We asked, you told us: The Razer Phone 2 is the best gaming phone, but just barely

We saw the resurgence of the gaming-centric smartphone last year with the release of the original Razer Phone with its 120Hz display. Since that time, in addition to Razer putting out a second-gen handset, we saw a growing number of manufacturers announce high-performance “gaming” phones. With all of these devices now on the market, we decided to ask what do you think is the best gaming phone?

Going into the poll, it was clear that the Razer Phone 2 and the ASUS ROG Phone would be the two standout handsets as they are the two most premium gaming smartphones on the market. While both feature top-of-the-line specs, the ASUS ROG Phone does offer a bunch of gaming peripherals that make for a well-rounded experience.

But when you look at all of the other phones currently available like the Mate 20 X, HONOR Play, and Xiaomi Black Shark, you realize that you can get great gaming performance without shelling out the big bucks.

Here’s how all of you voted:

What do you think is the best gaming phone?

Results

This week’s poll results were extremely close. As you can see, if we just considered the votes from the website, we’d be crowning the ASUS ROG Phone as the best gaming smartphone. But when we average out the results from the site, Twitter, and YouTube, the Razer Phone 2 slips into the winner’s circle with 36 percent of the votes.

The ASUS ROG Phone came in a close second with 34 percent of the votes while the HUAWEI Mate 20 X only had 16 percent of the community’s support.

I will note that the Razer Phone 2 likely had an advantage due to how popular the company’s name is and because a lot of voters might not be familiar with phones like the Xiaomi Black Shark. If this was a one vs. the other handset, who knows how the ASUS ROG Phone might have faired against the Razer Phone 2.

Noteworthy comments

Here are some of the comments from across the polls – many arguing what truly makes a gaming phone:

• HUAWEI Mate 20 X is just WAY above everything else when it comes to gaming. – MASSIVE WIDE SCREEN with 25% bigger surface than the next one on the list – FAR SUPERIOR CHIPSET with superior efficiency and more space for cooling. – Huge battery that can provide around 6 hours of gaming on a single charge.
• For those you chose Razer Phone 2 as their gaming phone sure they never play any hardcore games on phone. Majority of people who play games surely will use their headphone. Dongle WILL obstruct your hand from holding it nicely. You will feel uncomfortable to held and you will have horrible gaming experience. Razer Phones are NOT a gaming phone. It just a regular flagship slapped with gaming brand. It failed as a basic gaming phone. Period.
• the ASUS rog has those built in triggers. I feel like it has the best look and the background ASUS has in gaming already.
• well, considering the lower price of the razer phone 2 compared to ASUS ROG, and the 120hz display it is in some ways a better phone… but overall ignoring price the ROG is the best

And then there were the comments about how these phones are just regular handsets that are branded as bring made for gaming:

• I wanted to say Black Shark Hello or 2, however no phone can handle WOW. So the PC will always dominate for me. ?
• No matter how good the phone is, it’s still play mobile games lol
• “gaming” and “phone” are 2 things that don’t go well together. Phones are good for casual gaming, but spending a couple of hours on an action intense game, could drain the battery extremely fast, and then, the “phone” side of the device, becomes useless

That’s it for this week, everyone. As always, thanks for voting, thanks for the comments, and don’t forget to let us know what you thought of the results below.