RedMagic 10 Air review – An Android gaming champion just shy of greatness

Nubia’s reign within the Android market is commendable, particularly with spectacular flagships just like the RedMagic 10 Professional in its arsenal. Nonetheless, at a substantial price, it won’t be well worth the leap for everybody. That’s the place the RedMagic 10 Air is available in, a less expensive different that gives premium-quality options at a fraction of the associated fee.

However does it have what it takes to sit down among the many finest gaming telephones? Is it value choosing up over rivals just like the Poco F7 or Nothing Cellphone (3a), two gaming beasts in a stealthy shell? Stick round, and let’s break down what the RedMagic 10 Air has to supply.

Value

In comparison with the RedMagic 10 Professional, the model’s newest addition is a step towards providing high-quality options with out placing an excessive amount of of a dent in your pockets. Over the past month, I’ve frolicked with RedMagic’s $699 top-tier possibility, a full $100 cheaper than the Professional, which accommodates 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. Nonetheless, in case you’re not too bothered about having the most important storage capability, you’ll be able to bag the handset for $549.

Specs

Listed below are the RedMagic 10 Air specs:

Efficiency and gaming

Now that you already know what’s included out of the field, you’ll be able to clearly see what it’s able to; each second spent in-game seems like pure bliss. I’ll get to the magnificent show and impactful audio quickly, however the RedMagic 10 Air actually shines on the subject of efficiency. Backed by a 9-layer ICE-X liquid cooling system and a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, prolonged durations of playtime in all the very best cell video games are not any subject.

Regardless of swapping out Professional’s extra highly effective Snapdragon 8 Elite {hardware}, this demotion is nothing however a blemish in actuality. Cranking Name of Responsibility: Warzone Cellular as much as max settings is youngster’s play, and it handles extra demanding video games like GRID: Autosport, an already beautiful racer, with simply as a lot ease. RedMagic is a frontrunner of the pack on Android gaming efficiency alone, and it’s no shock that this mannequin retains that popularity going robust.

Due to that aforementioned cooling system, I by no means felt the machine get greater than a tad heat, because it by no means reached a worryingly excessive temperature. Nonetheless, just like the Professional, the fan will get just a little noisy in case you’re actually grinding over the course of some hours.

Options and software program

The RedMagic 10 Air does one factor that almost all cell manufacturers veer away from nowadays: bundle in a charger and USB-C cable collectively. Though the included charger sadly makes use of a type-A plug, you’ll be able to simply resolve that with an adapter. What’s much more stunning is the inclusion of a tough case. It gained’t win any awards for aesthetics, however it’ll hold the telephone secure from any bumps and scrapes.

As you’ve probably guessed by now, the RedMagic 10 Air’s promoting level is providing a superb gaming expertise, irrespective of the place you might be. Similar to the RedMagic 10 Professional, the brand new machine contains Recreation House – a helpful hub that allows you to entry all of your free cell video games with a single faucet. It capabilities equally to Armory Crate, a proprietary frontend app for the Asus ROG Ally, or the wonderful Spine app included alongside probably the greatest cell controllers.

Whereas Recreation House isn’t fairly as streamlined because the Spine app, it does lean into tailoring your gaming periods with a number of choices. You’ll be able to simply tweak keyboard and mouse help for any of your put in video games, in addition to controller help, although your outcomes will rely upon every recreation’s compatibility. A separate menu display handles Bluetooth accent pairing.

There’s even a behavioral studying toggle that designs management schemes for Gravity X, a Recreation House software that brings collectively cloud streaming choices from Xbox and PlayStation. And in case you’ve acquired a hankering for Roblox video games like Costume to Impress, RedMagic’s digital assistant, Mora, is basically your individual transportable waifu in an app. I can’t say that it’s an app I’ll be interacting with a lot, however seeing them realized via AR lens hijinks is amusing for at the very least a few minutes.

Talking of interactivity, Mini Recreation Wallpapers return right here, swapping out images for small-scale video games like Tetris. On a extra granular degree, Recreation House’s efficiency modes are a quick technique to preserve battery whereas monitoring your GPU and CPU in real-time. Past this, the RedMagic 10 Air delivers an Android 15 pores and skin like its pricier cousin. I’ve acquired no main points with this iteration of Android’s dependable OS, though the machine comes preloaded with some bloatware I promptly deleted. Sure, Reserving.com is but once more urging you to get a lodge locked in.

There’s the standard gamut of Google apps able to go, too, though mainstays like Google Docs and Google Sheets are noticeably absent. Perhaps it’s the author in me searching for them out instantly, however it is advisable to obtain them from the Google Play Retailer in any other case. In case you ever get tired of Mora, then Google Gemini is on the market for all of your queries and generative AI wants. I not often use Siri on my iPhone 15 Professional, however beginning a sequence of questioning with seamless replies and an eerily conversational tone reveals how Gemini is slowly surpassing Apple’s different.

Design and audio

In case you’re on the lookout for one thing with aptitude, the RedMagic 10 Air doesn’t fairly hit that mark. It isn’t that a lot totally different from the Professional visually, choosing a simplistic block of shade on the rear, devoid of any patterns or design quirks. With manufacturers like Nothing proudly exhibiting off partaking, eye-catching designs, it’s laborious to not want for a similar sort of spark on different units. Nonetheless, if subtlety is your bag, you then’ll really feel proper at house. The rear has a matte end, however it may really feel a bit too slippery at instances. I like to recommend placing the laborious case on as quickly as potential to offset this.

Quantity isn’t all the pieces, however there’s no denying that the RedMagic 10 Air is giving all of it on the speaker entrance. Booting up Recreation House rumbles the machine with a mighty refrain of synths, whereas enjoying video games responds to bass-heavy conditions with out getting too muddy. It places my iPhone to disgrace, with balanced mid and treble tones and sheer quantity that fills up the room.

Show

Whether or not I’m in-game or catching up on my YouTube subscriptions, this show is pristine. I are inclined to favor screens with greater refresh charges, and I don’t take the power to activate 120Hz mode without any consideration. FPS video games take full benefit of this, showcasing a hail of gunfire with crisp shadows and wonderful readability. I dare say it rivals a number of the finest Google Pixel telephones display-wise.

The telephone produces colours with a contact of vibrance, with out coming throughout as overly saturated or from the uncanny valley. That’s because of the choice to make use of an AMOLED display, which takes up an honest 6.8 inches of actual property throughout the entrance of the machine.

By way of decision, you’ll be able to experience 2,480×1116 pixels with a responsive 2,000Hz sampling charge. Once I say it may be shiny, I imply it. The RedMagic 10 Air makes use of 1,600 nits, providing you with visibility with out problem. Within the harsh daylight of a British spring, I had no points seeing what was on-screen.

Digicam

With all of the goodness the RedMagic 10 Air has to supply, there needs to be a catch. Sadly, that boils all the way down to the digicam. This isn’t a nasty digicam by any means, and it’ll definitely fulfill on a regular basis utilization and get candid moments uploaded to social media. Nonetheless, the OV50E 50 MP and OV50D 50 MP ultra-wide-angle lenses didn’t wow me with beautiful outcomes.

That mentioned, the wide-angle lens outperforms these on different mid-range telephones I’ve seen at this degree. It comes with an optimized distortion correction algorithm, indicating RedMagic acknowledges that it is a particular weak point in mid-range telephones.

Battery

To additional cut back the associated fee, the RedMagic 10 Air scales again its battery performance. This isn’t an enormous detriment, although. As a substitute of utilizing the bigger 7,050 mAh powerhouse within the Professional, you may get by on the 6,000 mAh battery with 80W quick charging functionality. To totally see how lengthy it might final, I used the telephone flippantly over the primary week, periodically checking social media apps and emails.

On this very battery-friendly utilization, I solely wanted to cost it twice. Utilizing the included 80W charger with an adapter, reaching full cost from as little as 30% in simply wanting an hour is unimaginable in case you’re about to go away the home. I additionally juiced up the telephone with a normal charger, however noticed charging instances prolonged to at the very least 90 minutes.

Must you purchase the RedMagic 10 Air?

The RedMagic 10 Air achieves the machine’s major aim: providing S-tier gaming efficiency at a diminished worth. If gaming is the important thing issue of your subsequent smartphone buy, you then gained’t be disenchanted with what there may be to profit from right here. From blockbuster-level motion in shooters to detailed gacha video games like Honkai Star Rail, the RedMagic 10 Air can deal with absolutely anything you throw at it.

Nonetheless, the disappointing digicam outcomes and a downscaled battery diminish the RedMagic 10 Air’s greatness. Whereas the handset’s chipset is highly effective, rivals just like the Poco F7 Extremely supply the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor for a tad extra worth.

Options

Nothing Cellphone (3a)

You won’t consider Nothing for its gaming prowess, however that hasn’t stopped the corporate’s merchandise from carving out a reputation for itself on this house. The Nothing Cellphone (3a) additionally runs on Android 15, utilizing Nothing’s minimalist OS pores and skin to streamline your approach between apps. With an eye-popping design that reveals off its nuts and bolts, it units the stage for the handset’s excellent efficiency to disclose itself. It may well get just a little toastier than the RedMagic 10 Air, however at the same worth, you gained’t must sacrifice digicam high quality both.

Poco F7 Extremely

The Poco F7 Extremely is a tad pricier than the RedMagic Air 10, however not by an enormous margin. It additionally options the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, the identical processor discovered within the RedMagic 10 Professional. It’s a superb performer for on a regular basis duties, however it doesn’t draw back from holding its personal throughout prolonged gaming periods. Body dips are just a little extra noticeable right here, however they’re so rare that they don’t massively affect the telephone’s in any other case nice efficiency.