The latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor allows you to run projects such as Cyberpunk 2077, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Resident Evil Requiem through emulation. On the REDMAGIC Requiem test flagship, Requiem ran at 80–90 FPS, putting pocket gaming on par with high-performance laptops.
However, high performance requires a lot of energy. Initial measurements showed 50 W, but this turned out to be a software error; the real figure is 24 W. For comparison, the Apple M5 processor in a MacBook requires less energy for similar games. Qualcomm faces the challenge of keeping the high-performance chip from overheating the smartphone and draining the battery instantly.
A possible solution would be new cooling systems, such as Heat Pass from Samsung, but experts note that this is treating the symptoms, not the cause. The main path is to increase energy efficiency. Despite the difficulties, the future of mobile gaming looks good: playing AAA projects is becoming a reality if you have a top-end smartphone.