Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro Review
The Nubia has launched a solid gaming smartphone in the market by the name Red Magic 8 Pro. It’s powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and comes with huge 16GB RAM to handle anything you throw at it.
There’s a big 6.8 inches AMOLED display and a huge 6000mAh battery to power up your long gaming sessions. The phone is paired with 65W fast charging and comes running on the latest Android 13. You get a 50MP triple camera setup and a hidden under-display front camera to take selfies.
Red Magic has put all the focus on performance but still managed to make it good in other aspects like camera and software. But the final question lies in whether it’s the best phone for gaming or not. I am going to answer that and many more of your questions in this Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro review.
Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro Review: Price in India and Variants
The Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro 5G has been launched globally in two storage variants. The phone starts at $649 (approx. Rs. 53K) for 12GB RAM and 256GB storage while the 16GB RAM and 512GB storage variant cost $799 (approx. Rs. 66K).
The phone is available in two colour options: Matte and Void. The price and availability of Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro in India are yet to be confirmed.
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Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro Box Contents
The Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro packs the following items inside the box:
- Phone
- 65W charger
- Type-C to Type-C cable
- Hard case
- SIM ejector tool
- Documentation
Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro Specs at a glance
Before we talk in detail about the Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro, let’s see what the on-paper specs look like:
- Display: 6.8 inches AMOLED
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
- RAM & ROM: 12GB RAM 256GB Storage, 16GB RAM 512GB Storage
- Software: Android v13
- Rear camera: 50MP + 8MP + 2MP
- Selfie camera: 16 MP
- Battery: 6000 mAh
- Weight: 228 grams
- Dimensions: 163.9 x 76.3 x 8.9 mm
Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro Design and Build
The Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro looks exactly like what you would expect from a gaming phone. It has a futuristic gaming vibe to it and will definitely catch the eyes in a crowd. It comes in two design variants – one is the Matte back finish while the other is what stands out with a transparent back variant dubbed as Void.
The moment I held it in my hands, it felt rugged, premium and built solid but at the same time I could feel its bulkiness. It’s a big phone and weighs about 228 grams and is definitely not light and compact.
The matte variant comes with a matte finish as expected with some glossy details mentioned on the back panel. There are three camera lenses without any camera island that protrudes a bit. The back panel is made of glass while the frame is made of aluminium.
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Not to forget, there are RGB lights on the back for the true gamers out there. You can also customise these light colours in the settings. What’s more interesting is the shoulder triggers present on the right edge of the phone. These will help you while playing FPS games like COD and PUBG.
Things look even more beautiful on the front. You get a notch-free experiment and the benefit of a full-screen display. So where did the front camera go? Inside the display! Red Magic 8 Pro has an under-display selfie camera which enhances its overall look.
Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro Camera
The Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro is not really a phone that you would get solely for taking photos. Don’t get me wrong, it can still manage your causal outdoor shots but it’s not good enough as other phones in this price range.
It features a 50MP triple camera setup on the back. The other two lenses include an 8MP ultra-wide lens and 2MP macro lens. The front side has an under-display 16MP camera for taking selfies.
The main camera is upgraded this time and it actually takes some impressive shots in daylight conditions. The images had some good detailing and the colours also looked very nice. The dynamic range on the other hand could have been a bit bitter.
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The other two lenses are the same as last year. The ultra-wide shots lack in details and sharpness. While the 2MP lens is not good at all. The macro shots were blurry and the colours were totally washed out.
Coming over to the front, the under-display camera takes some average shots. They are not very bad unless taken in low light. Selfies taken in daylight were bright and had some details while the colours look pale.
The Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro is not a camera-centric phone as we know but the main camera still takes some decent shots which would be more than enough for casual users like me.
Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro Battery and Charging
The Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro is backed up by a massive 6000mAh battery which offers awesome battery life. You can easily game for a long duration without worrying about charging your phone, which is what anyone would want from a gaming phone.
I don’t know why you would buy it for light usage but in case you do, it can easily survive two days. I did some heavy gaming for a couple of hours, scrolled my Instagram feed, took pictures and was still left with about 45 per cent of battery by the end of the day which is pretty good.
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The phone is paired with 65W fast charging support which is more than enough for average users. It takes about 42 minutes to fully charge the phone from 0 to 100 per cent which is nice. A quick charge of just 15 minutes juices the battery level to around 50 per cent.
Now, for me, the battery backup is more important than having it charge super fast and Red Magic 8 Pro does that. Sorry to say but you don’t get any wireless charging support here which would have been a nice add-on.
Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro Display
The Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro features a stunning FHD+ 6.8 inches AMOLED display. It features a 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 1300 nits. There’s a reason why I am saying it’s a stunning display and you can see that as soon as you take a glance at the no-notch no punch-hole display of Red Magic 8 Pro.
Yes, it is a full display without any notch or cut-outs with very thin bezels on all sides. There’s a hidden under-display selfie camera which means you get all the screen for yourself. The display gets pretty bright as well so you can easily use it under sunlight.
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The 120Hz refresh rate smoothens out everything from Instagram scrolling to playing games. You also get a 960Hz touch sampling rate which makes it super responsive. I wish it was a 2K display but the FHD+ resolution also looks good.
The contents on the screen looked crisp, vibrant and punchy. The viewing angles were nice and the blacks were deep. Thanks to the notch-less display, the whole content consumption experience gets enhanced. Be it watching videos or playing games, you are gonna love it.
Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro Performance and Software
Let’s get to the real highlight of the phone, the performance. The Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro is a total beast when it comes to performance. Thanks to the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset which is paired with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.0 internal storage.
The phone glides through everyday tasks which comes to no surprise. The apps open up quickly and you can easily multitask on this phone. The 120Hz display enhances the overall experience of using the phone.
Well, the Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro review won’t be complete without talking about gaming. So how well does it handle games? The phone can literally run any modern game at the highest graphic settings.
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Genshin Impact ran smoothly on 60fps on high settings for a long duration without any frame drops or lags. Call of Duty Mobile also ran well on the highest settings. I really enjoyed playing games on it, and thanks to the shoulder buttons which enhance the experience.
On top of all that, what’s really impressive is that even after hours of intense gaming, the phone doesn’t get hot and remains cool. I did not experience any kind of overheating issues or a hit in the performance due to temperature.
The phone runs on RedMagic OS v6.0 skin which is based on the latest Android 13. There are a bunch of features for tweaking your gaming experience. You can tweak everything from the overclocking to the touch-sampling rate. There are also features like screen recording and changing notification styles as per your liking.
Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro Audio, Connectivity, Biometrics
The Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro comes with stereo speakers which are really good. The audio output was loud and clear. On top of that, you still get the 3.5mm audio jack for wired headphone users.
The phone comes with 5G connectivity. The supported bands in India will be known once the device launches here. Other connectivity features include Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, GPS and NFC.
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It features an in-display fingerprint scanner which works fine most of the time. It’s not the fastest one out there and also not very accurate but does the job.
Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro is no doubt one of the best gaming phones in the market that you can buy currently. You get what you expect – blazing fast performance for heavy gaming. You can literally play any game on high settings without worrying about lags.
The massive 6000mAh battery makes sure that you have long gaming sessions without worrying about charging every few hours. The whole look of the phone gives a very futuristic and gaming vibe which is expected from a gaming phone.
On the other hand, the UI needs some improvement and the cameras could have been better. But on the whole, the Nubia and done a great job in making the Red Magic 8 Pro and it’s definitely worth taking a look if you are planning to get a gaming phone.
