Fortnite Mobile for Android may get its big public reveal today. Before this, a video has surfaced detailing what you could expect when Epic Games finally lifts the lid on its battle royale sensation for Google's OS. Thanks to serial Fortnite Android leaker XDA, it appears that we know Fortnite Mobile for Android will work with Samsung and non-Samsung devices. The game ran at what the site claims to be 'Epic' settings, which is, every graphical option maxed out on a Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus. Fitting since its shares internals similar to the soon to be launched Samsung Galaxy Note 9 that may have the game as a rumoured 30-day exclusive. From what we can tell, it looks similar to what you'd expect from the game running on an iPhone 8 Plus or iPhone X, though given the shaky nature of the footage, it warrants further inspection, something we hope to do when Fortnite for Android is finally available.
What's more is, XDA claims that the game ran on non-Samsung devices as well despite attempts of trying the Fortnite APK on a OnePlus 6 and failing.
"All hope isn’t lost, though. Max’s Essential Phone and Kieron’s Google Pixel 2 XL were both rooted and able to enter a game. I suspect that one or more of the system modifications I made while tinkering with my phone caused the SafetyNet check to fail, so I wasn’t able to fully play a game before being kicked. So while this means devices rooted with Magisk should be able to play the game, you should prepare for a new wave of battles with the SafetyNet API," writes XDA's Mishaal Rahman.
It would appear that most mid-range and budget Android devices may not be able to play Fortnite. Now, more evidence indicates you'll need a relatively high-end Android device to play Fortnite Mobile. As per a thorough report from XDA, which has access to a Fortnite Android leaked APK, a majority of SoCs may not be able to play the game at all. The list is restricted to Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 and above, Samsung Exynos 8890 and above, and Kirin HiSilicon 970 and above. If you're looking to play Fortnite Mobile on Android you might need a OnePlus 3, Samsung Galaxy S7, Honor Play or a higher-specced Android smartphone. On iOS however, Fortnite works on the iPhone SE and above. You can check out the video of the game running on a Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus below.
According to the report, Fortnite Android won't support any MediaTek or Nvidia Tegra SoCs at launch. Furthermore, most Qualcomm, HiSilicon, and Samsung chips such as the Snapdragon 660, Kirin 659, and Exynos 7885 can't run the game either. What this means is, mid-range smartphones such as the Xiaomi Mi A2, Honor 9N, and Samsung Galaxy A8 may not be able to run Fortnite.
With that in mind, it is quite possible that Epic Games may optimise the game further for greater compatibility across the broad spectrum of Android devices, seeing how the Nintendo Switch can run the game (albeit poorly, we won't be surprised to see the Fortnite Mobile for Android compatibility list increase over time.
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