The RedMagic 8 Pro and RedMagic 9 Pro are powerful gaming phones with impressive hardware, high-refresh-rate screens, and top-of-the-line Android performance. The RedMagic 8 Pro is a solid gaming phone with top-notch performance, while the RedMagic 9 Pro is a powerhouse with the latest Qualcomm flagship chip, active cooling, a gorgeous display, and slick looks. Both phones are priced at an excellent price.
The RedMagic 8 Pro is a solid gaming phone with top-notch hardware bundled in an attractive and sturdy chassis. The battery life is great, and the phone is capable of running Triple-A games. The Nubia RedMagic 7’s powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor is great at running Triple-A games and even better at making us forget about its flaws.
The RedMagic 6 Pro has a huge battery, a bright screen, and the highest-end specs, serving its intended purpose as a gaming phone. Playing games is good, watching YouTube/split screen is awesome, and the fan cools the phone quickly. The RedMagic 9 Pro is a stylish and unique phone that puts gaming first, with advanced cooling to control heat and speed up performance.
In summary, the RedMagic 8 Pro and RedMagic 9 Pro are powerful gaming phones with impressive hardware, high-performance, and impressive features.
📹 WHY Does a Gaming Phone Exist in 2024? – REDMAGIC 9S Pro
I took the plunge and bought the REDMAGIC 9S Pro to see if gaming phones are still worth it in 2024. Despite some impressive …
What are the hidden features of Red Magic 5G?
XDA-Developers have discovered hidden features in the $579 Nubia phone, such as creating shortcuts for Android processes through an app called Activity Launcher. These hidden features include more screen color modes, round icons through a theme, and changing the quality of screen recording. Theme features showcase pre-installed themes, while the “colorful international” option offers circular icons.
Screen recording is done in SD, but can be switched to HD as a default option. The hidden menu offers eight more color modes, including Normal, Natural, and Colorful. The hidden options are making the phone more attractive and offer great value for money.
Is Nubia a Chinese company?
Nubia Technology, a Chinese smartphone manufacturer, was founded in 2012 as ZTE’s subsidiary and became an independent company in 2015. In 2017, ZTE reduced its stake in Nubia to 49. 9%. The company now operates globally, including North America, South America, Europe, Russia, Southeast Asia, and India. Nubia’s latest mobile launch is the Red Magic 9 Pro+, launched on November 23, 2023. The phone features a 6. 80-inch touchscreen display, an octa-core Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, 12GB of RAM, and 256GB internal storage.
It has a 50-megapixel primary camera and a 16-megapixel front shooter for selfies. The phone runs on Android 14 and has a 5500mAh non-removable battery. It is a dual SIM mobile that accepts Nano-SIM and Nano-SIM, and has connectivity options like Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, NFC, Active 4G, 3G, and 4G. Sensors include a fingerprint sensor and ambient light sensor.
Does REDMAGIC use Android?
The RedMagic 9 Pro is a gaming phone that runs on Android 1 4 with RedMagic OS 9. 0. It receives software and security updates every two months in the first half of the year and every three months in the second half. RedMagic has not confirmed if or when it will get Android 15, but each generation generally receives a major update. Samsung and Google offer longer commitments, with the Galaxy S23 Ultra receiving four years of OS updates and five years of security updates, and Google planning for seven years of updates for the Pixel 8 series. RedMagic has customized the 9 Pro’s software with gamers in mind, including a display refresh rate and a dedicated red textured slider for quick game retrieval.
What OS does Redmagic use?
The REDMAGIC 9S Pro is a smartphone that offers a unique Android 14 interface experience with a focus on customization. It features interactive Super Wallpapers that bring classic games like Snake to life, fingerprint sensor, Lock screen clock, RGB lights, and device themes. The device also allows users to set different volume levels for different apps. The Game Space is activated at the flick of a switch, with large menus on each side for access to multiple settings, such as shoulder trigger activation and customization.
Do RedMagic phones get updates?
REDMAGIC devices offer over 2 years of software support, with updates released at least every 2 months. They also provide at least one major Android update a year to ensure devices are up to industry standard and can operate the latest technology and features. REDMAGIC smartphones, accessories, and PC hardware come with one of two limited warranties for 1 year and 6 months, starting on the date of delivery. These warranties cover the hardware components of the product as originally supplied and are only redeemable in the country or region of purchase.
To transfer data from an old Apple or Android device to REDMAGIC, back up all data as a safety measure. An app like MobileTrans can automatically transfer data between the two Android devices.
Who makes REDMAGIC phones?
Nubia has released several gaming phones, including the Red Magic 8S Pro and Red Magic 9S Pro+, with the latter having the highest Antutu smartphone score. In July 2024, they launched the Titan 16 Pro gaming laptop in China and global markets, and the Nova gaming pad in September. The company also launched their first gaming tablet, the Nova gaming pad. The devices have a resolution of 50MP and a f/2. 0 aperture.
Is REDMAGIC from China?
REDMAGIC is a sub-brand of Nubia Technology Co., Ltd, located in Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, China. The company’s registered offices are in Room 1801, Building 2, Chongwen Park, Nanshan Zhiyuan, No. 3370, Liuxian Rd, Nanshan District, Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, P. R. China. The company’s sales contract is concluded with the buyer, while the order is a request made by a buyer on a website to purchase and deliver the goods. The seller is GAMEGEEK LIMITED, and the website provides information resources for customers to order, purchase, or use goods for personal, family, and other needs.
What type of phone is REDMAGIC?
The Redmagic brand of mobile phone has been developed with the specific intention of appealing to the gaming community.
Is RedMagic 7 good for gaming?
The RedMagic 7 is a powerful mobile phone suitable for both mobile gamers and those who aren’t too picky with their photos. It offers a big, fast display, excellent cooling, functional shoulder buttons, great styling, and a great value. However, it drains quickly when gaming, has unusable ultra-wide and macro cameras, and has a chunky design. While not as impressive as mainstream flagships, it’s a great choice for gaming enthusiasts.
Which mobile brand is from China?
The list of mobile phone brands sorted by country from which the brands originate is a comprehensive overview of the global smartphone market. The number of mobile phone brands reached over 750 in 2017 before declining to nearly 250 brands in 2023. The article highlights the importance of staying updated with recent events and newly available information, particularly regarding brands from developing countries. The list includes brands such as China, Meizu, Ningbo, Bird, OnePlus, and Oppo.
The article also mentions the 20 most valuable smartphone companies in the world, QBell, Hidis Srl, Explay, SwishTech, Hagenuk in Berlin, and Okapia Mobile Bangladesh. The article also mentions the recent acquisition of Berlin-based mobile phone production and Danish mobile phone development by Telital, as well as the closure of Kiel-based production. The article encourages readers to help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.
Is Red Magic 5G worth buying?
Despite its impressive power for its price, the Red Magic 5G is not recommended for most US users due to its lack of extensive band support for any carrier and its 5G option being unsuitable for the majority of users.
📹 My real wife will hate this phone – REDMAGIC 9PRO
Thanks again to REDMAGIC for sponsoring this video! Check out the phone and the accessories using the links below: Exclusive …
You keep comparing it to a phone that’s considerably more expensive instead of something that’s closer to it’s price range. And you gave the Samsung another unfair advantage by testing it with the external fan and not using it with the phone it’s actually for ? Couldn’t you test it on both of the phones to keep it fair ? You had it out for this phone from the beginning not a great review.
Bruh you missed the entire point of a gaming phone.. it’s not as much about the hardware/performance these days, but rather about gaming specific features – things like bypass charging, additional charging ports (so your cable can be routed around your hands), macro creation and execution (to grind in games), article recording and sharing features, etc etc… It’s not just about FPS because as you point out, regular phones can do that – what they can’t do is all the other stuff. Oh, and have you tried playing a mobile game in the summer – outside – on a non-gaming phone? I have.. it doesn’t end well. On a gaming phone, the base level cooling is better, plus they have additional active cooling – you can actually play the games. Extended gaming sessions have no problems on gaming phones either.
funny thing is if you also put the cooler on the redmagic you’d prob get even better performance i’d assume. whole point of a gaming phone is to game on them for long period of time without as much throttling, ontop of the fact they got charging separation too so you can actual game with it plugged in without it using the battery which should help its battery lifecycle and prob performance too. (idk why other phones still don’t do this) i’d 100% buy one, not only because it’s cheaper for flagship specs but i do a ton of gaming on my phone so getting the most out of it would be a pretty big +.
And that’s why people who aren’t playing Mobile games regularly shouldn’t review Gaming phones Because they don’t know why Redmagic or Rogs are better than normal flagships For once the touch sampling rate is way better on gaming phones And the ability to retain fps in intense situations during the gaming session is so much better For example: the s24 ultra drop frames alot while playing codm Ranked lobbies (no I’m not talking about elite or master lobbies or your pubs any phone can run fine while playing low ranked matches or pubs I’m talking Legendary ranked and scrims) the fps some times drop to 90 which messes up sensitivity increases motion blur and touch sampling as well not to mention it gets extremely hot while redmagic retains fps like you can get 115-120 easily yes it gets hot but only like 40-41°C max So yes it is worth it for People to buy these gaming phones if they want to play at the highest ranks comfortably
Might be controversial, but sometimes you need these ‘Gaming’ phones to push the envelope that will then in a few years will become the standard, if not for these phones, we’d likely not get the 120hz displays, or the better controller support, or better cooling, maybe even more RAM and storage options. So I say let these smaller players continue to push the industry so in a few years we’ll get better features as standard.
Redmagic 9s Pro – 700$ Samsung S24 Ultra – 1299$ Redmagic gives you Solid Constant Performance Samsung may compromise a bit when it gets hot Redmagic Doesn’t need an extra cooling for most scenerios Samsung definitely needs one at some point which the phone being that costly. Redmagic you need to may reduce your expectations about Camera Samsung gives good camera but it’s 10x optical zoom that’s not much… Redmagic gives you a benchmark score of 2.3M Samsung gives you a score of 1.9M – 2M Considering the cost gap it’s 600$ difference and the thing you may lose is Camera, kinda okay Ui And OS.. then the bettery is definitely satisfying enough, i mean you can play games about 8-10hrs (Nobody would play that long for straight, and the battery charges under 45 minutes, manageable charging)
I have the 9 Pro (non-s) and the battery life is incredible. As far as burning more battery than the samsung… you can just adjust the TDP? lol. You have ACCESS to more cooling and therefore more power but you can EASILY tune for efficiency. I have tested previous generation 8 gen 1 AND older 800 and 700 series snapdragons. This chip is VERY efficient and adjustable with an incredibly large battery. You just have to be more active in adjusting your performance. I am a BIG fan of having a physical headphone jack & IR blaster which were old features that I miss from smartphones. I have never worried about having the “best” camera and far more worried about having more performance. I regularly experiment with Winlator, high end console emulation, and dabbling in mobile gaming. For me, I prefer the redmagic over the flagship Samsung because of the performance, superior cooling, battery life, and price.
I am not someone who really games on my phone, but now I am even more interested in this phone. I don’t like Samsung’s UI, and I am not loving the Pixel 8 Pro that is my work phone. It’s significantly better than my personal Samsung S21 FE. But it’s just me I hate camera bumps. My phone is as thick as the camera bump, no matter what, so, use that space for something that improves the experience. Seems like in this case it’s battery and cooling. Which makes a lot of sense to me The front camera is never really important to me. If I am going to take a picture I care about I use the back camera every time. And you pointed out it is cheaper than other phones of a similar caliber. So that’s pretty awesome! Since I don’t game much, that means that I should be able to squeeze some extra battery life out of it. It’s also a nice looking phone Thank you for the review! I am pretty excited for when I can finish saving up for it
Well benchmark isn’t the only thing. Phones like s24 ultra do take performance hit when you’re playing with a good lobby sometimes 30-40 players land on a single area and the phone starts to throttle. But gaming phones tend to perform better in those scenarios. And having triggers built into the photo is also pretty nice that means you can see more on screen and react faster as well.
Would love like a non-gamefied looking version of this phone. The whole flat rectangluer design actually looks really amazing, and a headphone jack is a solid plus. Just the gamery stuff on it looks a bit tacky to me. A clean back design as well as stock android on this phone and I would buy it in an instant
I feel like the article made some good points but there are some things that either didn’t add up or were in my opinion not correct. 1. 50c for a phone is not hot at all. I have a Note 20 that in 3DMark gets up to 75c, and I feel it but it’s not like hard to hold. Maybe he has extremely sensitive skin or something. 2. His claims of the 9S having “more battery drain” don’t really make sense since comparing to other benchmarks, the 9S wins in terms of battery life. May say that is due to the extra 1,500mah battery size, and that helps, but normally the more battery drain, the less and less charge= less time. 3. Just me, I have never heard of anyone using the front camera, ever. They will just use the back camera. 4. 50mp is perfectly usable in terms of pictures, articles, etc. Yeah, the S24 has a better camera, but would you pay 2x the price for that He’s right about the software being a bit bad on translation, and the security updates tho
tbf, the reason i still go with the Asus RoG phones is mostly because of the feature set i get. front firing speakers is a big plus for me, and i get access to Asus Audio Wizard on my phone, which have proven incredibly useful as i listen to a lot of heavy metal, and it helps balancing out the tuning of my headphones/earbuds. the camera is good enough for me, although others like google pixels, samsung and sony’s phones cameras far outshines it (not gonna compare iPhone, not the same OS). and while i may not get the same feature rich experience with Asus as you would with samsung, the amount of bloatware on the phone when you get it, is way lower. and then there’s price. costs less than the newest samsung, unless you go all the way with a pro model. on top of that, i use my phone for games, so stuff like extreme performance mode (and even furrther when attaching the cooler) is a nice feature, although never really needed.
Being surprised that an android phone only has one major update in his lifetime is surprising that’s your surprised. I don’t even believe Samsung is going to have the amount of years of major updates that they promised. Anyone outside of Google pixel I don’t believe it’s going to have any more than two year major updates until I actually see it happen.
The thing you missed in the article is that the actual benefit of having active cooling on a phone is not necessarily being faster than the others (although bigger number good for publicity) but the fact that it can help a lot with thermal throttling. Sure even my 8 gen 1 phone can run cod mobile a 120 fps, but can do it only for 15 minutes max and then the performance decreases over time. Same deal with emulating switch games, until they become unplayable. However having that fan can help to reduce or even eliminate that effect and since most of the apps don’t need the full performance of the chip, it’s probably not going to get uncomfortably hot unless you’re really pushing it.
gaming phone does needed in 2024, where some doesn’t want to carry big handheld like ally or steam deck to play games or only games they play is like mobile games. i’m not talking about clash or clans or something like that, but rather like Honkai impact 3rd, Honkai star rail, Wuthering waves, etc and this phone is quite good at it too, for people who needs extra or special buttons and prefer dedicated gaming phone instead of using their main phone to do so
Gaming phones are popular in asia, where people spend hours playing mobile games and actually earn money through professional esports. It’s not that popular in North America because to be honest, North American esports teams suck and they have less support. Look at china, india, korea and south east Asian countries, mobile gaming is popular there so gaming phones are also popular there.
Didnt test it vs another gaming phone: Check Disnt understand that cooling is better to retain performance over time instead of throttling: check Only checked the cooler with the S24 but not the redmagic: check Think cameras is the most important in the world for gamers: check Not realising you shouldnt review gaming phones: check No idea what touch sampling rate is: check. Rename this lazy mans review…. Cause you did nothing to review ut. Only to talk negative about it.
I really love my Red Magic 6s Pro as I got good specs for a decent price. Still runs well and battery life is decent for three years of age but gets quite hot playing games. Biggest draws were headphone jack and no front camera punch or notch. Interested to upgrade about when 10/10s releases, then it’ll be about four years between my phone purchases.
I’ve owned my Redmagic 9s pro for more than 7 months now and I bought it after my Samsung Z Fold 3 broke with the inner screen not turning on anymore and needs replacement. One big pro about owning the Redmagic 9s pro that wasn’t mentioned in the article is that it’s literally 50% cheaper than a Samsung S24 Ultra. I’ve owned Samsung flagships since the S7 Edge with around a 2-year phone cycle so I was already thinking of getting the S24 Ultra after my Z Fold 3 broke, but I sat down and thought really hard about my priorities in a new phone since I’m now a dad. I just had my $2000 USD Z Fold 3 break down on me when I was planning to use it for another 2 years to break my 2-year phone cycle because of new financial responsibilities for my growing family, while I did really love Samsung top quality cameras, I wasn’t really using my camera for work or for entertainment that much anymore since I rarely post photos on my socials. In the last 2 years with my Z Fold 3, I’ve used it more for gaming more than anything else(which probably broke the inner screen) and this increase in mobile gaming came as I got busier at work and had less time playing on my PC and simply take quick breaks playing a quick 20 minute MOBA or COD mobile game every 2-3 hours of working. Shelling out another $2000 USD on the S24 Ultra just doesn’t make sense when I could get a much cheaper 700 USD and just use it for exactly playing a quick 20 minute MOBA or COD mobile game, and also for the 80W charging because I always forget to charge.
I will say, I fully 100% approve of them making the back panel interesting. I’m so tired of every device having the exact same boring flat metal slab for its back, aside from the cameras. And since the basic shape of devices is locked down, the back panel becomes the last/best opportunity to actually add some visual flair to a device.
i love the red magic phones and have been using them for a few years now. a lot of things in this article are personal things you think about phones. for example i never use the front camera. also the built-in controllers are great i also have a few separate ones, like the one from razer, but i don’t like anything as much as the built-in ones. i understand the criticism, but i think the feedback is very personal. only the update policy really needs to be adjusted. That is for me every time to look further to see what else is available. If the update policy is better then i would buy the next one without thinking.
Honestly gaming phones are making more and more sense with the introduction of emulation. And yes, yes, “why not just buy a pc” but the thing is that you cant really carry that in your pocket. And even though stuff like windows emulation doesn’t make a lot of sense now because of their poor optimization. Give it a few more years and we’ll get pretty close to running at native speed. Right now you lose like 60 percent of performance but even then you can run gta 5 above 60 fps. There is incredible potential for windows emulation on android.
I have the Red magic 9 pro that released earlier this year (the 12gb of RAM model). Let me explain why I chose it over anything else: 1. The haptic triggers They are an absolute game changer. In CoD mobile you have a distinct advantage over anyone using pure touch controls. In games like Minecraft and Stardew valley, the game becomes infinitely more playable. Taking your thumbs off the virtual sticks to press what would be trigger buttons on a controller is just really awkward and annoying. These haptic triggers fix that. 2. The headphone jack Not many worthwhile phones these days have a headphone jack. I don’t think I need to explain any further. 3. It has a “console” mode If you plug HDMI cable into it, it goes into “console” mode, and allows you to play your games on any screen. The only other phones that do this are flagship Samsung phones that support DEX. 4. It’s cheaper than any comparable phone There’s almost not reason to get the 16Gb model. It’s an overpriced waste of money. The 12Gb model has plenty of RAM and costs significantly less. But even the 16Gb model is almost HALF THE PRICE of the S24 ultra, and it actually outperforms that phone as well. 5. The active cooling There are few gamer phones with fans, but they all cost a fortune, and offer very little over a normal flagship phone. This phone is the exception. It has features that actually make it unique on top of active cooling to keep it from burning your hands. (Austin is just being a cry baby. It doesn’t get very hot with normal use.
Honestly the type of gaming phone I really want is a modern take on something like the Xperia Play. Having a slide out controller (or another similar solution) instead of having to buy a seperate third party accessory would be absolutely awesome and would 100% get my money. (Currently using a Nacon MG-X Pro and I love it, but it is an extra thing to carry around and attach/detach whenever I wanna use it).
Samsung should make a budget phone with a three-four year old flagship chip, SD expandable storage (up to 1tb), a headphone jack, and a removable battery for $350 and see how fast that bugger sells. They won’t, though, knowing how much it will cut into flagship sales. The vast majority of consumers don’t even need half the power/RAM of an s24 Ultra Premium Plus Championship Edition.
Bro comparing an $800-$900 gaming phone with a $1200+ flagship Samsung. Wouldn’t you think that’s a little unfair in terms of battery and cameras? Maybe a comparison between the s24 base model and this gaming phone may have been a better choice and even the playing field a bit. Just adding my two cents
Now, i have a Z Fold 5… and I understand where Austin was coming from viewing this as just a “gaming phone”, but there were certain details he brushed over in comparison to a Flagship phone. Less guaranteed OS updates? Well every Samsung OS update I’ve gotten has always just resulted in more bloatware shoe horned into the OS kernel. I don’t need Samsung “Facebook”. Yet every baked in useless GOOGLE knoxx-off can’t be un-installed because they are “intergrated” into it, or core protected by knoxx. I mean hell. Name a phone in the last 15 years that has survived more than 3. Give me a phone that over 2 years promises a single OS update.
Before I watch this all the way I appreciate greatly that there’s a phone out there for people who couldn’t care less about having a social media camera and instead want pay less than a flagship and get better actual performance. Plus on a personal note, as a Pokemon Go player, the huge battery and built in cooling system makes me really excited also as someone who’s getting really bored and tired of the lack of anything exciting in any of the regular flagships beyond the honestly ridiculous camera upgrades that absolutely no one in everyday use will ever notice, phones like this really speak to me Edit: after perusal this I wanna say I can’t remember the last time I ever used my front faced camera also idk if it’s just me but it feels like Austin went into this with his opinion already decided and it didn’t matter what he saw. Again I’ll say not everyone cares about having a top of the line camera or a name brand phone but having unique phones that stand out from the crowd that all just have the same colored same looking plain bricks everywhere and this feels honestly perfect. I hope Redmagic keeps making phones and keeps working to innovate and make themselves more unique
Something is off about this review Slapping a cooler 1. Is an Extra Expense + The S24Ultra (24U) is more expensive than the Red Magic 9S Pro (Red) 2. Adds more bulk. Can it even be pocketed? Can it powered by the S24U or I need to carry a powers source in addition to the cooler. 3. Is way less subtle in public that just the Red on its own. 4. How much does weigh + S24U VS Red. Gamers usually go hours, and more weight means less play time. When gaming 5. CODM multiplayer (in the article) is a small map in 5v5 and less things happening and the S24 will do well in Ultra setting but in Battle Royale where you have giant map, more players ( Squad vs squid with a one more squad coming to third party with vehicles, gunfire, grenades and Classes (special abilities) activated, it becomes demanding and in those random instances increased bursts of raw processing power are absolutely necessary to be not at a disadvantage) and gaming phones handle that much much better. The Benchmarking 6. Red’s body ran hotter than the S24U in a benchmark that is sustained full load for 20 minutes 3Dmark Steel Nomad Stress Test but in gaming that’s not the case its random bursts of power so I don’t see it getting that crazy hot, warm maybe. 7. True the Red uses more battery to get a better performance therefore consumes more juice. The S24 is draining 11%/20mins Vs the Red’s 18%/20mins but the cooler isn’t getting its juice from the S24U 6:04 but from an unseen source. Had it been hooked up to the S24U (if possible that the S24U could power the cooler) it would likely consume more power than the Red judging by the size of the cooler.
I think you are being a bit biased. The tests weren’t fair nor accurate. You also mentioned something about optimizing power consumption to reduce heat and extend battery life. Here’s why that would be a disadvantage for mobile gamers: In gaming, FPS (frames per second) is really important, especially for games like CODM and PUBG Mobile. iPhones do this, and it’s really annoying. In situations where many players are close together on the map, especially in scrims or esports, the screen will dim significantly, and/or the frame rate will drop as soon as the phone heats up a bit. On Samsung devices, I’ve experienced frame drops in the same scenarios. That’s why I think RedMagic went for a different approach. Also, when you perform benchmarks for battery life, you should keep in mind that other companies optimize their phones by reducing performance when the phone gets too hot. By reducing performance, the battery life will obviously appear “better,” even though performance per battery life is probably still better on the RedMagic.
I’m planning on getting one, and the corner cuts you talked about don’t bother me at all especially the camera as I almost never use the cameras on my galaxy s22 ultra. I primarily want this phone for remote play from my consoles and some mobile gaming. The only thing I do with my phone aside from using it as a phone or perusal YouTube.
Love my redmagic 9S pro, love the under screen camera, I’m not big on selfies, I don’t think anyone purchasing this phone would be, love the speakers, holy hell, they’re actually an alternative to a jbl speaker, was not expecting tech this advanced I must say. The oled screen is just beautiful, I’ve never seen such a beautiful screen on a phone before. You talk about updates of major brand phones, my old iphone can’t be used anymore because the last update rendered the access button inoperable. This is another reason why we would want to buy a chinese brand phone, we know we don’t have to put up with that kind of bs. Redmagic has better quality tech for a better price, and the phone is a work of art. I should also mention the flat cameras, very nice. Highest screen ratio as well. I’m not a phone gamer btw, I didn’t buy it for that, I sure as hell enjoy the tunes coming out of it though. I sure as hell want to see more phones engineered like this, and i’m sure Austin does too. So sick of seeing major phone brands ditch quality for more profits too.
The red magic 9 pro is my favorite phone I’ve ever owned. I didn’t buy the phone expecting to game on it, I’m usually not much of a gamer, since owning the red magic however I’m slowly becoming addicted to COD mobile. Besides the gaming aspect it’s still my favorite phone ever, hands down. It’s battery life is amazing and it charges insanely fast. I’ve experienced no bugs of any sort and it’s the fastest phone I’ve ever used. On geek bench my phone scored higher in every category than my coworker’s galaxy s24 ultra. I also love the look and feel of it, I’ve literally never been happier with a new phone!
This phone is considerably cheaper than any flag ship and performs just as good if not better and has the smallest bezels and an under screen selfie cam? Like….I love this website but I think this article was made just to be….different. this phone is great. It does everything and more. And who takes selfis?
This phone is really good for non gaming. If you don’t take selfies but browse a lot of social media then this phone is really smooth and the batter is insane. As well as the fast charging. I always had issues with androids that if I charge with a slower cable and brick the phone would just over heat itself and barely charge 1 percent, but this phone can charge with weaker chargers and if you have a fast charger this thing charges really quick
1. Actually in Asian market Redmagic cost only around $500-$600. You can’t compare pricing to western or EU. 2. Gaming phone has a external active cooler that you can buy separately. 3. Mobile games in Asian market is huge. Hok championship in china alone has a $10M prize pool with a total of 90M+ viewers while Dota2 has $6M only during the EWC in Riyadh last month. MLBB is also one the big moba game with a recent $3.5M prize pool at EWC and it topped the most watch views. Higher than dota2 or lol pc.
I’m always happy to see more phones out there with top of the line specs. We need more competition with Samsung and apple. For the past few years those have been the only 2 top of the line phones. I mean red magic has been there but not popular. I want them to be more popular. But we also have HTC returning with the U24. We also have Google with the pixel but I’m gonna be honest the pixel always has some major design flaw and is overpriced for what you get. More competition means more innovation. Bring back the headphone jack and sd card slot.
I have the $650 version and I can confidently says it my favorite phone Ive ever owned. Also the 2nd cheapest, for the price I can overlook any flaws. Also you basically have full control over the power profiles so if you dont want it in full power mode dont select that option. Its a non issue if you gave it in a joystick or controller
Didnt show game center and plugins and diablo mode to Overlock 😅 some may think its gimmicky….but the cross hair, hunt, and scout mode ive used them in ranked matches to clutch wins. Tested in other modes and its solid, feels like hacking/ cheating. It has all kinds of performance and gpu settings that the galaxy wont have 😅 20 min stress test, try 4hr -6hr gaming sesh. Can the samsung keep its frame rates? How does batter look like. Does it actually do 120fps or is it like previous years where games like pubg unlock the featire a year or more later. S20+ – had 90fps when it was made available in pubg S21 ultra- had to mod files to get 90fps S22Ultra – mod files for 90fps, Barely end of last year it was re enabled. Thats why i skipped the s24 / s25 ultra . Great phone, great OS 👍 but unless using fans and chargers it will struggle over longer sessions Does samsung have bypass/ Separate charge? To keep the batt untouched and only use the charger to operate the phone? The built in fan is good enough in a A/c environment, hell throw a cheap desk fan and it will circulate better and cooler air. Worse case throw the coolor on for 10mins if your really woried. In my ac room after 10-15mins chilling it got to 13° C and stayed that way for a good bit. Maybe 20mins later after direct sunlight and YT it jumped back to >35° C even then it doesnt even feel hot 😅 Batt life is great, obviously unless underload which makes sense since the red magic is boosted its cpu and GPU.
Just go it and is one of the best phone i’ve got except of the “OS” (the app drawer look cheap) but a part from that the battery is unkillable and recharge like crazy fast like 0 to 100 in 45 minutes, the main camera is as good as a Iphone 13 I would say and the speaker too, the screen is really good and bright even in the sun, the phone get really really really hot on diablo mode like burning hot so be careful with it
I like gaming phones because they have better battery life than the competition, good specs, and a headphone jack. That combination of features is sadly really hard to find in smartphones these days. There’s a bunch of budget phones with good battery life and a headphone jack, but none of the normal flagship phones have a headphone jack and usually they sacrifice battery life to make the phone slimmer. You don’t need a gaming phone to play games, but the unique internal layout of the ROG Phone is something I appreciate on the rare occasion I play games on my phone. It never gets warm to the touch, because the SoC is in the center, away from where my hands hold it in landscape mode. The poor support when it comes to updates is the norm for most brands that aren’t Samsung, Google or Apple. It sucks, but as someone who always roots my phone and doesn’t get OTA updates anyway, it’s not too big of a deal, since the open source community is pretty good with providing more up-to-date ROMs long after the manufacturer stops providing them. The camera is a bummer, I’ll admit. The camera quality might be better than a mid range Samsung, but only just.
I have the 9 Pro+ as my secondary device and I mainly use it for emulator gaming because of the fan letting me game for longer without overheating the Snapdragon SOC. BTW, I have all LED lights turned off. It also charges way faster because the fan allows cooling the battery to allow for faster charging. The under display camera is a main reason I bought mine since I hate having the cutout when perusal anything that uses the full screen. I don’t use the cameras, either one, since my main phone is the S24 Ultra anyways.
7:35 ah geez. I wonder why it call ‘gaming phone’ at first place. Able to run benchmark without throttle, it means phone pack a good vapor chamber. Edit:Im using 8sPro, sure, it only have 2 years + patch support and 1 OS upgrade. Which mine already did, i will be sad not getting new OS version. Not everyone using frontface camera, again, the selling point is gaming specific. Not daily driving, i use this phone daily. Just not active photo shooting person. You are looking at the daily use comparison, of course 9s pro would have all the downsides for all of them.
I would rather RM just remove the front camera. Make the screen more dedicated to gaming. Good job on the rear for what the device is, but you can only pack in so many ‘flagship features’ that a normal phone would have, when you have ‘gaming phone features’ as the main course. It’s good enough that they were able to pack a pretty-darn-okay rear camera setup in the device(s), but do they, and even WE really NEED the front facing camera if we are going to spend iPhone money for a midrange motarola selfie camera for? Mind you that it’s a GAMING phone, not your average flagship, because if gaming includes cameras, then the S24 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro Max and like devices are gaming phones… Just remove it.
even though you may not see the difference in benchmarks or casual gaming for a few minutes you will definitely notice it in emulation and heavy gaming for a long time, I’ve seen some guy getting 26-45 fps in Resident Evil 2 Remake with this phone while using emulation and tools like mobox, wine etc. That’s where you will notice the difference but still I would prefer a gaming handheld more like a steamdeck
I bought the phone because its one of the last phone brands with no notch, a headphone jack and fairly priced storage. I also own an iphone 15 pro as well the phone was double the price 1700$ cad for 256 gb model. I only use the iphone for iMessage and camera because ios doesnt have as many emulators and games. This is also the 2nd gaming phone i bought as i bought an rog phone 2 before and it was amazing. In fact id argue that the redmagic 9s pro is the only good phone in 2024 due to other phones simply not having a headphone jack
This is a phone for gaming. If you can’t afford to buy a dedicated phone for mobile gaming and a flagship, save for a flagship or get on a payment plan to own one. If you can’t afford a flagship, get a gaming phone. The cameras will not be as good on a gaming device, and the software/compatibility of apps will not be as seamless. The games you want to play will run at high performance. Updates will be less frequent. These phones are made to play mobile games and not necessarily made to replace your fancy flagship devices. I game a lot on phones and play competitively, so having a dedicated device is a good option for me. I don’t destroy my $2500 flagship device’s battery and processor while gaming for hours on end and put most of the stress on the gaming device that costs less than $1k. An external cooling fan will help keep the device from getting extremely hot while playing long sessions or playing games like warzone mobile that will burn your fingers or melt just about any device. If you play mobile games a good amount, a gaming phone could be a good investment for you. I don’t regret my purchase in the slightest bit.
Owner of a RedMagic 8 pro it’s great, the negatives you mention with the exception of the software update part I really don’t care about. Whole punch cameras are Ghey, I stop buying oneplus phones after 7t pro because of that, I love oxygen OS, I looked pass the removal of the headphone jack but I can’t do the screen interruption. I look forward to the Redmagic 10 pro if that’s what they end up calling it, if they add Micro SD card support to it I’ll probably bust a nut because it’ll be perfect.
If you are coming from a OnePlus, Samsung or Asus phone; you will appreciate the software development by the other companies. I’ve owned 2 redmajic models, yes I Love the under display camera -something zte perfected. But, the software is not good, floating window works but you have to enable it in developer options. It’s design is stellar, I enjoy the hardware but like I said, if you’re coming from OnePlus Asus or Samsung you can appreciate software development.
Lack of software support is what killed gaming phones for me. I loved my Razer Phone 2, and it’s still sitting in a drawer at my desk in mint condition, but it drifted out of software support very quickly to the point where a lot of apps can’t even install on it from the Play Store, and they never fixed the floating in the camera software. Really a shame because the hardware on these is great, but it doesn’t matter if they don’t run.
I honestly think the case for a gaming phones is better now than 6 or 7 years ago with the Razor phone. On the one Hand Flagships SoC, when though they are common among flagships, simply get hotter and simply need the help of a active cooler to sustain peak performance. Also with Flagships you spend a lot of money on cameras which you might not even need. And gaming phones usually give you back some of these savings.
I have some “weird” demands for a smartphone – I want a powerful device, and I don’t want any kind of notch or punch hole in the front. There are only three products on the market, Red Magic 9 (best budget), ROG phone 8 (more expensive with better camera) and Xperia 1 V (the price almost doubled from the previous model due to the premium camera), since I’m the weirdo that never takes photos, Red Magic 9 naturally becomes my best choice.
If people are happy buying expensive phones for their mobile phone quality games then let them. It’s the convenience that these devices have. But playing on mobile phone quality games. specially those pay to wins, gacha, and mobas no longer give me joy than it did before. Emulation have been fun at the beginning.but a bit tedious tinkering after a while. And sure there are Premium games you can pay for for a good time but nothing big has been released for a long time . Like there is the steam deck priced lower than these gaming phones for a better quality experience gaming if you already have a big steam library collection. But if people is already invested in their mobile games, that is good too. As long as you’re having fun.
i feel like this is something i have to say for all articles reviewing a gaming phone. you usually buy these for things like emulation on the go. or say new game releases that are unstable on a regular phone pluses are you do not want to carry a cooler on hand for the s24 while the redmagic has one built in
Thanks for the impartial review😊. Good insights here. The internal fan is nice. But it shouldn’t be taken as a negative. The issue with the phone temperature is an easy fix, just add external cooling on top of it. Lol. The only question is whether the drawbacks like the software and camera are worth the savings. If the price drops then it’s probably nice to have it as a dedicated gaming phone.
Like so many things, I have completely reversed course on phone gaming. Used to be a huge defender of mobile gaming (back when IGN had a dedicated team for it). Now, I almost never game on my phone even though I just updated to iPhone 15 Pro. That’s for my Steam Deck. I actually like not having an all-in-one device for work and play. I love having an all-in-one retro and modern gaming device that’s just for gaming.
Bro seems to forger that the samsung s24 ultra is like twice the price and that the redmagic 9s pro is NOT meant to be your main phone its meant to be like a console that you use to play wherever you want and you can use it for other things like perusal articles and things like those but its not meant to be used for the same things as a normal phone ._.
I wish the cameras were better by now and they included a micro sd card slot for extra expansion (which could be an amazing first for any gaming oriented phone by the way) I own a red magic 6 Pro and I’ve gotta say these phones are absolute emulation BEASTS. so I think they’re still pretty good, minus the software experience.
I do like to game on my phone BUT its so miniscule and none of the games can take advantage of the phone itself so…something like this would not benefit me. The mascot allure is pretty cool though for like 5 minutes and then it’s like ” how do I turn you off” I honestly think redmagic should have toned down the performance and went with better cameras and 5500mah battery overall. that’s just my thought
I’ve owned a red magic 9 pro for a number of months so far, it fits my needs very well as I wanted one very powerful for emulators (winlator). I think your comparison to the s24 ultra is an unfair comparison as it is a much more expensive phone, where I live its around twice the price. Though I do agree this phone is not for everyone. The good: great performance, I love the aesthetic, battery life is great for my use, 2+ days for me, I find the cooling fan very neat. The build quality is superb the bad: cameras are mediocre which wasn’t important to me, software was bad at launch (buggy) now its serviceable but could use some polish, and I agree longer software support should be available. I honestly barely use my phone for gaming I just wanted a powerful phone to mess with emulators and thought winlator was cool. Good phone for some people not for the average user though, I would take an s24 ultra over it if they were similar price.
I mean as a hard core gamer updates are important as a lot of times they come with driver updates as well. But just the lack of software support and updates and the fact that there’s no ip water or dust resistance is enough to more than justify the price difference between a “gaming” phone and a flagship. I would argue due to how frail gaming phones are I would say they would make horrible daily drivers especially for those with a lot of pocket lint.
I can see why a gaming phone would need a good fan. Gaming is something that I just never got into, but I wish I had, because it looks like so much fun!. However, it looks like a gaming phone comes with a lot of trade-offs. I need my phone for its productivity features, and I’ve found that even the casual games drain the battery faster than I would like, and usually when I need to preserve that battery; like when I know I’m going to be unable to charge for a while but I know I’ve got a lot of spare time (waiting room at the dr office, or on a plane). Still, it looks like they’re trying to make something that serves their target market.
If your review is more just a slanted takedown of the genre and criticizing the device against standards it never intended to meet for the segment it’s marketed to, then you kind of failed at your job as a reviewer. No one who is actually looking for a dedicated gaming phone (these people actually exist) is going to value your criticism when you’re just slanted off the rip.
i disagree with u this time, because if u are getting a gaming phone its mainly because u need the sustained performance and the gaming phone wont be ur only phone, a regular person is never gonna buy this but this phone is great for a dedicated gamer, who plays lets say pubg mobile and code mobile competitively, and believe there are more people who dose that than u think, and the legion go and steam deck, they are still no to play games competitively, this phone is marketed towards gamer and this is certainly enough to satisfy them, its not ur regular regular phone
Personally I have both red magic 9s pro and s24 Ultra. He did not talk about half of the stuff of the red magic 9s pro features for gamers. Also wanted to add the price to performance. Here is something he mention about the phone drop performance when the phone heating this part is crusial for gamers while playing especially someone like me who play tounament on phone
I really like the hardware of these gaming phones top tier specs for less money than other companies flag ship. Just have to sacrifice the camera quality which is fine since I use it less than 5 times per year. The main Reason Why haven’t got a gaming phone is the lack of software updates. I held onto my last phone for nearly 5 years. Only reason I stopped using it is lack of security updates.
I’m a codm player. And the redmagic 8pro which I use is better than most flagships. I use an iPhone 15 pro max as my daily phone and though it handles the game pretty well just like the redmagic, the redmagic does better when it comes to sampling rate. The redmagic’s response rate is much better and if you want high demanding games for better stress test, you should use games like ‘car x street’ and ‘undawn’ on maximum settings. With these games the iphones drops frames a lot due to heat and though the redmagic also heats up the game still runs well. Oh and it is about 400$ lower than most of the flagships
Camera work is offputting, jump cuts, rapid zoom in/outs.. Great gaimg phone, battery life is amazing. SD 8 gen3 is power hungry (up to 38w draw) Only downsides are not waterproof, UDC cam is visible under low brightnes and front cam sucks, but you don’t buy gaming phone for it’s cameras.. Software support is ..ooof..not great! I don’t mind bad translations but Nubia keeps taking away good features & they dont support phones for long. 1 Android upgrade at most.. Oh and OBE+ displays are disaster! No wonder Apple ditched them. ~1100 nits! Nubia pulled that “1600” out of their ass. I still love mine after 8+ months (9 Pro) and use it as daily driver, but they arent for “normal” person. Hell, I dont even game on it, just wanted SD 8gen 3,alot of Ram & storage for normal price, Z60 Ultra/Leading Ver. is more my speed. There are alot of positives even if I didnt named them
Don’t mind my language but I mean seriously this was one of the dumbest reviews I’ve seen of a phone in a long time . I mean they kept going back to mora I mean dude every phone has a little gimmick or something or the other to make it stand out. You wouldn’t want to buy the same old glowy slab of a phone every time right??!! They did something unique that apple fanboys don’t like. It’s a fun phone man stop crying about it If you wanted to point out only the drawbacks look at samsung folds paying close to 800 dollars extra for a stupid phone that doesn’t even have good cameras . Never perusal austin evans again
I completely agree with the conclusion. Someone i know has one of those ROG phones and it just seems so silly. I genuinely dont see the point to a “gaming” phone over my S24u. Sure, marginal increases in synthetic benchmark scores, but at what cost? The real world performance is the same. There is literally no game and no amout of graphic settings that my S24u could not do just as wel..
You asked why people dont use the front cam, i dont like to articlecall or whatever or take selfies, but i do want a cam. in case i need a face cam, i turn on a app and use the back cam anyway, because those cams are the better ones anyway. what i dont get, is that there are (what i know of) no phones nowadays without a front cam, because i want that
The phone looks cool, i was thinking of buying one, the only turn off for me is the software support, comparing the phone to S24 Ultra seems a bit unfair to me, that phone cost almost double, I think that you should have compared it to the regular which is more similar in price. I was thinking of buying it because of the specs, even tough i dont game on phones, nice big oled display, huge battery, active cooling, good enough cameras and it also has some sort of desktop mode like the Samsung Dex. The cameras are decent enough, dont care about the selfie one, it is still good enough for article messaging and it doesn’t look worse then the one on the newest fold phone from Samsung 🙂
MY EXPERIENCE WITH A REDMAGIC: I have the 8s pro and I like it, for me it’s like a portable console with a pocket design and with phone functions that are decent. If you play demanding mobile games the 9s is a good option. It’s true that you can buy a portable console if you want to play games but tbh, no one goes around everywhere with a steam deck or a rog ally so a gaming phone is more comfortable. I use it as a daily phone, don’t recommend that unless you don’t care about the camera and searching for a compatible network provider (like T-Mobile). It cuts bills on some basic phone specs, but don’t forget we’re talking about a gaming phone that is at least 200 dollars or more cheaper(depends on version). The screen, audio and processor are really good. My conclusion: no money for a 1k New phone and portable consoles are too big for carrying it everywhere you go? Buy Redmagic.
the only thing that can make these phones relevant, and I am talking to you as well ROG is that if we get exclusive games on this gaming phone platform. Like the library has to be so extensive that you can play those beautiful heavy graphics game only on those phones and for that they must come up with a dedicated chip along with the processor. It should make Giants like Samsung and Apple jump in as well in that market.
I almost never use the front facing camera, only if I want to look at my face sometimes. I guess it’s a matter of if you like doing article calls and taking photos of yourself or not. If you don’t, you will rarely ever use the front facing camera. I doubt most gamers would like seeing themselves, haha. At least if we go by stereotypes which I was a part of. For article calls, I use my laptop.
what people interested in these phone isn’t the top spec but the lower end one that you show for 650. for that price to have top of the line performance is nuts. and you never show actually demanding games like wuthering waves, zenless zone zero or even just genshin running on this vs the galaxy that basically cost twice
What’s the point of constantly comparing it to Samsung when they are in completely different price brackets? The Redmagic is available straight from the manufacturer for $650, which is literally HALF of the S24 Ultra’s ridiculous $1300 price tag. This whole article is basically like asking “why would anyone buy a Corvette when you could buy a Porsche instead???” The reason to get this phone is that it excels at a specific niche while sacrificing the polish and QoL of something much more expensive.
Handheld gaming PCs aren’t a great argument against gaming phones. You only have to look at them side by side to realize why they don’t compete in the same market. You can’t exactly put your Steam Deck in your phone. And they don’t run the same games (usually), nor should they because they’re wildly different form factors that have different strengths and weaknesses. Nobody is going to bring a Steam Deck (or equivalent) with them everywhere so they always have it when they need to waste some time.
We are just seeing the hardware outgrow the software. There are very few mobile games or apps that even come close to taxing modern flagships or even higher end budget phones. I mean why does a phone actually need 16 gigs of RAM? Are people running CAD programs, fluid sims, or maybe rendering CGI on their phones a lot these days? I don’t think so… The majority of people who are buying these phones are mostly just on social media and might play a light game every now and then.
The comparison to top flagship phones is nice and all, but TBH, I really want to know how this compares to like a $200 Motorola phone. I’m looking for an upgrade but I’m not going to drop $1200+ on a flagship phone, and I don’t even want to use it for gaming. I’m just looking for something that doesn’t lag doing basic tasks and has a battery that doesn’t literally blow up after <2 years (I have had this happen twice). Unlike computers, it seems like there's no real incremental upgrade path in phones, you either have absolute garbage (that can be overpriced at times), and top-tier expensive enthusiast stuff, I'm hoping this is one of the rare exceptions that falls somewhere in the middle.
The red magic gaming phones have diablo mode that overclocks the cpu and gpu to there highest clock speeds for better gaming performance. It usually requires rooting an android phone to overclock the cpu and gpu or under clock the cpu and gpu for better battery life with the exception of the red magic gaming phones since it’s built into the software without needing to root the phones. Diablo mode needs to be unlocked and enabled since it’s a hidden feature of the red magic gaming phones.
I just want a phone without a front facing camera. That’s why im interested in this phone. But I cant justify the price. I’d be interested in the cheaper version if it had the same look as the higher end one. I dont know why they chose different color schemes for each. I just want the snowfall look, no front camera, heck even take off the back cameras. Give me one cheapo 720p camera on the back with no zoom, and ill be happy. I just want a large phone with a nice screen for perusal articles on it.
I am kinda disapointed that Austin didnt even bother comparing the prices. With the constant comparasons to the s24 ultra you would think he would bother to talk about the pricing right? Welp heres a little more info: the red magic 9s pro is 799 usd, the s24 ultra is 1400usd. He may or may not be antsy that he bought the 9s pro for 100 usd extra. That is a 600 usd difference between the two (same storage at 512gb)…the red magic is punching well above its weight class and Austin seemed to just ignore it on purpose to make his opinions more “valid”. Including price in the context then the red magic 9s pro then most of his arguments agaisnt it are mute…except the software one, that one is pretty important. Nevertheless “Gaming phones” should be like this, phones that sacrifince stuff like cameras in order to compete or even beat 1000+ usd flagships.
As an ROG phone users, that argument about the holepunch selfie camera was ON POINT, like wtf was asus thinking adding a holepunch camera to the rog phone 8? And also changing the dual speakers from dual front-firing to only single front firing speaker and 1 side firing speaker. Like what kind of drugs are they on???
I’ve been daily driving the 8 Pro 16gb/512gb since July and the battery is probably the best feature. 2-3 days easy under normal use.. 5.5 hours playing Genshin. I’ve modded mine with dust covers on the fan vents to keep water and dust out, and a nice case with a transparent back. Even if you’re not into gaming, it’s a great daily driver phone too.
I was so disappointed when the ROG Phone 8 got a hole punch and reduced battery size, a good display with no holes or notches is one of the primary reasons I got the ROG Phone II and my current ROG Phone 7. I’m not exactly in the market for a new one yet but it’s good to know that someone’s likely going to be there when it’s time for me to upgrade. I’ve never had a phone with a hole punch or notch (or a 3.5mm jack, a feature I use surprisingly often), and it’s a hill I’m fully prepared to die on.
Kind of a shame Mora was skipped over. It could be another thing that sets the software apart. I get it, Linus is too cool for 2D waifus. But the assumption that this is only for other markets is not fair. I’d love to know how it works. Is it like Bixby and it’s own thing? Or a front end for Google assistant? Or maybe just a very basic system like Bluetooth voice control used to be? Etc
The lack of any functional return policy if I don’t like it, and the fact they don’t test the cameras at all (which as I understand it is pretty standard for ShortCircuit phone unboxings) are the main things giving me big second thoughts about this. Otherwise, even as a non-mobile-gamer, it looks like a steal for what it is and does. I love a lot of the design choices; flat rear camera, transparent front camera, headphone jack, etc.
I’m actually so happy to see that they’ve decided to ship this phone to Canada AT ALL. Like it’s genuinely an option now, and I’m highly curious with whether or not I actually want to buy the phone. It looks great. The fact a company like ZTE finally noticed the Canadian market has me happy enough lol.
Bought this phone in the 800€ white version on day 1, got it delivered on day 4 in a place that usually takes more than a week to get anything else delivered. I looked up the greats and gripes of its predecessor the 8 Pro, including the poor software translation and the “measly” 2 years of updates. Sure the updates situation hasn’t changed, but I haven’t seen software translation issues yet. Coming from a Motorola G8 Plus, the difference was night and day. The squared out, uninterrupted screen is gorgeous, the performance is rock solid, it’s a bit of a slab volume-wise but I rather that than a flimsy phone now. The edges are aluminum. The fan is not loud at all. I don’t have all the accessories he presented, coolers and gamepad, even then a good Xbox controller with a phone holder adapter works well enough, just be careful with your choice of phone case as the power and Vol- buttons are right in the middle of the right edge where a phone holder would grip and push down.