The best gaming smartphones of 2016

Do you love mobile games? You're reading Pocket Gamer, so I assume you do.

In that case, you must have some interest in the hardware that runs those games - even if you're not a tech bore obsessed with clock speeds and resolutions and megapixels and oh my I just want to make a phone call on this thing.

If you're shopping for a new gaming smartphone, then, the following are the current picks of the bunch.

Before we start, let's get this one thorny subject out of the way. We've included both iOS and Android devices here, because people choose phones based on a lot more than just games. Price, design, and platform preference all play a part.

But we've always stuck to a pretty clear line that Apple's iOS is the best bet for mobile gaming, and that's always been primarily down to the quality of offering on the App Store rather than any hardware or OS preferences. In other words, it's all about the games. Okay? Okay.

Apple has annoyed a fair few people with the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, sticking with a two-year-old design and scrapping the headphone socket. But let's not kid ourselves here - these are still by far the best gaming phones around, if only because of the peerless App Store packed full of the latest and greatest mobile games.

There's also the iPhone 7 Plus's blazing-fast A10 Fusion CPU, stereo speakers, and a brighter and more colour-rich display. Speaking of which, the iPhone 7 Plus's larger, sharper display is why it gets the nod over the iPhone 7 as a gaming device.

And here's that smaller phone. As with the iPhone 7 Plus, it has a dated design and no headphone socket. But also like the iPhone 7 Plus, the iPhone 7 has Apple's fastest ever mobile CPU and access to the App Store.

For pure gaming kicks, the iPhone 7's 4.7-inch 1334 x 750 display doesn't match the iPhone 7 Plus with its 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 equivalent. Away from gaming, the iPhone 7 doesn't have the iPhone 7 Plus's snazzy dual-lens camera system either.

We would have put the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 here as the top Android gaming pick, but then they up and started exploding. So instead, we're going to select the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge from earlier in the year.

It's basically the same as the Note 7, with a similar stunning design, the same excellent processor and camera, and a similar 5.5-inch dual-curved QHD Super AMOLED display. If we were to boil it down, it's Samsung's speedy custom CPU and that class-leading display that really act as the best showcase for Android games.

Just as the iPhone 7 Plus has a little brother that's not quite as good for games due to its lesser screen size, so too does the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.

This time the drop in size is far less dramatic, to just 5-inches. Otherwise, the two phones are functionally identical, other than the Galaxy S7 having a more conventional screen shape - which some may actually prefer for gaming.

I thought a fair amount about my fifth and final gaming smartphone pick. There are very strong premium entries from HTC and Motorola that could justifiably claim a place here.

But the OnePlus 3 offers a competitive package for hundreds of pounds less than the other phones on this list. That includes a great premium design, a very fast and popular CPU (backed by more RAM than all the rest) and a great 5.5-inch display. Sure, the latter's 'only' 1080p, but that's perfectly great for everything except VR, and it places less strain on the GPU and battery too.