RedMagic 8 Pro launches globally w/ Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, 6,000mAh battery, $649 price

Damien Wilde | Jan 16 2023 - 4:00 am PT

Nubia has officially launched the firm’s latest gaming phone for 2023 in global regions. The RedMagic 8 Pro looks set to offer mobile gamers even more under-the-hood power with an impressively low asking price.

While tough to recommend for anyone other than those concerned with pure specifications, the RedMagic gaming phone series has improved year-over-year with incremental progression culminating in this latest release. The device utilizes the latest and greatest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, which is paired with 12/16GB LPDDR5x RAM, and 256/512GB of UFS 4.0 storage.

The latter additions are said to offer over 100% performance gains when compared to LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage respectively. Ensuring that gaming sessions last even longer is a massive 6,000mAh internal cell, which also touts 65W wired charging speeds. RedMagic’s ICE 11.0 cooling system with a dedicated fan should allow for longer gaming and cooler gaming sessions in the most demanding 3D Android titles.

A 6.8-inch 120Hz FHD+ AMOLED panel is the stage for gaming when using the RedMagic 8 Pro. This offers a 960Hz touch sampling rate with DC dimming and a Gorilla Glass 5 coating for scratch and drop protection.

One of the biggest upgrades is to the rear camera system. Ordinarily, gaming phones offer poor-quality camera systems, but the triple camera setup at the rear of the RedMagic 8 Pro comes with a 50-megapixel Samsung GN5 main sensor. This is paired with an 8-megapixel ultrawide, and a 2-megapixel macro sensor. This still isn’t stellar, but at least the camera should be competent. For those wondering about the selfie shooter, this second-generation under-display camera is rated at 16 megapixels.

The RedMagic 8 Pro has eschewed some of the aggressive designs that have been a trademark for the gaming phone series over the past few years. A boxier aesthetic is now prevalent, but RGB LEDs are more tastefully applied to the chassis. An aluminum frame and a glass sandwich design is by no means unique, but the physical shoulder and trigger buttons certainly stand out. That’s not even factoring in the fact that the 3.5mm headphone jack is retained here too alongside dual stereo speakers.

While Nubia has not specified the update plan, we do know that the RedMagic 8 Pro will ship with Android 13 pre-installed. This device-specific build includes a number of tweaks to take advantage of the extra hardware. A gaming space is bundled in, with other options such as LED control also offered.

For interesting buyers, the RedMagic 8 Pro will be available from February 2 directly from RedMagic.com. The US pricing starts at an enticing $649 for the 12/256GB variant while the 16/512GB model will start at $799. Colors are limited to “Matte” and “Void.”