With a combination of powerful hardware, great apps, and innovative AI features, the Samsung Galaxy S25 series shatters many of the long-held beliefs and myths around gaming on a phone. Yes, app stores are filled with GTA knock-offs, in-app purchases, and misleading marketing, but there's a growing selection of really good stuff too: ever-improving emulation from the NES to the Wii U era, excellent ports of indie games, and even an inventively reworked version of Disco Elysium coming to Android soon!
Developers are increasingly treating mobile as a serious gaming platform, and so does the Samsung Galaxy S25, busting a whole bunch of mobile gaming myths in one go. Here are some of the big ones.
Myth 1: Phones aren't powerful enough for real gaming
Every phone in the Galaxy S25 series—S25, S25+, S25 Edge, S25 Ultra—is armed with a Snapdragon 8 Elite APU and Adreno 830 GPU, which brings them pretty close to dedicated gaming handhelds such as our beloved Steam Deck in terms of graphical and processing firepower (and far beyond the likes of the Nintendo Switch).
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra | Steam Deck OLED | Nintendo Switch OLED |
Display | 6.9" Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 3120 x 1440, 120Hz (adaptive) | 7.4" HDR OLED touchscreen, 1280 x 800, 90Hz | 7" OLED capacitive touchscreen, 60Hz |
Peak Brightness | ~2600 nits (HDR) | ~1000 nits (HDR) | ~350 nits (HDR) |
Chipset/SoC | Snapdragon 8 Elite 3 nm; Adreno 830 GPU | AMD Custom APU “Sepheroth” (Zen 2 + RDNA 2) on 6 nm | NVIDIA Custom Tegra X1 |
RAM | 12GB/16GB | 16GB | 4GB |
Storage | 256GB/512GB/1TB | 512GB/1TB | 64GB |
The specs mean that you'll be able to play demanding games like Call of Duty Mobile and Genshin Impact at a smooth 60-120fps (bolstered by the S25's adaptable 120Hz refresh rate). On the emulation front, the S25 has been shown to handle retro console gaming all the way up to the Wii U (which, yes, means Breath of the Wild is a possibility, on condition that you legally own the game). and AI-driven background optimisation that extends battery life while delivering peak performance, each variant of the S25 is a finely tuned gaming machine.
With Galaxy AI Adaptive Performance, your S25 delivers peak frame rates by analysing user patterns and optimising CPU/GPU usage — all while saving battery through intelligent background control. And with Dolby Atmos providing standout 3D audio to match these stunning visuals, you’ll be more immersed in your mobile gaming experience than ever.
Myth 2: Phones are awkward for gaming content creation
The Galaxy S25 breaks the mold for mobile content creation, with an AI-supported feature set that means you don't need to spend hours in third-party software editing your content. With Galaxy AI Generative Edit1, you can easily remove in-game elements like HUDs and text, optimise content for different platforms, and add branded overlays — all using quick and simple on-screen gestures.
Then you have features like Galaxy AI Instant Slow-mo2, letting you play back recorded capture in up to 960fps slow motion to give your content some serious rizz.
Myth 3: You can't play triple-A games on phones
The rise of cloud gaming and in-home streaming apps means that you can now play the latest triple-A PC and console games on your Galaxy S25. In addition, the Adreno 830 is optimized for Vulkan and H.265/AV1 decoding, making it perfect for cloud gaming and streaming.
Want to play PS5 games on your Galaxy S25? Use PS Remote Play to stream from your PS5—whether you're at home or out and about. Have a 500-game Steam backlog that you want to start sifting through? Use Steam Link or the excellent open-source Moonlight app to seamlessly stream games from your PC in up to the 3120 x 1440 resolution supported on the S25+, Edge, and Ultra.
And if you don't have a PC, no problem. Use GeForce Now to harness the power of Nvidia's latest RTX GPUs to beam your owned PC games from the cloud to your phone. You can even play Game Pass games on your Galaxy S25 via the cloud as part of your Game Pass Ultimate subscription. The options are plentiful, and continuing to grow and improve.
One last thing. If you have somehow missed the buzz throughout the internet tech sphere, Samsung has recently launched their latest foldable wonder – the Galaxy Z Fold7.
With major upgrades, such as a stunning (2184 x 1968) 8” main display, a substantial 4400 mAh battery, and the Snapdragon® 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset, there’s a lot for mobile gamers to get excited about.
Visit the Samsung website to find out more specs and details.
1. Samsung account login is required. Requires network connection.
2. Samsung account login is required. Available on Samsung Video Player and Samsung Gallery. May not be available on certain video file types. Accuracy of results not guaranteed.
