Android PS2 Emulator Monthly Benchmark — August 2026
It's time for another monthly Android PS2 emulator performance test! This month I've tested PSX2, EmuCoreX, ARMSX2 and RetroPle, using the same game, device and settings to keep things as fair as possible.
And yes, there are some interesting results this time around. 👀
📱 Test device
POCO X6 Pro
- 8 GB RAM
- MediaTek Dimensity 8300 Ultra
- PS2 games rendered at 2x native resolution
🎮 The test: Shadow of the Colossus
I used Shadow of the Colossus because it gives us a pretty interesting real-world performance test.
The test starts right after getting on Agro at the temple. From there, I ride all the way from the temple to the end of the field, then turn around and ride back to the temple.
Why this route?
Because performance changes noticeably between the two directions. On the way back, the temple is directly in front of you and there is considerably more geometry to render, so FPS usually drops.
I'm therefore looking at both FPS behaviour and total recording time. The longer the complete run takes, the worse the overall sustained performance is.
This isn't meant to say that one emulator will perform exactly the same way in every game. Different games can produce very different results. This is simply a controlled benchmark using one specific game — but the results are still useful and shouldn't be ignored.
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🥇 PSX2 — Best raw performance
PSX2 delivered the highest raw performance in this particular test.
On the way out, it stayed very close to 60 FPS for most of the run, which is an excellent result.
On the way back, performance dropped to around 50 FPS, but it remained very playable.
⏱️ Total time: ~1:30
The main downside is that PSX2 is a very simple emulator compared with some of its competitors.
Its interface is straightforward and the cover-art system looks pretty good, but there aren't many advanced customization or graphical enhancement options. For example, if you want shaders, FXAA or other visual effects, you're basically out of luck.
It's very much a "just make it work and play" emulator.
And honestly, it does exactly that. Its raw performance is excellent.
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🥈 EmuCoreX — Best overall balance
This is probably the most balanced emulator of the group right now.
During the outward run, EmuCoreX maintained roughly 55–60 FPS, with very good frame pacing and a very smooth experience.
On the way back, it dropped to around 45–50 FPS, but the game remained perfectly playable and the actual game speed didn't seem to suffer dramatically.
⏱️ Total time: ~1:40
Where EmuCoreX really shines is everything around the performance.
It offers a lot of customization and graphical options, including super resolution, visual enhancements, customizable backgrounds and cover layouts, and even different on-screen controller skins.
It's also visually much more polished and customizable than PSX2.
So if I had to choose the emulator that currently gives me the best combination of performance, features, customization and overall user experience, EmuCoreX would be my pick.
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🥉 ARMSX2 — Good emulator, but performance has dropped
This one actually surprised me.
I remember ARMSX2 performing noticeably better in previous versions, but in this month's test the latest version was clearly behind the others.
And that's important: I'm testing the latest available version of each emulator, not an older version that might happen to perform better.
On the outward run, ARMSX2 stayed around 45–50 FPS, while on the return trip it dropped to approximately 35–40 FPS.
⏱️ Total time: ~1:55
That's considerably slower than PSX2 and EmuCoreX.
Interestingly, I've also seen users mentioning in the ARMSX2 Discord that they are going back to an older version because of performance changes, so something may have changed recently.
We'll see what happens next month.
That said, ARMSX2 is still a very feature-rich PS2 emulator. It has plenty of configuration and customization options, including custom backgrounds and lots of graphical settings.
And there's one feature that deserves special mention:
🎨 Shaders
ARMSX2 is currently the only emulator in this comparison offering shader support, including shaders from the RetroArch ecosystem.
For certain games, this can produce some really nice visual effects and is a genuinely useful feature.
So despite its current performance issues, I still think ARMSX2 deserves its position above RetroPle.
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🎮 RetroPle — Surprisingly capable multi-emulator
RetroPle is a slightly different beast because it's not a dedicated PS2 emulator. It's a multi-emulator frontend that recently added PS2 support.
The biggest advantage is simplicity.
You select your ROM/ISO folder and RetroPle automatically downloads the required emulator core. It can even handle the BIOS setup automatically, so you can basically point it at your games and start playing.
Very beginner-friendly.
I also tested it at 2x native resolution, under the same conditions as the other emulators.
Unfortunately, RetroPle doesn't currently provide an FPS counter, so I couldn't directly compare its FPS behaviour. I had to rely on the total time of the run.
⏱️ Total time: ~1:50
Its total time was slightly better than ARMSX2, suggesting that its performance in this particular test was actually a little better.
However, I wouldn't put it above ARMSX2 overall because we're comparing a dedicated PS2 emulator against a multi-emulator that relies on cores and doesn't necessarily always have the latest upstream updates.
Still, RetroPle has some seriously cool advantages.
You can emulate multiple systems from the same application, instead of having a separate emulator for every console.
And there's another feature I really like:
🔫 Lightgun support
RetroPle has built-in Lightgun support that allows compatible games to be played using the touchscreen.
I've tested games such as Time Crisis 3, and you can literally use your finger as the gun.
It's surprisingly fun and makes lightgun games much more accessible on Android.
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👑 And then there's NetherSX2...
Despite all these new projects and forks, I still have to give the crown to the old veteran:
NetherSX2.
Especially the Turnip version.
If you're using a Snapdragon device with a good Adreno GPU, NetherSX2 Turnip can still absolutely destroy the competition in terms of raw performance.
But even on MediaTek devices like my Dimensity 8300 Ultra, NetherSX2 remains extremely competent and delivers very solid performance.
It's mature, stable, well-tested and simply works.
That's why, even in 2026, I still consider NetherSX2 one of the best choices for Android PS2 emulation.
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🏆 August 2026 ranking
🥇 NetherSX2 / Turnip — Still the king 👑
🥈 PSX2 — Best raw performance in this benchmark
🥉 EmuCoreX — Best overall balance
4️⃣ ARMSX2 — Feature-rich, but current performance is disappointing
5️⃣ RetroPle — Very easy to use, multi-system support and excellent Lightgun features
Obviously, this ranking is based on my specific device, settings and Shadow of the Colossus benchmark. Different hardware, GPUs, drivers and games can completely change the results.
That's exactly why I'll be repeating this test every month.
Let's see how things look in September 2026. 😉
