With the 2023 shutdown of AetherSX2, development work on PlayStation 2 emulators for Android had slowed to a crawl, with only minor updates and community forks (such as NetherSX2) giving gamers a chance to play PS2 games on mobile. These branches ran just fine, but were based on code that was nearly five years old.
It has been a looong time, but it's finally here: ARMSX2, based on the newest PCSX2 code, for Android ARM64 devices.
What is ARMSX2?
ARMSX2 is a brand new PS2 emulator for Android. It’s a derivation of PCSX2, the most popular PS2 emulator for PC. It is being developed for the ARM64 processor used in nearly all modern Android phones.
ARMSX2 is being designed to bring better speed, graphics, and compatibility when compared to other old emulators, called AetherSX2 and NetherSX2.
ARMSX2 is in the early stages of testing, yet work is happening swiftly.
Renderer improvements:
In the most recent test builds, the developers worked on the OpenGL renderer (the part that does the graphics). As a result, performance in many games is now between 15–40% better than it was before. This is a huge step forward, especially for games that rely on graphics power.
Current limitations:
Currently, ARMSX2 is still using a transition layer (x86 → ARM64). In plain language, it’s like translating PC code that will work on a phone. This will work fine, but at a slightly slower pace, because the phone has to “translate” commands on the fly while it plays. The developers will eventually replace this with a native ARM64 system that will be much, much faster.
Some key features:
- Newest PCSX2 core - It's not NetherSX2; It uses the latest features of PCSX2.
- New OpenGL renderer - Allegedly delivers 15-40% performance speedup in some games.
- One-click migration (upcoming) - With future updates, simply migrate your settings and games from NetherSX2 to ARMSX2.
How ARMSX2 is diffrent from NetherSX2 / AetherSX2
In contrast to AetherSX2 and NetherSX2, ARMSX2 was made using the newest PCSX2 technology. This also means it's not just a slapped-together port, but it's new for modern ARM64 Android. It's all about delivering better graphics, performance, and long-term emulation for an open-source PS2 emulator on mobile devices.
How ARMSX2 Works
Emulation basics: A PS2 emulator is a computer program that emulates the way the PS2 works, but runs on the computer itself. It emulates aspects of graphics (GS), sound (SPU), and the console's system I/O. ARMSX2 is based on the new PCSX2 system and is designed to run on an Android phone.
Graphics rendering: On PC, emulators have different graphics systems (OpenGL, Vulkan, Direct3D). For phones, it’s generally OpenGL ES or Vulkan. ARMSX2’s proprietary renderer is optimized for mobile and is lighter-weight than before, minimizing GPU usage on the phone.
Translation compared to native core: ARMSX2 currently translates the PC x86 code to ARM code to be executed by Android devices. This does work at the expense of more CPU and slower games. For now, the team aims to develop a native ARM64 core, which would eliminate the need for the emulator to run as a separate process on the phone’s processor. That will be much better speedwise and smooth gameplay :)
Conclusion
ARM65 is a neat and upcoming project that may someday be the future of PS2 emulation on Android. It’s early days yet, but if there are regular updates, new renderers available, and open source backing, it may just take over as the best choice for gamers since NetherSX2.
Join the official Discord and give test builds a shot if you're interested.
FAQs
Que: Does it run faster than NetherSX2?
Ans: Not yet. And ARMSX2 is faster, although in many games it is still smoother in NetherSX2.
Que: Will it always be free?
Ans: Yes. It will be GPL-licensed open-source, like PCSX2.
Que: Can I move my setup of NetherSX2 to ARMSX2?
Ans: A one-click switcher will be available in upcoming releases.
