In this day and age, it's becoming increasingly difficult to justify spending big money on the big-name flagship phones like the iPhone X. One of the reasons you might consider a flagship is because of its performance, and how it handles even the most intense applications or games.

With the impending arrival of the GPU Turbo update on Honor smartphones - the Honor 10 in particular - you'll be able to get big performance for half the price of a flagship. 

Game performance - the basics

Frame rate is one of the important metrics by which we compare gaming performance between different devices, and it's measured in the number of frames-per-second or fps. It basically means how many frames animate on screen within a single second. The higher the number, the smoother the animation looks. 

So, while you're unlikely to notice much difference between 50 and 60 frames-per-second, you would likely notice a big increase in smoothness jumping from 30 to 60. 

In the Honor 10's case - with the GPU Turbo update installed - the phone was capable of producing around 60 frames per second, which is fantastic for a smartphone. 

As good as an iPhone X? 

One of the great things about the upcoming GPU Turbo update that's heading to Honor's fleet of smartphones is that it boosts gaming performance. That means real, genuine flagship speeds and frame-rates at a non-flagship price. With the Honor 10 - the company's latest phone - that means gaming performance that's as good as an iPhone X. 

During its benchmarking test with the GPU Turbo update installed, the phone was pulling in frame-rates that matched, and sometimes surpassed what the iPhone X was managing, using the same game titles. 

What about overheating? 

This is another area the GPU Turbo update addresses. Despite increasing the frame-rate performance, it also increases efficiency to ensure it doesn't overheat and, hand-in-hand, decreases the battery usage.

Which games should I try with GPU Turbo?

The short version is any game you want, but there are a handful of intense, fast-paced games on the Play Store to choose from. Our favourites include PUBG Mobile, Real Racing 3 and Asphalt 8 Turbo, but there are many hundreds of games available to download on Android. Just try your favourites and you'll notice much smoother performance, and less battery consumption. 

When's it coming?

That depends on which device you have. Honor is rolling out the GPU Turbo software update to a number of different handsets, including the Honor 10, which is due to get the software within the next few weeks. Honor View 10, Honor 9 Lite, Honor 7X, Honor 8 Pro and Honor 9 will all be getting the update later, hopefully by the end of summer.