Based on the rumored tech specs, it looks like the S24 Ultra could have enough performance to outpace the iPhone 15 Pro Max as the best smartphone for gaming — outside of dedicated gaming phones, that is.
The biggest downside to gaming phones is often that they suffer as general use smartphones, so they're not a great option for most people, unless you're okay with owning two phones. One for gaming, and one for everything else.
Up until now, the best non-gaming smartphone for gamers has been the iPhone 15 Pro Max with its increased performance, high refresh rate, and large screen. While stuck in the Apple ecosystem, the iPhone 15 Pro Max makes any game run on it look pretty good. However, Android users were left with few options other than dedicated gaming phones like the ROG Phone 7. But this may be about to change with the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Rumored high-performance specs
Recent rumors surrounding the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra indicate the Samsung flagship will come with a large 6.8-inch display with 2500 nits of brightness, a 144Hz refresh rate, and be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor with an 81% increase in GPU performance over last year's S23 Ultra counterpart.
If T3's predictions are correct and Samsung introduces ray tracing to the S24 Ultra, it would have enough power and GPU tech to reliably compete with the iPhone 15 Pro Max in both overall and gaming performance.
More than just iPhone competition
At CES 2024, Asus released more information about the upcoming ROG Phone 8. The ROG Phone has always been a high-end gaming phone designed to present mobile games in the very best possible light, but the ROG Phone 8 is designed to function as more than just a simple handheld gaming device.
The ROG Phone 8 goes beyond gaming by providing the same Qualcomm Snapdragon Gen 3 processor as the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (and the One Plus 12) with a staggering amount of DDR5 RAM (24GB) and 1TB of UFS 4.0 storage that can be leveraged for gaming as well as AI processing. The ROG Phone 8 also houses an updated camera array to compete with the best smartphones with a 50MP main and a 32MP telephoto lens with 3X optical zoom, plus a 32MP RGBW front-facing camera.
Between the One Plus 12, the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and the ROG Phone 8 there is some stiff competition for the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. It will have to come down to our lab tests to determine which phone is the best for gaming, but the S24 Ultra is definitely making a good case for itself already.
