SO YOU HAVE some extra cash from your holiday aguinaldos and you’re looking to get that phone upgrade you’ve been looking at for months now to finally kick start your journey to becoming a content creator or maybe even a pro player.
But before you spend your “hard earned” cash for that shiny gaming phone, you need to ask yourself should I go for the most expensive state of the art device or maybe there’s a better option?
During the M5 World Championship, SPIN.PH asked two of the best coaches in Mobile Legends esports, AP Bren coach Francis “Ducky” Glindro, and Onic Esports’ coach Denver “Yeb” Miranda, on their thoughts on what device an aspiring pro needs to have.
Does the phone matter?
Both coaches are in consensus that you don’t need to have the state-of-the-art gaming phone when you’re starting out.
“The good thing about Mobile Legends is you can simply play it at the lowest resolution or graphic settings mag-e-enjoy ka pa din,” said Duckey.
“Sa akin, kung gusto mo lang talaga mag-enjoy syempre kahit anong phone siya.” Said Yeb in a separate interview.
For both coaches, Mobile Legends is a very light game to run making it an accessible game able to run on most mobile phones, but both also agree that devices does matter in the highest level of play.
“Halimbawa nagba-basketball ka pero panget yung basketball shoes mo, magkakapaltos ka, hindi ka makakalaro ng maayos. It’s the same thing if your phone lags, drop frames. It will affect your mentality, your training will be delayed, biglang pipitik pitik siya," explained Ducky.
He added: "If maganda yung phone mo, didiretso na siya you don’t have to worry about it. I think the best way to put it is to have a reliable phone, you don’t have to have a specific brand.”
“Pero when it comes to gusto maging pro makaka-affect yung phone eh, kasi medyo lag siya, ganoon” echoed Yeb.
Things are different in the pro-level where every minute detail matter. Every frame leads to a crucial decision, and a lag spike means the difference between winning or losing.
Advice to aspiring pro players
In the complicated world of tech, where new phones come out every year. Ducky has a simple advise for aspiring pro players.
“The best way to start is to find a very affordable phone, na pwede mo ma-enjoy yung game.” He told SPIN.PH. “I think it really boils down to… please do understand your financial situations. Kids kausapin niyo si mama and si papa, ‘Mama, papa kaya pa ba natin i-afford yung ganitong cellphone.’ And that’s very important kasi alam mo yun? If ipipilit mo eh hindi naman kaya.”
As for coach Yeb, aspiring pros don’t need to put everything on the device, rather use it as an inspiration to reach the top of the game.
“Sa tinging ko Magandang motivation yun sa kanila eh. Kung gusto talaga nila magpro walang reason eh diba. And as far as I know if nakahanap sila ng teams kahit amateur teams magproprovide naman ng phones.”
So what do aspiring pro need? Coach Duckey summarized it really well. “You don’t need the latest phones. You just have to start.” He explained.
What to look for in a phone
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is a very light game to run. You’ll just need around 1.5GB of storage space, 1GB of RAM and have phone running Android 4.1 or about.
If you’re looking to buy a brand new smartphone today most brands have at least 64GB internal storage for phone in the sub PHP-10,000 price range with most device sporting at the very least 4GB of RAM.
Also don’t fall in the marketing gimmick of “gaming” products. Most mobile games, especially esports title don’t need the latest specs to run.
Like I said earlier, Mobile Legends is one of the lighter games with most phones able to run the game at a reasonable settings. Like other MOBA’s, there’s no advantage in playing the game at the highest resolution, except seeing your dead teammate’s corpse more clearly.
So what should you look at in getting a new phone to start your gaming career? First is to determine your budget. You don’t need to spend all your cash, get a loan, or sell your organs to start your gaming career.
Most esports pros right now started their career on a basic device playing Mobile Legends on a phone most likely similarly to what you have right now.
If you do want to upgrade your phone for the holidays, may be find a reasonable priced device within your budget. As both coaches said, the best way to start your pro journey is not with a powerful device, but just by grind your way to the top.
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