Canadian Smartphone Awards: iPhone 17 Pro Max wins ‘Best Gaming Experience’

Trying to nail down the best gaming experience on mobile isn’t the easiest thing. Is the best mobile gaming experience a foldable because of its larger screen, a phone with the largest battery because it can play the titles the longest, the handset with the best graphics or best performance, or one that has access to the most variety of titles?

For instance, I love playing games on the Galaxy Z Fold 7 because of its larger screen, but with its 4,400mAh battery, the handset can only play games for a limited duration before its battery dies, and this duration is not as long as titles like the Galaxy S25 Ultra, the OnePlus 15, or the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Some games might look best on the S25 Ultra, as it has the highest pixel resolution among the nominated devices, but at the same time, the RedMagic 11 Pro sports a 144Hz refresh rate, and the OP15 sports a 165Hz refresh rate, which might be preferable for gaming. These phones also feature high touch-sensing rates, which let the phone react quickly to presses. Further, these devices have bigger batteries, with the former featuring a 7,500mAh cell and the latter sporting a 7,300mAh battery. These two devices also have vapour chambers, so when you’re gaming for long periods of time, they don’t get too hot. I played several matches of Marvel Snap and Wild Rift on the OP15, and the device wouldn’t get hot.

However, every one of these handsets has an Android operating system. There are a ton of games you can play on Android via the Play Store, including Where Winds Meet, Disco Elysium, Diablo Immortal, TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Genshin Impact; a lot; however, iOS has some triple-A console/PC titles, which might lead you to wanting to play games on an iPhone. iOS titles include BioShock Remastered, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Death Stranding 2, and Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition. iOS also has a lot of titles available on Android, like Where Winds Meet and Diablo Immortal, but Android phones don’t have titles like Death Stranding 2. Of course, it’s possible to try to get fun games on Android, but these games aren’t officially available on Android.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max is great at games, and while its refresh rate doesn’t surpass 120Hz and its touch sampling doesn’t surpass 240Hz, the phone has access to some pretty great stand-out titles. Additionally, with the A19 Pro chip, the phone can handle these graphically intense games, and with its own vapour cooling, the handset doesn’t get too warm. Seriously, I’ve played some ROM hacks and Marvel Snap for hours, and the handset didn’t even get warm.

Because of the variety of amazing triple-A games (like Death Stranding 2 and Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition), the iPhone 17 Pro Max has a great battery, and it can handle games similarly to its Android competitors. The iPhone 17 Pro Max wins the Canadian Smartphone Award for ‘Best Gaming Experience.’