Fortnite is an intense game that needs a pretty capable Android phone run it properly. A multiplayer match involving up to 100 unique players is bound to be a bit glitchy at times, but for the
As of November 2018, the Galaxy Note 8 offers the best value for .
Our Pick
Samsung Galaxy Note 8
$513 at Amazon
$899 at Samsung
Best phone for Fortnite.
Sure, the Galaxy Note 8 has been dethroned by the Note 9, but if we’re looking at things from the perspective of an obsessive Fortnite player, it might not be really worth upgrading to a massively expensive new phone when last year’s model has got so much going on. It’s got more than enough RAM to give you top performance when playing Fortnite, and the big display and battery mean you can see more and play longer.
Why you should buy the Note 8
With 6GB of RAM, a brilliant 6.3-inch Infinity Display, and all-day battery life, the Note 8 has all the specs you need to get the most out of Fortnite. You won’t get much use out of the S-pen or the excellent dual-camera setup playing the game, but those uniquely awesome features simply make the Note 8 a great phone to use when you’re not gaming.
Of course, the reason the Note 8 is deeply discounted is that its successor, the Galaxy Note 9, is now available. If your wireless contract is up soon and you’re able to get the cost spread out over the length of your new contract, the Note 9 is a pretty compelling phone, which offers upgraded specs across the board along with a redesigned S-pen. The Note 9 was specifically launched alongside Fortnite for Android along with an exclusive skin and complimentary V-Bucks for preordering customers. If you missed out on that pre-order deal, getting the Note 8 at a lower price will be just as good for any Fortnite player.
Is it a good time to buy a Note 8?
Unless you’re keen to splurge on the Note 9, it’s still a great time to buy the Note 8. You can buy a Note 8 outright from carriers like T-Mobile for around $700, or on contract for $30 a month, and Amazon has Certified Refurbished Note 8 phones available for around $500
Reasons to buy
- Big, bright display is beautiful
- A great phone with plenty to offer
- 6GB of RAM is ample for Fortnite
- Cheaper than Note 9
- Headphone jack
Reasons not to buy
- Underwhelming speakers
- Somewhat disappointing battery life for size
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The Next Note
Samsung Galaxy Note 9
$820 at Amazon
For those who want the best.
Is the Galaxy Note 9 Samsung’s best phone to date? It’s pretty easy to argue yes. Does the Note 9 have improved specs over the Note 8? Yep, pretty much across the board.
But is it worth spending a ton of extra money for the purposes of playing Fortnite? Probably not. Still, it’s obviously a great phone that might be worth getting if your wireless contract is up for renewal and you can snag a sweet trade-in deal with your wireless carrier.
This phone has great specs for gaming and the 6.4-inch display makes it a fantastic device for playing Fortnite, but it also includes some other great hardware features including a headphone jack, a microSD card slot, and support for wireless charging.
Gamer Phone V2.0
Razer Phone 2
$799 at Amazon
The best phone for gamers… for now…
For anyone who owned and loved the first Razer Phone, there’s a lot to love about the Razer Phone 2.
Razer went ahead and made the screen brighter and focused on improving the camera with better sensors and processing software, and added in water-resistance, wireless charging, and a customizable RGB logo on the back that can be set up for app notifications. Performance-wise, you get the top-end specs for the best gaming experience and the 120hz display refresh rate for buttery-smooth action like you’ve never seen before.
The Razer Phone is a powerful device with a Snapdragon 835 processor and 8GB of RAM. It also has good software features such as Game Booster which blocks notifications and lets you prioritize game performance or battery life when you’re gaming. And there’s something to be said about Razer’s decision to keep a light touch the on software side — The Razer Phone 2 ships running Android 8.1 Oreo with Nova Launcher as the default launcher.
Bottom line
Fortnite has proven to be one of the biggest Android releases of 2018 — but it’s not exactly a game that you need
But if you want the best of all worlds, the Galaxy Note 8 has everything you need to slay in Fortnite.
Credits — The team that worked on this guide
Marc Lagace is the Apps and Games Editor at Android Central. He’s been a gamer for most of his life and actually took a university course on Video Game Theory — which he aced! You can reach out to him on Twitter @spacelagace..
