The YouTube channel ETA PRIME recently tested the performance of the REDMAGIC 11 Golden Saga Edition smartphone, running PC games through an emulation layer. To provide context, this device stands as the most powerful smartphone from the Chinese company, specifically designed and marketed towards gamers.
This is why the device boasts a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SoC, cooled by a gold-plated vapor chamber and a silver thermal compound. As if that weren’t enough, it also includes a cooling fan, 24 GB of LPDDR5T RAM, and 1 TB of UFS 4.1 Pro storage (5,800 MB/s). This formidable hardware has proven itself capable of running games originally designed for desktop PCs.
The REDMAGIC 11 Golden Saga Smartphone Smoothly Runs Cyberpunk 2077, GTA V, and Red Dead Redemption 2
Thanks to this powerful hardware, Red Dead Redemption 2 not only launches but also runs with high textures (while other settings are low and without FSR), achieving an average performance of 40 FPS and maintaining a stable 60 FPS indoors. GTA V proved even more accommodating, running at an average of 60 FPS while driving through the open world, and climbing close to 100 FPS in indoor environments.
A much more modern and demanding title like Cyberpunk 2077 also functions, though with some caveats. To exceed 60 FPS, the game runs at 720p resolution with low graphics settings and AMD FSR Frame Generation activated. Without this assistance, a realistic performance target drops to around 30 FPS. Other titles tested include Project CARS 2, which runs above 60 FPS at 720p. Resident Evil Requiem also showed good performance but exhibited visual glitches. Meanwhile, Ghost of Tsushima leveraged frame generation effectively to provide the necessary fluidity.
Thus, a powerful and modern smartphone like the REDMAGIC 11 Golden Saga can now emulate a significant number of PC games. However, the fine print reveals that, for now, this often requires playing at modest resolutions, low graphic settings, and in some cases, activating frame generation technology. Not all phones will be able to run these games, and the key limiting factor is RAM. Red Dead Redemption 2 alone not only consumed 40W of power but also utilized 19.44 GB of RAM. Therefore, you don’t just need a smartphone with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SoC, but specifically one with 24 GB of RAM, a feature currently found on very few devices.
This Was Also Made Possible Thanks to the GameHub 5.1.0 Android Emulator
To run PC games on the REDMAGIC 11 Golden Saga, the GameHub emulator version 5.1.0 was utilized. Like other emulators, GameHub continuously receives updates over time, not only bringing performance enhancements but also adding support for new titles, eliminating graphical glitches, and improving game compatibility. This emulator enables the ARM CPUs found in smartphones to execute games designed for x86 CPUs. Given that an emulation layer inherently reduces the hardware’s raw performance, the resulting performance in these games is quite impressive.
Furthermore, simply translating ARM instructions to x86 isn’t enough to run these games effectively. The graphics driver linked to the Vulkan API must also perform optimally. GameHub incorporates GPU driver components and GameSir elements, meaning its updates often include specific optimizations for various chipsets.
For Snapdragon SoCs, much of the additional performance typically stems from highly optimized Vulkan drivers. Therefore, it’s only a matter of time before this performance and compatibility further improve. For now, however, running these demanding games still relies significantly on brute force hardware power.
