Looking for the best PS2 emulators for Android? Explore the top choices and start playing your favorite PlayStation 2 games on your smartphone or tablet today.

PlayStation 2 is the best-selling console in history, boasting a huge library of hits. Many of them have never been released on other platforms. Fortunately, you can play them using emulators, including on Android devices.

It is worth mentioning right away that the PS2 is a rather tricky console from a technical point of view. Even emulators for PC are not yet 100% compatible. Therefore, having powerful hardware does not guarantee trouble-free operation of a particular game. What can we say about Android.

The second nuance is related to copyright law. To emulate PS2 games, you need a BIOS console, the use of which is the same violation as running illegal copies.

Best PS2 Emulators for Android

AetherSX2

The best PlayStation 2 emulator at the moment, created on the PCSX2 source code. It has good compatibility, supports various settings and patches, and also allows you to improve the graphics. Of course, you won’t be able to use all the “goodies” without a smartphone or tablet.

Unfortunately, in 2023, the author of AetherSX2 stopped working on the project. Since the emulator was free and open source, the work was continued by enthusiasts. Now the program is known as NetherSX2, and all updates are released here .

DamonPS2

It was released earlier than AetherSX2, but at the same time it is noticeably inferior to it in functionality and emulation quality. Some games may lack textures or play special effects incorrectly, while others slow down a lot. At the same time, DamonPS2 has lower hardware requirements.

Recommended for use in situations where the game does not work well on AetherSX2.

Play

An experimental emulator that has been in development for a long time, but has not evolved into anything more or less sane. Does not require BIOS, but compatibility and speed leave much to be desired even on powerful devices. In general, in its current form, Play! will be interesting only to software developers and testers.

Also present as a core for the popular RetroArch “combine”.

Let’s sum it up. As you can see, PS2 emulation on Android is far from ideal, so at this stage it is not worth placing big bets on it. Also note that there are plenty of other “emulators” of the second PlayStation on the Internet and in Google Play. In reality, these are clones of the above programs, fake applications or malware.