The Best Premium Gaming Phone of 2021 award honours the best smartphone that can cater to a mobile gamer’s needs, price no bar. The Best Gaming Phone of 2021 – Premium segment is but one of the 30 different award categories of the Indian Gadget Awards, India’s biggest tech awards. It’s important to note that while most premium smartphones can run graphically-intensive titles at the best possible settings, they don’t necessarily offer gaming-oriented features that can take the user’s experience to the next level. Thankfully, our carefully curated list of nominees comprises future-ready devices that can deliver an optimum gaming experience. These curated nominees were judged by a jury of 40 members from the Indian tech media community, including 25 of the country’s biggest tech content creators. After long deliberation, we finally have our winner – check it out!
Winner: ASUS ROG Phone 5
Runner-up: Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max
Check out the full list of nominees for the Best Premium Gaming Phone of 2021.
ASUS ROG Phone 5
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ROG phones from ASUS are often touted as the ultimate gaming smartphones and the company’s latest ROG Phone 5 is no different. The device offers everything but the kitchen sink to a gamer and is the only phone in the country to ship with a Snapdragon 888+ chipset. Furthermore, the handset’s speedy SoC works alongside up to 16GB of RAM and the device even offers front-firing dual stereo speakers, along with advanced AirTrigger 5 capacitive toggles. What’s more, the phone’s display measures at 6.78-inch, making it plenty accomodating for hardcore gamers using multi-finger gestures. The panel is of the AMOLED variety and features a 144Hz refresh rate and a 300Hz touch sampling rate as well. A 6,000mAh battery with 65W fast charging support is also part of its offerings.
POCO F3 GT
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MediaTek’s Dimensity 1200 SoC has proven, time and again that it can go toe to toe with some of Qualcomm’s best offerings. Unsurprisingly, the chipset is powering a slew of devices in the upper mid-range, including POCO’s first premium gaming phone, the F3 GT. Not only is the phone blazingly fast thanks to the use of MediaTek’s latest 6nm chip, but the device’s 5,065mAh battery allows gamers to play their favourite titles for hours on end too. As for the display, the phone ships with a 6.67-inch AMOLED panel that refreshes at 120Hz and offers a 480Hz touch sampling rate. The smartphone even comes equipped with shoulder triggers, that will undoubtedly make playing FPS games more fun. Lastly, the POCO F3 GT is backed by Vapour Chamber Cooling, ensuring the device doesn’t get too hot whilst gaming. And, much like the ROG Phone 5, the F3 GT also ships with RGB lighting, stationed around its 64MP triple camera setup.
Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max
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The iPhone 13 Pro Max has a lot going for it and is a fantastic gaming phone. For one, the device’s A15 Bionic chip is among the fastest mobile SoCs in the market right now. In fact, Apple has claimed it to be 50 percent faster than the competition. Consequently, gamers eyeing the handset can expect smooth, uninterrupted gameplay and minimal load times with the device. That’s not all, as the iPhone 13 Pro Max also features a large 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. Add to that the phone’s excellent battery life, and Apple’s latest is a solid choice for gamers on the prowl for a beastly handset.
iQOO 7 Legend
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First things first, the iQOO 7 Legend is among the more affordable Snapdragon 888-backed phones. Consequently, those looking to pick up the phone will find it to be plenty fast for everyday tasks. And, with up to 12GB of RAM, users will be able to multitask between a handful of apps seamlessly too. What’s more, the iQOO 7 Legend isn’t just about performance and the device ships with a gorgeous 6.62-inch AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate and a 300Hz touch sampling rate too. The panel also bears 1,300 nits of brightness, making it one of the brightest phone displays in the market. Adding to the list of pros, the phone ships with dual stereo speakers along with dual vibration motors that add a whole new dimension to the gaming experience. And, fret not – while the device offers a relatively small 4,000mAh battery, the phone somewhat makes up for it by charging rapidly at 66W.
