Checked 14 September 2026
Playing a PlayStation 1 game on an Android phone needs three things: an emulator, a BIOS image, and a disc image of the game. Only the first is a download you can make in one tap. The blunt part: the disc image is the one file this page cannot get for you, because the United Kingdom private copying exception that would have covered ripping your own discs was quashed in 2015 and never replaced. The BIOS is a second obstacle for DuckStation and ePSXe, though the two PS1 cores inside RetroArch fall back to OpenBIOS and start without one.
Arrived from a March 2011 Tegra Zone image on a United Kingdom Android news blog, or from the Android Headlines post that hotlinked it? That history is the last section. Otherwise read the law, then DuckStation, ePSXe and RetroArch, then the files. Our answer and the table ↓
DuckStation is our answer for most people, because its United Kingdom Play listing, read 14 September 2026, is free with no ads and no in-app purchases at 4.3 from 18,260 ratings, and its own README, read the same day, says a PS1 or PS2 BIOS ROM image is required to start the emulator and to play games, which is the one thing you must already have.
RetroArch is our answer when you have no BIOS image, because the SwanStation README, read 14 September 2026, says one can be used, but is not required
, the Beetle PSX HW documentation read the same day says User-supplied BIOS files are supported, but not required
, and the app is free with no ads on the same storefront.
ePSXe is our answer when the widest published format list is worth paying for, because epsxe.com names nine disc formats for it against six in the DuckStation README, and it holds the highest star average of the three at 4.4 from 57,629 ratings on the United Kingdom Play storefront, all read 14 September 2026. It costs £2.99 once.
Data checked: 14 September 2026.
Every app is checked against its own Google Play listing on the United Kingdom English storefront, because Play weights the star average by country. Formats and BIOS requirements come from each project’s own README, developer site or core documentation, quoted and dated; legal points from legislation.gov.uk. Nothing rests on our own use of the apps, and no page that failed to open is summarised: it is named with its code.
Read this before you copy anything
The United Kingdom briefly had a private copying exception. Section 28B of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 took effect on 1 October 2014, and the page for it on legislation.gov.uk, read 14 September 2026, carries the annotation that the amending instrument was quashed with prospective effect by the High Court
in R (British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and others) v Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills [2015] EWHC 2041 (Admin), 17 July 2015. Nothing replaced it, so copying a disc you own onto a phone you own rests on no exception.
Copy protection is handled separately, and the Act splits it in two. Section 296ZA, read on legislation.gov.uk on 14 September 2026, applies where effective technological measures have been applied to a copyright work other than a computer program
. Where the work is a computer program, which a game disc largely is, section 296, read the same day, is the one that bites, and it targets supplying or advertising any means the sole intended purpose of which is to facilitate the unauthorised removal or circumvention of the technical device
.
Downloading a BIOS image, or a game you do not own, is plainer still: copying somebody else’s work without permission, which is why every emulator below ships without a BIOS and points you at your own console. This page describes the law as the legislation prints it and is not legal advice.
Free, open source, unsupported on Android
Rating 4.3 from 18,260 ratings · Installs 1,000,000+ · Free to install · No in-app purchases listed · Developer Stenzek · Listing updated 2 May 2025 · Contains ads: No · Minimum Android 6.0 · checked 14 September 2026 on the United Kingdom Play storefront
Google Play listing · 4.3 (18,260) · read 14 September 2026
Most PS1 questions end at DuckStation, and its own README on the project repository, read 14 September 2026, explains both why and at what cost. It states that a PS1 or PS2 BIOS ROM image is required to start the emulator and to play games, and that none is supplied with it for legal reasons, so the image has to come from a console you own. The same README lists what it reads from disc, CD, bin/cue images, MAME CHD, single-track ECM, MDS/MDF, CCD, and unencrypted PBP formats
, and asks only for a device with armv7 (32-bit ARM), AArch64 (64-bit ARM), or x86_64
.
The blunt part: that README also says No support is provided for the Android app, it is free and your expectations should be in line with that
, and the Play listing was last updated 2 May 2025, read 14 September 2026, well behind the desktop builds. Before hunting a newer build outside the store, read what changed about installing apps from outside Play in 2026.
The paid veteran, and what the price buys
Rating 4.4 from 57,629 ratings · Installs 1,000,000+ · £2.99 to buy · No in-app purchases listed · Developer epsxe software s.l. · Listing updated 10 July 2026 · Version 2.0.19 · Contains ads: No · Minimum Android 5.0 · checked 14 September 2026 on the United Kingdom Play storefront
Google Play listing · 4.4 (57,629) · read 14 September 2026
ePSXe has been on Google Play since 29 August 2012 and carries the highest star average of the three, 4.4 from 57,629 ratings on the United Kingdom Play storefront, read 14 September 2026. It is also the only one here you pay for: £2.99 once, no ads, no in-app purchases. Its listing was updated on 10 July 2026, which puts it more than a year ahead of DuckStation’s 2 May 2025 and about six weeks behind RetroArch’s 26 August 2026, all three read the same day.
What the price buys is the longest published format list on this page. The configuration page at epsxe.com, read 14 September 2026, answers it directly: bin/cue, img/ccd, multi-bin/cue, mds/mdf (v1), pbp, cdi, nrg, ecm and iso. We recommend bin/cue, img/ccd or pbp.
It is as direct about the BIOS, saying the emulator requires a previous configuration before starting to play
which includes getting the PSX BIOS and the games in a supported format, so an image of your own is required here too. The features page, read the same day, adds a PSX Bios autofinder
and a run bios
option.
The blunt part: that format list is older than the app, and it omits CHD. The changelog on the ePSXe for Android home page, read 14 September 2026, dates version 2.0.19 to May 2026 and lists Improved CHD format support
, so CHD works on the developer’s own account but is not in the published list the table above prints.
Two PS1 cores inside one front end
Rating 3.9 from 47,529 ratings · Installs 5,000,000+ · Free to install · No in-app purchases listed · Developer Libretro · Listing updated 26 August 2026 · Version 1.22.2 · Contains ads: No · Minimum Android 5.0 · checked 14 September 2026 on the United Kingdom Play storefront
Google Play listing · 3.9 (47,529) · read 14 September 2026
RetroArch is not itself a PS1 emulator. It is a front end that downloads cores, two of which play PS1 discs. SwanStation is described in its own README on the libretro repository, read 14 September 2026, as a hard fork and open-source Libretro core implementation of DuckStation
, and there a BIOS image can be used, but is not required
, with OpenBIOS standing in. Beetle PSX HW is the more accurate and more demanding core, but not on this point. Its documentation on the libretro docs site, read the same day, opens its BIOS section with User-supplied BIOS files are supported, but not required; OpenBIOS will be used if no BIOS is provided.
The scph5500.bin, scph5501.bin and scph5502.bin files it lists next are a per-region refinement rather than a precondition, marked required for Japanese, United States and European games in turn, so a United Kingdom disc wants scph5502.bin. The same page names seven loadable extensions, .cue, .toc, .m3u, .ccd, .exe, .pbp and .chd, and says that for proper PAL compatibility the Skip BIOS core option must be off.
A second listing, RetroArch Plus, sits on the same storefront at 3.8 from 10,628 ratings with a minimum of Android 8.0, read 14 September 2026. The blunt part: 3.9 is the lowest star average on this page, and RetroArch earns it at the first screen, because nothing plays until you have downloaded a core, pointed the app at a folder and worked out which folder it wants each file in.
Where every file has to sit
Get the layout right once and every emulator here behaves: one folder for BIOS files, one for games, both out of the camera and download folders, and access granted when the app asks on first run. A file manager beats the system picker here, and the cable and Quick Share routes move discs off a computer without a cloud account in between.
BIOS filenames matter by default, but they are not fixed. The Beetle PSX HW documentation, read 14 September 2026, says Required or optional firmware files go in the frontend’s system directory
, which on Android is RetroArch’s own system folder, and it names scph5500.bin, scph5501.bin and scph5502.bin by region. The same page then offers PSXONPSP660.bin from the PSP, ps1_rom.bin from the PS3 and openbios.bin from PCSX-Redux as region-free replacements for any of them, recognised once the Override BIOS core option is enabled. DuckStation asks for a BIOS folder instead and requires an image outright, and so does ePSXe; neither libretro core does, because both fall back to OpenBIOS.
For games, bin/cue is the plain form: a data file plus a text file describing the tracks, and the two must stay together. CHD is the same disc compressed, read by all three cores, which is what makes converting worth it when storage is tight. Multi-disc games use an .m3u playlist naming the discs in order.
One trap is specific to this country, because United Kingdom discs are PAL and several PAL releases used LibCrypt protection. Those images need a matching .sbi file beside the disc image; the DuckStation README, read 14 September 2026, says the app will automatically load the SBI file when it is found next to the CD image
, and the Beetle PSX HW documentation, read the same day, warns that chdman does not fold .sbi data into a .chd, so it has to sit beside the .chd too. A normal result: each entry shows its own title, and the game reaches its publisher logo without scrambled geometry.
On-screen buttons cost nothing and are why most people stop after twenty minutes. A Bluetooth pad fixes it. The DuckStation README, read 14 September 2026, accepts any SDL, XInput or DInput compatible game controller
, and RetroArch autoconfigures the same hardware.
Sony’s own pads pair directly. The DualSense Bluetooth page on PlayStation support, read 14 September 2026, lists Android 12
as its minimum Android version and gives the sequence: While pressing and holding the create button, press and hold the PS button until the light bar blinks
, then pick the pad from the phone’s Bluetooth list. The DUALSHOCK 4 page on the same site, read the same day, gives Android 10 and swaps create for SHARE.
The blunt part: a clip-on pad is that same Bluetooth connection with a bracket attached, so buy one for the bracket and not for any claim about latency.
PS1 output is small, which is why internal resolution is the first setting anyone changes. The Beetle PSX HW documentation, read 14 September 2026, gives the core a base width of 320 and a base height of 240, and a maximum of 700 by 576 while the internal resolution sits at 1x. The same page exposes an Internal GPU Resolution
option running from 1x(native)
to 16x
, and DuckStation lists Upscaling, texture filtering, and true colour (24-bit) in hardware renderers
among its features in the README read the same day.
Neither project publishes a chip-by-chip table, and this page will not invent one. Raise one step at a time and go up only while the emulator’s own speed readout holds at 100 percent in a busy scene. That readout, not a tier label, is the number that matters.
The blunt part: upscaling is the quickest way to make a phone hot, and a hot phone throttles, which costs the frames you just bought. Drop the resolution first and read what actually helps a phone running hot before blaming the emulator.
Why an image from March 2011 sends readers here
The history behind that link is Sony’s. An Android Headlines article of 12 March 2011 by Chris Spackman, taken from the archived copy recovered for this page and reported as history rather than as anything true of 2026, said PS1 games, Cool Boarders 2 and Syphon Filter among them, were coming to Android through Sony’s PlayStation Suite, the runtime behind the PlayStation Certified programme, and would reach Tegra 2 phones rather than Sony Ericsson hardware such as the Xperia Play alone. The live article returned HTTP 403 to a full desktop browser request on 13 September 2026 and again on 14 September 2026, so it is not linked here and nothing on this page is dated to a reading of it.
The link itself is not an article but an image file, tegra-zone-1.jpg, 420 by 345 pixels, uploaded to a United Kingdom Android news blog in March 2011 and never archived, so what it showed is read from its name: artwork for Nvidia’s Tegra Zone, whose package id com.nvidia.tegrazone3 now lists on the United Kingdom Play storefront as GeForce NOW for SHIELD TV by NVIDIA, updated 18 August 2026, read 14 September 2026.
Neither route survived. No Sony-published PlayStation 1 emulator could be found on the United Kingdom Play storefront on 14 September 2026, and PlayStation Certified went with it. Community work replaced both, which is why this page names DuckStation, ePSXe and RetroArch and no Sony product.
For DuckStation, yes. Its README, read 14 September 2026, says a PS1 or PS2 BIOS ROM image is required to start the emulator and to play games, and the app ships without one. ePSXe needs one too: its configuration page at epsxe.com, read the same day, says setting up includes getting the PSX BIOS. RetroArch is the exception, and so are both of its PS1 cores: the SwanStation README says a BIOS image can be used but is not required, and the Beetle PSX HW documentation says user-supplied BIOS files are supported but not required, with OpenBIOS used when none is provided.
DuckStation, if you already have a BIOS image from your own console. It is free on the United Kingdom Play storefront with no ads and no in-app purchases, rated 4.3 from 18,260 ratings, read 14 September 2026. With no BIOS image, start with RetroArch, because its SwanStation and Beetle PSX HW cores both fall back to OpenBIOS and run without one.
There is no private copying exception to rely on. Section 28B of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 took effect on 1 October 2014, and the instrument that inserted it was quashed with prospective effect by the High Court on 17 July 2015, according to legislation.gov.uk read 14 September 2026. This is not legal advice.
A bin/cue pair is raw disc data plus a small text file describing the tracks, and both must stay in one folder. CHD is the compressed form of the same disc and takes far less space. DuckStation, SwanStation and Beetle PSX HW all list CHD among the formats they read, checked 14 September 2026. The ePSXe format list on epsxe.com does not name CHD, although the 2.0.19 changelog on the same site, read the same day, claims improved CHD support.
Both pair over Bluetooth. PlayStation support lists Android 12 as the minimum for the DualSense wireless controller and Android 10 for the DUALSHOCK 4, read 14 September 2026. Hold create and PS on a DualSense, or SHARE and PS on a DUALSHOCK 4, until the light bar flashes, then select the pad in your phone Bluetooth settings.
Several PAL releases, which is what United Kingdom discs are, used LibCrypt protection, and those images need a matching SBI file beside the disc image. The DuckStation README, read 14 September 2026, says the emulator will automatically load the SBI file when it is found next to the CD image. Converting to CHD does not fold that data in, so keep the SBI alongside. Without it, geometry and audio break.
Checked 14 September 2026: first publication. Every source behind a price, a figure, a policy claim or a legal point was re-opened on 14 September 2026 before this date was set. On the United Kingdom Play storefront four rating counts had moved since the 13 September 2026 draft: DuckStation from 18,254 to 18,260, ePSXe from 57,626 to 57,629, RetroArch from 47,523 to 47,529 and RetroArch Plus from 10,623 to 10,628. Prices, listing update dates, versions, minimum Android versions and the ads and in-app purchase labels were unchanged. The DuckStation and SwanStation READMEs, the Beetle PSX HW core documentation, the ePSXe home, features and configuration pages at epsxe.com, the DualSense and DUALSHOCK 4 Bluetooth pages on PlayStation support, and sections 28B, 296 and 296ZA of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 on legislation.gov.uk were read the same day and still said what this page says. One page did not open to a full desktop browser request and is named with its code rather than summarised: the Android Headlines article of 12 March 2011 that links here returned HTTP 403 on 13 and again on 14 September 2026. This is a thin first version, published because the redirects already point at this address; depth follows.