Stardew Valley on a Handset? 7 Features You’ll Need

Who doesn’t love Stardew Valley? Gamers rejoiced when the developers announced that it would be available on Android and iOS. However, to play it on handsets, a couple of features are needed. This will make sure you have the best time gaming. Read ahead.

Storage

The RPG requires more than decent space as there are a lot of packages to download. The game regularly get updates too, so your unit needs to be able to handle them.

Whether you’re buying a phone or tablet, you don’t have to worry if it has a MicroSD slot. You’ll be able to expand its storage to more than specified. Take a look at the OnePlus 6. The former flagship comes with 64 GB of ROM, yet you can upgrade it to 128 GB. Sadly, newer phones come without microSD slots.

When buying mobiles, you have the option of getting them from carriers. You would be spending a fraction of the cost, as they come with payment plans. But you’re also getting less than specified space. Although they advertise 32 GB of ROM, they would have around 20 due to carrier bloatware. They’re applications that you can’t uninstall. Thankfully, it’s not common for tabs to come carrier-locked.

Display Size

We’ll be blunt, Stardew Valley is not fun on small phones. Its 32-bit graphics will strain your eyes. Your best bet would be to purchase a handset with a large screen. You don’t need a large budget to pick such a phone up – the Galaxy A20 is less than $100 and 6.4 inches.

But to make it a great experience, you should get a tablet which are 8-12 inches. Only more expensive ones tend to be on the latter end of the size spectrum, though.

Viewing Experience

The best way to describe Stardew Valley is that it’s colourful. You want a device that will bring its vividity to life. We recommend ones with AMOLED panels. Once again, the A20 has your back.

Flagships come with Dynamic and Optic AMOLEDs. Compared to regular devices, they take vividity to the next level.

Only expensive tablets have AMOLED. The tab S7+ is a good example, which is around $900.

Speaking of the viewing experience, make note of resolution. You might find two tabs with 1200 x 2000 pixel resolutions. But one of them is sharper than the other – why? Because of their size. If one is 10.5 inches, while the other is 12 inches, the latter’s pixelation would be more dispersed.

Audio

The game is known for its phenomenal audio. You’ll need a handset that would bring its music and effects to life. When it comes to phones, more expensive devices usually have the best speakers. Thankfully, there are more affordable tablets that come equipped with a good set of speakers, as well. Take a look at the Samsung Tab A7 – it’s under $300 yet comes with quad Dolby Atmos speakers and JBL front ones.

If you’re not solely going to rely on your unit’s speakers, it should have a headphone jack or support Bluetooth headphones. Like microSD slots, manufacturers have not been adding headphone jacks to newer handsets these days.

Memory

You don’t need us to tell you that the RPG is not very taxing. You don’t need a lot of RAM to run it, even on Steam.

The more memory a device has, the smoother games would load. If the game is graphic extensive, like Fortnite, it wouldn’t lag either. To run Stardew Valley, you’ll need a minimum of 2 GB. Anything above 3 would be unnecessary. Unlike ROM, you can’t expand RAM.

Although 2 GB is enough to run the game, we recommend 3. You can have as many applications running in the background. Who doesn’t love listening to music while gaming? You’ll be able to do this without its systems force-closing.

Processor

You don’t need a lot of memory or a powerful processor.  Remember that the application is not the most graphics-extensive. However, if you decide to splurge on a more extensive processor, maneuvering the game would be smoother. Think of it as a  personal preference.

If you don’t want to splurge, get a unit with a processor equivalent to something in the Snapdragon 600 or 700 series.

Battery Life

No doubt about it, Stardew Valley is addictive. Being able to play it on the phone means you can enjoy it anywhere. How well you’ll be able to do this depends on the battery present. If your handset has a large screen, it needs to have a large battery.

That’s why you’ll see tablets with around 7000-10,000 mAh ones. They’ll need a big battery if a powerful panel is present. AMOLEDs produce superb colours, but they’re taxing.

Charging speed is also important. No matter how high-quality a tab might be, it won’t charge as fast as phones. Their large batteries are the reason for this. The flagship Tab S7 takes well over 3 hours to go from 0-100%. Meanwhile, mobiles like the OnePlus 8 fully charge in around an hour.

Final Thoughts

The application is arguably one of the most fun games available to play. Its RPG 32-bit format isn’t the most common, which is why it appeals to so many players. It wasn’t available on handsets before, but the developers released it on iOS and Android recently.

If you want to play it on handsets, you need to decide between a tablet and phone. We think tablets are the better choice, thanks to their larger displays. As tabs are made to consume media, even affordable devices come with superb speakers. We discussed the Tab A7 which comes with Dolby Atmos quad, along with JBL front speakers.

To run the game, you will need to have at least 2 GB of RAM. You don’t need a powerful processor, but something in the Snapdragon 600 or 700 series would work fine.

Of course, think about battery life too. You don’t want to stop gaming after just a few hours, do you?