Before we begin the review, I just want to say that the Nubia and RedMagic line of devices have been catching my attention for quite some time. This is in part because of the “Full Bezel-less Screen Experience”, which is thanks to the Under Display Front Camera.
I also want to note that I did not read any other reviews before making my own.
Initial Thoughts:
Let’s start by looking In/Out The Box. It brings me joy to see a phone that still comes with a case, factory screen protector and charge block, not just a cord. You also get your common items including sim tool and manuals. At first glance of the box, it’s average with the brand logos, nothing too special. Now because it comes with all the extras, the box is bulky compared to other brands that no longer include what a user needs when purchasing a new device. Packing is a little below average. When you move the box around or upside down, you can hear the contents moving inside.
The included case is a bit strange but made to avoid covering up the cooling system and triggers. The case only really protects the top bottom and back. It also arrived with a couple small scratches. Getting another type of case will require some thought as a case that covers parts of the sides may make trigger pressing a bit weird/uneven.
The factory installed screen protector is a dust magnet. I would recommend replacing with a tempered glass protector.
Next I want to talk about Connectivity. I use an AT&T MNVO. Nubia and RedMagic, in general, definitely lack some band support, especially in the 5G aspect, compared to Apple/Samsung/Motorola. Like other similar brands, the NON MNVO GSM Carriers still give the best network support, with Verizon’s congested network easing in.
One reason I had not picked up a RedMagic 9s Pro myself, is because of the lack of proper bands needed to support the New and Improved Boost Mobile by Dish Wireless. Dish’s Boost Mobile will eventually run on their own, all 5G, network, at which point they will ditch their contract with ATT and TMO.
Phone/Screen Size. With a 6.8inch screen, it falls in line with most common sized competitors. Personally, I usually prefer around 6.0inches, such as the Samsung 24. A smaller phone tends to fit in our hands and pockets more easily. Unfortunately, as trends show, the smaller the phone, the less performance. Hints base vs pro/ultra models.
Moving on to the Battery. With a big phone comes a big 6500mAh battery with 80w fast charging. There is a lot of controversy over super fast charging and it’s wear on the battery. 80w isn’t the fastest I’ve had but it’s also not the slowest. I feel like 80w is a good in between to some other options out there. I’d say 30w is still a bit slow and over 100w is too fast for battery health. A little bit of a downfall is lack of wireless charging, but let’s face it, wireless charging is usually slow anyway.
Digging In Deeper:
Setup
Initial Charge:
66%(10:50am) to 100%(11:15am)
Sim Card:
Using Physical Sim from previous unlocked phone. Sim Tray was not easy to get out. It did however seem sturdy and went back in smoothly.
Power On:
6 Seconds, no complaints.
Data Transfer:
Using Power Cord to Transfer, which is much easier than having to deal with Samsung Smart Switch. Initial copy took about 5 minutes while going through additional setup like adding fingerprint.
Everything I selected was transferred, including some saved settings, saved WiFi, Wallpaper and Texts. I wish they would make it where fingerprint and created app folders would transfer as well. Installation time of transferred apps vary based on connection speeds.
Test Call & Coverage:
Coverage shows only LTE whereas the coverage map and my previous device show 5G. VoLTE call was smooth in town at the library. Upon traveling to a nearby city, I was able to pick up 5G.
Personalization:
Starting by setting up widgets and app folders. Next is to set deeper personalization such as wallpaper, themes, light strips and more. There are a lot of ways to make it your own. One thing I always do with newer android is allow the icons to match the wallpaper.
After all the above, the battery only went down about 35%.
Display:
I’ll keep this short as there are other topics that feel higher priority. The large, full screen display runs smoothly and seems almost flawless. One of the biggest problems with a lot of devices is trouble seeing the screen in sunlight, I did not have as much trouble on this device as I have with others. A couple side notes that I feel like mentioning, even though they will probably be taken care of with future software updates are:
1. I noticed along the way is that the default keyboard would constantly change and height causing me to have to reset the height every so often.
2. There is a major delay when switching to sleep mode. Sometimes pressing the power button once to turn the screen on will help it switch. There have been times where I would go to sleep before sleep time and wake up in the morning, press the power button and it would switch then. This may be addressed in a future update but for now, it’s in the review.
Battery
Charging Time:
With no restrictions set, a simple charge from 10% to 100% took about 40 minutes.
The fan runs, a bit loud, during fast charging which is great because I could still feel the phone getting a bit warm. At times, the fan was blowing warm air, despite being set to cooling mode. I don’t usually run my phone charge down so low but made an exception for a charge test. Fan stops and light strips turn solid when charge is complete. Now that the charge speed test is complete, I will be turning on “Charge Separation”, which is supposed to help with battery health and heat. I then noticed that despite being charged to 80%, the charge did not last anywhere near what it did at 100%.
Drainage:
Under my normal, not so heavy usage and one Drive Safe app running all the time, the battery lasted about 35 hours from 100% to 10%. As expected, usage time increases and percentage goes down quicker with gaming. This is, of course, because of all the intricate details of the games and the screen being on the entire time.
Cameras
Under Display Selfie:
It is pretty well hidden, which I like. If you focus on it, pun intended, you can barely see on a very light or very dark background. As far as quality, it’s as to be expected for a unique feature that isn’t widely known. When focused on myself, there is like a faded aurora all around me. After taking the photo, the faded areas just become blurry. The aurora can be better masked with filters/edits. Now if I focus the selfie camera on one of my cats, the aurora is less noticable, nor does a blurry line remain after taking the shot. I wasn’t expecting much out of the selfie camera, as I do not take many selfies. Overall it’s not that bad, it could be worse. If you take multiple selfies a day, this may not be the phone for you.
Rear Camera:
Has a nice, simple, layout and is not much in the way. Is it the best, probably not but it’s still pretty great. As you have seen above, the camera has a “Camera Family” tab where you shoot all sorts of different types of photos. Every aspect of the camera that I tested was smooth. Shout-out to focusing, a lot of good camera phones I’ve had in the past always had trouble focusing. Will let the photos speak for themselves. Photos are raw, no filters or enhancements. Some photos are put together in highlight videos, with music, for your viewing pleasure and to help with organization. If photos on videos seem blurry, try playing again with better connection.
Sunny Day, Normal Camera Mode
Cloudy Day, Normal Camera Mode
Macro Mode
Night Mode
Night Mode
Food, Normal Mode
Food, Normal Mode
Food, Normal Mode
Gaming
Gaming Space/Lobby:
Wow, not sure where to even start. The gaming lobby is amazingly breathtaking. Not only is this where you access your games but you can also access: device settings, gaming mode settings, setting your own profile, personalization of the game lobby and even personalizing Mora! Strangely enough, you can even add an interactive Mora to your home screen and much more!! I did however notice that when you change the background of the gaming lobby, it doesn’t always hold.
Performance:
I want to start by pointing out that with some games, in addition to pairing controllers and keyboards, you can also project your screen to your TV allowing you to use your TV for the screen and your phone for the controls. Keep in mind that phone and TV need to be on the same WiFi network for this to work. This is also great for avoiding a stiff or kinked neck.
-My performance test sessions were done with all settings set to default. Game used for sessions: Ragnarok Origin-Roo, a MMORPG game. Size 11.57GB.
Session 1: 30 Minutes, started with 77% and ended with 70%. 7% was not bad for this mid heavy game. In some cases, the heavier the game, the more intricate, the more usage per session. During my first session, graphics and sound were clear and smooth except for one small lag, when changing story tasks, which did not last long. A few other things I noticed were:
1. This game does not use the triggers. Nor did I see a way that the triggers would be useful.
2. Despite the cooling fan running during the entire session, the phone still got a little warm.
3. You can access game/system settings by swiping, twice, the top left side of the device.
Session 2: 1 Hour and 15 minutes, started with 93% ended with 75%. So 18%, a little more than half of what was used during the first session, still not as bad as some non-gaming phones. This seems on par and expected, no major or abnormal increased usage. Graphics were smooth with no inconsistencies or lags. Phone did not overheat and was no warmer than the first session, despite the increase in play time. After one hour passed, I got a notification reminding me to take a break.
-I had a bit of extra time so I downloaded Real Racing 3, a much smaller sized game, so that I can test out the side triggers.
Session 3: 1 Hour, started with 94% and ended with 81%. A total of 13%, not as bad as I was expecting since I had to watch ads to speed up upgrades and vehicle service. The side triggers were fun to use once I got them set where I wanted. I set the left to single tap and placed on the breaking pedal, I set the right to motion sensing and placed it on the acceleration pedal. So simply put, left trigger for breaking and right trigger for acceleration. About 15 minutes in, the trigger lights went off but did not want to interrupt trial to troubleshoot. The lights returned after restarting game space. Device was just a little warm, much like the previous sessions.
A couple more things I noticed during this session were:
1. The side triggers are fun to use, once you get used to them. Setting them up however is not exactly self-explanatory so this process may take some hands on figuring out.
2. If you record while gaming, the battery consumption increases a bit.
Personal Final Thoughts:
The RedMagic 9s Pro’s target audience is definitely gamers but not so much, selfie taking, social media influencers. The immerse specs of the device make it an easy go to for daily gaming and some rear camera photo captures such as nature, food, animals. Without comparing this device to another and despite some minor but fixable flaws via updates, I did not really find any major deal breakers. I look forward to exploring this device even more overtime and finding more games to play!
