You don't need a flagship to enjoy mobile games

We deliberately keep an older mid-range phone in the test rotation, because most people aren't playing on the latest flagship. It's honestly the most useful device we own for reviews.

A lot of games run beautifully on modest hardware if you tweak the settings. Dropping shadow and particle quality often costs you nothing you'll notice while gaining a smoother framerate. Games like Lantern Hollow and Ironline Command barely stress the phone at all and look great regardless.

The genres that struggle are the demanding real-time ones. High-effect racers and busy RPGs can stutter and heat up on older chips. That's exactly the kind of thing we flag in reviews, because a five-star game that only runs on top-tier hardware isn't five stars for most readers.

If you're on a mid-range phone, don't feel locked out. Pick genres that play to its strengths, dig into the settings, and you'll have plenty to enjoy. Some of our favorite games this year ran perfectly fine on hardware that's a few years old.