Hadlee Simons / Android Authority
TL;DR
- ARMSX2, a new, modern PS2 emulator, is now available on the Play Store.
- The app launched a few weeks ago, but Play Store approval took a few extra weeks.
- It’s still early in development, and performance may be worse than AetherSX2/NetherSX2.
PlayStation 2 emulation on Android has lagged behind its PC counterpart for years, but a new project is here to change that. Early builds of ARMSX2 have been available to sideload for a few weeks, but now the app is officially available on the Google Play Store with a new update that makes it better than ever.
ARMSX2, like other PS2 emulators such as AetherSX2, is based on the most popular PS2 emulator on PC, PCSX2. However, development on AetherSX2 ceased years ago, so it’s based on an outdated version of the PC emulator, which was in a relatively rough state. ARMSX2 seeks to remedy that by creating a brand new app that leverages the latest and greatest version of its PC counterpart.
ARMSX2 is early in development, but it has a bright future.
That said, the app isn’t developed by the same team. Instead, it grew out of an AetherSX2 fan community, with the goal of reviving PS2 emulation on Android. Other efforts, such as PSX2, are attempting to achieve the same goal, but ARMSX2 has the advantage of leveraging the efforts of a larger community.
Alongside its Play Store approval today, the app has also been updated to version 1.0.5. It’s still very early in development, but it’s made steady progress in the past few weeks. The next update will rebase the entire project to the latest version of PCSX2, version 2.5.
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However, don’t expect performance to eclipse AetherSX2 quite yet. ARMSX2 is still using an x86 to ARM64 translation layer, which makes it more demanding than AetherSX2, which uses native ARM. However, the team is actively looking to implement native ARM as development progresses.
Currently, the most powerful PS2 emulator on Android is likely NetherSX2, a fork of AetherSX2 with several key updates. However, since the source code for AetherSX2 was never released, it can only make small tweaks to performance. The only option to truly improve things in the long run is to create a new emulator from scratch.
If you want to test out early builds, you can download ARMSX2 from the Play Store or the project’s official website. The app is completely free, but as always, you will need to provide your own legally obtained BIOS and ROM files.
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