Choosing a gaming device can be quite a challenge these days. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying some of the largest game machines, but sometimes you need a device that you can play on the go. Aside from full-blown gaming consoles, there are two main alternatives to consider; namely smartwatches and gaming phones.
Smartwatches and gaming phones are both incredibly advanced pieces of technology, but which device is right for you? What are the pros and cons of owning one vs the other? In order to find out the answers to these questions, we’ve listed and compared both devices in terms of advantages and disadvantages, with a final verdict at the end that should make deciding between the two a little easier for you.
Pros
Smartwatches offer all the convenience of a smartphone, with the added bonus of being wearable items. Unlike smartphones, smartwatches can be strapped to your wrist and free up your hands. Considering the fact that they can fulfill all the basic functions of a smartphone, these watches have become highly desirable for many tech enthusiasts.
Thanks to the rapid technological advancement of microprocessors and mobile GPUs, gaming phones nowadays are packed with gaming-related features, such as high frame rates, crisp HD graphics, and ergonomic control schemes. Because of these advantages, gaming phones tend to be able to run any video game a whole lot better than a smartwatch can.
Wearable devices like smartwatches allow you to move about freely as you go about your day, whereas gaming phones will often sacrifice this freedom of movement in exchange for the benefits of greater processing power. However, smartwatches are still more than capable of running mobile games. They may not be as powerful as gaming phones, but they still offer access to a substantial library of games.
From the simple act of checking the time to advanced health monitoring, a quick glance at your smartwatch can tell you all sorts of vital information. A gaming phone can also provide this information, but it’s far less convenient to have to pull a phone out of your pocket every time you want to check the time or assess your caloric intake (for example).
Cons
As you may have noticed, despite their versatility, smartwatches can’t compete with gaming phones, at least from a performance-oriented point of view. While they do have greater mobility on their side, smartwatches just don’t do gaming very well at the moment. Don’t get us wrong, you can still enjoy many of the less demanding games currently available, but the latest releases require hardware that is simply too large to fit inside a smartwatch.
As powerful as gaming phones are, they are still classified as smartphones, which means you lose the high degree of mobility granted by smartwatches. You also have to keep in mind that gaming phones are still far behind dedicated platforms like gaming PCs and video game consoles, though the gap between these devices is steadily closing as mobile hardware improves over time.
Another important thing to take note of is that smartwatches and gaming phones both represent relatively new markets, which means that there is still plenty of room for both technologies to grow. We haven’t seen the full potential of either yet, which means that purchasing one right now might lead to a bit of buyer’s remorse in the future.
As is the case with many fledgling technologies, the price of entry is a primary concern for many people. Smartwatches and gaming phones aren’t exactly cheap. At present, entry-level devices can cost up to $300, with the most advanced products on the market currently selling for over $1000.
Verdict
If you value your gaming time more than fitness or health monitoring, a gaming phone will be a better purchase than a smartwatch. If you’re not much of a gamer, or you’re looking for mobility and stat-tracking, then a smartwatch would be the ideal choice. Basically, in every scenario outside of gaming, a smartwatch is more than capable of meeting any requirements you would expect from an equivalent smartphone.
So, primarily from a technical standpoint, gaming phones appear to have an advantage over smartwatches. In terms of portability though, smartwatches are far more versatile than gaming phones. You don’t need pockets to hold a smartwatch, but a gaming phone offers the best experience in mobile gaming.
At the end of the day, if graphics quality and accessible controls are important to you, gaming phones definitely have an edge over smartwatches. Choosing between the two will ultimately boil down to personal preference. Hopefully, we’ve managed to provide some useful information that will aid you in deciding which device is the perfect fit for your needs.
