Original Xbox emulation has landed on Android via an unofficial port of the long-running original Xbox emulator Xemu, called X1 Box.

To be clear, this isn't an official release from the team behind open source Xbox emulator Xemu. Instead, it's an $11 paid app available in the Google Play Store, a controversial move by X1 Box's developers given the emulator's code is based on a free, open source app. That said, the Xemu team has acknowledged the port's existence, and says that it's now working on an official free Android version of Xemu, making the paid version of X1 Box useless.

Complicating matters further, there's already a free Android version of X1 Box available on GitHub outside the Google Play Store, according to VideoCardz. Confused yet? Me too — retro console emulator drama is often ridiculously layered and confusing.

Does this mean you can finally play Halo: Combat Evolved on your Android phone?

As long as you're willing to deal with inconsistent performance and bad frame rates, sure

While X1 Box runs on Android, performance shifts notably depending on what game you're playing. I haven't tried the emulator myself yet, but popular retro handheld YouTube channel Retro Game Corps took an in-depth look at the OG Xbox emulator and found a variety of issues, including frequent crashes, missing textures, and frame rates that are all over the place. Most games seem pretty unplayable, though limiting the frame rate to 30fps seems to help some titles (even then, they don't run that well).

To get X1 Box working, you need an MCPX boot ROM, the Xbox's BIOS, a hard disk image, and of course, game dumps. If you're looking to set up X1 Box on your Android phone or handheld, check out Retro Game Corps detailed video. Xemu is available on Windows 11, Mac, and Linux.

While there aren't a lot of original Xbox games I'd want to go back and play, there are still a few worthwhile titles, including Jet Set Radio Future, Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, and Halo: Combat Evolved —even just for the novelty of being able to spend some time with the Master Chief on my Galaxy S26 Ultra.