A long time
coming
© REDMAGIC, OBS STUDIOUNLIKE MANY, I like
gaming smartphones.
In fact, I credit one for
prying me out of the
Apple ecosystem—I
was sent a Black Shark
3 Pro phone for review,
reluctantly gave it a go, and saw my Call of
Duty Mobile K/D ratio improve so much it
felt like cheating. I got so used to the 90Hz
display, I couldn’t go back to my iPhone.
I say “unlike many” because much like
folding phones, I’ve never seen a gaming
phone out in the wild. I was discussing
smartphones with friends last year, and
when we’d seen the usual Apple, Samsung,
and OnePlus blowers, I took out my Lenovo
Legion Phone Duel 2. I was immediately
mocked for the phone’s distinctly uncool
RGB lighting, dual USB-C ports, and pop-
out selfie camera—and many of these
friends work in the games industry!
The RedMagic 7 Pro is the latest attempt
to make gaming smartphones a thing, and
while it may not expand the category’s
market share, it is the best attempt yet.
First of all, it doesn’t look like a gaming
phone. The 256GB storage color, named
‘Obsidian’, doesn’t even have RGB lighting
(the 512GB ‘Supernova’ model does).
As expected, the phone is a beast
when it comes to performance, with the
latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor and
16GB RAM (our review model came with
18GB). That results in Geekbench scores
unmatched in the Android world, although
the iPhone 13 Pro does still beat it. For
mobile gamers, buying the RedMagic 7 Pro
is much like dropping a 3090Ti into your
desktop—you can comfortably max out
the settings on whatever you’re playing.
This means rock-solid 60fps performance
in RPGs such as Genshin Impact, and even
120fps in MOBA game Vainglory.Gaming smartphones: what are they good for?
Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro
Editor’s Pick:
74 Asus RTX 3090 Ti
TUF Gaming76 Velocity Micro Raptor Z55
78 Alienware 34 AW3423DW80 Acer Nitro 5
82 Lenovo Legion 5i
Pro (2022)
84 Acer ConceptD 7
Ezel Pro
87 NZXT Capsule
88 Razer Huntsman
Mini Analog
89 MSI MPG
Sakira 100R
90 Ghostwire
Tok yo92 OBS Studio vs. XSplit
BroadcasterReviewed...
The screen is a mixed bag, boasting
a 120Hz refresh rate (good), 2400x1080
resolution (OK), and a 700 nits peak
brightness (poor). It should be noted that
the display is down from the 165Hz one on
the standard RedMagic 7, for reasons we’ll
explain later. We did like the 960Hz touch
sampling rate, making general navigation
feel snappy and gaming very responsive.
Gaming phones aren’t known for their
cameras, and this RegMagic doesn’t
change that. There are three sensors on
the rear—a 64MP main, 8MP ultrawide,
and 2MP macro. They’re fine in sunlight but
struggle in low lighting. The big change on
this phone, and presumably why RedMagic
calls this a “Pro”, is its under-screen front
camera. This 16MP lens is fine for video
calls but not for selfies, as the detail is a
little washed out. There’s no punch hole
intruding on your game of Fortnite, but I
prefer Lenovo’s pop-out camera solution.
If you play a lot of games, you’ll love
being able to play using the triggers on
this phone. They aren’t tactile switches,
although the phone can vibrate to imitate
this feeling, but they offer a 500Hz touch
sampling rate, making them responsive
for driving games and shooters.
The phone does a good job of staying
cool while gaming, especially if you engage
the 20,000rpm fan from RedMagic’s
software (pop headphones on if you do).
The phone sports a 5,000 mAh battery,
the same capacity as Samsung’s S22 Ultra
flagship. It struggles to last over 10 hours,
though the included 65W charger can fully
recharge it in under 30 minutes.
As I mentioned last issue, I’ll be keeping
my Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, but I’ll miss
gaming on the RedMagic 7 Pro. If you care
more about gaming than taking selfies,
though, this is the phone for you. –GC
$799 (256GB version), http://www.redmagic.ggThe RedMagic 7
Pro is the best
attempt yet at
making gaming
phones a thing.JUN 2022 MAXIMU MPC 73