Genshin Impact is one of the best benchmarks for a good gaming phone, because despite being locked to 60 FPS, it’s a good test of whether your phone’s RAM can handle an open-world game. For that matter, you’ll need a decent gaming phone if you want to enjoy Genshin Impact on mobile just as the developers intended.
And when it comes to picking a gaming phone for Genshin Impact, you have to factor in a lot of performance-defining components.
Genshin Impact, after all, is a live-service game– one that keeps piling on content and consequently, increasing its mobile requirements (sometimes inadvertently or unannounced). Speaking of which, these are the mobile requirements for Genshin Impact:
- CPU : Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, Kirin 810 and above
- RAM: 4 GB and above
- System: Android 8.1 and above
- Storage: 8 GB of Free Storage Space or higher
You might notice it’s just for Android, that’s because iPhones aren’t really for gaming. They either heat up fast or have RAM that’s ill-equipped in dealing with Genshin Impact‘s open-world structure. In the off-chance they don’t have those issues, then they’re usually too expensive.
The following gaming phone models for Genshin Impact that we’ll recommend are reasonably-priced and they will last for several years of Genshin Impact updates. On a side note, since these are gaming phones, don’t expect them to have a good camera. That’s usually a compromise for a lower price paired with a gaming chipset.
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REDMAGIC 8 Pro
PROS
- Generous battery life
- Latest-gen Snapdragon chipset
- Large screen
- Ample cooling system
- Puts more expensive phones to shame in gaming performance
- Decent camera for a gaming phone
- 30-minute fast charging
CONS
- Pricey
Specs:
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (UFS 4.0 + LPDDR5X)
- RAM: 12GB
- Storage: 256GB
- Display: 120Hz 6.8″
- Battery: 6000mAh
If you want your phone to have some semblance of future-proofing to handle Genshin Impact’s updates, then the REDMAGIC 8 Pro is the ultimate option for you– assuming you only want gaming in your smartphone.
That’s because it comes packed with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 which is the latest in Qualcomm’s gaming chipset for smartphones. There’s no doubt it can handle Genshin Impact at max graphical preset with a 60 FPS limit. And the 12 GB of RAM ensures fewer stutters and hang-ups.
REDMAGIC 8 Pro
OnePlus Ace Pro 10T PGP110
PROS
- AMOLED display
- Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is only slightly less powerful than Gen 2
- Lots of RAM
- Minimalist design
- Decent camera
- Great gaming performance
CONS
- Limited carrier options in the US
Specs:
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1
- RAM: 16GB
- Storage: 256GB
- Display: 6.7-inches 120Hz 2.5D Fluid AMOLED FHD+
- Battery: 4800mAh
Truth be told, you can settle for a previous gen Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and Genshin Impact would still run like butter while maxed out. Its graphical demands have yet to catch up to smartphone developments. That’s why you might want to focus on RAM instead.
And when it comes to that, the OnePlus Ace Pro 10T is overflowing with multitasking potential. 16 GB of RAM for a phone with a sub $550 price tag is a rare find these days. The reason why it’s so cheap compared to the other OnePlus models is the more limited network availability, but if you’re not too concerned with that, then this will make for an awesome gaming phone.
OnePlus Ace Pro 10T PGP110
Xiaomi Redmi K50 Gaming
PROS
- Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is only slightly less powerful than Gen 2
- Bright and gorgeous OLED display
- Comes in different colors
- Great gaming performance
- Physical trigger buttons are advantageous in gaming
CONS
- Limited carrier options in the US
- Camera is a bit disappointing
Specs:
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
- RAM: 12GB
- Storage: 256GB
- Display: OLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, HDR10+ FHD (2400×1080 pixels)
- Battery: 4700mAh
This particular phone model literally has the same specs as the Poco F4 GT so you can interchange it with that one in case you need a wider range of carriers or other factors. In any case, the Redmi K50 Gaming is an impressive phone with nearly the same gaming specs as the OnePlus Ace above.
The big difference is the 12 GB of RAM instead of 16 GB though that’s still ample for Genshin Impact. It’s a good trade-off for a sub-$500 price point. The OLED screen is also impressive here and you’ll not find its color accuracy wanting
Xiaomi Redmi K50 Gaming
Xiaomi Poco X4 GT
PROS
- MediaTek Dimensity 8100 has great gaming performance
- Good battery size
- 144 Hz refresh rate
- Minimalist design
- Affordable price
CONS
- RAM is adequate, for now
- Disappointing camera
- Limited carrier options in the US
Specs:
- Chipset: MediaTek Dimensity 8100
- RAM: 8GB
- Storage: 128GB
- Display: 144Hz 6.6″ Dynamic Switch Dot Display 20.5:9, 2460×1080 FHD+
- Battery: 5080 mAh
It can’t be helped. It’s simply hard to beat this phone when it comes to budget gaming value. The Xiaomi Poco X4 GT, with its MediaTek Dimensity 8100 can run Genshin Impact maxed out at a passable 60 FPS which, for a $350 phone, is impressive.
Of course, you should expect some compromises. It only has 8GB of RAM so you might experience the occasional stutter in open-world games but its refresh rate and large battery can definitely make up for that.
Xiaomi Poco X4 GT
Frequently Asked Questions
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Will Genshin Impact be harder to run for phones in the future?
Right now, it's hard to say. That depends entirely on what developers add to their content. Some of these could be graphical improvements. You can, however, expect its storage and RAM requirements to shoot up gradually with each new content update. -
Are gaming phone models worth it for Genshin Impact?
Not just for Genshin Impact, but for other games as well. After all, Genshin Impact is one of the most demanding mobile games right now, even though it's not the most demanding. But if it's good enough to run Genshin Impact maxed out at a smooth framerate, then it's usually good enough for other graphically-intense games.