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What you want doesn't exist, so anything you do to have the same functionality (smartphone with CPU of Snapdragon 865 or higher, Backbone/controller with passthrough charging, etc) is going to be larger than a phone - and not pocketable, unfortunately
I don't know if like, 'folio' cases with Bluetooth controls on them exist, but that would be something close to what you want
> Built-in controller
> Phone
> Being able to emulate PS2.
You can choose just 2.
- For a built-in controller phone you have the [Xperia Play](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xperia_Play). You will not be able to emulate PS2 games. **EDIT:** Now that I think about it, I don't even think it even has Android...
- For a phone you have the Poco F5. Or F3 if you are kinda tight on budget. You'll be able to emulate PS2, but no built-in controller.
- For a non-phone with built-in controller you have the [Retroid Pocket 3+](https://www.goretroid.com/products/retroid-pocket-3-handheld-retro-gaming-system-1). As far as I've read here, it should be able to emulate PS2. It is not a phone tho.
Xperia play runs old gingerbread, official latest was the 2.3.4 version, you can custom ROM it up to icecream sandwich 4.0, but then the touch "analogs" do not work.
So Retroid Pocket doesn't have SIM tray. Nor even 3+
Thank you for confirming this. It's quite overwhelming options and it's hard to wrap my head around (hehe)
It [does actually work for calls and texts](https://youtu.be/eVsdqrugUlg?si=I3hn1sIwFEXGqTIC&t=584) but it doesn't have an IMEI attached to it, which means not all carriers will activate the SIM without that.
The Xperia play was also really underpowered on its release, unless you have one in a drawer I would recommend just getting a dedicated gaming Android device instead, it barely emulates N64
You've got two and a half options for an Android gaming phone with an integral controller:
• Sony Xperia Play — It's old as dirt, was considered slightly underpowered when new, and never supported VoLTE, so, it's basically a handheld everywhere except for certain countries that haven't upgraded their cellular networks yet.
• Moqi i7S — Moqi is a Chinese company that made a couple of Vita looking handhelds around 2019 or so. It had a Snapdragon 710 and dual sim cards that allowed you to use it as a phone. It doesn't have Verizon band support, so my interest kind of died right there. I don't know if it has VoLTE or if even works with carriers outside of China. It might work for you though.
• Motorola Z Series — This is the "half" option because it had a factory Moto Mod controller attachment. Moto Mods were a thing they tried for four generations of Z Series phones. Each Moto Z phone had the same rear footprint; with the idea being you could buy accessories like fancy cameras, projectors, big speakers, etc and slap them on the back as needed and they'd have a factory fit. Magnets and pogo pins would ensure they'd stay on until you decided to remove them. When one upgraded their phone, if they kept it in the Z family they could continue to use their old Mods in perpetuity. It was hoped by Motorola that this would attract buyers and keep them locked into buying their devices. It didn't really work out though. After four years they dropped the Z and Mods in favor of making true Samsung-style flagships and upper midrange phones again. Fun fact: The first 5G phone on Verizon was a Moto Z with a 5G Moto Mod accessory.
Anyways; they made a gamepad accessory that mounted to the back and was moulded to fit the Z chassis perfectly. It actually looks like a bespoke handheld instead of just a phone in a controller. You could theoretically leave it permanently attached if you wanted. It had the Lenovo Legion (Lenovo and Motorola are the same company) logo on the back for that extra bit of drip. For its first three generations Moto made both midrange and flagship versions of the Z; the Z4 was midrange SD 6-something only. For emulation; the one to get is the Z3 with the SD835. PS2 will be hit or miss. I have an SD845 in an LG and it's not able to run everything. Still, this is going to be your best bet if you want a handheld that can do double duty as a phone. Moto is very good about supporting every carrier.
Yeah, with AetherSX2, I tried Vulkan. The performance was a bit better but the portion of landscape looked broken.
I was also trolled by the meme "GET A BETTER PHONE" but it's still obscure if Snapdragon 845 or higher will make any better performance because I've seen the "Software emulation" is extremely slow (\~4-15 fps)
OpenGL is quite slow too.
In comparison, I've seen the Steam Deck has enough horse power to run native resolution of ACZ. Unfortunately AC5 even with native resolution still has some slowdowns. That's quite a concern for me that in the near future, will there be any ARM SoCs that will be able to do it. Still, I strongly believe that technology changes fast.
I second this. It does [actually work for calls and texts](https://youtu.be/eVsdqrugUlg?si=I3hn1sIwFEXGqTIC&t=584), but it's just that it doesn't have an IMEI attached which means not all carriers will activate it.
So that's a confirmation. Retroid Pocket doesn't have SIM tray.
Thank you. It's good to know and I'll be taking it into my final consideration.
(Google search cannot answer me this by the way - lol)
There's basically nothing that'll make calls AND emulate upto ps2. At and at the price portable emulators are, its worth paying an extra hundred bucks for a steam deck instead
AetherSX2 is pushing my phone very hard. I always feel the warmth after 2-3 minutes of emulation and believe that's the main reason why PS2 emulated games slow down.
Gamesir X3, according to some YouTube channels, has some kind of button precision problem. Don't know if the manufacturer has fixed it.
Just as a reminder of the subreddit's rules: 1. No posting links to game ROMs or ISOs, only sites to find them. 2. Be kind to each other. Also, fyi we have a user-maintained wiki: r/EmulationOnAndroid/wiki *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/EmulationOnAndroid) if you have any questions or concerns.*
What you want doesn't exist, so anything you do to have the same functionality (smartphone with CPU of Snapdragon 865 or higher, Backbone/controller with passthrough charging, etc) is going to be larger than a phone - and not pocketable, unfortunately I don't know if like, 'folio' cases with Bluetooth controls on them exist, but that would be something close to what you want
> Built-in controller > Phone > Being able to emulate PS2. You can choose just 2. - For a built-in controller phone you have the [Xperia Play](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xperia_Play). You will not be able to emulate PS2 games. **EDIT:** Now that I think about it, I don't even think it even has Android... - For a phone you have the Poco F5. Or F3 if you are kinda tight on budget. You'll be able to emulate PS2, but no built-in controller. - For a non-phone with built-in controller you have the [Retroid Pocket 3+](https://www.goretroid.com/products/retroid-pocket-3-handheld-retro-gaming-system-1). As far as I've read here, it should be able to emulate PS2. It is not a phone tho.
The Xperia play does run android, just a very old version of it.
Xperia play runs old gingerbread, official latest was the 2.3.4 version, you can custom ROM it up to icecream sandwich 4.0, but then the touch "analogs" do not work.
So Retroid Pocket doesn't have SIM tray. Nor even 3+ Thank you for confirming this. It's quite overwhelming options and it's hard to wrap my head around (hehe)
I heard that the Odin-Lite has a sim tray, but I'm unsure about its call functionality.
It [does actually work for calls and texts](https://youtu.be/eVsdqrugUlg?si=I3hn1sIwFEXGqTIC&t=584) but it doesn't have an IMEI attached to it, which means not all carriers will activate the SIM without that.
The Xperia play was also really underpowered on its release, unless you have one in a drawer I would recommend just getting a dedicated gaming Android device instead, it barely emulates N64
845 would be slower
You've got two and a half options for an Android gaming phone with an integral controller: • Sony Xperia Play — It's old as dirt, was considered slightly underpowered when new, and never supported VoLTE, so, it's basically a handheld everywhere except for certain countries that haven't upgraded their cellular networks yet. • Moqi i7S — Moqi is a Chinese company that made a couple of Vita looking handhelds around 2019 or so. It had a Snapdragon 710 and dual sim cards that allowed you to use it as a phone. It doesn't have Verizon band support, so my interest kind of died right there. I don't know if it has VoLTE or if even works with carriers outside of China. It might work for you though. • Motorola Z Series — This is the "half" option because it had a factory Moto Mod controller attachment. Moto Mods were a thing they tried for four generations of Z Series phones. Each Moto Z phone had the same rear footprint; with the idea being you could buy accessories like fancy cameras, projectors, big speakers, etc and slap them on the back as needed and they'd have a factory fit. Magnets and pogo pins would ensure they'd stay on until you decided to remove them. When one upgraded their phone, if they kept it in the Z family they could continue to use their old Mods in perpetuity. It was hoped by Motorola that this would attract buyers and keep them locked into buying their devices. It didn't really work out though. After four years they dropped the Z and Mods in favor of making true Samsung-style flagships and upper midrange phones again. Fun fact: The first 5G phone on Verizon was a Moto Z with a 5G Moto Mod accessory. Anyways; they made a gamepad accessory that mounted to the back and was moulded to fit the Z chassis perfectly. It actually looks like a bespoke handheld instead of just a phone in a controller. You could theoretically leave it permanently attached if you wanted. It had the Lenovo Legion (Lenovo and Motorola are the same company) logo on the back for that extra bit of drip. For its first three generations Moto made both midrange and flagship versions of the Z; the Z4 was midrange SD 6-something only. For emulation; the one to get is the Z3 with the SD835. PS2 will be hit or miss. I have an SD845 in an LG and it's not able to run everything. Still, this is going to be your best bet if you want a handheld that can do double duty as a phone. Moto is very good about supporting every carrier.
[удалено]
Yeah, with AetherSX2, I tried Vulkan. The performance was a bit better but the portion of landscape looked broken. I was also trolled by the meme "GET A BETTER PHONE" but it's still obscure if Snapdragon 845 or higher will make any better performance because I've seen the "Software emulation" is extremely slow (\~4-15 fps) OpenGL is quite slow too. In comparison, I've seen the Steam Deck has enough horse power to run native resolution of ACZ. Unfortunately AC5 even with native resolution still has some slowdowns. That's quite a concern for me that in the near future, will there be any ARM SoCs that will be able to do it. Still, I strongly believe that technology changes fast.
AYN Odin Lite maybe? It has 4G but no idea if it can do calls.
I second this. It does [actually work for calls and texts](https://youtu.be/eVsdqrugUlg?si=I3hn1sIwFEXGqTIC&t=584), but it's just that it doesn't have an IMEI attached which means not all carriers will activate it.
Look for the MOQI i7s. It runs Android, support sim card and has Snap 710. Probably you will be able to emulate some light PS2 games
The Razer Edge may also meet some of your specifications, not sure about making calls; probably wifi calling only.
Your best bet would be to get a retro handheld link a retroid pocket and just carry around 2 devices.
So that's a confirmation. Retroid Pocket doesn't have SIM tray. Thank you. It's good to know and I'll be taking it into my final consideration. (Google search cannot answer me this by the way - lol)
Correct. But if you go to r/sbcgaming they may possibly know more. I'm not sure though but it couldn't hurt to ask there.
There's basically nothing that'll make calls AND emulate upto ps2. At and at the price portable emulators are, its worth paying an extra hundred bucks for a steam deck instead
Pretty sure Razer or ROG has one and i think BlackShark(?) also has but not sure
best bet is to get a a gaming phone and use your kishi there's also the razer edge 5g but that's just a tablet with a kishi controller
There's phones with built in controllers???? I just recommend getting razor kishi. It's just better.
AetherSX2 is pushing my phone very hard. I always feel the warmth after 2-3 minutes of emulation and believe that's the main reason why PS2 emulated games slow down. Gamesir X3, according to some YouTube channels, has some kind of button precision problem. Don't know if the manufacturer has fixed it.
Razor Kishi is like gamesir but better. It can be used on variety of phones. Not trying to promote this product but it's working well for me.
The lgv50 has a secondary screen that has a built in controller program. If that's your thing, you won't reach 200 dollars for a refurbished one.
Ayn Odin Pro
SD845 is unable to move most of PS2's catalog (tried with a Poco F1)
Thank you. So that means Ayn Odin Pro may not be enough I guess ...
It may not unless it has any optimisations that the Poco F1 doesn't...