Nubia Redmagic 10 Pro Review: Value for Gamers

If gaming Your priority for a smartphone, the Nubia RedMagic 10 Pro has you covered. This massive mobile gaming beast combines impressive performance with a wide high-quality display and enough stamina to keep you gaming for days. It even has a built-in fan to keep it cool, programmable buttons and highly customizable gaming software. All this is available for a relatively affordable $649 (£579) for the 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage model if you buy directly from Nubia.

There is always a catch with Aggressively priced phone. Assuming you don’t mind the bulky, angular design, which isn’t very pocket-friendly, you might balk at slightly janky software, inconsistent camera performance or a lack of wireless charging. But keep in mind that hardware like the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset here is usually only available in much more expensive phones.

Gamer is smart

I tested the transparent RedMagic 10 Pro, which Nubia calls the Moonlight, and it’s an interesting industrial design with thick metal framing glass that gives you some interior and RGB lighting that comes to life when you play games. There are vents on both sides of the frame with a visible fan designed to keep the processor cool. It may be useful for longer gaming sessions, but it makes some noise and you can feel the warm air flow sometimes.

Nubia has included customizable capacitive-touch shoulder triggers on the top edge when you hold the Redmagic 10 Pro in landscape orientation, and a glossy textured red switch that launches the Gaming Hub software by default. The rectangular profile and circular power button remind me of Sony’s older Xperia designs, but it’s a much larger phone and might prove difficult to fish out of a jean pocket. I’m talking 6.5 inches tall and 3 inches wide.

Photo: Simon Hill

The RedMagic 10 Pro is smooth and super slippery, and has slipped off tables, chairs, and my feet several times over the past few weeks. Amazingly, the Gorilla Glass finish has remained intact so far, but I fear for its long-term survival. Probably better to use the clear case that comes in the box. With fan vents, expect limited water resistance, and it won’t survive a dive.

It’s worth noting that the entry-level Nubia RedMagic 10 Pro is only available in opaque black or white (Shadow or Lightspeed), and you’ll have to shell out more for the transparent model ($799), though you’ll get a special bump to the 16. GB RAM and 512 GB storage. If you’re going for a sci-fi gamer aesthetic, splurge for the transparent model.

Supersize me

Photo: Simon Hill

It’s a big brute, but the RedMagic 10 Pro’s size gives gamers two important advantages. First, there’s a seamless, nearly bezel-free 6.85-inch AMOLED screen that’s simply beautiful. It has a slightly odd resolution of 2,688 x 1,216 pixels, up to a 144-Hz refresh rateAnd the brightness is up to 2,000 nits. It is ideal for gaming, watching movies or web browsing. There’s a reasonably responsive fingerprint sensor at the bottom and a front-facing camera below the top screen.