We can have two approach to have this:
● On-premise device test lab like real Samsung,iphone devices
● Remote device test lab like Device Farm and Perfecto
Refer image of Sauce Labs devices available remotely
On-premise device test labs are generally difficult and time consuming to maintain. Having devices locally in parallel with emulators and simulators would best serve the early development and testing phases of the mobile app.
When reaching a more advanced stage of the app development, teams need to perform full regression test, functional tests, and non-functional tests.
These tests are best executed on a full device lab. This is where a remote device test lab is managed, continuously updated, and maintained in the cloud. Such remote device test labs complement an on-premise device test lab and ensure that sufficient combinations of device and operating system are available and up to date.
By making use of commonly available remote device test labs, teams get access to a larger set of supported capabilities including richer test reports and advanced test automation capabilities.
Lastly, when executing at scale through a test automation framework or through a continuous integration job (CI), stability of the overall test lab is key for test efficiency and reliability. Such labs are typically designed to ensure that devices and operating systems are always available and stable.
Remote device test labs are not always necessary in the later development stages of the app.
Well designed and maintained on-premise device test labs can be as good as or better than any remote device test lab.
Reference: https://www.istqb.org/
