Weekly poll: do you think gaming phones have a future?

15 April 2018
Will the Razer phone, the Xiaomi Black Shark, the nubia Red Magic and other entrants win or fail?

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Aside from Apple which is in its ecosystem and there is no other brands worldwide to offer Apple (Desktop/Mobile) OS officially without any trick to load, In my Opinion:

Smartphone (Android) looks like PC (Windows) in many ways:

1- Both start to live by passing over business specific machines with primitive gaming ability.

2- Both suffer from weakest hardware in early days.

3- Both start to grow up rapidly and attract developers.

4- Both continue to offer new features each and every moment possible.

5- Both focused on gaming by improving their graphic environment in their midway of their life.

6- Both had limited potential to run console games, but PC is now solved the bottle neck.

The Future of Smartphone is neither touchless, nor VR/AR.

The future of Smartphone is gaming phones.
People can handle 183X93X20mm, 300g in order to have full screen border-less, 8" 16:9 (or other standards) as they already handled Huawei P8max with big Top, Bottom, Left and Right bezels; when remove those bezels like Apex concept, theoretically an 8" 16:9 or even 9" 18:9 display will fit the body.

When gamers know that their PS4/XBOX One titles are available in their mobile phones, they would definitely switch to their Mobile device. The same happened for PC gamers who already pay a lot of money for titles in their PC instead of other consoles. With more available powerful and efficient mid range CPU,GPU and RAM which are able to run every games up to PS3 titles, High end Gaming Rigs turned the sale from dead fall to stay flat. With those processing power even mid range laptops can handle many titles and for more serious power hungry titles Top Dog Gaming Laptops are available.

an Aluminum case with only border less Display on top of it, is what google started early to do modular phones.

Modular Phones have Future thanks to Gaming view for phones.
- If anyone can swap a fan from back of its phone, who reject active cooling?
- If I would be able to swap my SoC by my need, why should I stay on an 4 year old handset with broken display?
- If I would be able to choose my Battery capacity, wasn't It possible to have Two battery, One Juicy for outdoor and recreations and One limited for not so busy day?
- If I would be able to choose my camera module, What was my complain about quality?
- If I would be able to select my storage capacity, I could buy what we do right now on our PCs.

Gaming is an obstacle for smartphones. GPUs are harsh toward rendering and the result is frying pan. Some tiny pipes will decentralize the heat which is still kept in weather sealed bodies.

PCs were more restricted than what we think, setting jumpers to achieve half of what 80XXX series could perform. expansion slots were limited to some form factors and vendors which they need time to set them and introduce them to machines.

Today, PCs are machines which are assembles by many children without any knowledge of, physics, mathematics and programming. They are true modular machines.

The thing that makes PCs so popular was the ability to choose every thing related to final performance by buyers desire, not the manufacturers' decision.

Razer Phone is a good gaming machine, with weak Battery life for gamers, limited body paints, Limited storage, weak SoC for gaming by offering QHD display.

Black Shark is a beast under hood, but limited to what others are still here, weak battery life for gamers, Limited body paints, Limited storage, weak display for VR experience.

In case of modularity, storage is user dependent, so, SoC, Display Size/Density, RAM, Battery, True cooling either fan or liquid.

In the next 5 years, focus will be on Gaming and when developer start to port AAA games to smartphones, Manufacturers gradually will tend to modular smartphone concept and people don't even remember what was project ARA.

Gaming was the main Goal of bringing Smartphones to life, so the goal is under achievement, gradually.

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • Pn$
    • 15 Apr 2018

    Livius, 15 Apr 2018If you ask me no , a solid no . A true gamer would never ga... moreWhat if u like to enjoy a little of each gaming experience? I have a ps4, vita, 3ds, and i would like a gamer phone with physical buttons. I like a lot of mobile games. I work with games too by the way.

      The fact is,gaming phones need a better battery but Li-ion and Li-po are best that any industry uses unless you want 20cm thick phone.2nd thing is that for gaming cooling is enough, xiaomi should overclock it a little bit. so if cooling is that good=no problems.Screen used for gaming should be Amoled. Better collors with less battery consuption.Gaming phone needs a great stereo speakers.also just controller doesnt make it gaming... some more physical buttons would be a nice move for steering etc.. And than what you need to make it real gaming phone is software.For example if you run one game it stops everything that you dont need in order to keep it smooth.

        kurotsuki, 15 Apr 2018Well... As far as I can tell... Lumia 950, Galaxy S7, and X... moreThickness

          If you ask me no , a solid no . A true gamer would never gave up on a PS Vita, Nintendo 3ds or a Switch or any other console,to play on the phone, I mentioned those two because we are talking about portability .I would never do that because of many reasons , the most important ones are : first my phone is a daily driver so the battery barely lasts me 23 hours , imagine if I would play on it , second touch screen ... I know you can connect a PS4 controller or any other but still no and third they will never come close to last as much as a console does , fourth the games on android don't even come close to gameplay quality with those found on consoles so it's pure and simply lame and stupid. It's just another desperate way to make money because phones today don't have almost nothing new to offer . In conclusion I would never, ever give up on my consoles for phone gaming .

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • tNw
            • 15 Apr 2018

            Shadocx, 15 Apr 2018So playing on PSP and PSVita wasn't gaming? They had smalle... moreVita and 3ds don't have 2/3 of their screens filled with buttons which include a dozen more button for a dozen types of iap stuffs.

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • tNw
              • 15 Apr 2018

              People are stingy when it comes to paying for softwares. Notice how emulation is the main event for nearly every android community.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • Pn$
                • 15 Apr 2018

                kurotsuki, 15 Apr 2018Well... My thought on your points are: 1. true mobile game... moreWell, what you said is true. I use my phone 99% for gaming or media consumption and 1% for phone. The phone part is really kinda useless, but good for some emergencies. I dont use phone for work, i work with email. The iPad is great for work but my phone could be more “gaming” oriented.

                Although if its true this liquid cooling being false, i wont buy black shark, it was the only thing that attracted me.

                FFXV pocket is kinda low graphics though, we have Honkai, Lineage, Aura Kingdom, Tera, Kings Raid and other desktop level MMOs coming. It’s just a matter of time until we see even better graphics. For example Nintendo Switch is not good graphics 60 fps, it’s just better than Vita which is better than 3DS. A chip A11 or Snap845 is far far more powerful than Nintendo Switch, just waiting for new games to release. There is also Formula racing and Civilization for iOS. New powerful games coming, just around the corner.

                  • K
                  • Kirk
                  • UD{
                  • 15 Apr 2018

                  Definitely, battery needs work, maybe up the graphics, and obviously better controller mods, it will definitely get there...

                    • R
                    • Rokolio
                    • LC8
                    • 15 Apr 2018

                    I think there is future as a gaming console owner I can tell its amazing what Nintendo does with their hardware as an example the Nintendo 3DS games are really good if we think the hardware they use to run it.
                    To make real games Google should launch and Android OS (probably just based) designed for games on which the phone functionality becomes pretty basic and let the manufacturers to use what ever hardware they want. something like a switch with basic phone capabilities and some great controllers. I was specting the black shark but im too disappointed because of the controller that I desided to stick to my P9 and just use an xbox one s controller with a nyko grip

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • Pn$
                      • 15 Apr 2018

                      kurotsuki, 15 Apr 2018Well... As far as I can tell... Lumia 950, Galaxy S7, and X... moreGood point

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • Pn$
                        • 15 Apr 2018

                        Anonymous, 15 Apr 2018Exactly. The so called liquid cooling is likely to be vapor... moreIf that’s true I won’t buy it

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • ut@
                          • 15 Apr 2018

                          kurotsuki, 15 Apr 2018Well... As far as I can tell... Lumia 950, Galaxy S7, and X... moreExactly. The so called liquid cooling is likely to be vapor chamber cooling at best.

                            Anonymous, 15 Apr 2018Except no flagship has liquid cooling and it becomes like a... moreWell... As far as I can tell... Lumia 950, Galaxy S7, and Xperia Z5 Premium promoted as having liquid cooling. All of them are flagships. Two of them even Android ones.

                            Now... Here's the catch... Those three phones I mentioned actually used heat pipes filled with cooper strands/wires. No trace of liquids on 950 and S7. And faint liquid trace on Z5 Premium. What makes you sure that this Black Shark would be different?

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • pdH
                              • 15 Apr 2018

                              Gaming phones Are gimmic, but there Are some customers who Are willing to compromise other aspect to get better Gaming device. So there is niche for these phones too!

                                Winston, 15 Apr 2018"Gamers" ... "Gaming" ... On a 5.5 inch screen ... On a $10... moreSo playing on PSP and PSVita wasn't gaming? They had smaller displays FYI.
                                Also you don't need to buy a $1000 phone. Even if you did, a PSP and PSVita had inferior cameras compared to smartphones and a lot less features.
                                Don't even name consoles or PC, they can't fit in your pocket and don't have integrated cameras, GPS, etc...

                                  Anonymous, 15 Apr 2018Every people commenting here its just a gimmick forget impo... moreWell... My thought on your points are:
                                  1. true mobile gamers play heavy games and the heat generated from that is extremely bad for the cpu and battery in the long term. These batteries li-ion are already very bad in terms of lifespan. Liquid cooling helps for the longevity of your machine.

                                  That's it. You said it yourselves. Battery. If you are heavy gamer, there are high chances that your battery will drained super fast. And you won't able to use it as phone. In the end, the phone from "gaming phone" is stripped out. It won't be a phone anymore. Why not strip out any telephony function and use the chip solely for data. And create Android gaming handheld instead? No telephony, less power usage, longer battery life.

                                  2. The black shark is cheap. Show me a flagship with snapdragon 845 for $500 then we can talk. Why should gamers invest $900 in a phone when you can have the same power with black shark for half the price?

                                  You compare it with upper brand? Really? Why not compare it with Xiaomi's flagship? Well... Both aren't released yet (this Black Shark and rumored Mi 7, both using SD 845). But once they are released, I doubt they'll have huge different in prices.

                                  3. Even if you say Xiaomi or Miui is not secure or trustable for a phone, gamers dont care about that. Unless you have iPhone or iPad, you shouldnÂÂ’t do financial transactions in an Android Phone. Just use a w10 PC or iOS for that.

                                  This.... I agree.

                                  By the way, another issue with standard custom rom like MIUI are resources. Although it's marginal, the difference in performance between MIUI and Google's Android is still exist. So rather than using MIUI, why not develop special rom for this gaming phone. Strip unnecessary components, make it lighter, to leave more resource space for the game itself. Why do you think Nintendo Switch can handle heavier games compared to smartphones? OS. Their OS, is built specifically for gaming.

                                  And the last part is... still the same as my previous comment.... Content. Sure, gaming phones is nice to have to play games. But is there any merit to buy it in the first place. Put on nice AAA games like (or equivalent with) Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild. That should entice buyers. But I think this point is started to changes. We now have FF XV Pocket Edition. But it still not as good as BoTW.

                                    • D
                                    • AnonD-752322
                                    • p7@
                                    • 15 Apr 2018

                                    Gameboy - Nokia 3310 = Gameboy Color - Nokia 3510 and so on
                                    MP3 players died after iPod.
                                    Digital cameras died arround N95?
                                    Well if gaming phones have a future? It's allready here, it will just get better. My Nvidia Shield LTE still is sweet on the go.

                                      • k
                                      • khan
                                      • GX3
                                      • 15 Apr 2018

                                      only Best camera phone with high resolution like 50 to 100 mp wth low light camera and full hd s amoled. panel usb type c and fast charging only the feature all of these future

                                        Gaming nomenclature on phones is always be a.... gimmick. Why?
                                        1. Graphics... They doesn't offer more powerful graphics than those of the flagships.
                                        2. Battery... Being a phone, having features that drain so much juice isn't good. I mean, why would I buy any gaming phone if I end up have to carry two phones (one for communication and one for... duh... gaming)? What makes it different with carry one phone and one... let says... Nintendo Switch?
                                        3. Content..... No AAA games means it's hard to appeal gamers to have one of these gaming phones. I mean... Buy gaming phones and play like... Mobile Legends? That game doesn't even support gamepad. You'll use your screen anyway. So what's the point of having gamepads?

                                        If somehow two of those three are tackled, I think gaming phones might have a future. If not, It will be a niche market like forever.

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