SAMSUNG’S new Note 20 smartphone comes with Xbox games as part of its bid to topple Apple’s iPhone.
Gamers can plug an Xbox One controller into the £850 device and tuck in to more than 100 Xbox games on the cloud with Xbox Games Pass.
Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra during an online event on WednesdayIt comes after Microsoft revealed that phone fanatics will be able to stream Xbox games to their smartphone next month with the launch of xCloud.
Microsoft is bringing an early version of the cloud gaming service to Android in 22 countries on September 15.
The high-tech software streams games to your mobile over the internet – a bit like Netflix for video games – instead of storing them on your device.
Samsung’s brand new Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra will be among the first phones to use the service.
Project xCloud lets gamers tuck into more than 100 Xbox games on their smartphone by streaming titles over the internet, a bit like Netflix
Following the mobiles’ unveiling event on Wednesday, Samsung said the Note 20 series took virtual play “to the next level”.
“Fully immerse yourself in the most powerful mobile gaming experience Samsung has ever engineered into a smartphone,” Samsung said.
The services allows players to “game like a pro from your couch, backyard, or around the house,” the firm added.
For the Note 20 Series, Samsung partnered with Xbox Games Pass, Microsoft’s games subscription service.
Described as “Netflix for video games”, Game Pass grants users access to a catalogue of ore than 100 games for a single monthly subscription price.
The service is currently available on Xbox One and Windows 10, though that’s expanding to mobile with the launch of xCloud in September.
Titles available on Games Pass include Minecraft Dungeons, Forza Horizon 4 and Gears of War 5. New titles are regularly added to the catalogue.
While the Note 20 Series won’t be the only phones that can access xCloud, their huge screens and 5G connectivity provide “a pro-gaming set-up that fits in your pocket”, Samsung said.
The note 20 series sports a retro squared-off design
Games Pass and xCloud will not be launching on iPhone, though it’s possible they’ll come to Apple mobiles in future.
Luckily for Games Pass subscribers, xCloud won’t cost any extra.
That means the whole service only costs $14.99 a month or £10.99 in the UK.
A number of Bluetooth controllers can connect to your Android phone to play, including a standard Xbox One controller.
Samsung revealed two new phones at its August 5 Unpacked event, which was streamed live to fans across the globe.
They’re the enormous 6.7” Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and the even-bigger 6.9″ Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.
The phones cost an arm-and-a-leg but come with a plethora of top-end features, including beefy cameras and 5G connectivity.
Samsung described them as “the most powerful Note phones yet”.