Arm's new AI graphics chip could bring PC-like boosts to mobile gaming
British chip designer Arm has unveiled the Mali G2-Ultra NX GPU, which uses AI techniques similar to Nvidia's DLSS to boost mobile game performance. The technology debuts in China with Xiaomi devices before expanding globally next year.
The Xiaomi 18 Fold, launching today in mainland China, is the first device to feature Arm's new Mali G2-Ultra NX graphics processor, built into the custom Xring O3 chip. The GPU includes an AI gaming graphics accelerator that took five years to develop.
Chris Bergey, Arm's EVP of Edge AI, told The Verge the technology won't stay exclusive to Chinese phones. Devices using the chip should reach other markets next year, potentially including tablets and Chromebooks, with hints that some of Google's upcoming devices could also adopt it.
Faster performance, DLSS-like features
Arm claims the new GPU delivers an 85 percent performance increase over the chip Xiaomi previously used, and a 14 percent gain over Arm's prior flagship GPU in non-AI gaming tasks.
More notably, the chip enables a set of hardware-accelerated techniques resembling Nvidia's DLSS suite, including AI upscaling, frame generation, and ray reconstruction-style denoising — collectively branded "neural graphics" by Arm. Combined, these techniques could deliver up to four times the framerate, though Bergey noted games won't necessarily feel four times faster, since part of the gain comes from artificially generated frames.
The features will roll out gradually: early titles will support only upscaling, frame generation is expected in early 2027, and denoising will follow afterward.
Longer battery life for sustained gaming
According to Bergey, the technology allows for significantly longer gaming sessions — for example, up to three hours at 1080p and 60 frames per second, compared to roughly 30 minutes previously. A full phone using the chip is expected to consume no more than 2.5 watts total, with 1.5 watts allocated to the GPU.
The technology won't be limited to flagship devices — Arm says it will also extend to premium and mid-tier smartphone segments. The first three games confirmed to support the new accelerator are Where Winds Meet, Infinity Nikki, and Arena Breakout: Infinite, with more titles expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
