Over the last few years, Nubia has established RedMagic as a gaming smartphone brand worth considering. It acts like a classic flagship killer, with high-end specs at a price closer to the mid-range competition than the premium smartphones, even more so when the premium phones are gaming smartphones. And it does it all with a singular focus on gamers’ needs. With the arrival of the RedMagic 10 Pro, is Nubia still in charge?
RedMagic 10 Pro And Nubia’s Product Cycle
One thing that the RedMagic product line-up is known for is the frequent refresh of the handsets. Not only do you have the annual update of the numerical line, but you also have a six-month refresh with an ‘S’ release. This ensures that the latest RedMagic gaming handheld will be very close to the top of the pile when playing specifications Top Trumps.
For those looking to be as competitive as possible when playing, a new RedMagic phone is guaranteed to provide top-of-the-line hardware. But that competitive price comes with a cost… the number of software and security updates Nubia will provide. For me, this is the weakest point of the RedMagic 10 Pro package—it comes with just one Android update (taking the handset to Android 16 but no further), two years of UI upgrades, and three years of security updates.
That’s a short window, making it hard to recommend the RedMagic10 Pro without attaching a caveat about its longevity. Is that outweighed by the high performance and the gaming-focused hardware?
RedMagic 10 Pro Hardware
At the heart of the RedMagic 10 Pro is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite, a chipset at the top of the range. It’s a popular chipset and will be seen in many of 2025’s handsets, but perhaps not with the extra hardware RedMagic has surrounded it by to get the highest performance possible.
Up to 24 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage are available. These use the speedy LPDDR5X and UFS 4.1 Pro protocols to move data quickly.
Keeping the 8 Elite as cool as possible is the key to maximising performance. Nubia uses liquid metal cooling to draw heat away from the chipset as quickly as possible. It’s a technique and material used in gaming laptops, but it’s a first for smartphones.
If that’s not enough, don’t forget the RedMagic 10 Pro has a fan which circulates cooling air through the system. That does mean the 10 Pro lacks waterproofing, but it is an explicit design decision to focus on gaming prowess rather than day-to-day use.
That’s not to say that the Redmagic 10 Pro can’t be used as a day-to-day phone. It’s a full implementation of Android, the Google Play Store is present, and the excess power needed for high-end gaming means that the average social media or office application has a lot of headroom to run in.
RedMagic 10 Pro Battery
The battery is also an area where the 10 Pro stands out. Shipping with a massive 7050 mAh built around Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 5 technology, it can accept up to 100W wired charging, which is bundled in the retail packaging.
Gaming does use up a significant amount of power. While Nubia quotes 18 hours of video playback, that cuts down to a quoted 6.5 hours of Genshin Impact. Yet that’s enough battery to get through two solid days of “smartphone” work or a few gaming sessions over one day without worrying about charging.
RedMagic 10 Pro Camera
The design of the RedMagic 10 Pro can be summed up in a single world… flat. While there are rear cameras, there is no camera bump or island at the rear. The whole phone feels chiselled out of a single block. This helps the balance of the 10 Pro in the hand and makes for a comfortable experience when playing for longer sessions.
The rear camera can, just about, be graded as “adequate” but is nothing to write home about. This is where the majority of corners have been cut to allow Nubia to invest elsewhere in the RedMagic hardware, and it’s the logical place to do so. Those wanting a great camera will be aware of the smartphones they need to consider and will look elsewhere, and those here for gaming will be happy they can take the occasional snap.
RedMagic 10 Pro Game Space Software
Yet, the Pro 10 is not perfectly smooth. Down the long edge, you still have your power and volume buttons, speaker, and SIM card slot. You also have air triggers in the shoulders of the 10 Pro when playing landscape mode. These can be programmed to replicate button presses or taps in any app through GameSpace software.
GameSpace is RedMagic’s custom game launcher and is switched on either by selecting the app in the usual way from Android or flipping the red switch on the long edge of the device. If you’re only playing games on the 10 Pro, I can’t think why you wouldn’t always leave this turned on.
The RedMagic 10 Pro Display
More than any other smartphone genre, the gaming smartphone needs to go all-out on the screen. It needs resolution, a fast refresh, and a high touch-sampling rate. All of these directly affect how enjoyable mobile gaming can be.
With bezels at 1.25mm thin, the 10 Pro feels almost “all display”, helped by the admittedly weak selfie cam being an “under display” rather than a cut-out. It’s a 6.85-inch screen running at 1.5K (2688×1216 pixels), so much detail can be shown. The display’s refresh rate of 144 Hz allows the latest titles to run at the current top practical speed while comfortably dialling back if needed. The sampling rate to pick up your touch inputs has been dialled up to 2,500 Hz
All this gives a smooth gaming experience on the screen, both as visuals and as a controller. The shoulder triggers play a big part in the gaming experience as well. When they are supported directly, it’s excellent, but when they are not, programming them yourself (by dragging a crosshair over the screen to show where you want the ‘tap’ of the button to be reflected on the display) lets you customise games to your style.
RedMagic 10 Pro Final Thoughts
The Nubia RedMagic 10 Pro doesn’t change the formula of previous RedMagic gaming phones; namely, make sure you have the highest specced system-on-chip running inside the machine with enough memory and storage to make good use of it, ensure the latest active and passive cooling technology is present, and put the lion’s share of the bill of materials into the screen.
Six months after the RedMagic 9S Pro, the RedMagic 10 Pro is a small step forward, but that’s the case with every RedMagic. You pick up the latest phone, suitable for a few years of gaming, and move on to the next one.
That’s why the biggest weakness for me is not the camera but the software. One major Android version is one of the weakest offerings yet. Three years of security updates are welcome, but these choices make the RedMagic feel a touch disposable.
The whole package hits the mark today with long battery life, a best-in-class display, and gaming features in hardware and software to tailor the experience. And with prices starting from $649, there’s a lot of power and performance at a very competitive price.
Disclaimer: Nubia supplied a RedMagic 10 Pro for review purposes.
