diff --git a/src/common/android/id_cache.cpp b/src/common/android/id_cache.cpp
index 1198833996..96e458a9f1 100644
--- a/src/common/android/id_cache.cpp
+++ b/src/common/android/id_cache.cpp
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
 #include "video_core/rasterizer_interface.h"
 #include "common/android/multiplayer/multiplayer.h"
 #include <network/network.h>
+#include "common/settings.h"
+#include "common/logging/log.h"
 
 
 static JavaVM *s_java_vm;
@@ -524,6 +526,13 @@ namespace Common::Android {
         s_patch_title_id_field = env->GetFieldID(patch_class, "titleId", "Ljava/lang/String;");
         env->DeleteLocalRef(patch_class);
 
+    // Prefer hardware decoding on Android by default, forcing this setting will
+    // make the native side attempt GPU decoding first. If the platform lacks a usable
+    // FFmpeg HW device, FFmpeg will fall back to CPU automatically.
+    Settings::values.nvdec_emulation.SetValue(Settings::NvdecEmulation::Gpu);
+    LOG_INFO(HW_GPU, "Android JNI_OnLoad: forced nvdec_emulation = GPU");
+
+
         const jclass double_class = env->FindClass("java/lang/Double");
         s_double_class = reinterpret_cast<jclass>(env->NewGlobalRef(double_class));
         s_double_constructor = env->GetMethodID(double_class, "<init>", "(D)V");
diff --git a/src/common/settings.h b/src/common/settings.h
index 0b61da88f9..718c7d4e42 100644
--- a/src/common/settings.h
+++ b/src/common/settings.h
@@ -349,7 +349,9 @@ struct Values {
                                                            linkage, true, "use_asynchronous_gpu_emulation", Category::Renderer};
     SwitchableSetting<AstcDecodeMode, true> accelerate_astc{linkage,
 #ifdef ANDROID
-                                                            AstcDecodeMode::Cpu,
+                                                            // Most modern Android devices have native ASTC support
+                                                            // and benefit from GPU decoding. Default to GPU there.
+                                                            AstcDecodeMode::Gpu,
 #else
                                                             AstcDecodeMode::Gpu,
 #endif