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5 best PlayStation emulators for Android
The PlayStation was one of the most iconic gaming systems ever released, and with it came a slew of legendary games. It’s unlikely that you still have a physical PlayStation console in your home, but thankfully you can still play these retro games on your phone with the help of an emulator on Android. There are only a few good options still available, but here are the best PlayStation emulators for Android.
The best PlayStation emulators for Android
DuckStation
Price: Free / $5.99
DuckStation is one of the best PlayStation emulators on Android. It covers the basics like save and load states, a high level of compatibility for games, and hardware controller support with up to eight controllers. It adds to the experience with OpenGL and Vulkan support, an upscaler and texture filter for better graphics, widescreen rendering, and more. While ePSXe and FPse have ruled this market for years, we think DuckStation deserves some consideration as well. It’s also free and open source if you want to check out the code yourself.
ePSXe
Price: $3.75
ePSXe is arguably one of the two best PlayStation emulators out there alongside FPse. Both are unfortunately paid apps, but this one tends to be a bit easier to use than the latter, and it’s also highly stable. It also supports split-screen mode, save and load states, customizable controls, hardware controller support, and OpenGL-enhanced graphics. There are also some plugins that add additional features. This is one that you should pick if you want something that just works right out of the box. The only downsides are a lack of a free mode and the dated UI. Otherwise, this one works and it works quite well.
FPse
Price: $3.63
FPse is the other of the two biggest PlayStation emulators on Android. This one is highly customizable. It features basic stuff like save and load states, customizable controls, high compatibility, and hardware controller support. However, it also has a range of advanced options, plugins, and extras that help you make the games play just right. You can opt for better graphics or better gameplay depending on your device. Like ePSXe, this one doesn’t have a free version to try. Plus, this one has a steeper learning curve due to its immense array of options.
Lemuroid
Price: Free
Lemuroid is an all-in-one emulator, similar to RetroArch. Both use Libretro cores to emulate a variety of consoles, and that includes the Sony PlayStation. There’s a bit of a learning curve, but once you get everything sorted, it works fine. The emulator includes the usual stuff like save states and hardware controller support. It also adds some modern niceties like cloud save syncing. RetroArch below is another of our favorites, and in our experience they’re pretty similar. They both use the same Libretro cores, so the performance is the same either way.
RetroArch
Price: Free
RetroArch is among the most famous PlayStation emulators on Android. The emulator also boasts multi-platform support. It supports pretty much everything that you can think of, from the PSP to modern consoles like the Nintendo Switch. You download each system individually as a plugin. That means there is an extra level of complexity when compared to most PlayStation emulators. However, if you learn to master this app, you won’t have to go hunting for another one for quite some time. In our experience, the PlayStation core is relatively stable and works pretty well. It’s completely free (and open-source).