Red Magic 3 review: Great value in a fun phone

Red Magic 3 review: Great value for a gaming phone:

The Red Magic 3 is the latest gaming device from Nubia. It’s an absolute beast considering the price tag, bringing several top-tier performance and features.

The spec sheet certainly gave me chills with Snapdragon 855 chipset, 8-12GB of RAM, 5,000mAh battery, the first ever 8K video recording, a built-in fan, 90Hz refresh rate, 6.65 inches of screen real estate, hardware buttons, and a dedicated gaming launcher.

The Review Time

• 171.7 x 78.5 x 9.7mm, 215g
• Metal build
• RGB LED Strip
• Shoulder buttons
• Built-in cooling fan
• Dedicated game mode switch

Nothing about the Red Magic 3’s design is boring. This is an extremely “gamer-fied” design, so you’re probably either going to love it or hate it.

It feels well-made, with a hefty weight, thanks partly to the size and partly to the aluminum construction with matte finish. The screen is huge too, with slim side bezels and an 80.5 percent screen-to-body ratio.

As with previous Red Magic devices, the Red Magic 3 has a triangular back panel that tapers to a point, where you’ll also find the RGB LED strip.

The Red Magic 3 is one huge piece of phone. It also rocks wildly when placed flat on a table, and may be prone to slipping off things.

However, this isn’t a case of form over function. The design here accommodates the serious cooling going on inside. For the first time on a Nubia phone we have a physical fan, making the large, presumably empty space a very logical choice. That also means it’s easy to get a good grip on it while gaming.

Also around the back is the gem-shaped fingerprint sensor, diamond-shaped camera lens, a bulky vent, the Red Magic logo, and tons of color accents. On the sides are the shoulder buttons, a switch for entering Game Space, and a pin connector.

Perhaps the most notable thing here is the inclusion of the capacitive “shoulder triggers.” Thanks to very smart software implementation, the buttons are also surprisingly useful. You can map literally any point on the screen to the shoulder buttons in seconds, and save the settings on a per-game basis.

There’s a lot going on in the design department. Whether or not you like it very much depends on how you feel about the “gaming” aesthetic generally. The Red Magic 3 certainly has a somewhat aggressive, futuristic appeal for the right audience.

Display

• 6.65 inches
• AMOLED
• 2,340 x 1,080
• 90Hz refresh rate

The display is one of the most important aspects of a gaming phone, and thankfully the Red Magic 3 doesn’t disappoint.

For starters, the screen is huge 6.65 inches. I would’ve preferred to see a less reflective panel on a gaming phone, but the screen gets really bright, which makes up for it somewhat.

Then there’s the 90Hz refresh rate, which is below the Razer’s 120Hz refresh rate and equal to the OnePlus 7 Pro, but above nearly every other device.The panel is also very sensitive with a 240Hz touch response rate, which makes everything feel silky smooth, including the UI.

In short, when you combine all these features, the result is a really beautiful, colorful, and massive image that makes games and media pop. Screens like this aren’t just good for gaming and media, but also for productivity tasks. Typing is  easier, and multitasking is also more useful.

If I had to make a complaint, it’s that the rounded edges at the top actually cut off a tiny bit of the UI, which looks awkward.

Performance

• Snapdragon 855
• Adreno 640
• 128/256GB storage
• 8/12GB RAM
• Active liquid-cooling
• Internal cooling fan

Seeing a Snapdragon 855 in a device is remarkable this early in the chip’s lifecycle (though not unheard of). And what a performer that Snapdragon 855.

In the Red Magic 3, it’s now backed by 8-12GB of RAM, liquid cooling, and impressively, a physical fan. In theory, that means we should be looking at some insane performance.

The Red Magic 3 is the first actively cooled smartphone, which means it uses a fan, rather than a static element like a heat sink. The result should be more stable framerates long into gaming sessions, and a lack of heat while playing.

You can easily check the temperatures at any point while playing.

Like a proper gaming PC, Nubia also lets you tweak your performance profile at any point while playing, switching between Auto, Super performance, Performance Priority and other modes. Again though, I didn’t really notice a difference between them.

The other disappointment is the lack of expandable storage. While 128-256GB gives you plenty of room to play with, it wouldn’t have hurt for a device built for media consumption to let users top that up.

Regardless, you won’t be left wanting when it comes to performance, and benchmark scores cement the Red Magic 3 as among the most powerful phones out there

Camera

• 48MP rear camera
• f/1.79 aperture
• 8K video capture
• 16MP front-facing camera

The Red Magic 3 out the box and spotted the single camera lens on the back, I assumed it would be the same old story when it came to gaming phone shooters. Wrongly, I assumed no thought or effort had gone into the camera, so more resources could be directed elsewhere.

Images are sharp. You can zoom right in without losing any quality, and there’s a nice contrast and drama to the shots. The fairly wide angle and wide aperture were good additions here — the latter makes it possible to pull off some nice depth-of-field effects even without a depth sensor. The large megapixel count means you can zoom in close and achieve this from a distance without too much data loss, though you’ll need to know what you’re doing.

There’s also a pro mode, as is becoming increasingly standard.

Software

• Near-stock Android 9.0
• Dedicated “Game Space”

The Red Magic 3’s software is a surprisingly restrained. The experience is fairly close to stock, with the changes and software that are here being welcome for the most part.

The “Game Space,” which is accessible via a switch on the side of the device. This basically puts you into a launcher built especially for games. It will turn off distracting notifications (should you wish), and provide you with quick and easy access to your games, as well as controls for features like the cooling fan.

Battery

• 5,000mAh
• 27W fast charger

Like everything else on the hardware front, Nubia has gone all-in on the battery. 5,000mAh is significantly larger than most flagships, and of course a huge boon for any hardcore gamer. The standby time is also phenomenal. If this is your secondary device, you can leave it alone for days and still find it with plenty left in the tank.

Audio

• Dual front-facing speakers
• Headphone jack
• 4D intelligent vibration

With crazy visuals and performance, Nubia is wise not to drop the ball with audio. Thankfully, the two things any audiophile looks for on a smartphone are present and correct: dual front-firing speakers and a headphone jack.