TL;DR
- A new Xbox 360 emulator for Android has appeared online, although you can’t download it yet.
- An unofficial video gives us an in-depth look at the so-called X360 Mobile app, showing the setup process and a variety of games.
- The developer could release an alpha version of the app to the public at the end of May.
Xbox 360 emulation on Android was a pipe dream until last year, when aX360e emulator He arrived at the platform. However, another Xbox 360 emulator for Android is in the works, and while we’re still a bit skeptical, this could be the real deal.
youtube videos that supposedly show an emulator called X360 Mobile have appeared in the last two weeks. The clips claim to show various games in action on the AYN Odin 3 handheld. We were extremely skeptical at first, as it’s not uncommon to see fake or poorly presented YouTube videos of this nature. Furthermore, the channel claims that the emulator is still in development and is not yet available for download.
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However, the Spanish YouTube channel The Power of the Green Android apparently got a working version of X360 Mobile from the anonymous developer. The channel published a long video along with a deep dive into their website, including an extensive Q&A session with the developer. It also appears that the developer could be the source of the aforementioned YouTube videos, as they confirm that they are indeed using an Odin 3 handheld to create the emulator.
The developer insists during the interview that X360 Mobile is not a fork of the previous aX360e emulator, but is actually based on the Xenia Canary Arm build. The aX360e emulator is based on the standard version of Xenia Arm but supposedly incorporates “most of the code” from the Canary version.
The middle video gives us a good look at the app’s interface, which incorporates a nice Metro-style user interface. The host also runs X360 Mobile through an antivirus check in an attempt to mitigate malware issues. Additionally, we took a look at the setup process and it turns out that the app supports custom Turnip drivers.
What about the gameplay then? The middle video shows a variety of titles running through the emulator on a Galaxy S25 Ultrawith different degrees of performance. Games like Castle Crashers, Arkanoid, and Rayman Origins performed very well. Meanwhile, titles like Ace Combat Assault Horizon and Forza Horizon were a step above slideshows and unplayable for most people. The video’s host also points out that at least one game (Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2) that was shown to run at ~60fps on the developer’s YouTube channel only runs at ~30fps on his Samsung phone. This suggests that Samsung’s software could be the problem. The developer’s official website also contains a compatibility list. I would take this with a grain of salt though, as some “playable” games run at the pace of a slideshow in YouTube clips.
The developer also revealed the system requirements on its website, confirming that you need a Snapdragon chipset with Adreno 600 to 800 series graphics, at least 6GB of RAM, Android 12 or later, and custom Turnip drivers for playable performance. However, they specifically call for a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor and 8GB of RAM for the best experience. A previous version introduced support for Mali GPUs, but the developer clarifies that this is only “partial” support. So don’t expect your MediaTek-powered phone to run games anytime soon.
Be wary of websites claiming to offer the app, however, as it’s apparently restricted to just four private testers at the moment. The Spanish media reports that an alpha version (v0.5) could be released to the public through the official website at the end of May. Additionally, the developer intends to offer the application through the Google Play Store.
Again, we’re still a little skeptical about X360 Mobile, especially in the era of vibration-encoded apps. Additionally, the developer is apparently undecided on whether or not this will be an open source project. An open source approach would be the way to go for security reasons, as it would allow anyone to review the code. However, we do remember seeing other developers keep parts of their project closed source. In any case, we definitely recommend that you check out the Power of the Green Android article and the YouTube video for a lot more details on this project.
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