The Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ come with a slew of new software features, and one of those is the ability to stream PC games over a Wi-Fi or mobile data connection. Samsung's PlayGalaxy Link app for the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ will launch sometime in September and is based on streaming technology from Parsec, a New York-based cloud gaming start-up. And thanks to Parsec's own Android app, you can try out the Note 10's game streaming feature on other Galaxy devices as well.
How is Parsec's streaming technology different than popular services like Steam Link or Moonlight Streaming? Well, as mentioned above, Parsec works with both Wi-Fi and mobile data connections, whereas other game streaming services require your phone and PC to be on the same local network. And we're assuming that is why Samsung went with Parsec's tech for the PlayGalaxy Link feature instead of sticking to a modified version of Steam Link that it launched last year. You know, to show off how 5G connectivity can also help improve your gaming experience.
We tested Parsec on both the Galaxy S10+ and Galaxy Note 9 and found it works as advertised: You can stream a game from a PC to the phone over both Wi-Fi and mobile data. Streaming works by having the same Parsec account logged in on the phone PC and phone, although streaming over mobile data has quite a bit of stutter and lag. That's to be expected since all Parsec does is stream your PC's display and audio output to your phone and transfer input from the phone to the PC to allow you to control a game, and that requires a pretty fast data connection for a smooth experience.
In fact, Parsec does say that the app “is an early version of the product and not suitable for many internet connections and devices,” which makes us wonder how well the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+'s PlayGalaxy Link feature will work on anything other than a Wi-Fi or 5G connection. Parsec does seem to push out multiple updates to the app (we've seen two updates since we installed the app two days ago), so we're assuming it will have fixed some of the niggles by the time PlayGalaxy Link is released.
In any case, if you want to try Parsec on your Galaxy phone (or any other Android phone for that matter), you will have to download the Android app from the Play Store and also install Parsec's Windows, Linux, or Mac client on your PC. Once installed, open the Parsec program on your PC, create an account, and log in. Then open the program's settings, switch to the Hosting tab, and hit the Enable hosting button, which will make your PC discoverable over the internet. Then, log in to the same account on the Parsec app on your phone and hit the Play button to start streaming your PC's desktop to the phone.
