Mobile gaming has grown by leaps and bounds since the emergence of battle royale games like Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) and Call of Duty Mobile in the past few years. While older phones were limited by the technological prowess of their time, the recent smartphone era has allowed them to become their own portable gaming platforms, nearly as powerful as dedicated consoles but without the attendant hassles. However, the best gaming smartphones aren’t limited to games built specifically for their platform, but also offer console-quality games, as evidenced by the recent launch of Death Stranding, Assassin’s Creed Phantoms, and Resident Evil Village on the latest iPhone 16 Pro Max.
With so many smartphones out there, choosing the one that’s right for you can become a time-consuming process. It’s worth noting that the best gaming smartphones offer more than just top-notch specs on paper. They come packed with features dedicated to enhancing the overall experience, such as great haptics, dedicated performance modes, and a sleek and efficient thermal design.
To help you make your choice, we have compiled a list of the top gaming phones in India, including iPhone 16 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, Realme GT 7 Pro, and more, which can cater to your various gaming needs.
India’s top gaming phones
iPhone 16 Pro Max – Rs. 1,44,900
The iPhone 16 Pro Max is Apple’s top-of-the-line phone. While it’s not billed as a gaming-centric device, its basic specs suggest it can indeed fill the role of a gaming companion as well. The smartphone has a large 6.9-inch Super Retina XDR display with a refresh rate of 120Hz. It is powered by the fastest A18 Pro chipset on the market.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max also comes with a dedicated gaming mode that is said to optimize the phone’s gaming performance. It supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing, providing more realistic lighting and reflections in games. Through its app store, the company offers several console-quality games on mobile phones, including Assassin’s Creed Phantoms, Death Stranding: Director’s Cut and Resident Evil Village.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra – Rs. 1,29,999
Rivaling the iPhone 16 Pro Max, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is not only the best smartphone on the market, but also the best gaming smartphone. The smartphone is powered by a custom Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset with a peak clock speed of 4.47GHz and 12GB of RAM. The chip supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing and Vulkan optimization for realistic graphics.
Samsung has equipped the Galaxy S25 Ultra with a 6.9-inch Super AMOLED 2X screen with a refresh rate of 120Hz. The phone also comes with a game booster mode as well as a high performance mode option. Users can also customize optimization levels for each individual, adjusting settings such as fps, screen resolution, and frame enhancer settings.
iQOO 13 – Rs. 54,999
The iQOO 13 is one of the few flagship phones on the market built primarily for gamers. It comes with a 6.82-inch 8T LTPO AMOLED panel with 144Hz refresh rate, 2K resolution, and 300Hz touch sampling rate. With the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, 16GB LPDDR5x RAM, and Adreno 830 GPU, it can run any game at the highest possible graphics settings.
iQOO has equipped the smartphone with its proprietary Q2 supercomputing chip, which is said to improve gaming performance while increasing efficiency. It also features a 7,000mm square steam chamber to help control heat.
OnePlus 13 – Rs. 69,999
The OnePlus 13 is another phone powered by Qualcomm’s top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC. While this isn’t an out-and-out gaming-centric product, OnePlus has equipped the phone with LPDDR5x RAM, UFS 4.0 storage, and an Adreno 830 GPU that can handle graphics-intensive tasks. It features a 6.82-inch Quad HD+ LTPO AMOLED screen with 120Hz variable refresh rate.
The phone is also equipped with a second-generation Cryo-Velocity cooling system and a double-layer super graphite vapor chamber for efficient heat dissipation. If heat is still an issue during gaming, the company sells the Freezing Point Phone Cooler as a separate accessory that clips directly onto its back panel.
Realme GT 7 Pro – Rs. 59,999
Realme GT 7 Pro is the flagship offering from the Chinese OEM. It comes with a 6.78-inch 8T LTPO AMOLED panel with a refresh rate of 120Hz. The phone is powered by Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset and 16GB LPDDR5x RAM. While its specifications are in line with other top gaming phones on the market, Realme claims that it has used AI to improve the gaming performance and quality of the GT 7 Pro.
It comes with an AI gaming super-resolution feature that can increase the resolution of games from the usual 720p to up to 1.5K. However, some games such as Free Fire, BGMI and Honor of Kings (HOK) currently support this feature. There’s another gaming-centric feature called AI Gaming Super Frame that simply boosts frames per second (fps).
