10 Best PS2 Emulators for Android

Emulators are programs installed on one system that mimics or portrays the role of another system. Although the gaming experience won’t be the same, there are a bunch of PS emulator for Android as well as PCs and other systems that you can install and get going. In simple terms, the PS2 emulator for Android will mimic the gaming experience of PlayStation 2 supporting all or almost all games on an Android smartphone.

These programs are made to run some or all the games you could play on PS2 although these apps have limitations. Some emulators can run fast while others are slow but with excellent graphics and so on.

Best PS2 Emulators for Android

If you are looking for an Android PS2 emulator, look no further as we at MashTips have curated a list of best PS2 Emulators for Android that will impress you.

DamonPS2

Regarded as the fastest PS2 emulator Android, DamonPS2 is a must-try. The emulator can play around 90% of the total games available on PS2 while it is highly compatible with 20%. The app does attract ads in-between although a Pro variant will remove the ads as well as introduce several features.

DamonPS2 offers features like multi-threading, skipping the BIOS boot game. It can also scale up the graphics while sustaining performance even at high-graphics. It can also scale up the frame rate giving you an enhanced gaming experience like no other emulators. The PS2 Android emulator is regarded as the best among others and does have a Pro variant. Upgrading to Pro will bring features like memory card support, widescreen gameplay, NEON acceleration, etc.

It is one of the few PS2 emulators for Android that have a paid Pro variant but that means users can literally get more or less. The app does lack a lot of features such as fast forward or frameskip where the latter is an upcoming feature. Finally, the app has some glitches during high-resolution games and can exhibit bugs with not-so-compatible games.

Price: $9.15 | Contains Ads | In-app purchases | Download from Google Play Store: DamonPS2 (Free) | DamonPS2 Pro (Paid)

Golden PS2

Don’t mess with the names as the second and third Android PS2 emulator listed here may sound the same. The Golden PS2 emulator is also called Pro PS2 Emulator and has an armamentarium of features and more.

First of all, it is compatible with a majority of Android phones and doesn’t need a BIOS file. It has high-graphics to add to its USP. It also supports multiple ROM formats so you can play a lot such as PS2 games and PSP games among others. The emulator promises faster emulation but it depends on the system configuration of your device to you will have to bear with it.

The app supports NEON acceleration, multi-threading among others that exceed its sibling emulator (on the third position). It has a widescreen 16:9 gameplay that makes it emulate the experience of playing on a real PlayStation console.

Price: Free | Download from APK Pure: Golden PS2 Emulator

Related: Best Nintendo 3DS Emulator for Android

Gold PS2 Emulator (Pro PPSS2 Golden)

It is also summoned as PPSS2 Golden so don’t get confused if the emulator is recalled using any of the monikers. Golden PS2 Emulator is a decent PS2 gaming console on Android that offers support to over 90% of all PS2 games available out there. It comes with good graphics and performance while offering a tonne of guidelines at every step of configuring it.

It introduces a tonne of features such as cheat code via VBA-M files and others. However, this one is free but not available on the Google Play Store. So you will have to sideload it with the link I have mentioned here. The emulator itself is easy to install and requires low system requirements such as Android 4.4 and above among others. It can detect a number of file formats such as 7Z, .rar, .zip, etc.

The emulator is equipped with save states and load states feature where users need an SD card to store the progress made. Furthermore, the app tends to support almost all Android devices although some older ones might get out of support.

Price: Free | Download from APK Pure: Gold PS2 Emulator

Play!

Similar to any other PS2 emulator Android, Play! has both positive and negative points to keep in mind. The emulator works efficiently across several platforms including Android, macOS, Windows, and iOS.

Play! is among the best emulators for PS2 on Android as it allows plenty of 128-bit games on its platform. Depending upon the underlying configuration of a system running the emulator, it could be a bit buggy at times. It is also known for its eternity or never-ending loading time that it takes while loading any game such as Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, Final Fantasy X, etc.

Apart from that, the game has a tonne of features like easy to configure and it doesn’t require BIOS for the game load. The game does receive periodic updates. On the flip side, the app observes lag in frame rate as it drops considerably to 10 to 15fps. The graphics are decent although the sound is a bit distorted. The app isn’t available on Google Play Store although you can download it from its website, however, be aware that it might be malicious.

Price: May contains Ads | Download from APK Pure: Play!

Pro PlayStation

Search for the best Android PS2 Emulator and you would find Pro PlayStation for sure. I must add that this is one of the few emulators for PS2 that I found to be impressive. The app itself emulates at 100% even on older devices let alone newer & powerful devices. Pro PlayStation can enable dumping in games directly on the SD card and play with save and load game states as well.

The app exhibits top rendering capabilities that make it an impressive emulator to start with. As one of the best PS2 Emulators for Android, the app is a beacon with features like fast forward, game compatibility, easy to use and configure and more.

I must say that if you are looking for an Android PS2 Emulator, check out Pro PlayStation for sure.

Price: May contains Ads | Download from APK Pure: Pro PlayStation

Also see: Best Android Emulators to Run Android Apps On Linux

PTWOE

This particular PS2 Android Emulator was first available on Google Play Store, however, the app was removed from there. Thus, PTWOE is now available for downloads on its official site. Users can download the more stable and less buggy v1.12 but slower. Or you can also choose the experimental v1.27 for the faster but buggier experience.

The app that needs users to install the BIOS file, is great among the Android PS2 emulator niche of apps. It brings the best gaming experience and it is an active rival to PPSSPP (also listed here). The emulator itself has cool and high-graphics depending upon the version you download and the system configuration your phone possesses.

One of the most prominent shortcomings is that the app is not available on Google Play. The thing is, Google scans for malware on its apps listed on the Play Store which is what makes the app more secure. Without Google Play Protect, you are left out with an app that might carry unwanted stuff. It is better to scan the device after download and installation.

Price: May contains Ads | Download from PTWOE site: PTWOE

PPSSPP

Prepare for the high-performance and high-graphics gaming experience on your Android devices. The PPSSPP supports a majority of PSP and PS2 games and runs them smoothly and offers multiplayer mode always. The app itself is optimized to make use of the entire screen space which is great for gaming.

This doesn’t mean the app doesn’t have any cons to put here. It suffers occasional lags and crashes although rarely but it happens. Rated as one of the best PS2 Emulator Android, PPSSPP runs a lot of games at full speed although that may be curtailed if the device itself has a low configuration so take care of it.

The app is also a part of future developments so expect periodic updates with the same. The app supports ISO and CSO files since there are no games pre-installed with it. Once you have the ROMs installed, put an SD card or USB storage and you are good to go.

Price: Contains Ads | In-app purchases | Download from Google Play Store: PPSSPP (Free) | PPSSPP Gold (Paid)

New PS2 Emulator

Another PS2 Emulator Android, the New PS2 Emulator from Xpert LLC. The emulator is capable of supporting games from various systems like PS2, PS One, and PSX. It support a whole string of file-formats including .bin, mdf, .pbp, .toc, .cbn, cue, zip, 7z, etc. The emulator shows decent and average graphics although it is not known much about it because of its generic name.

Note that although it can support a lot of games like Tekken, WWF War Zone, Spider-Man, Driver 2 among others, it doesn’t run on full speed. So you will see a bit of lag here and there and since it isn’t a perfectly polished emulator, you can expect it to perform under the bigwigs mentioned above such as DamonPS2 or Play!, etc.

Price: Free | Download from APK Pure: New PS2 Emulator

Also see: Apps for Android Memory Management

Free Pro PS2 Emulator

Similar to most of the PS2 Android Emulator, the Free Pro PS2 Emulator grabs one of the best emulators for Sony PlayStation 2. The emulator works efficiently with a max of 60fps although the frame rate changes based on the games you play.

Depending upon the system configuration of your Android device, the emulator will either run at full speed or lag a bit. It does have a number of features such as support to several file formats like .mdf, .bin, .7z, .iso, etc. The app itself can play almost 90% of all the games available for PS2 but beware as the frame rate might take a dip. The app doesn’t need any BIOS boot game.

Apart from that, the app supports the SD card for saving and loading of game states and more. At the end of the day, the app works on a widescreen mode in an attempt to emulate an actual PlayStation 2.

Price: May contains Ads | Download from APK Pure: Free Pro PS2 Emulator

Free HD PS2 Emulator

I found this rather generic-named PS2 Android emulator to be a must-try. The app itself is hailed as one of the fastest Android emulators for PS2 and can run almost 90% of the games from the console. There is a tonne of features like it supports widescreen, 2x to 5x resolution, you can skip BIOS boot games, etc.

The graphics are more than average although they don’t expect it to be around what the actual console produces. Developed by Exclusive Emulators LLC, it has saved and load game states, resume, and play, it supports gamepad among others.

Price: Free | Download from Android APK: Free HD PS2 Emulator

There are a lot of deciding factors that may influence my affiliation to any of these Sony PlayStation 2 (PS2) emulators for Android devices. Each app has its own pros and cons while some are excellent in fast emulation or some apps are good with resolving to high-resolution either by default or by upscaling it.

I must add that DamonPS2 is a great emulator for Android devices although I don’t have a single choice but Play!, PPSSPP, Golden PS2, and others are my favorite as well. Let us know what do you think about this list of top 10 best PS2 Emulators for Android that I have curated here.