MaliSX2 Vulkan Driver Coming to Dolphin, HakuX
The Arm Mali GPU driver, debuted last month, is now slated for two GameCube and Wii emulators.
Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Semiconductors
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The MaliSX2 Vulkan driver, which debuted last month for devices with Arm Mali GPUs, is coming to the Dolphin and HakuX emulators. Only development builds of Dolphin currently include MaliSX2 support, and it is not available in official versions of HakuX.
Why it matters
The driver is designed to offer performance gains, compatibility improvements, and bug fixes compared to the system driver on Mali-equipped devices. Snapdragon processors have long been preferred for demanding emulators because of custom Turnip GPU drivers, and MaliSX2 could narrow that gap for Mali hardware users worldwide.
Testing on the ANBERNIC RG477V covered three games, with no significant performance boost observed against the system driver. The sample is small, and broader benchmarks across other titles and Mali hardware have not been reported.
The players
ARMSX2 team
The developers behind the MaliSX2 driver project, who claimed Ace Combat 4 and 5 ran at full speed with the new driver.
ANBERNIC RG477V
An Android-based handheld gaming device with an Arm Mali GPU, used by the author for testing the MaliSX2 driver.
The details
MaliSX2 debuted as a Vulkan driver for devices with Arm Mali GPUs, including MediaTek-powered devices, older Pixel and Samsung phones, current flagship Galaxy tablets, and handhelds. The project's GitHub page confirms the driver is coming to Dolphin and HakuX, and users can enable it in Dolphin via the settings icon, then Graphics Settings, then GPU Driver.
Timeline
Last month: MaliSX2 debuted as a Vulkan driver for Mali GPUs.
November 5, 2026: Announcement that MaliSX2 is coming to Dolphin and HakuX.
The Tech Race
The Snapdragon advantage for emulation grew from custom Turnip GPU drivers built for Qualcomm Adreno chips, and MaliSX2 extends that community-driver approach to Arm Mali hardware. Whether Mali devices can close the performance gap remains an open question for the broader handheld and mobile emulation market.
Owners of Mali-equipped phones, tablets, and handhelds who run Dolphin can test the driver in development builds to see whether their games perform better. Users of official HakuX releases will need to wait, since MaliSX2 is not yet included there.
The takeaway
Mali-equipped device owners should treat MaliSX2 as experimental for now, testing it in Dolphin development builds before expecting consistent gains in games. Performance benefits have not yet been broadly demonstrated, so results will vary by title and device.
Further reading
Explore more Semiconductors coverage to see how GPU drivers shape performance across devices.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Android Authority.
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