the device are the triggers located on one of the side ends. For their promotion, special sliders are used. This allows you not to press them in your pocket. A good solution that makes the gameplay at least a little more convenient.

As for the ZTE product, it positions itself in the least way as a gaming device.It is felt that the Chinese would like their creation to pay attention not only to gamers, but also to ordinary consumers. Most of all, this device is like an advanced compact camera that has been made very thin. The case was made of metal, it has a silver color, and the front and back panels are covered with protective glass. There is a drawing on the back cover, but it is barely noticeable. It is sad that the smartphone received a single speaker. This puts an end to stereo sound. There are no additional physical buttons here, but there are touch triggers.

All smartphones we have chosen are very large. Therefore, it is not surprising that on the front panels there was a place for a display whose diagonal is equal to or even exceeds 6.67 inches. On such a screen it is comfortable to watch movies and, of course, to play games. There are no problems with viewing angles. As with color reproduction, because the display in all three cases was created using AMOLED technology. At the same time, Asus, Xiaomi, and Nubia are able to boast HDR10 + support, which encourages the user to view high-quality content.

All screens are high resolution.And all three smartphones support 144-Hz refresh rates, as on top-end gaming monitors. This makes the picture incredibly smooth - it is unlikely that manufacturers should strive for more in the future. And ZTE is the best choice for a person who does not want to see the bezels of the display. The fact is that in this case the screen occupies 88% of the front panel area! Competitors in this regard are a little behind.

Oddly enough, the most powerful chip is built into the not very expensive Xiaomi Black Shark 4. Its clock speed is capable of reaching 3.2 GHz! More recently, even gaming laptops could not boast of such a figure! Adreno 650 is used as a graphics accelerator here. As a result, all games come with the best graphics settings. And those who support it - also with a high frame rate. However, competitors use slightly more recent processors, albeit with a lower clock speed, and therefore they show almost similar results in games. At the same time, they have more RAM, which is also important.

It should be noted that gaming smartphones may differ from conventional ones and for the worse. All three models we reviewed have 128 GB of permanent memory, while they do not allow you to use a microSD card.This is due to the fact that the removable drive has a lower read speed, which could lead to a worse gaming experience for the smartphone owner. A powerful processor at such a moment no longer saves. Alas, this means that you still won’t install a very large number of games.

Almost every expensive phone these days has an in-display fingerprint scanner. The models we are considering are no exception to the rule. Only Xiaomi chose to save money by equipping the power button with a scanner. This is a less convenient solution. But this device received liquid cooling. Therefore, during the games it definitely will not overheat.

If we talk about wired connectors, then Asus surprises the most. On its body there was a place for two USB Type-C ports! And both of them are high speed. Such a number allows you to connect several accessories without using a splitter for this. The rest of the smartphones use one such connector, and Xiaomi does not feel that fast. As for the headphone jack, it is present in all devices - only its location differs.

Of course, gaming smartphones were required to receive not only a powerful processor, but also support for a large number of wireless standards.The best in this regard are Xiaomi and Asus. They are able to connect to a modern router via a Wi-Fi 6 network, characterized by minimal latency and high throughput. Otherwise, all three devices are surprisingly similar. They support the aptX digital codec, they allow you to pay for purchases via NFC, and their Bluetooth module corresponds to the latest version.

Above, we mentioned that a smartphone from ZTE is like a compact camera. Apparently, the Chinese really paid the most attention to photo opportunities, and not to game functions. That is why the device received four rear cameras, and not three, like its competitors. The main module boasts a 64-megapixel resolution, f / 1.8 aperture and a physical matrix size of 1 / 1.73 inches. A similar module is built into Asus, while Xiaomi has a simpler camera. ZTE also has a built-in macro camera, a depth sensor and an ultra-wide-angle module.

ROG Phone 5 takes great pictures with the main camera. Yes, and the ultra-wide-angle module shows itself well. And the user will be available macro photography. Oh, if only a telephoto lens were also present here ... But the Black Shark 4 does not have it either. In fact, this device has approximately the same additional modules.

Speaking of video, Asus and ZTE provide 8K resolution! However, for many buyers, 4K video, which is filmed with the help of Xiaomi, is enough.

All three smartphones received completely different front cameras. Perhaps the best choice in this regard would be Black Shark 4.Yes, Asus has a higher resolution, but a mediocre aperture will not allow you to enjoy the quality of pictures taken in the dark. And ZTE's resolution is lame - it is only 16 megapixels.

If you are primarily looking at battery performance when choosing a smartphone, then the best option for you is to buy a device from Asus. And it's not even that the capacity of its battery has been increased to 6000 mAh. This device received reverse charging. This means that you can use it as a power bank - to charge another device, just put it back against the back of this smartphone (as long as it also supports wireless charging).

However, Asus still cannot be called an ideal option. It supports fast charging technology, but not the most powerful. Unlike Xiaomi, which in theory can be charged to 100% in just 17 minutes! But the Chinese is equipped with a simpler network adapter, so we do not recommend counting on such a result.

As for ZTE, it can be called an outsider. It also has fast charging much easier, and the battery capacity is lower than that of competitors.

Since these smartphones are gaming, they have received the appropriate functions.And it's not just about the adaptive frame rate, when it changes depending on the selected mode and what is happening on the screen. A proprietary utility in the device from Asus allows you not only to activate the backlight, but also to change many settings that directly affect the course of the game. For example, you can turn on the HyperFusion technology, thanks to which the device squeezes all the juice out of the Wi-Fi network. And the program will also tell you what the maximum frame rate is available in the games installed on the smartphone (not all developers are guided by 144 Hz). It is easy to find out in the application which games support triggers.

Xiaomi also has a special utility. It is a popup window with many switches. So you can disable the display of incoming calls, clear the RAM and perform other actions. If necessary, you can tell the program to remember the settings for a particular game. A good application, but the interface is not clear at first sight, and not every buyer will seriously want to master it.

Android in the Nubia we are considering is supplemented with the Redmagic UI 4.0 shell, thanks to which the device got its name. A powerful processor allows it to work without any slowdowns. The disadvantage of this shell is the fact that holding your finger on the application icon located on the home screen will not lead to anything. If you want to perform any actions with the program, you will have to open a list of all applications, and then start searching for it. As for Game Space, this is also a pop-up menu that allows you to change some settings. From the interesting: here you can quickly open this or that messenger in a small window.Also, a special program allows you to get acquainted with different statistics. So you can find out in which games you spent the most time. Touch triggers are also configurable.

You have probably already noticed that Asus beats competitors in almost all categories. But it is not surprising. Now it is one of the most expensive smartphones. At least among those with a gaming status. Only one of the Oppo models can compete with it. But it scares the price tag even more, and therefore we did not include it in this comparison.

If you do not agree to spend the amount that they ask for the PlayStation 5 on a gaming smartphone, then it is better to look towards Xiaomi and ZTE. Of course, they are not cheap either. But it seems to us that they are available to a much larger number of iquality.techinfus.com/en/ readers.

A rare case when, even without calculating the average rating, it is clear which device is worthy of the title of “best”. This is, of course, a smartphone from Asus. However, its cost spoils everything. For that kind of money, you can buy a flagship from Samsung or a next-generation game console. At the same time, ZTE and Xiaomi are not too much inferior to this handsome man. Therefore, we will not undertake to recommend saving money specifically for Asus, although it won in almost all comparison criteria.

Finally, we note that we have lived to the point where all gaming smartphones support 5G networks.This means that you will soon be able to play online games with low ping even when you are outdoors when there is no Wi-Fi coverage nearby.