Mobile gaming continues to be big business. Some estimates claim the mobile market comprised roughly 52% of global consumer spending on all of gaming, with a figure just north of $93 billion. As such, it is no surprise that purpose-built mobile gaming devices are a hot commodity; one must look no further than the Nintendo Switch for proof, which just became Nintendo’s best-selling game console ever. Purpose-built gaming smartphones are also popular amongst enthusiast mobile gamers, not only for their gaming-centric features, but because they are vastly more versatile than one-trick-pony portable game consoles. And today, one of the most compelling gaming-focused smartphones was just announced – the Nubia RedMagic 7.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Powered RedMagic 7
The RedMagic 7’s specifications read like one of today’s flagship smartphones. The device is powered by Qualcomm’s powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 mobile platform processor. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is manufactured using an advanced 4nm process and features numerous updates and enhancements, over the previous-gen 888 designed to increase platform performance and power efficiency, and enable new features and capabilities. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 features a mix of Arm CPU cores – 8 in total. Its Kryo CPU complex has a single high-performance Prime Cortex-X2 core (up to 3GHz), three Cortex A71 Performance cores (up to 2.5GHz), and four Cortex A51 Efficiency cores (up to 1.8GHz). The Prime core is used for threads which require the highest priority (and most performance), while the Performance cores handle the rest of heavy lifting, supplemented by the Efficiency cores for less-demanding background tasks. Qualcomm also enhanced the GPU in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. The chip is equipped with a re-architected Adreno GPU that offers up to 30% better performance, with a 25% improvement in power efficiency. All of the wireless connectivity options are leading edge on the platform as well, as is typical of Qualcomm’s flagship mobile chipset, though as implemented on the RedMagic 7 mmWave is not supported.
Other specifications of the RedMagic 7 include 12, 16, or 18GB of LPDDR5 RAM (depending on the model), up to 256GB of IFS 3.1 non-expandable storage, triple rear cameras, and a 6.8” FHD+ (1080x2400) AMOLED display with a refresh rate up to 165Hz. All of that is powered by a 4,500mAh battery, with support for 65W fast charging. Wireless charging is not an option however.
RedMagic 7 Display And Other Gaming Features
The display on the RedMagic 7 is fantastic for gaming. It is not the highest resolution display on the market, but its FHD+ resolution is plenty sharp at this screen size, and the 165Hz refresh rate results in smooth, buttery animations. The more mainstream resolution also helps games keep framerates higher, by placing less of a load on the GPU. In terms of viewing angles, accuracy and brightness, the RedMagic 7’s display also shines. There are also no funky notches or waterfall edges, and a fast, reliable fingerprint sensor resides in the display.
The new RedMagic 7 features a 720Hz touch sampling rate as well, so any taps on the screen are picked up more quickly than most other devices, which ultimately improves latency and responsiveness in games. All of that on its own would make the RedMagic 7 more desirable to mobile gamers than most other smartphones, but the company has incorporated many other gamer-centric features into the build as well.
The buttons and general layout of the RedMagic 7 are like most other phones. There’s a power / lock button on the right and a volume rocket on the left. The bottom of the phone is home to the SIM tray and a USB-C port and the top features an actual, honest-to-goodness headphone jack. The front of the phone is a flat sheet of glass, with a single speaker grille at the top, and the back has a thin cut-out for the triple rear camera and flash. What makes the RedMagic 7 stand-out, however, is an additional hardware switch on the left side that automatically brings up the RedMagic Game Lobby, which is a simple interface to navigate through all of your installed games, along with a pair of touch-sensitive shoulder buttons on the right, with 500Hz sample rates.
Unlike the vast majority of smartphones on the market, the RedMagic 7 also features a user-controllable active cooling system with an RGB fan that Nubia calls ICE 8.0. A widget on the home screen (or toggles in the control panel) gives users the ability to enable the RedMagic 7’s cooling fan, and vents on either side of the device channel air through ICE 8.0 cooling system to help the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 maintain peak and sustained performance for extended gaming sessions. As you’ll see a little later, the cooling fan virtually eliminates the thermal throttling common with mainstream smartphones, though even when relying on passive cooling, the RedMagic 7 bleeds off very little performance.
The venting in the RedMagic 7 means dust and water resistance aren’t an option, but overall the build quality is top-notch and the device feels premium in the hand. Aesthetically, the RedMagic 7 also looks like a flagship, until you get a glimpse of the back. The back of the device is highly-stylized – like many gaming-focused devices – with circuit board etchings and Snapdragon branding. Although it gives the effect of being see-through, only the cooling channel and area above the cooling fan are translucent.
Android 12, Software And Imaging On The RedMagic 7
The RedMagic 7 ships with Android 12 customized with RedMagic OS 5.0. Overall, the customizations and skinning don’t hinder the aesthetics, and navigating through the OS and various control panels will feel familiar to Android users. It’s not as refined as what companies like Samsung or OnePlus offer, but RedMagic OS 5.0 gets the job done. Thankfully, I didn’t experience any major bugs (save for a single, unexpected re-boot) and there is minimal bloatware on the device.
In terms of imaging and its camera app, the RedMagic 7 is also passable, but photography is clearly not a focus on the device. The rear shooters consists of a 64MP f/1.8 0.7-micron main camera that lacks image stabilization, an 8MP f/2.0 1.12-micron ultrawide with a 120° field of view, and a 2MP f/2.4 macro that requires manual focusing. The front facing camera features an 8MP f/2.0 1.12-micron shooter.
The RedMagic 7 shoots up to 8K video and captures look good overall, but the more advanced AI-assisted computational photography options of other flagship smartphones are mostly non-existent (except for Night and Portrait modes). Even then, Night Mode only works only on the main rear camera. Audio is also only recorded in mono as well.
For social media and archival purposes, the cameras on the RedMagic 7 will get the job done, and detail is good when the lighting is adequate. The images, however, are somewhat under-saturated for my tastes and could use a bit of post-processing to get the best results.
RedMagic 7: The Fastest Android Yet
Where the RedMagic 7 shines is in terms of performance. We have a detailed, full review of the device over at HotHardware, but I want to give you a glimpse of performance as well.
To put it simply, the RedMagic 7 is the fastest Android device we have tested to date, at least in terms of graphics and gaming.
As you can see, from these results, the RedMagic 7 offers class-leading performance in these graphics-heavy benchmarks, besting Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Ultra, and in some cases the iPhone 13. Even better though, the device can maintain these performance levels over extended periods of time.
What these charts show is the RedMagic 7’s performance through 20 loops of the 3DMark Wildlife Benchmark. While devices like the Galaxy S22 Ultra and iPhone 13 bleed off significant performance in a stress test like this, the RedMagic 7 does not, even when passively cooled. If you’re a mobile gamer and want a device that performs at consistent levels, whether playing for 15 minutes or 2 hours, the RedMagic 7 is it.
An Affordably-Priced, High-Performance Mobile Gaming Device
The RedMagic 7 will be available in multiple colors, with various memory and storage configurations. Despite the device’s killer performance, however, pricing starts at only $629. The top-end model, with 18GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and ICE 8.0 cooling system comes in at $799. That’s not chump change by any means, but when other, lower-performing flagship devices can cost nearly twice as much, the RedMagic 7 seems like a downright bargain. Just know what you’re getting into. The RedMagic 7 is a purpose-built gaming phone, and it hits that target specifically. If you’re a hardcore gamer and are good with the laser-focused nature of the device, and the limitations of the software and camera system are not a concern, however, I suspect you’ll really like the RedMagic 7, along with the specialized features and flat-out performance that it offers.
