RedMagic 9s Pro review: Cheap and powerful gaming phone

The RedMagic 9s Pro is the latest entry in Nubia’s line of smartphones aimed at gamers who want a mobile device that excels at gaming on the go while also providing the kind of functions you'd expect from a smartphone.

That's what makes gaming phones so interesting as a sub-genre of handsets. They have many of the same features as a standard phone, but pushed to the max, as a good gaming phone needs a powerful chip and a fully-featured display, alongside a battery that can last for hours. The Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro sets the standard in the regard, serving as a great gaming device and a more-than capable phone.

Does the RedMagic 9s Pro measure up? It certainly has a lot to offer users for a very reasonable price. However, it's essentially the same device as the recent RedMagic 9 Pro, with the same issues as that handset. As great as its screen might be, the RedMagic 9s Pro suffers from a lackluster camera and requires accessories to bring out its, which might turn many people away. Find out why in this RedMagic 9s Pro review.

RedMagic 9s Pro review: Specifications

RedMagic 9s Pro revew: Price and availability

RedMagic phone's pricing can be odd, mainly because the device maker tends to lock hardware specs behind color. So, if you want 12GB of RAM with 256GB of storage, you buy the Sleet model, which will cost you either £579 or $649. Meanwhile, if you want the 16GB of RAM model with 512GB of storage, you have to buy the Cyclone or Snowfall colors, which will cost you £709 or $799. There is also an upcoming Frost color option which should have the same cost and the same specs as the Sleet model. 

Locking the specs behind the color is odd, but the RedMagic 9s Pro's price is pretty good and reasonably reflects what you get with the device. 

RedMagic 9s Pro review: Design

The RedMagic 9s Pro shows off an angular design filled with hard edges and flat surfaces. It comes with a 6.8-inch display set in a flat rectangular design. This screen and back glass are both protected by Gorilla Glass 5 coating, so it should stand up against potential scratches. The cameras are also placed under the glass, meaning that the back of the phone feels seamless when you're holding it.

One interesting addition to the RedMagic 9s Pro is the RedMagic ICE 13.5 Cooling system which keeps the RedMagic 9s Pro as cool as possible, no matter what the phone is doing. I honestly didn’t notice the cooling when using the phone, at least until I started playing a few more intense games. If you’ve ever actually played many heavy-duty games on your phone, you know that handsets can get hot, but the RedMagic 9s Pro remains cool to touch even after gaming for a long time. 

However, I should note that to help get this level of cooling, the phone has a lot of open gaps in the bezel to allow airflow. This means the RedMagic 9s Pro has no IP rating, leaving the phone vulnerable to water and dust. You'll need to be careful when using it and keeping it in your pocket.

The RedMagic 9s comes with the standard power and volume buttons on the side, alongside the two 520Hz capacitive shoulder buttons that you can map for use in many games. Speaking of games, you can also see the textured switch that boots the phone into Nubia’s gaming UI. there is also a USB-C port at the bottom of the phone and a headphone jack at the top. Unfortunately, RedMagic didn’t add a charging port on the side of the phone to allow for more comfortable charging during gameplay. 

One odd design choice is the two speakers situated at the top and bottom of the phone. While these work fine normally, they get covered up when you hold the phone in landscape mode to play games; as a result, the sound can be bit muffled. It also means that the sound isn’t aimed toward you during gaming sessions, which leads to a bit of loss of immersion.

RedMagic 9s Pro review: Display

The RedMagic 9s Pro comes with a 6.8-inch AMOLED screen with a 2480 x 1116 resolution and a 1,600-nit peak brightness. That's an impressive feature set that puts the gaming phone roughly on par with the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, but it's essentially the same as the prior RedMagic 9 Pro. In some regards, that’s no bad thing, especially on a gaming phone, but it might lead you to wonder why you don’t just go with the other device. 

The RedMagic 9s Pro offers 120Hz refresh rate which is impressive, and matches other leading gaming phones like the Asus ROG Phone 8. However, there’s no option to push the RedMagic 9s Pro screen to a higher refresh rate. In truth, this isn’t that much of an issue as you would be hard-pressed to find an available game that requires anything above 120Hz, and if you do, then a phone really isn’t the best place to play it. 

The resolution on display here is gorgeous, and the gaming mode makes sure the phone gets as much as it can out of the screen. Add to this the minimal bezels, and it’s pretty immersive although, as with most smartphones, there is still the issue of your fingers needing to be on it to actually control the game you're playing. At least the capacitive shoulder triggers do lessen this problem.  

This sense of immersion is helped by both the front camera and the fingerprint sensor being located under the display, meaning your gaming experience isn’t hampered by cutouts. Front camera performance isn't great as a result, and the fingerprint sensor is temperamental at best, which is annoying because the touchscreen otherwise works perfectly. 

RedMagic 9s Pro review: Cameras

The RedMagic 9s Pro comes with two rear cameras — a 50MP main camera and a 50MP ultrawide camera. There is also the previously mentioned 16MP front camera under the display. Unfortunately, the cameras are one of the weakest parts of the phone, with each underperforming compared to rival devices. 

I tested the camera with the Google Pixel 8a, which comes with a 64MP main camera and a 13MP ultrawide, alongside a 13MP selfie camera, but costs $150 less than the RedMagic. This Pixel also happens to be the best camera phone under $500, so it shows how the RedMagic 9s Pro's camera performance falls short.

On paper, this should mean that, while the Pixel 8a’s main camera has the edge with megapixels, the RedMagic 9s Pro should have far clearer ultrawide and selfie images. However, that’s not what I found when comparing images.

To test the main camera I took an image of a walking man statue in Paddington. As we can see, the the Pixel 8a image is slightly darker than the RedMagic 9s Pro, which leads to the statue looking more detailed. There’s also less blowout on the lighting in the corner, with the RedMagic being painfully bright where the sun shines. 

The ultrawide cameras have a similar problem, with the Pixel 8a showing more color depth compared to the RedMagic. It also looks like the shadows on the RedMagic are darker on the balconies which ends up hiding many of the features from view. 

The selfie camera on the RedMagic might be the weakest one on the phone. If you look at the two images, you can see that the RedMagic has a real issue with pixelating the light, making it look very strange. This has been an issue with RedMagic for a while, and it’s depressing to see that it still hasn't been fixed. The colors also look washed out, with the Pixel 8a looking far more natural and lifelike. 

The RedMagic 9s Pro also has a macro camera which is… present. It isn’t terrible, and it shows off the colors on the red flowers nicely, but it seems kind of flat textutally.

Overall, it's evident that the RedMagic 9s Pro just doesn’t make the most of its camera hardware. If you are looking for a gaming phone that's also a top camera phones, then this is not the device for you; there are better options at multiple price points, whether it's the gaming-capable OnePlus 12 flagship or the more affordable Motorola Edge Plus (2023). 

RedMagic 9s Pro review : Performance

The RedMagic 9s Pro comes with an overclocked Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which is referred to as the Leading Version. That system-on-chip ups the core CPU to run at 3.4GHz (instead of the normal version's 3.3 GHz speed) and ramps up the GPU. Added to this is the 12GB or 16GB of RAM, depedning on which model you buy, which can then be improved by sacrificing some of the memory. For instance, I can add a further 12GB to my 16GB of RAM to help boost performance.

When we ran the RedMagic 9s Pro through the Geekbench 6 CPU test, it scored a pretty decent result. The device had an average single-core score of 2,288 and an average multi-core score of 7,076. If we compare this to other smartphones' scores, the RedMagic 9s Pro looks pretty impressive, though we'd expect that from a phone built specifically for gaming.

The above table compares the RedMagic 9s Pro to several other phones, including the previous RedMagic 9 Pro. As is evident, Snapdragon phones struggle to compete with the iPhone 15 Pro Max in the single-core score. All of them managed to blow Apple’s latest device out of the water with relative ease in the multicore test, though.

It’s interesting to see the comparison between the RedMagic 9s Pro and the previous RedMagic 9 Pro, with the 9s managing to beat its predecessor in the single-core score, but posting the worse multicore result, which indicates that the RedMagic 9 Pro is getting more out of the baseline Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 than the overclocked version. The same thing occurs with the Asus ROG Phone 8, which struggled in the single-core test but far exceeded the 9s in multi-core performance.  However, it should be noted that the Asus was in X mode for the test, which boosts the phone's performance for a better gaming experience. 

GeekBench scores only really tell half the story, so the real question is how the phone runs day by day. I watched videos on both YouTube and other streaming sites like Netflix at full 1080p with no drop in quality and no stuttering. I also managed to stream games from Xbox Game Pass, and I saw no drop in quality for games like Gears of War 5. Finally, I tested Genshin Impact to see how the phone handled it — there were no drops in frames or stuttering, which is precisely what you want from a gaming phone.

We also run our devices through 3D’s Wildlife Extreme Unlimited GPU test, which tests how smoothly a device runs graphically intense scenes. As is evident, the RedMagic was able to easily handle the tests, with the phone scoring higher than the Asus and the Samsung Galaxy S24, and easily outstripping the iPhone 15 Pro Max.  

We can also see the general power of the Snapdraogon 8 Gen 3 when setting it to export a video on Adobe Rush. Like other Android phones, it managed to export a video in a matter of seconds even with a filter. While it wasn’t as fast as the iPhone, it still exceeds what most people will require the phone to do while editing, but, sadly, the RedMagic is paring this phone with such generally terrible cameras. 

Unfortunately, one major weakness of the phone is the storage options available. While 256GB and 512GB are generally decent options for a phone, they don’t match the gaming focus of the device. For instance, the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro offers storage up to 1TB, which means more games on your phone. 

RedMagic 9s Pro review: Battery and charging

The RedMagic 9s Pro is a battery powerhouse. Seriously, this thing does not turn off. The Phone comes with a 6,500 mAh battery, which is huge. For reference, the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro only comes with 5,500 mAh and the Samsung Galaxy S24 comes with 4,000 mAh. Combine this massive battery with the known power conservation that Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chips excel at, and you have a phone that you can happily run all day with no issues. 

I ran the phone for more than 3 hours playing a video, and it barely dropped by 15%. It was the same while playing games, where I played everything from Xbox Game Pass to basic apps and didn’t have to stop every hour to quickly charge the phone, which happens a fair amount on my iPhone 14 Pro Max. According to RedMagic, it is possible to get around 56 hours out of the device without needing to charge during regular use, which I can believe based on my anecdotal use of the phone.

When you do need to charge the RedMagic 9s Pro, you won’t have to hang around long thanks to the 80W charger supplied with the phone. I got the phone up to about 70% after having it charge for 30 minutes and managed to get it to full charge after a little more than 45 minutes. It’s impressive, and exactly what someone looking to play games needs from a phone. However, there doesn’t appear to be any wireless charging, which is a bit disappointing for a modern smartphone. 

RedMagic 9s Pro review: Software and special features

The RedMagic 9s Pro comes with RedMagic OS 9.5, which runs on Android 14. The actual UI is fine, if a bit dull. The phone has the same general home screen layout as other Android devices. I will say that the basic options for the phone’s wallpaper are a bit meh, and very stereotypically “gamer” in design, to the phone’s detriment honestly. That said, it is certainly an improvement over how RedMagic’s OS used to look, and Android 14 is a perfectly good base for any OS.

I didn’t have any issues swapping apps, and navigating the menu was pretty simple and fluid. There’s even the Goper app which improves the connection with any other Nubia devices. However, I will say that the base browser on the device is pretty hideous so I would recommend downloading Chrome as soon as possible rather than using what comes on the device to browse.  

There are a couple of special features with the RedMagic phone, and they’re interesting to say the least. The first is the physical gaming switch near the volume and sleep button. When you flick this switch, you’re taken to Nubia’s Game Space UI. Here you can launch games and adjust the fan, CPU and GPU settings to get the most out of your gaming experience. It’s simple enough, but it does feel a bit surplus to requirements sometimes and it’s annoying that it can’t function with the Game Pass app.  

Speaking of gaming, you have the tactile shoulder buttons on the RedMagic 9s Pro, which can be set by using the in-game UI. This is accessed by dragging your finger on the side of the phone. Having the option to set the built-in shoulder buttons makes shooting games much easier to play on the phone, even without a controller. 

I suppose I should mention one of the stranger additions to the phone, Mora. That's a built-in AI virtual companion that you can access by entering the Game Space UI, which will then put an app on the home page. For the most part, Mora functions as another game on the phone, but one that doesn’t offer much. You can dress her up and make use of an AR camera. She can also talk to you, and functions as an alarm clock to wake you up. Thankfully you don’t have to use her or have her standing on your home screen, especially not if you plan on being in polite company. 

RedMagic 9s Pro review: Verdict

While the RedMagic 9s Pro works fantastically as a gaming phone, it suffers as a regular phone. The cameras are just bad, to the degree that they take away from the other parts of the phone and will certainly turn some people away. It's especially upsetting to see that there is still no telephoto lens on the phone, something we do see on the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro and the Galaxy S24.

Meanwhile, others might be turned off by the lack of an IP rating and the threat that dust and water pose to the phone, which has been lessened massively in current smartphones.  

That's not to say there aren't any strengths. One of the biggest pros is tht the RedMagic 9s Pro's design just looks cool. It’s sleek but feels hardy and it's comfortable to hold for long periods. It does lack some of the more interesting RGB light features seen on the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro or the Nothing Phone (2), but the ones that are there are interesting enough. While the RedMagic UI is a bit generic, it does what it needs to and the gaming features, chip, Battery life and RAM all help the RedMagic 9s Pro to stand out as a gaming device.

If you want to focus on mobile gameing then the RedMagic 9s Pro would be a fine option. But if you want a top phone that also happens to play games, then there are better options out there.