A new alpha build has been released for RPCS3-Android , the PlayStation 3 console emulator for Android devices developed by developer DH .

Among the most significant innovations introduced in this new version, the implementation of a new switch in Material Design, initial support for driver downloads and advanced management of the emulator state stand out.

Several improvements have also been made to the virtual controller, including the addition of a Home button and bitmap scaling.

The user interface has received several optimizations, such as search in settings, an overlay editor, and the ability to configure the D-pad.

Also introduced is automatic clearing of game cache when deleting games. Additionally, minor bugs in the overlay system have been fixed, the management of the alert queue has been improved, and the display of system information has been optimized.

Hardware requirements

PS3 emulation is a very complex process and requires powerful hardware, even on PC. On Android, the limitations of mobile devices make the requirements even more stringent. Here are the estimated hardware requirements:

Processor (CPU)

To emulate the PS3, which uses the Cell Broadband Engine processor , you need a high-end ARM64 (aarch64) processor with high single-thread processing power.

Minimum : A processor like the Snapdragon 865 (or equivalent, e.g. Exynos 990 or Dimensity 1000+), with 8 cores and a frequency of at least 2.8 GHz for the main cores.
Recommended : Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 or better (e.g. Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, found in devices like the Samsung Galaxy S24 or 2024/2025 OnePlus 12). These processors offer better single-thread performance and support advanced instructions that improve emulation.

The PS3 requires precise emulation of its Cell processor, which has a unique architecture with 1 PPE (Power Processing Element) and 7 SPE (Synergistic Processing Elements).

Modern mobile processors must compensate for this complexity with a combination of raw power and software optimizations.

Graphics card (GPU)

Emulating the PS3’s RSX GPU (based on the NVIDIA G70) requires a modern renderer. RPCS3-Android supports Vulkan, so a GPU that supports this API is required.

Minimum : An Adreno 650 (Snapdragon 865) or Mali-G77 (Exynos 990) GPU, supporting Vulkan 1.1.
Recommended : Adreno 740 (Snapdragon 8 Gen 2) or better, or Mali-G710 (Dimensity 9200 or later). These GPUs offer better performance for Vulkan rendering and can handle PS3 games at low resolutions (e.g. 720p or lower) with acceptable frame rates.The GPU must also support OpenGL ES 3.2 or better for some fallback features.

RAM

PS3 emulation requires a significant amount of RAM to load games, manage the console’s virtual memory, and maintain smooth performance.

Minimum : 8GB of RAM. This is the bare minimum for running light games, but you may experience slowdown.
Recommended : 12GB or more. Devices like the Galaxy S24 Ultra or ROG Phone 8 Pro, with 16GB of RAM, offer a more stable experience, especially for more demanding games like God of War III or The Last of Us .

Storage space

PS3 games can take up a lot of space, especially when ripped in uncompressed format.

Minimum : 32GB of free space for the emulator, PS3 firmware, and a couple of games.
Recommended : 128GB or more, preferably on UFS 3.1 or 4.0 storage for optimal loading speeds. A fast microSD card (class A2) can be useful for expanding space, but performance may be slower than internal storage.

Operating system

Minimum : Android 9.0 (Pie), but there may be compatibility issues with such older versions.
Recommended : Android 12 or higher.Devices running Android 14 (such as those updated in 2024/2025) offer the best compatibility and stability.