The Best PSP Emulator Android Apps

If you’re looking for the best PSP emulator Android apps to play PSP games on your phone or tablet, this article will serve you well. We’ll be breaking down which are the absolute best emulators you can install from the Google Play Store.

We won’t be covering all the emulators, but instead will be focusing on which ones you should consider getting for your Android device for the ultimate retro mobile gaming experience. For PSP game enthusiasts, having an emulator on your phone that you can pick up and play anywhere on the go is a no brainer.

Without further ado, let’s jump into the emulators and get you playing some PSP ROMs!

What Are The Best PSP Emulators For Android?

1. The PPSSPP Emulator

• Price: free version available, PPSSPP Gold paid version also available if you wish to upgrade (this is basically the “PSP emulator PRO” version of the two)

It goes without saying that PPSSPP is hands down the best PSP emulator you can install to play real PSP games. This goes not only for Android devices, but for PC as well. It can run PSP games on your Android phone or tablet in full HD resolution. The games run fantastically and will have never looked better!

PPSSPP can also upscale game textures, making them nice and crisp for smooth gameplay. You can also enable post-processing shaders to adjust colors and brightness of your games.

The base version of PPSSPP for Android runs great and will play most games fantastically. The base version has save states and a turbo button to remove some of the tedious nature of grindy games.

PPSSPP supports the following ROM formats:

• elf.
• iso.
• cso.
• prx.
• pbp.

Users who upgrade and choose to buy PPSSPP Gold are mostly doing so to support the developer of the emulator. They also get a golden icon for their app, but there’s not really too many hidden features locked behind a paywall. You have to admire the developer for this. If you can afford it, consider throwing them a couple bucks and upgrading to support their hard work.

Get it on the Google Play Store here.

2. RetroArch

• Price: Free

RetroArch is an emulation frontend application that can play ROMs from multiple platforms all from within one place. It does this by allowing players to download and install things called cores. These cores are essentially the files needed for the various different systems.

To download and play PSP games using the RetroArch Android app, youl’ll need to install the PPSSPP core along with some additional files.

We have a guide on setting up the RetroArch PSP core PPSSPP for Windows PC, but the Android version requires a few additional steps.

That being said, RetroArch is used by many across tons of different platforms.

You can download it from the Google Play Store.

3. Lemuroid

• Price: Free

Lemuroid is similar to RetroArch above and the two are somewhat seen as competitors. It also is an emulation frontend that can play games from various different consoles and systems, including PSP games.

Just like with RetroArch, you have to choose which individual cores you want to download and install in order to play games for that specific console. While not as straightforward to use as the PPSSPP emulator app which simply works out of the box, Lemuroid is a powerful tool and the fact that it can play games from more than one system make it super handy.

It has autosave enabled, rom scanning, allows players to fast forward gameplay and cutscenes, and supports external game controllers. It even allows you to play multiplayer with others locally and can sync files from the cloud.

You can download Lemuroid on the Google Play Store.

4. Rocket PSP Emulator

• Free

The first three emulators on this list were all relatively close in terms of usability and quality, however the Rocket PSP emulator isn’t one we’d necessarily recommend. We’ve included here for the sake of giving one additional option, but keep in mind that this app is not in the most usable state for most ROMs.

Taking a look at the reviews, it’s clear to see that users have had their fair share of complaints. Many feel that it is mostly a blatant rip off of the PPSSPP emulator and while we can’t confirm or deny that the source code used is the same, many user reviews state that it seems like a simple reskin of PPSSPP.

Our recommendation would be to just go with the PPSSPP emulator. The quality of that app is much better and games typically run in full speed, the developer is much more active, it receives more timely updates, and it’s the official app so you know you’re always able to use the latest version available. Using the official app will ensure you’re always getting compatibility fixes as soon as they are released.

Summary

That completes our list of the top PlayStation Portable emulators for Android. The PPSSPP app is definitely the ultra emulator choice here with RetroArch and Lemuroid tying for 2nd place. All three options play PSP ROMs in most available formats including CSO files.

Every option listed above allows you to connect an external controller or use on screen touch controls instead.

That just about does it. You should now have everything you need to start playing your favorite PSP game on your phone.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Android Run PSP Emulators?

Android can run PSP emulator apps. We’ve compiled a list above of all the best Android PSP emulators that you can install from the Google Play Store. The official PSP emulator known as PPSSPP is the best you can use. The quality is superb and most games run very well and at full speed on my Android devices.

Which Version of PPSSPP Is Best for Android?

The best version of PPSSPP that you can install for Android is going to be the latest official version that you can install from the app’s Google Play Store page. The reason is because the latest version will always have the newest bug and compatibility fixes available for you to use, whereas older versions won’t. By installing the newest version from the Play Store, you can also ensure that new versions that are released can be automatically updated and installed to your device the moment they become available.