The Battle Royale title, Fortnite, is the go-to game on platforms like PS, Xbox, and PC. The publisher (Epic Games) was onto a winner when it designed Fortnite to feature the same gameplay across all the supported devices. Whereas iOS users have enjoyed it on mobile for a while now, it is exciting to hear that it will come to Android too. In the summer of 2018, Epic Games will port Fortnite to Android devices—starting with flagship Samsung phones.
Make no mistake, Fortnite mobile is very demanding on GPUs. Still, powerful chipsets such as the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 will handle the game just fine.
Can you run Fortnite on Xiaomi smartphones?
The game aims to offer a consistent experience across platforms. So, Epic Games listed some specs ahead of the launch for Android. It listed the requirements below as basic. (If your Xiaomi features these, you may play Fortnite mobile at some point in the future.)
Requirements:
- Oldest supported OS version: Android 5.0 (Lollipop)
- Minimum RAM: 3GB
- CPU architecture: ARM64 (64-bit)
- Minimum OpenGL version: 3.1
Another important point is to check your device for Vulkan support. Using this API, mobile devices tend to offer better gaming performance. (See tutorial on how to install Vulkan on Xiaomi Redmi Note 4X.)
Need to browse your device specs in detail? Install DevCheck Hardware and System Info from Google Play.
For example, here’s a summary of a DevCheck report on the Xiaomi Mi 8.
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
- Hardware: SDM845
- GPU: Adreno 630
- OpenGL: Open GL ES 3.2
- Architecture: aarch64 (64-bit)
- Ram size: 6 GB
- Android version: Android 8.1 (Oreo)
See, these specs mean that the Xiaomi Mi 8 is set to run Fortnite mobile with ease.
In the same vein, I analyzed other Xiaomi phones to check whether Fortnite mobile may run on them. See summary below.
| Xiaomi Device | Processor | Hardware | GPU | OpenGL | Architecture | RAM | Android version | May run Fortnite mobile? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xiaomi Mi 6 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 | MSM8998 | Adreno 540 | OpenGL ES 3.2 | aarch64 (64-bit) | 4/6 GB | Android 7.1.1 (Nougat) | YES |
| Xiaomi Mi 5s | Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 | MSM8996 | Adreno 530 | OpenGL ES 3.2 | aarch64 (64-bit) | 3/4 GB | Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) | YES |
| Xiaomi Mi 5 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 | MSM8996 | Adreno 530 | OpenGL ES 3.2 | aarch64 (64-bit) | 3/4 GB | Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) to 7.0 (Nougat) | YES |
| Xiaomi Mi Note Pro | Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 | MSM8994 | Adreno 430 | OpenGL ES 3.1 | aarch64 (64-bit) | 4 GB | Android 5.0.1 (Lollipop) to 7.0 (Nougat) | NO |
This list may confuse you, somewhat. See, you’d expect the Xiaomi Mi Note Pro to support Fortnite mobile, for example. Well, according to code in a leaked configuration file, the game should run on Adreno 530, 540, and 640 GPUs only—see the code snippet below. (Thus, Mi Note Pro’s Adreno 430 will not support the title.)
//allow Adreno 530, 540, 630 only
condition: ((SourceType=SRC_GPUFamily, CompareType=CMP_Regex, MatchString="^Adreno \(TM\) 530")),, (unsupportedAdreno)
condition: ((SourceType=SRC_GPUFamily, CompareType=CMP_Regex, MatchString="^Adreno \(TM\) 540")),, (unsupportedAdreno)
condition: ((SourceType=SRC_GPUFamily, CompareType=CMP_Regex, MatchString="^Adreno \(TM\) 630")),, (unsupportedAdreno)
condition: ((SourceType=gpu, CompareType=CMP_Equal, MatchString="Adreno (TM) 530")),, (unsupportedAdreno)
condition: ((SourceType=gpu, CompareType=CMP_Regex, MatchString="Adreno (TM) 540")),, (unsupportedAdreno)
condition: ((SourceType=gpu, CompareType=CMP_Regex, MatchString="Adreno (TM) 630")),, (unsupportedAdreno)
condition: ((SourceType=unsupportedAdreno, CompareType=CMP_Equal, MatchString="true")), (error="CR_Info_unsupportedGPU")
If you’re not a programmer, the code above could seem all but gibberish. But, there’s a line that you should pay particular attention to. It’s the first line starting with “//”. It says plainly that only the listed GPUs will support Fortnite mobile.
In summary, the Xiaomi Mi 8, Mi 6, Mi 5/5s, may handle Fortnite mobile hardware demands when it becomes available for more Android devices.