The best PS3 emulator for Android is now on the Play Store

The first proper PlayStation 3 emulator for Android arrived early last year in the form of aPS3e, quickly followed by RPCSX-UI-Android. However, ARMSX3 has established itself as the best PS3 emulator on the platform following its release in August. We’ve now got some good news if you’re wary of sideloading apps on your device.

ARMSX3 is now available to download via the Google Play Store, which means you don’t have to download the emulator via GitHub anymore. The app weighs in at 122MB, though you’ll need to download PS3 firmware as well. The Play Store listing also includes various system requirements.

Can your Android device run PS3 games?

The team says minimum requirements include a 64-bit Armv8.1 processor (specifically pointing to the Snapdragon 865/870 chipset), an Adreno 650 GPU or newer, a Mali-G57 GPU or newer for Arm GPUs, and 8GB of RAM. They note that these requirements are suitable for lighter games.

Recommended requirements include a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip or better, an Adreno 740 GPU or newer, and 12GB of RAM. The developers explain that this setup should result in a “good number” of playable games, although demanding titles that make heavy use of the CPU or the PS3’s SPUs won’t be playable. Finally, ARMSX3’s Play Store description points to optimal requirements of a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip or newer, an Adreno 830 GPU or better, at least 12GB of RAM, and active cooling.

The team also notes that custom drivers will help deliver the best experience, but the popular Turnip custom drivers are only available for Snapdragon-powered devices. So don’t be surprised if you run into significant issues with non-Snapdragon silicon. In fact, we should stress that PS3 emulation on Android is still a demanding and somewhat experimental endeavor that doesn’t support most mid-range devices. So don’t leave a bad Play Store review if PS3 games run poorly on your Galaxy A series phone or Moto G handset. That’s all on you.

This Play Store listing is nevertheless useful if you’re not technically inclined, especially with Google’s sideloading crackdown rolling out. It’s also handy if you don’t want any sideloaded apps on your Android device in general due to security concerns. 

The listing also comes after a stream of ARMSX3 updates in the past few days. This includes performance and stability improvements for games like Demon’s Souls, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Gran Turismo 5 and 6, and the Ratchet and Clank games. A recent update also enables support for devices without Google Play Services, such as HUAWEI devices.