Over the past decade, India’s gaming community has grown by leaps and bounds. The gamers here have become more professionalised, even as a full-fledged gaming ecosystem—comprising game designers and organisers of big gaming tournaments—has emerged into view. Taking a cue from all this, hardware manufacturers in the Indian market have also stepped up their game. And we’re not just talking about tech firms, like Sony and Microsoft, known for their world-famous consoles. Smartphone brands, too, have begun responding to this change, with their range of power-packed gamer-friendly phones. Listed here are some top-shelf gaming smartphones that are expected to be launched in the coming weeks and months.
Black Shark Helo
By Xiaomi
This gaming device is a successor of the Black Shark, another Xiaomi gaming phone launched in April this year. The new handset, just announced by the brand, comes with 6.01-inch full HD+AMOLED display, and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC with an octa-core CPU and Adreno 630 GPU. This device also sports stereo speakers, and as a measure to protect the handset from overheating during gaming sessions, a liquid cooling system has been installed in the phone. It is equipped with 6GB to 10 GB of RAM and 128 GB to 256GB of physical memory, and is available in three variants. The highlight of this phone is its “Gaming Studio” feature that enables users to tweak touch, display, CPU and network profiles according to the game being played. The phone even lets you share these configurations via its “Shark Code” option. Black Shark Helo is equipped with 12MP and 20MP cameras, and a 4,000mAh battery. The phone also supports Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging.
ROG Phone
By Asus
The Taiwanese brand Asus is all set to launch its new gaming smartphone called the ROG Phone. It flaunts a 6-inch AMOLED display and dual front facing speakers. The ROG is powered by a 2.9GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset, which is paired with 8GB RAM and 512GB storage. Its 6,000mAh battery ensures that gamers enjoy playing for as long as they want. The handset, rumoured to be launched here in October, will be available in black colour only. The ROG provides users with four air touch sensors that make for a full console-like experience.
Red Magic 2
By Nubia
The Red Magic smartphone by ZTE’s sub brand, Nubia, is among the first gaming phones that entered the Indian market. The brand is now ready for its India launch of the Red Magic’s successor: the Red Magic 2, a souped-up smartphone that can render the most graphic-heavy games smoothly. The new phone, which is expected to be launched later this month, has a 6.2-inch display and is powered by 1.9GHz octa-core processor, plus 8GB RAM. It also offers 128 GB of internal storage. The Red Magic 2 runs on a powerhouse of an processing unit—a 2.8 GHz octa-core processor—and features the latest Android v8.1 Oreo operating system. The 4,000mAh battery and dual primary cameras—24MP and 2MP—are among the other highlights of this phone.
Razer Phone 2
By Razer
Razer, a global gaming hardware manufacturing company headquartered in California, is coming up with its second flagship gaming handset, called the Razer Phone 2. It sports a 5.7-inch display and front facing stereo speakers supported by Dolby Atmos. Equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor and a vapour chamber cooling system that deals with all the overheating issues, the Razer Phone 2 brings console-grade hardware to mobile gaming. The phone’s 4000mAh battery also supports wireless charging, thanks to the Razer Chroma charging base station, and its 64GB internal storage is expandable to up to 2TB. Expected to be launched in December this year, the Razer Phone 2 will be available in two variants, featuring “mirror back” and “rugged satin” finish.