The REDMAGIC 8 Pro is the latest gaming smartphone to hit the market, and it’s a beast. This phone has some of the best specs that you’ll find on any device currently available. It’s perfect for gamers who want to take their mobile gaming experience to the next level. We’ve had a chance to test out the REDMAGIC 8 Pro, and in this article, we’ll talk about its features, as well as how it compares to other gaming smartphones on the market. Stay tuned, because later in this article we’re also going to give our opinion on whether or not this phone is worth buying.
To start the article I just want to thank the REDMAGIC team for trusting us enough to send us a review unit ahead of the launch of the new smartphone. I enjoyed checking it out for a couple of days to see what it’s like to have as well as for gaming and everyday use. So, let’s jump right to it and find out what this futuristic-looking gaming smartphone has got under the hood.
Tech specs and features of the REDMAGIC 8 Pro
The REDMAGIC 8 Pro is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 paired with REDMAGIC’s dedicated gaming chip “Red Core 2”, LPDDR5X, and UFS 4.0. The Matte version comes with 12 GB and the Void version comes with 16 GB of RAM. This means that you can expect smooth performance in even the most intense gaming scenarios. The phone also comes with a 6.8-inch AMOLED screen, which makes it perfect for playing games or watching movies on the go. The screen also has a refresh rate of 120 Hz, which is great news for all who enjoy mobile gaming with premium performance.
The REDMAGIC 8 Pro also comes with a 6,000 mAh dual-cell battery, so you can expect it to last all day and even into the night. And if you’re looking for extra power, there is also a 65 W fast-charging option. While such a big boy battery also requires a bit of space, I have to say that it was quite enjoyable to have a smartphone that has a very high battery runtime even if you weren’t gaming on a particular day.
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Besides the specs, you can expect some other nice features when it comes to gaming. For example, there is an extra cooling system that will keep your phone from getting too hot while playing games, which means that you can also maintain a great performance without any loss that would be caused by components getting too hot. The ICE 11.0 cooling system with liquid cooling plates also supports heat management further There is also a 4D vibration motor and dual front-facing speakers to get the most out of your gaming experience.
Video: Showing the air passage on internal cooling of the REDMAGIC 8 Pro
And what kind of gaming gear would be complete without some shiny RGB LED goodness? Is that necessary? Definitely not. Is it bliss? It sure is! The Void version has the advantage here with 16.8 million colors and 4096 levels of brightness on the fan lighting as well as the LED band lighting. The Matte version of the REDMAGIC 8 Pro on the other side has only the band lighting effect on the back.
Design innovation
While photography might not be a key element for a gaming smartphone, the REDMAGIC 8 Pro still features a fine camera. The rear camera is the 50-megapixel Samsung GN 5 sensor 1/1.57“ which can be used as the primary lens. How about the front-facing camera? Any goodies for selfies and the like? They actually managed to build the front camera underneath the display so there is no punch-hole and no notch in the display design at all. In my opinion, this is the new normal.
While it might be something people got used to over the few past years, for gaming there was always something in the display that was blocked by this notch or hole that was placed to make room for the front-facing camera. This is now a thing of the past and it’s really pleasant. Overall, the quality of the cameras in this device might not be on par with the latest Pixel, iPhone, or Galaxy flagship from Samsung, but the components used are absolutely fine for a device with a gaming focus.
While it’s maybe not be mission critical, I also have to say that I liked how they included Mora, the mascot of the brand, even within the phone as a virtual companion that can be placed on the desktop or can interact with you in different ways. I wouldn’t really call it a personal assistant, because it doesn’t really fulfill a purpose, but it’s an interesting nice way to integrate a virtual being that does not have the task to support you with queries. That makes it more like a friend than an assistant. I don’t want to make it sound like an AI that you become best friends with, but I think it’s cool enough to mention.
Performance
Good specs are one thing but seeing how buttery smooth the REDMAGIC 8 Pro sails through games and benchmarks was truly joyful. It’s certainly a personal remark, but I saw a better-running smartphone. We ran the Wild Life Extreme benchmark from UL Solutions and got a score of 3710. This means that the performance of the REDMAGIC 8 Pro is better than 89% of all tested devices.
In other words, the REDMAGIC 8 Pro has a better performance than 100% of all tests from the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro 5G, the OnePlus 8T, the Realme X7 Pro, and the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max. As far as gaming performance goes the REDMAGIC 8 Pro, with a score of 3710, is better than the Xiaomi 13 Pro (3703), Vivo X90 Pro Plus (3699), Xiaomi 13 (3688), Vivo X90 (3487), Apple iPhone 14 Pro (3328), Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max (3322), Apple iPhone 13 Pro (2996), Lenovo Legion Y70 (2881) – only to mention the ten devices with the best scores, which is now lead by the REDMAGIC 8 Pro.
Availability and price
Nubia (also stylized as “nubia”) is the maker of the REDMAGIC 8 Pro and they publicly announced the smartphone today. While the sales in China just started, the sales for the rest of the world will begin next month, on February 2, 2023. If you want to get it a bit cheaper, you can check out the early bird discount for pre-orders starting from the 28th of January 2023. Before knowing the final pricing from the announcement today, I thought the gaming smartphone that tops the benchmark ranking would be well beyond $1,000 as far as pricing goes but it was a pleasant surprise to see that they provide a very competitive device at an equally competitive price point.
The Matte version with 12 GB RAM and 256 GB of memory will be available for $649 / €649 / £579 / 906.9 SGD, and the Void version with 16 GB RAM and 512 GB of memory will cost you $799 / €749 / £709 / 1119 SGD in the respective regions. If everything that I wrote in this review and test sounds like something you’d like to have, I have no concerns to recommend the REDMAGIC 8 Pro to all who love gaming and the gaming lifestyle. If you have a moment, you can also check out the unboxing video that we produced just for you.
YouTube: Unboxing the REDMAGIC 8 Pro from Nubia
Photo credit: The feature image has been done by Pupu Liang for TechAcute. The media in the body of the article has been provided for press usage by REDMAGIC.
Editorial notice: We have received a press unit to do the test and review but were not paid to write this article.
