The Nubia Red Magic comes with last year’s flagship SoC from Qualcomm, interesting design, and a unique cooling system for your gaming needs.
The Nubia Red Magic is the second gaming smartphone that was announced in the last week or so, as Xiaomi introduced its Black Shark gaming handset on April 13. Interestingly enough, the phone was said to be called Red Devil and not Red Magic, but it seems like Nubia went with the ‘Red Magic’ name instead. Having said that, the Nubia Red Magic and Xiaomi Black Shark are actually direct competitors in the gaming smartphone sector, even though the Red Magic does not sport Qualcomm’s latest and greatest SoC, but comes with the Snapdragon 835 instead. These two phones do share some specs, though, as they both come in similar RAM and storage setups, similar display sizes, and so on. The Nubia Red Magic was actually introduced by Nubia’s recently-announced sub-branded called ‘Red Magic’, but the phone is advertised with Nubia’s name, and it has Nubia’s logo on it. The device itself looks noticeably different than the Xiaomi Black Shark, and the same can be said for a comparison between the Nubia Red Magic, and the Razer Phone, which is another gaming handset, is also a competitor to the Nubia Red Magic, at least to an extent. As it’s usually the case, we’ve separated this announcement into sections, so that it’s easier for you to focus on what you’re most interested in, and we’re kicking things off with the phone’s specifications.
Nubia Red Magic Specifications
The Nubia Red Magic is fueled by the Snapdragon 835 64-bit octa-core SoC which is clocked at 2.45GHz, and which packs in the Adreno 540 GPU for graphics. That processor works in collaboration with 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM, and 128GB of UFS 2.1 2-lane flash storage, as Nubia introduced only one variant of this smartphone (6GB RAM model with 64GB of storage is available in China, though). The phone features a 5.99-inch fullHD+ (2160 x 1080, 403ppi) display, and a 2.5D curved glass is included on top of it. A fingerprint scanner lies on the back of the Nubia Red Magic, and a 3,800mAh battery is also included in this package, and it’s not removable. Nubia did not mention anything about fast charging, but the Nubia Red Magic probably comes with Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging tech, at least that would be our guess based on the processor that is included in the phone.
A 24-megapixel camera (Samsung’s 5K2X7SX sensor, 0.9um pixel size, f/1.7 aperture) is included on the back of this smartphone, along with an LED flash. An 8-megapixel camera (1.12um pixel size, f/2.0 aperture, SK Hynix HI-846 sensor) sits on the phone’s front side. Bluetooth 5.0 is also included in this package, while the phone supports 4G LTE connectivity, both TDD-LTE (Band B34/B38/39/40/41) and FDD-LTE (Band B1/3/5/7/8/20), while BC0 CDMA is also supported, and TD-SCDMA (Band B34/B39). The Nubia Red Magic comes in a Black color variant only (Red color will be available in China), while it measures 158.1 x 74.9 x 9.5mm, and weighs 185 grams. Android 8.1 Oreo comes pre-installed on the device, and we’re not sure if Nubia UI comes on top of it, or did Nubia opt to install something else on the device. A Type-C USB 2.0 port is included on the bottom of the device, while the phone also features two SIM card slots (2x nano SIM), and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Nubia Red Magic Design
The Nubia Red Magic leaked a couple of days ago, and it seems like that leak was spot on, as it showed off the phone’s design. The Nubia Red Magic features a metal unibody design (anodized aluminum), while it has U-shape antennas on both its top and bottom, though those antenna lines are well-covered by the phone’s design, as they blend with the color of the device, so they’re not exactly too noticeable. The power / lock, volume up and volume down buttons are located on the right-hand side of the Nubia Red Magic, while you will notice a red-colored slider key above. That slider is customizable, you can use it to mute various apps and services, so that you can fully concentrate on your gaming. Now, when we flip the phone around, you will notice that the Nubia Red Magic features a single camera, above which sits an LED flash. A fingerprint scanner is placed right below the phone’s main camera, and it is quite tall and narrow. Red Magic’s logo sits at the very bottom of the phone, while a huge RGB strip is located in-between the phone’s fingerprint scanner and Red Magic’s logo, and it can output up to 16 million colors and four different lighting effects. This RGB strip actually mimics your gaming persona, says the company. Another interesting design element you’ll notice on the back of this phone are its loudspeakers, there are four of them, one for each corner of the phone. The Nubia Red Magic also comes with a rather interesting cooling system, it uses advanced thermal modeling techniques, says the company. This tech dissipates heat across its diamond-cut design, which is visible when you flip the phone around. The phone hides three layers of graphite, and three grille vents, while the heat sink inside the smartphone regulates the device’s temperature. The phone’s anodized unibody body is coated with unique heat-absorbent materials, which also help with cooling, says the company.
Nubia Red Magic Cameras
The Nubia Red Magic features one camera on its back, and one on the front. A 24-megapixel camera (Samsung’s Sk2X7SX sensor) is located on the back of the phone, while we’re looking at 0.9um pixels here. This camera comes with an f/1.7 aperture, and it can shoot 4K video at 30fps. As far as slow motion is concerned, you’re getting 720p resolution at 120fps. An 8-megapixel camera (SK Hynix HI-846 sensor, 1.12um pixel size, f/2.0 aperture) is included on the front side of the device, and it can shoot fullHD video at 30fps. The phone’s rear-facing snapper features EIS (Electronic Image Stabilization), and the company claims that it can shoot really good pictures even in low-light conditions. This phone comes with a built-in NeoVision 7.0 Imaging Engine as well, which should help with image processing.
Nubia Red Magic Battery Life
The Nubia Red Magic comes with a 3,800mAh battery, which is not removable, and it probably features fast charging via Qualcomm’s Quick Charge technology, though Nubia / Red Magic did not elaborate on that. The company did say, however, that you can play up to 7 hours of Arena of Valor on a single charge, and as most of you know, Arena of Valor is quite a graphically-intensive game. The company will probably reveal more info regarding the phone’s battery in the near future, but this is it for now. We can only say that the device does not support wireless charging, though that is kind of logical as it sports an all metal design.
Nubia Red Magic Software
Android 8.1 Oreo comes pre-installed on the device, and all we know about the software, for the time being, is that it comes with Red Magic’s ‘GameBoost’ tuning software, which essentially frees up memory from memory-intensive resources to provide higher frame rates. That is more or less all the info that the company shared when it comes to software, but we’re expecting to get more info in the near future. For the time being, we’ll assume that stock Android is installed on top of the device, with some additions from Red Magic / Nubia, like the GameBoost software that we’ve mentioned.
Nubia Red Magic Security
As far as security is concerned, all of the standard smartphone locking methods are available here. As part of Android itself, you’re getting both PIN and pattern lock options, while a fingerprint scanner is present on the back of the device. The company did not share any specific info regarding the phone’s fingerprint scanner, but we’re looking at a touch-to-unlock fingerprint scanner here, in other words, you can simply touch it with your registered finger, and wake the phone from sleep, while unlocking it at the same time. Now, as far as facial recognition is concerned, Nubia did not share any info whatsoever, so we’ll just assume that it’s not a part of the offering.
Nubia Red Magic Availability
Now, Nubia has announced that the Red Magic smartphone will be available for $399 for early adopters, though quantities are limited. Starting on April 26, you can get the phone for the said price via Indiegogo, and if you’d like to know more, you’ll need to visit redmagic.gg, and sign up. If you live in China, however, you can get the 6GB RAM variant of the phone for 2,499 Yuan ($398), while the 8GB RAM model will set you back 2,999 Yuan ($478).
Nubia Red Magic Gallery
