DT English journalist Prahar Khanna spent a week testing a particular video game mobile phone for other purposes: the Nubia RedMagic 9 Pro, and here he reveals how surprised he was after using it.
I’m not a gamer, but I like it gaming phones due to the fact that they push mobile equipment to the limit. He Nubia RedMagic 9 Pro no different.
In fact, in my only week with the phone, it surprised me in the best possible way. I like the devices I use to be unique, and RedMagic’s latest phone has several of them.
The unobtrusive design is great
He RedMagic 9 Pro This is one of the few phones on the market without a camera bump. The flat design on all sides gives it an elegant look. However, there are times when I pick up the phone and don’t know if it’s upside down unless I’m looking for the in-display fingerprint scanner. In terms of functionality, the company claims that it provides a more comfortable grip while gaming, and I agree with that. It has a premium feel thanks to its glass and aluminum construction.
It’s comfortable to hold during long gaming sessions, despite its flat sides and large, bulky design. While the curved edges could be better, the square design gives it a “gaming phone” look. The shoulder triggers are located exactly where my fingers would rest when I held it horizontally. They also function as notification indicators for charging, calling, and more. On the right side, next to the cooling fan vent, there is a round power button, slider and volume controls. The location is a little unnatural, but you get used to it pretty quickly.
The unobtrusive design continues on the front, with the selfie camera located underneath the 6.8-inch display. It is covered in pixels and is almost undetectable, giving you a more enjoyable gaming experience. I already wrote about how the sub-screen camera works Samsung Galaxy Z Foldable 5 makes it more exciting and the story of RedMagic 9 Pro continues.
I enjoy looking at the screen no matter what I’m doing. It’s ideal for reading and watching multimedia, and outdoors is bright enough for good readability. The experience was better after removing the factory screen protector, and I can remove it because the screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. It doesn’t support Dolby Vision or HDR10+, but that’s really the only downside.
Lots of great gaming features
RedMagic 9 Pro was one of the first phones announced with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in December last year. It includes 12 or 16 GB of LPDDR5x RAM and 256 or 512 GB of UFS 4.0 internal memory. It works in conjunction with the company’s Ice 13 cooling system, which offers a vapor cooling system and a fan capable of reaching speeds of up to 22,000 rpm. You expect it to work well, and it works flawlessly.
During the game Genshin Impact At 60fps on maximum settings, I didn’t notice any frame drops or slowdown. It got warm after 15 minutes of gaming, but it wasn’t difficult to hold and I didn’t experience any issues during 30-minute gaming sessions. Call of Duty Mobile The speed can reach up to 90fps, and the shoulder triggers operate at 520Hz.
The Game Space feature makes gameplay more intuitive. It can be activated using the slider on the right side, so you’re just one click away from installing all your games in one place.
The gaming space gives you the opportunity to customize the game to your liking. After activation, you are taken to the game lobby, consisting of all installed games. Here you can adjust performance, GPU settings, and more.
Switch to Super Base and you’ll be greeted with a plethora of options. You can play cloud games, add accessories (including a full keyboard and mouse), and project your mobile phone screen onto a larger screen. As you play, you swipe from the right or left edge of the screen to access add-ons that help you customize shoulder triggers, choose your screen refresh rate, and more.
Customizable software makes the gaming experience more personal, similar to the Asus ROG and Lenovo Legion gaming phones. RedMagic 9 Pro runs RedMagic OS 9.0 based Android 14. My favorite part is the user interface. In typical gaming phone style, you can add data like the refresh rate to the top right corner of the screen. I didn’t notice much of a difference when compared with the previous version.
The user interface, icons, and features remain almost the same, which means that it also comes with a lot of features that can be explored in the Settings menu. You get more flexibility with custom lock screens, quick switch styles, clock styles, and more. There are also a huge number of options that will always be in sight. You can also customize the rear LED lighting to suit your preferences.
The RedMagic 9 Pro has a 6,500mAh battery that easily lasts a full day despite a couple of 30-minute gaming sessions. It charges at 80W, which is as fast as OnePlus 12. Unfortunately, there is no wireless charging.
There is still room for improvement
There are no promises regarding the number of updates the RedMagic 9 Pro will receive, but the company says security updates should arrive every two months in the first half of the year and every three months in the second half. I’ve been getting one since January.
The RedMagic 9 Pro cameras are better than before. It is equipped with two 50-megapixel sensors for main and ultra-wide-angle photography. The latter also offers distortion correction, which improves the fisheye effect around the edges. Both cameras offer 12.5MP images by default, but you can shoot at 50MP if you prefer.
Photos taken with the main camera have plenty of detail, good sharpness and nice colors in daylight. However, the dynamic range is not the best. You can zoom in up to 10x, but it’s digital, so don’t expect your photos to look great. The ultra-wide-angle camera takes decent images, but nothing that compares to regular phones. Portrait mode is good with edge detection and output quality.
I wouldn’t take this set of cameras with me on vacation. The selfie shooter also takes soft images, but I’m okay with that because I get a great viewing experience. Another annoying thing is that you can’t take photos using the shutter button. Let me double its functionality by turning it into a shutter button for my camera!
RedMagic 9 Pro is a great gaming phone.
RedMagic 9 Pro offers a truly immersive and intuitive gaming experience. I love the design, screen, performance, battery life and user interface. If camera quality isn’t your priority, this is one of the best gaming phones you can buy in 2024. In fact, it has better value for money than Asus ROG 8 phone.
While gaming phones have made great strides in the camera department, there is still room for improvement. If you want a phone with great gaming performance, but good cameras are also a must, you should consider the iQOO 12 (if it’s available where you live). Otherwise, RedMagic 9 Pro is worth adding to your shopping list.
The base variant of RedMagic 9 Pro with 12GB RAM and 256GB internal storage costs $649 and can be purchased from the official RedMagic website and Amazon.
Source: Digital Trends
