MH Outlanders May Require Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Flagship Phones at Minimum, Playtest Specs Suggests

When Monster Hunter Outlanders finally launches, you might want to check your phone’s specs before setting out on your first hunt. That’s because early closed test impressions suggest Capcom and Tencent’s open-world spinoff could demand beefy flagship-tier hardware. Such as the latest iPhone model or Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 equivalent to run smoothly, said people who have tested it.

Monster Hunter Outlanders‘ first known beta test happened in August 2024 on the QQ Games platform in China. To qualify, participants needed high QQ Game account activity such as playing League of Legends and other popular games on the platform daily. And for some reason, the test is restricted to iPhone users.

However, several Monster Hunter Outlanders testers on Chinese forums like NGA and gaming site like TapTap reported frame drops and stuttering. Even when they ran it on the latest iPhone models at that time. Based on the playtest timeframe, that meant they were running the game on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Those were Apple’s best gaming hardware in mid-2024, with its A17 Pro chip, 8 GB of RAM, and hardware-accelerated ray tracing.

Taking that into account, Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is the closest Android match to the iPhone 15 Pro’s A17 Pro chip. Both deliver top-tier gaming performance, but Snapdragon stands out for its sustained GPU power and better thermal management during long sessions. Even by 2025, it remains the gold standard in flagship Androids, powering gaming-capable phones like the ASUS ROG Phone 8 Pro.

If Tencent don’t dial back the specs, you’re practically forced to drop serious cash on new phones just to play Monster Hunter Outlanders comfortably. By comparison, the biggest open-world gacha hits stay huge partly because you can run them on mid-tier phones. Genshin Impact runs smoothly at 60 FPS on phones as old as the Snapdragon 870 or A13 Bionic with 6 GB RAM. Meanwhile, Wuthering Waves can manage high settings on Snapdragon 888 or A14 Bionic with 8 GB.

So, What are the Recommended Phones for MH Outlanders?

Of course, Tencent and Capcom still have time to optimize before the suspected late 2025 release. But right now, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3–equipped phone and its equivalent are looking like your safest bet. Here are some of our recommended flagships and their specs that should be able to deliver the best Monster Hunter Outlanders experience.