How We Test Games On Older Phones (And Why We Bother)

When we review a game, we don't just run it on the newest, fastest phone. One of the devices on Marta's desk is deliberately a few years old, because plenty of readers are playing on exactly that.

A game can feel great on flagship hardware and turn into a stuttering mess on something older. If a title chews through battery or overheats within ten minutes, that's worth knowing before you download it.

We note load times, frame drops during busy moments, and how big the install is. A five-gigabyte casual game had better justify that space, and most don't.

It's a little extra work per review, but it means the score you read reflects a real range of phones, not just a lab-perfect one. If a game runs beautifully everywhere, we'll say so — and if it doesn't, you'll hear that too.