Last-gen Android phone leaves Steam Deck in the dust in PS3 emulation test

PS3 emulation has reached a somewhat stable state on the PC platform, with the RPCS3 currently marking around 78% of the entire PlayStation 3 library as playable. The scene has seen good advancements on Android as well, with ARMSX3 being among the notable mentions.

A new video has put the two platforms to the test, and it shows a last-gen flagship Android phone beating the Steam Deck, which is rather impressive. This comparison, done by YouTuber Tanbenru, pits the iQOO 15 with ARMSX3 0.9.8.2 and the Turnip Gen8 v36 driver against the Steam Deck running SteamOS 3.8.16 and RPCS3 0.0.41.

For context, the iQOO 15 (16/512GB curr. $828.10 on TradingShenzhen) is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, the last-gen flagship SoC from Qualcomm. As for ARMSX3, it's basically the Android port of the RPCS3 with enhancements for ARM devices.

Among the games tested, there's God of War 3, which is being emulated at 100% resolution scale and 720p. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 phone was able to hold an average of 43FPS, while it was 29FPS for the Steam Deck, and in some instances, the frames dipped below 20FPS on the gaming handheld.

Things weren't looking good for the Steam Deck on Grand Turismo 5 either, as it was able to hold around 26FPS on average throughout the period. The Android phone, on the other hand, had an average of 52FPS, and there weren't big dips either, meaning that the game ran much better on the smartphone.

Infamous 2 didn't run well on either device, but the Android phone held up better than the Steam Deck in this game as well. The same story can be seen in Uncharted 1 and Midnight Club: Los Angeles.

As for the last game tested on the video, it's God of War: Ascension, and again, the Android phone was able to run it much better than the Steam Deck. The average was 40FPS on the former, while it was 21FPS for the latter.

It goes without saying that the Steam Deck has dated hardware, and there are many more powerful gaming handhelds out there. But this comparison shows how far smartphone hardware has come and how good emulation on ARM devices has become. Check out Tabeneru's comparison video, which has been attached below, to learn more.