The Nubia Red Magic 7 Pro is designed for gamers, so it has a gaming-oriented design that admittedly, will not appeal to people that want a more simplistic look. However, its design is not the only “gamer” thing about it. It packs the best hardware that you can currently get in an Android phone, and Nubia’s own additions such as improved cooling with active fans and shoulder buttons make it one of the best gaming phones out right now. If you are a mobile gamer, is it worth it to get the Nubia Red Magic 7 Pro? Or are you better off getting flagship smartphones from other brands?
To help you decide, here’s a chart showcasing how the Nubia Red Magic 7 Pro fares against top flagships such as the iPhone 13 Pro Max and the Galaxy S22 Ultra.
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Red Magic 7 Pro vs iPhone 13 Pro Max vs S22 Ultra Comparison Chart
Design
The Nubia Red Magic 7 Pro is thicker than most smartphones due to having dedicated shoulder buttons and active cooling fans.
At first glance, there’s no mistake that the Nubia Red Magic 7 Pro is a phone for gaming. One of the variants even have a semi-transparent back that lets you see the internal circuitry with labels and RGB. If you like gadgets with gamer aesthetics, you’ll love the Red Magic 7 Pro; however, if you prefer your device to have a more low-key design approach, you’re better off looking somewhere else.
Measuring 6.55 x 3.04 x 0.39 inches and weighing 235 grams, this is a chunky phone. It’s thicker than your average smartphone and there’s a few reasons for that. First, the Nubia Red Magic 7 Pro has active cooling fans to prevent thermal throttling while you game away. There are side vents to allow heat to dissipate. Also, the thicker phone allows it to have dedicated shoulder buttons for a better gaming experience. By the way, the Red Magic 7 Pro has a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is a good decision as it doesn’t limit you to using Bluetooth headphones, which are atrocious for gaming, or using dongles, which are annoying at best.
As for build quality, the Nubia Red Magic 7 Pro features a glass back and front along with an aluminum frame. However, there’s no IP splash-resistance here.
You can get the Red Magic 7 Pro in three colors—obsidian, pulsar and supernova.
Display
The Red Magic 7 Pro’s 960Hz touch sampling rate ensures that all your touches, taps and swipes are registered instantaneously.
When compared to other flagship devices, the 6.8-inch 1080 x 2400 AMOLED panel of the Red Magic Pro 7 seems underwhelming since it has a lower ppi. However, this screen is actually very good as the phone is primarily for gaming. The reduced resolution ensures that the SoC won’t struggle with more demanding games while still looking good.
The screen has a max refresh rate of 120Hz, however, there’s no adaptive mode here, so the phone’s refresh rate is locked. As such, the battery life suffers since 120Hz requires more juice than lower refresh rates.
One other feature of the Red Magic 7 Pro that takes it a step above other flagship smartphones is its 960Hz touch sampling rate. Having a high touch sampling rate means better responsiveness. Your swipes and taps will register instantaneously without delay, and this leads to a smoother and more responsive gaming experience, which is particularly helpful if you play fast-paced shooters.
Hardware & Performance
With its active cooling, the Nubia Red Magic 7 Pro can run games longer without suffering from frame rate loss.
Inside the Nubia Red Magic 7 Pro is Qualcomm’s latest and most powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset. This chipset provides the best performance for gaming, and it’s also found inside other brands’ flagship phones. However, what separates the Red Magic 7 Pro from other flagships is its ability to keep the chipset cool under load. Other phones with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset can get very hot, and this can lead to lower performance.
On the Red Magic 7 Pro, the active cooling fan that spins at 20,000RPM prevents thermal throttling, so you can play games for longer periods without suffering frame rate loss or slowdowns. The active cooling fan is indeed a nice touch, but it can be irritating since it’s loud. Whenever you are gaming, people around will also hear the fan.
There are several configurations that you can choose from if you decide that the Red Magic 7 Pro is for you. The cheapest model is a 128GB storage and 8GB RAM variant while the most expensive has a 1TB storage and 16GB RAM. Unfortunately, there’s no SD card slot on the Red Magic 7 Pro, so you’ll need to choose the amount of storage wisely.
Camera is only decent on the Red Magic 7 Pro. It has a triple camera sensor at the rear and it can capture well above decent quality images when there’s sufficient lighting. However, in low-light situations, images have a lot of noise. The Red Magic 7 Pro’s camera pales in comparison against cameras of other flagships such as the S22 Ultra and iPhone 13 Pro Max.
Battery Life
The 5000mAh battery of the Red Magic 7 Pro can last a while, even when gaming.
Equipped with a 5000mAh battery, the Red Magic 7 Pro has decent battery life. For instance, a 30-minute to an hour of gaming can drain the battery by about 10-20%, which is not bad at all. When used as a regular phone, meaning you just use it for browsing, checking social media and doing other light tasks, the phone can easily last a whole day before needing to recharge.
The battery life is decent, but what’s excellent with the Red Magic 7 Pro is its fast charging. The Chinese variant supports up to 135W fast charging, which translates to a full charge in about 15 minutes. The non-Chinese variant supports up to 65W, and you can fully charge it in 25 minutes, so not bad at all.
Verdict
The Nubia Red Magic 7 Pro is excellent for gaming, but average on everything else.
Red Magic 7 Pro
iPhone 13 Pro Max
Galaxy S22 Ultra
If you are looking to get a phone for gaming, the Nubia Red Magic 7 Pro is definitely worth it. In fact, it tops our list of the best gaming phones. The active cooling on the Red Magic 7 Pro allows it to perform better than other Android phones that sport the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, and having dedicated shoulder buttons definitely make for a better gaming experience. However, it’s not perfect as it underperforms in many areas. Camera performance is just decent, and for the price of the phone, it’s even underwhelming. The battery life is good, but nothing special. If you want a more well-rounded flagship phone, there are better choices, such as the iPhone 13 Pro Max and the Galaxy S22 Ultra. However, if gaming is your number one priority, then the Nubia Red Magic 7 Pro is hard to beat.
FAQs
The Red Magic 7 Pro does not have IP splash-resistance, so to be on the safe side, you shouldn’t expose it to water.
There’s no SD card slot, but you can opt to buy the variant with 1TB storage if you need more storage space.
It only supports wired charging.
Yes, the Red Magic 7 series phones support 5G.