$1,700 liquid-cooled phone can run GTA V at up to 100 FPS, Red Dead 2 at 50+ FPS via emulation — Redmagic 11 Pro packs 24 GB of RAM and pulls more than 40W at peak load

(Image credit: ETA Prime on YouTube)

PC emulation on Android has come a long way from the days of its inception. Today, we have hardware that can natively run a lot of games through translation layers, all while delivering reasonable frame rates. And there is no better device to show this progress than the Redmagic 11 Pro Golden Saga Edition — the most powerful Android phone in the world, and it can play AAA PC games better than a Steam Deck.

PC Game Emulation On Android Phone Is INSANE! - YouTube

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(Image credit: Redmagic)

Coming back to the actual performance, ETA Prime ran Red Dead Redemption 2 at 720p with low settings and no upscaling. The game ran at above 50 FPS even in outdoor areas, and it was locked at 60 indoors, but drops down to the 40s at higher render distances in the open world. This was in the "Rise" performance mode, which is one tier below the maxed-out "Diablo" mode, and the phone was docked while playing.

Enabling the Diablo profile, the frame rate jumped from the low 40s to the low 50s, but the power draw also went up to 40W. We even saw an insane peak of 45W; that's laptop territory, and the YouTuber reiterated it's not thermally sustainable, even with a cooler on the back. Throughout the test, RDR2 consumed around 20 GB of RAM, so the extra memory pool is certainly worth it if you want to run AAA games.

(Image credit: ETA Prime on YouTube)

ETA Prime also tested GTA V, and it ran at above 70 FPS, while reaching 100 FPS in indoor scenes. It's crazy to think that just a few years ago, something like this would still be a fake YouTube video, but it's real now. Ghost of Tsushima was also playable at above 40 FPS, while Resident Evil: Requiem actually ran at over 60 FPS, but it was unfortunately marred with glitches like missing walls in sections of the game.

Lastly, Cyberpunk 2077, arguably the benchmark for emulation and porting at this point, was able to deliver a consistent 60+ FPS with frame generation. Without it, the game can run at a locked 30 FPS, which would be a similar experience to the Steam Deck. ETA Prime has also tested Cyberpunk on the regular Redmagic 11 Pro, where it ran at around 50 FPS with frame gen, so the extra RAM here is certainly helping.

(Image credit: ETA Prime on YouTube)

So, how much does this magical device that can open the doors to a world of PC games in your hands cost? It's listed for around $1,700, while not even being available to purchase in the States, so you'll have to import it. Before the RAMpocalypse, one could get a Strix Halo handheld for that kind of money, which would be a significantly better, albeit less novel, gaming experience.

Of course, a phone can't be compared to a dedicated gaming device. Redmagic specifically makes these for enthusiasts who don't consider money an object, so there's no value argument here. Besides, it's simply impressive to see something that can also make calls and take photos, play games at such a high fidelity. What's even more exciting is that the PC emulation scene on Android only goes up from here.

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Hassam Nasir is a die-hard hardware enthusiast with years of experience as a tech editor and writer, focusing on detailed CPU comparisons and general hardware news. When he’s not working, you’ll find him bending tubes for his ever-evolving custom water-loop gaming rig or benchmarking the latest CPUs and GPUs just for fun.