half of the AAside fandom is going to look for new phones in these next two months because the game is coming and tech is confusing, so

small thread on how to read specs sheets and what to look for when searching for a decent smartphone to play JP mobile games:

first of all: DON'T BUY AN ANDROID PHONE WITH ONLY 4GB RAM
it might work, but it will get very bloated very fast and you won't have a good experience. even stepping up to 6GB does a lot to improve the situation

second: when looking at Snapdragon processor models, you separate the leftmost digit from the others (like, 835, you consider "8" and "35")
the 800 series is the top tier, but going with more modern CPU from a slightly lower tier can be better (so the 675 is better than the 835)

for gaming, I suggest looking at the 700 and 800 series, and considering the 600 series as a last resort
for 2020, the most modern options would be the 720G/732G, 750G and the 768G for the 700 series, the 865/865+ for the 800 series

there are other devices that could be compatible, sure, but they're going to be underpowered and deliver a not so great experience, especially in the long run, and if you buy a device now I suppose you expect it to last about 2 years at least

this is the tweet where I'd talk about Kirin and Exynos options but Huawei doesn't have Google services and I have a grudge with Samsung
you can expect to buy their top tier S or Note series device the year it's released and enjoy 1.5 years of support

about Android support as a whole: the situation isn't great. especially if you play mobile games, don't expect your phone to last (or deliver a good experience) for more than 2 years
mobage eat up RAM, processing power and battery, and there's only so much you can do about it

especially if you play JP games, I'd suggest to stay on Android if your budget isn't high or if you REALLY need/prefer Android for other tasks
you can find very good devices around that price or lower, and unless you have other needs stepping up doesn't bring great advantages

if you want to go to the iOS side I don't have a lot to say: just buy the most recent iPhone or the one released the year before
you don't really need the Pro version, the standard one fares just as well and you'll have almost no problems for the next 5 years

most JP mobile games are developed with iOS in mind anyway (the test device for AAside we've seen the seiyuu use during streams is an iPhone XR, for example), so you really have nothing to worry about
and I'd suggest upgrading only if you have an iPhone 7 or older, for now

I'm sorry for the length of this thread

also, my suggestions aren't a strict law: if you like a certain device or you don't have many options, just go for what you want/you can get, and you can just try to make things work anyway

PS: I haven't touched the topic of storage because only you know how much files and apps you store but remember a single game can take upwards of 5GB and you probably want to play more than one

so please be careful in choosing that too

addendum: someone mentioned in the QRT that investing in an iPad is also an option and I mostly agree, if your style of playing allows for it even the base model can be a great device to get, especially for rhythm games, and it's cheaper than a iPhone