STACK #208 Feb 2022

LIFE TECH FEATURE

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The first mobile phone game was not Snake . Despite being one of the most iconic mobile games of all time, Snake was only introduced by Nokia in 1997. In 1994, Tetris was installed on the Hagenuk MT-2000, beating the team at Nokia by a solid three years. FACT:

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A GUIDETO MOBILE GAM

I f you haven't played a mobile game since the days of Snake , Angry Birds , or Pokémon Go , you may be a little surprised at how much has changed. Today, gaming on a smartphone is huge, and the visual quality of the games is exceptional. Titles such as PUBG and Genshin Impact are not only fun to play, but also push the limits of what smartphones can handle. And with new games on the horizon, like the much- anticipated Diablo Immortal ,

premium phones will generally install the latest version of the processor available. For gaming smartphones running Android, you'll want anything in the Snapdragon 800 series or above to provide the best experience currently available. There are other CPUs for Android-based phones – Samsung uses its own processor, Exynos, in its models. Apple uses a custom-built CPU for iOS,

sport a 6.7-inch screen, which is about what you would expect from a premium consumer phone. The gold standard of screen technology is

AMOLED, a type of OLED display used in smartphones and tablets. AMOLED screens can handle fast refresh rates, offer low power consumption, and deliver greater colours than traditional LCD screens. Look for the largest AMOLED screen size that's comfortable to hold in your palm. Why is the refresh rate important? The refresh rate on a

2022 is gearing up to be another exciting year for mobile gaming. While these visual behemoths are accessible across most smartphones, gamers know that to maximise the performance, they need a gaming smartphone specifically designed to meet the top- end technical requirements. Cutting-edge displays, fast CPUs, and smart gaming- focused functions all feature prominently in the list of must-haves for any new purchase, ensuring that you stay ahead of the competition.

smartphone is one of the key functions to consider when choosing a model for gaming. The refresh rate is a count of how many times your phone updates the screen image during a single second. This means phones with high refresh rates, measured in hertz (Hz), will deliver smoother video and more responsive performance. Most regular smartphones operate at around 60Hz, which is fine for streaming, messaging and browsing. By comparison, gaming phones should benchmark between 120-144Hz. Most gaming phones also allow you to change this setting to lower rates, so you don't turn your phone into a power vacuum while you're not in play.

which is updated with every new iPhone model. This makes it slightly more limiting in choice, but much easier to track which version provides the best performance. What do I need to know about screens? Screens are valuable real estate on gaming smartphones. Screens even influence design – additional buttons can be placed on the side of the phone to ensure that fingers don't obstruct any of the action. Most gaming phones will

With a wide variety of options to choose from, here are a few key things to look out for when planning your gaming smartphone upgrade. Smartphone CPUs/Processors Think of the CPU (Central Processing Unit) as the brain of the phone. It's here where most of the heavy work gets done. CPUs are constantly in development, delivering newer, faster and better versions every year. The flagship

26 FEBRUARY 2022

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