Playing games on your phone requires a lot of processing power which in-turn creates a lot of heat. The new Nubia Red Magic 3 gaming phone aims to battle that heat with a built-in fan. Inspired by a gaming PC, the new phone uses a fan in combination with a liquid cooling system to keep things from getting too hot.
The phones also bring substantial upgrades to last year’s beloved Red Magic Mars. It’s as if Nubia took all the best parts of other gaming phones and designed them into the Red Magic 3. It has a 90Hz AMOLED display like the Asus ROG, detachable game controllers like the Xiaomi Black Shark 2 and dual front-facing speakers like the Razer Phone 2. On the inside, the Red Magic 3 gets a Snapdragon 855 processor, 8 or 12GB of RAM and an enormous 5,000mAh battery. There’s also an upgraded rear camera to a 48-megapixel sensor.
The Nubia Red Magic 3 keeps things so cool, it can hold its own in a metaphorical flow of lava.
Nubia
The Red Magic 3 is the third gaming phone in Nubia’s portfolio following the original Red Magic and last year’s Red Magic Mars phones. The company also made waves recently with its Nubia Alpha wearable phone that features a 4-inch flexible OLED display.
Nubia left some of what made the Red Magic Mars so good: the capacitive shoulder buttons, the customizable RGB light strip on the back, the dedicated gaming mode switch and the OS which is basically a stock version of Android 9 Pie with no bloatware.
The best part is that Nubia was able to make all these upgrades and still keep the price low. The Red Magic 3 starts at $479 (roughly converting to £380 and AU$695). That is insane. The recently released OnePlus 7 Pro shares many of the same specs but costs $190 more.
In our in-depth comparison of the best gaming phones, last year’s Red Magic Mars did well. But I’m excited to test the new Red Magic 3 and see how it holds up. Take a look below to see how the Nubia Red Magic 3 specs compare to the OnePlus 7 Pro, Razer Phone 2 and Asus ROG phone.
Red Magic 3 specs vs. OnePlus 7 Pro, Razer Phone 2 and Asus ROG phone
| Red Magic 3 | OnePlus 7 Pro | Razer Phone 2 | Asus ROG Phone | |
| Display size, resolution | 6.65-inch AMOLED; 2,340×1,080 pixels; 90Hz screen refresh rate | 6.67-inch AMOLED; 3,120×1,440-pixels | 5.7-inch LCD; 2,560×1,440 pixels; 120Hz screen refresh rate | 6-inch AMOLED; 2,160×1,080 pixels; 90Hz screen refresh rate |
| Pixel density | 388ppi | 516ppi | 514ppi | 402ppi |
| Dimensions (Inches) | 6.76×3.09×0.38 in | 6.4×2.99×0.35 in | 6.2×3.1×0.33 in | 6.3x3x0.34 in |
| Dimensions (Millimeters) | 171.7×78.5×9.65 mm | 162.6×75.9×8.8 mm | 158.5x79x8.5 mm | 158.8×76.2×8.7 mm |
| Weight (Ounces, Grams) | 7.58 oz ; 215g | 7.27 oz; 206g | 7.8 oz; 220g | 7 oz; 200g |
| Mobile software | Android 9 Pie | Android 9.0 with OxygenOS | Android 9 Pie | Android 8.1 Oreo |
| Camera | 48-megapixel | 48-megapixel (standard), 8-megapixel (telephoto), 16-megapixel (ultra wide-angle) | Dual 12-megapixel (wide-angle and telephoto; wide-angle has OIS) | Dual 12-megapixel and 8-megapixel, dual pixel PDAF |
| Front-facing camera | 16-megapixel | 16-megapixel | 8-megapixel | 8-megapixel |
| Video capture | 8K | 4K | 4K | 1,080p HD |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 | 2.84GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 (2.8GHz) | Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 (2.96GHz) |
| Storage | 128GB or 256Gb | 128GB, 256GB | 32GB or 64GB | 128GB or 512GB |
| RAM | 8GB or 12GB | 6GB, 8GB, 12GB | 8GB | 8GB RAM |
| Expandable storage | Yes | None | Yes | None |
| Battery | 5,000 mAh | 4,000mAh | 4,000 mAh | 4,000 mAh |
| Fingerprint sensor | Back | In-screen (optical) | Right spine | Back |
| Connector | USB-C | USB-C | USB-C | USB-C |
| Headphone jack | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Special features | 90Hz screen, gaming port, capacitive sides that double as shoulder buttons, game mode physical switch | 90Hz display, pop-up selfie camera, dual-SIM, Warp Charging | 120GHz screen refresh rate, water resistant (IP68), wireless charging, gaming dock accessory (sold separately) | 90GHz screen, sides of phone can be customized as buttons for games. Gaming accessories includes gamepad and dual-display dock (sold separately) |
| Price off-contract (USD) | starts at $479 | starts at $669 | starts at $900 | starts at $900 |
Watch this:
Asus ROG Phone is the best phone for playing PUBG
2:56