Every new iPhone or Android device that crab-walks onto U.S. shores is visually indistinct from the next. Phones have become so standard and boring that we’re honestly considering ultra-expensive “tri-fold” devices the next frontier of mobile. But what intrigues me more than any foldable iPhone is the next slate of gaming-centered mobile phones. Right now, those seem to be pushing what’s possible for our pocketable computers.

On Monday, Redmagic finally offered details of its Redmagic 11 Pro gaming phone. The big defining feature is its use of liquid cooling—a technology you often see on desktop PCs. Most modern phones use passive heat transfer through pipes and, in more expensive devices, a vapor chamber to spread heat evenly across a larger surface area. Liquid cooling, instead, uses a micropump to swirl fluorinated cooling fluid on the phone’s baseplate, then delivers it to a fan that blasts the heat away.

© Redmagic

© Redmagic

Two years ago, OnePlus showed off a concept phone with similar technology, and it’s finally here—in a device you can actually buy. Along with its own R4 thermal management chip, the Redmagic 11 Pro will sport the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip. When benchmarking the chip myself on a reference phone with juiced specs, I observed the device beginning to degrade over the course of many minutes, which had me concerned that the chip was overheating and limiting performance over a long session. Redmagic promises its semiconductors will enable optimal performance, even outside in temperatures ranging from -40 to 70 degrees Celsius (or -40 to 158 degrees Fahrenheit).

We have not seen Redmagic’s latest in action, so we can’t say how effective its liquid cooling solution would be compared to what will eventually come to the next Samsung Galaxy device. At the very least, it sports a 144Hz screen, so it should be able to present your games in their best light. Redmagic’s phone is coming to the United States, though not through any carrier. You’ll need to pony up $750 for the base model; $850 nets a transparent glass back to show you the liquid cooling in action.

Gaming phones are adding more buttons

The Asus ROG Phone 9 includes odd visual touches that at least make it look distinct. © Kyle Barr / Gizmodo

And you’ll probably want that version, since it’s the most visually distinct, without any overt capital-G “gamer” look, like the AniMe lights that came with last year’s Asus ROG Phone 9. That device also used a large external fan to keep its thermals in check. This solution combined extra physical shoulder buttons with screen controls. Though internal cooling is far more elegant, it’s clear that in the looks department, gaming phones are still willing to throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks.

Take Ayaneo, a company that makes boutique, retro, handheld gaming devices and mini PCs. The company announced it was making its first smartphone under its “retro remake” branding, inspired by 1990s tech. The device appears to have a bumper button on both ends of its left side. Ayaneo may try to position the phone as a Game Boy alternative or as something that can run a wide range of retro emulators available on Android.

OnePlus’ next phone improves on Qualcomm’s chip for gaming

© OnePlus

Apple’s exclusive A18 Pro and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 both promise quality gaming performance. What that means in real life is muddied by hardware limitations. The OnePlus 15 isn’t being billed as a gaming phone, though it will feature a 165Hz display so titles can run at a fast clip. The OnePlus 16 uses the latest high-end Qualcomm mobile chip, but in a press release, the company said it’s planning to pack in a special “OP Gaming Core” that OnePlus promises will reduce power consumption and boost game performance.

What’s even more interesting is the possibility that we could finally get frame generation on mobile devices. OnePlus is bringing that closer to reality with its HyperRendering GPU pipeline.

The company said this would make rendering more efficient and open up interesting possibilities for game frame rates. That includes some kind of frame generation, sometimes called frame interpolation, which inserts AI-generated frames between frames rendered by the chip itself. Nvidia uses this technology on its latest GeForce RTX 50-series GPUs to stick up to 4x as many AI frames in between rendered frames. While it’s less impactful on a full-blown gaming PC, the technology could prove more potent on a smaller, cheaper device like a phone.

ARM, the company behind most modern mobile chip architecture, has promised us the possibility of AI upscaling to push better frame rates, so in the mobile space, we’re seeing a whole slew of new technology that could technically push gaming harder than before. The only problem there is the lack of major releases that make these devices enticing enough for anybody not already addicted to *Honkai Star Rail *to consider. At this point, companies are simply proving there are still ways to innovate in the mobile space. With enough pressure, maybe gamers could one day see a new Samsung, Google, or Apple device that won’t bore them to tears.