In case you appeared on the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely and thought “that’s cool, however I need one thing quicker for my video games, and I don’t care about the remainder of the expertise,” then the RedMagic 8 Professional is for you!
The corporate’s newest telephone jumps on the newest Snapdragon processor, however pairs it with a good battery life, a greater thermal administration system and a quicker show contact sampling price — all necessities for upping your gaming efficiency.
So, I gained’t waste your time in asking whether or not this can be a good all-round telephone, as a result of the reply is clearly “no.” However let’s take you thru what you get and whether or not this can be a worthwhile buy for cell gaming fanatics.
RedMagic 8 Professional value and configurations
You possibly can decide up the RedMagic 8 Professional (opens in new tab) in both matte black with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for $649, or the clear “Void” mannequin that we examined that bumps the UFS storage to 512GB for $799.
Eager-eyed readers could discover that that is truly a leap down in value from final 12 months’s RedMagic 7 Professional (each by $150), which is fairly spectacular given the updates made right here!
On prime of that, it’s very aggressive pricing for a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 smartphone while you evaluate it to the multitude of telephones at 4 figures, and it could considerably undercut its getting old competitors within the Asus ROG Cellphone 5 ($999).
RedMagic 8 Professional design
Whereas it’s nonetheless very gamer-esque and I wouldn’t advocate pulling this out to get the telephone variety of your crush, the RedMagic 8 Professional is unquestionably so much sleeker. Actually, I’d go as far as to say that it appears to be like form of good. However nonetheless, you may be judged a bit of for whipping it out in public.
Slightly than a space-age industrial, curved gadget of previous, you’re getting a much more refined slab with extra refined hints of its gaming credentials. RedMagic branding is glossily emblazoned on the matte black again with subtly pulsating RGB lighting for notifications and charging, whereas the purple swap alludes to the excessive efficiency potential the 8 Professional holds.
Sure, it nonetheless has that RGB fan, which requires open vents and makes an IP score unimaginable, so watch out with that. But when that’s a suitable value to pay for gaming efficiency, be my visitor.
As for dimensions, the 8 Professional is available in at 6.5 x 3.0 x 0.35 inches with a weight of 8.04 ounces. RedMagic managed to trim some weight and thickness off its personal 7 Professional (6.5 x 3 x 0.39 inches, 8.3 ounces) and admittedly embarrass the Asus ROG Cellphone 5 (6.8 x 3.1 x 0.36 inches, 8.4 ounces). And for comparability’s sake, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely trims a bit of extra peak off the highest, however has a bit of extra junk within the trunk (6.43 x 3.0 x 0.35 inches, 8.25 ounces).
The shorter peak makes this a better-feeling telephone in panorama gaming mode and retains any hole-punch digicam out the way in which with slim bezels, together with the addition of 500Hz shoulder triggers and a sliding set off floor on the again of the telephone to boost efficiency.
RedMagic 8 Professional show
The RedMagic 8 Professional packs a stunning 6.8-inch AMOLED panel with a 2480 x 1116 pixel decision, 8-bit shade depth, a 89.1% screen-to-body ratio, a 120Hz refresh price, 1300-nit peak brightness, and a 960Hz multi-touch sampling price.
It’s not the 165Hz price that we had on the RedMagic 7, however personally, I all the time felt this was a bit of bit overkill for cell gaming. So this isn’t a lot of a compromise — particularly with that tremendous quick contact sampling price.
Whereas we don’t have any lab-tested numbers to again up any ideas on this show, I can let you know it’s a belter. The Physician Unusual within the Multiverse of Insanity trailer has change into one in all my favourite checks with loads of in a different way lit moments and scenes that adjust from vibrantly vivid to restrained shade palettes. Subsequent to the likes of my iPhone 13 Professional, the vividity effortlessly melts off the display.
Safety is dealt with with an under-screen fingerprint reader that’s quick and responsive. So responsive even, that it may be used as a coronary heart price sensor.
RedMagic 8 Professional audio
An excellent gaming expertise doesn’t cease on the display. You want high quality audio for the total expertise and the RedMagic 8 Professional actually delivers with stereo audio system and DTS:X Extremely-certified sound.
Even when put beneath intense strain with bass-heavy, intense pop punk resembling 4 Yr Robust’s “Get out of my head”, there was no distortion at greater volumes. You may be assured that while you use this telephone with out headphones, you’re getting an excellent listening expertise.
Plus, RedMagic continues to supply 3.5mm headphone jack assist, however has been repositioned to the highest left (when held in panorama). Very like the 7 Professional, this retains the headphone cable protrusion out of the way in which and will increase handheld gaming consolation.
RedMagic 8 Professional efficiency
Now, let’s get to what issues right here. Below the hood, the RedMagic 8 Professional is filled with Quallcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset clocked at 3.2 GHz, paired with an up to date Pink Core 2 chip for audio. Graphics are dealt with by an Adreno GPU, multitasking is a cinch with as much as 16GB of LPDDR5 (the mannequin we examined had 12GB), and you’ll stuff this stuffed with video games with as much as 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage.
What does this translate to? Merely put, one of the best price-to-performance ratio you’ll discover in any telephone on the planet. I’d evaluate it to the 7 Professional and Asus ROG Cellphone 5, however I gained’t waste your time. Let’s put this up in opposition to the massive gamers.
| Benchmark | RedMagic 8 Professional | Samsung Galaxy S22 Extremely | OnePlus 11 | iPhone 14 Professional Max |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geekbench (single-core) | 1492 | 1578 | 1166 | 1882 |
| Geekbench (multi-core) | 5203 | 5081 | 4962 | 5333 |
| 3D Mark Wild Life Excessive | 3682 | 3858 | 3627 | 3331 |
So whereas Apple silicon leads the way in which in Geekbench outcomes, the RedMagic comes very shut and really beats it within the graphical efficiency division — all in a telephone that’s beneath half the value! You possibly can chalk this huge W as much as an energetic head dissipation unit that consists of many parts together with air cooling with the 20,000 RPG RGB fan, a giant VC warmth dissipation plate, and an enormous improve in thermal conductivity.
It ought to come as no shock that this energy implies that you gained’t see a single little bit of decelerate it doesn’t matter what you throw at it. From operating Name of Obligation: Cell on extremely settings to multi-tasking between so many apps and a ton of tabs on Google Chrome, this factor gained’t break a sweat.
Identical to earlier RedMagic telephones, peak efficiency is its killer characteristic and the 8 Professional completely delivers on this. Not solely is that this a banging gaming telephone, however it can deal with all of your intensive duties with the best of ease.
RedMagic 7 Professional battery Life & Charging
Final 12 months, the RedMagic 7 Professional gave us a 5,000mAh battery and I requested for a 6,000mAh to match as much as the insane drain of a telephone with this sort of spec sheet. It appears to be like like the corporate listened, as that’s precisely what we’ve got now.
Quick charging means you may get it again to full in 45 minutes, and in my everyday use, you possibly can simply make it via a day and a half on one cost. Enjoying video games will drain it quicker, however with roughly 4 hours on one cost whereas enjoying COD at extremely settings, this can be a dramatic improve over the two hours and quarter-hour of the 7 Professional.
The RedMagic 7 downgraded to a 4,500mAh battery, however the RedMagic 7 Professional beefs it again as much as a full 5,000 mAh with 65W quick charging. Sure, this isn’t the 6,000mAh cell you’ll discover within the Asus ROG Cellphone 5, however I’ll take any improve I can get.
RedMagic 7 Professional cameras
It’s fairly apparent over time I’ve lined this model that RedMagic actually doesn’t care about cameras. You’re shopping for this telephone for the gaming efficiency and nothing else, however for individuals who admire a extra balanced expertise out of their each day driver, you’ll be dissatisfied.
Photos taken on the 50MP major digicam with its f/1.9 aperture present a good stage of element, which is compromised by a little bit of noise across the edges and oversaturation. Plus, the second you introduce any kind of tough lighting circumstances, you’re left with a blurry mess.
The 8MP ultra-wide lens with f/2.2 produces spongey outcomes which have poor element and are noisy across the edges, and the much less we speak about that ugly 2MP macro lens with f/2.4, the higher.
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It’s an identical scenario with video with the power to shoot as much as 8K at 30 fps, however the footage it captures is slightly drab and lifeless with a sluggish auto-focus and software program processing giving it a barely blurred synthetic really feel to clips.
After which we flip our consideration to the selfie snapper: a 16MP shooter with an f/2.0 aperture, which is hidden beneath the show. Whereas this appears to be like cool for a symmetrical bezel and full-screen expertise, the tip result’s photographs that appear to be somebody’s smeared butter on the lens.
Oh additionally, RedMagic appears dedicated to placing watermarks on its photographs by default, which suggests I’m shaving a half star off the rating. By this level, it’s simply inexcusable.
RedMagic 7 Professional RedMagic OS 6
The RedMagic OS 6 pores and skin over Android 13 continues to simplify the expertise, and take away among the extra cringeworthy gaming telephone parts (resembling scantily-clad anime lady wallpapers and pretend metallic menus).
The gaming options, that are simply accessible by way of the purple swap on the left edge, transport you to a horizontal interface that transforms the RedMagic 8 Professional into the gaming gadget you need.
Plus, you’ve obtained all of the helpful options wanted for avid gamers: picture-in-picture display recording, the power to attenuate sport home windows whereas utilizing different apps by way of an overlay tray, fast entry to tweak {hardware} settings and override the settings screens of video games themselves.
One key drawback to know earlier than shopping for is that RedMagic has been legendarily patchy on safety and full model updates. From my expertise of utilizing the 7 Professional, the RedMagic 6S Professional and even the RedMagic 6R, updates have been only a few and much in between.
Backside line
It’s a story as previous as time. It is a gaming telephone. If you need one thing a bit of extra balanced, purchase one thing else.
However in order for you one of the best gaming expertise on a blower proper now, that is it. Players are getting a cracking gadget right here with breakneck speeds, improved thermal administration, a stunning display, highly effective audio, responsive contact controls and a slick gamer-focussed UI.
Don’t anticipate to take good photographs or get this telephone out with out getting some judgemental appears to be like, however for the gamers, purchase this.
