Hadley Simons / Android Authority
TL;DR
- nubia has announced the REDMAGIC 8S Pro gaming phone.
- It has an overclocked Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, cooling fan and a large battery.
- The company also has a Pro Plus variant with 24GB RAM and 1TB storage.
nubia REDMAGIC gaming phones are often the most powerful smartphones of a given year because of the high-end internals and fantastic cooling features. Now, the company has launched the REDMAGIC 8S Pro and it looks to be the most powerful smartphone of 2023.
The brand confirmed last week that the new phone will be equipped with the flagship version of Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which is the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy SoC found in the Galaxy S23 series. That means you get a peak CPU clock speed of 3.36GHz and a GPU speed of 719MHz, compared to the standard chip’s 3.2GHz and 680MHz.
The phone has an ICE 12.0 cooling system, which includes measures such as 3D vapor chamber cooling and a graphene heat sink. But the most significant thing here is a built-in fan. We mentioned earlier that the REDMAGIC 8 Pro was able to deliver strong sustained performance thanks to its cooling fan, so we expect the same results here.
The chipset isn’t the only area to get a monster upgrade, as Nubia also offers a Pro Plus variant with up to 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. The RAM count is especially excessive for gaming and other demanding tasks, but the 1TB storage comes in handy if you store games and/or media on your phone.
REDMAGIC 8S Pro: What else do you get?
Endurance is also important for a gaming phone, and the Nubia uses a 6,000mAh battery with 80W wired charging speed. However, the Pro Plus variant comes with a 5,000mAh battery and 165W wired speed. So if you go for the Pro Plus model, you’re trading endurance for faster charging times.
Design-wise you get a typical gaming phone aesthetic here, complete with a circular RGB light on the back and a pair of capacitive shoulder triggers. That being said, the phone is equipped with a 16MP under-display selfie camera that allows for a seamless full-screen experience.
The device also has a triple rear camera setup. The company has only revealed the 50MP GN5 main camera, but we’re guessing it also packs an 8MP ultrawide and 2MP macro/depth lens.
Other notable features include a 3.5mm port (!), dtsX Ultra support, three microphones and Wi-Fi 7.
REDMAGIC 8S Pro Price and Availability
The new gaming phone is available in China for 3,999 Yuan (~$552) for the base 8GB/128GB model. If you want the 24GB/1TB variant, you’ll have to pay 7,499 Yuan (~$1,036) for the top-end REDMAGIC 8S Pro Plus.
No word yet on global availability, but most previous REDMAGIC devices were available outside of China. So we are confident of a wider release.
Nubia has launched the Transformers Bumblebee Edition REDMAGIC 8S Pro Plus (seen above), complete with themed accessories like a charger and cooling fan. You’ll pay 6,499 Yuan (~$897) for this model with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
