Smartphone games have come a long way. There was a time when the best smartphones could muster graphically was Angry Birds and games where you’d flick paper balls into a trash can. With specs getting so much better, you can play racing, adventure, and FPS games on your phone with the only difference being touch controls and a smaller screen.
This is exactly why gaming phones exist, and the Redmagic 10 Pro series arrives today to show that the market segment is still going strong. The best part is that this might be one of the first devices since Redmagic came to market, and I think anybody might be fine with it, even as a non-gamer.
The Redmagic 10 Pro Series Is Pretty But Doesn’t Say No To A Single Drop Of Raw Power
The Redmagic 10 Pro series has just arrived in China today, and in case you’re not familiar, both devices are “Pro” models because Redmagic doesn’t think its phones deserve any less than that. Asus is really going to need to prove itself with its next ROG Phone because these phones are monsters.
The Design
Nubia’s new Redmagic gaming phones might be my favorite in their entire portfolio and the first reason why is the design. Both the Redmagic 10 Pro and the 10 Pro+ come with the same design—very angular, with a flat display, flat back panel (not even the cameras protrude), flat sides, and pretty sharp corners.
The gamer aesthetic is evident, but the white colorway makes it less evident, to the extent that I think that the average person might be able to use it without feeling gaudy. I’ll talk about the screen in the next section, but those extra-narrow bezels and the absence of a camera cutout give the front of this phone a very clean look.
On each side of the phone, you’ll find a vent (since it has an actual fan in it), and the side with the round power button and volume rocker also has touch-sensitive shoulder buttons, a round power button, and a red textured alert slider. It’s only 8.9mm thick too, which isn’t bad, especially when you learn everything that’s inside.
The Screen
Understand that I’m not attesting to the actual display quality, but the Redmagic 10 Pro series has some of the best-looking screens on any smartphone. First off, both phones share a 6.85-inch 144Hz FHD+ screen that notably has no punch-hole (thanks to an under-display camera). You get 2,000-nit peak brightness.
The bezels get much narrower than they were last year, making for a 95.3% screen-to-body ratio. The border is just 1.25mm thin on the left, right, and top, and measures a mere 0.7mm on the bottom. Bonkers.
The Hardware
It’s no surprise that Redmagic opted for the Snapdragon 8 Elite in its new devices—it wanted to get its hands on every last drop of power it could obtain.
The Redmagic 10 Pro can be equipped with 12GB of RAM and either 256GB or 512GB of storage, but the 10 Pro+ comes in a 16GB/512GB configuration or a 24GB/1TB option. Considering the RAM is LPDDR5X and the storage is UFS 4.0 Pro (though it isn’t clear what makes it “Pro”), the speed stat is maxed out. The Redmagic 10 Pro+ hit a record-breaking 3.29 million score on AnTuTu, so if you want power, this is the place to be.
As a gaming device, the phone comes with what Redmagic calls the Ice X Cooling System, marking the first phone with liquid metal cooling tech—it has 13x the thermal conductivity of regular cooling gel. It has an improved vapor chamber and a new fan that can spin at up to 23,000 RPM, keeping temperatures down even during the most intense and long-running gaming sessions.
Other Hardware
I can’t neglect to mention that the device comes with an X-axis linear motor for great haptics, stereo speakers, NFC, an IR blaster, and the headphone jack sticks around. It’s a complete package.
The Batteries And Charging
The Redmagic 10 Pro has a 6,500mAh battery. That’s massive and with “only” an FHD+ screen, you should get a lot of battery life out of this. It also comes with 80W wired charging.
However, bringing the Redmagic 10 Pro+ in, it’s a completely different story. Redmagic was teasing how big “7” was going to be in relation to its launch, and while it was rumored that meant a 7-inch screen, that wasn’t the case. Instead, it was in reference to the 7,050mAh battery. That has to be the largest that has ever been in a flagship smartphone. And with 120W wired charging, that’s 0% to 100% in 30 minutes.
The Cameras
I think I have mentioned before that if you’re getting a gaming phone, you probably don’t expect the world’s best camera setup. That remains true here. The front camera is a 16MP unit, and since it lives under the screen, its quality takes a bit of a hit.
On the back is a 50MP wide camera with OIS, paired with a 50MP ultrawide and a 2MP macro camera.
The Pricing And Availability
The Redmagic 10 Pro will start at CNY 4,999 (~$695) while the Redmagic 10 Pro+ starts at CNY 5,999 (~$830). While the devices are only available in China for now, they’ve been confirmed for an international launch on December 3rd, which isn’t too far away.
