How we test games on real hardware

People sometimes ask why our reviews take so long to appear. The honest answer is that we refuse to judge a game after twenty minutes. First impressions lie.

We install each title on a couple of test phones, one mid-range and one older device, so we can see how it behaves outside the flagship bubble. Then we just play, for at least a week, in the sort of scattered sessions real life allows.

Throughout that time we take notes on battery drain, heat, loading times and control comfort. These are the things that decide whether you'll keep a game installed, and they rarely show up in a trailer.

Only after all that do we write. The rating comes last, once we've lived with the good and the bad. It's slower, but it's the only way I'd trust a review myself.