The Red Magic 3 is another beast of a phone coming from Nubia, and it has all the makings to dominate the gaming smartphone segment. But there’s one thing that differentiates itself from the rest. And that of course, is that it’s almost half the cost of a ‘normal’ gaming smartphone. For the budget gamer, that’s a lot of money. But that being said, let’s get into what makes the Red Magic 3 a great gaming phone. Sit back, relax, and enjoy our review of the the Red Magic 3.
Display and Design; Industrial or Modern?
In all honesty, this phone screams gamer aesthetics and everything someone who identified as a ‘gamer’ would want. It comes equipped with a massive 6.65″ AMOLED display, and weighs in at 225 grams. If you can’t tell, that’s a pretty heavy phone. Just for reference, an iPhone XS Max weighs in at 177 grams. That’s a huge difference in the smartphone world, but then again, they’re marketed for different people. The design and form of the Nubia Red Magic 3 could also be interpreted as durable, hefty, and just what someone needs. It’s a matter of perspective, so don’t let that sole fact dissuade you from the device.
The screen is the biggest we’ve seen for a gaming phone, colour reproduction is good, and so is the brightness. The resolution towers at 2340 x 1080 pixels and it has the somewhat modern 19:5:9 aspect ratio. That’s not the only thing about the phone that stands out. Considering it’s body is made of metal, with red accents around it, safe to say the device was created for people with a very niche taste. It is for the ‘gamer’, and more specifically, the mobile gamer. Even against the Huawei P30 Pro, which is just a few inches smaller, the difference was absolute. It’s a matter of preference, and you might like the Red Magic 3 display more than the P30.
There’s two LED lights on the back of the phone. One strip, that you can control to a certain pattern, or when you turn on the gaming mode with the convenient switch placed on the top left corner of the phone. Another light is the Red magic logo? Not quite sure but it definitely has the lights and RGB enabled strip that many gamers have become accustomed to. On the back of the device, there’s actually vents on the accents which act to help regulate temperature of the device.
No notch in sight, and a massive screen. It kind looks like the Red Magic Mars, but pulled to make it longer. The one thing that I would say about the phone is, that it gets tiring to hold. One hand use will tire your hand out quick while two handed use will be just right. For me however, I did feel some discomfort after about 5-10 minutes of continually holding the phone, but otherwise bearable.
Performance; Under The Hood And Additional Features
Now for the main event of a gaming phone. And the Red Magic 3 is truly a performer for the money. The Red Magic 3 comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor with 8GB of RAM. And honestly, that combo of the two had games and apps running smooth as butter on this gaming phone. There wasn’t any lag, no freezing, and no crashes. And that’s all we really want right? It ran games on the highest settings such as PUBG, Mobile Legends, and a new game I’m using to show graphic fidelity is NBA 2K Mobile. Gaming feels great, and looks great as well. At the end of the day, isn’t that what you really need out of a gaming phone?
NBA on mobile really is a beast of a game to run, and the Magic 3 took it like a champ at the highest settings. Not to mention the help of the shoulder buttons helped me be better at the game.
The phone comes with a 5,000mAh battery. Which is of course, a pretty solid battery size. It lasted me a day on average, but on days with average gaming and less use, even longer. Nubia also provides a ‘Boosted Gaming Mode’ which allows users to access a myriad a features. One being the fan control. The phone comes with internal fans, which you can control from the game booster when you flip the switch. That’s a pretty helpful feature, especially for a gaming phone.
Another feature which honestly makes the phone stand out the most to me is the customizable shoulder buttons. It really changes the experience of gaming on a phone, and it definitely makes me want to use the phone just for the express purpose of gaming. Many phones aspire to be a phone capable of gaming, but the Red Magic 3 is a phone built for it.
Benchmark Scores
The benchmark scores aren’t something to be surprised about. There wasn’t any lag or slow down that I experienced when I was using the phone. Be that while gaming, flipping through apps, and watching videos. These are the scores from Geekbench, and Antutu.
Another Sub-Par Camera
There’s one thing that I still have yet to see on ‘gaming’ phone, and that’s an actual good camera. There’s always something that’s held back in these devices, and the Magic 3, is no different. But let’s be real, it’s not that bad, but it’s not great either. Most phones are capable of something, and that’s what the Magic 3 has to offer.
It comes with a single camera setup, 48-megapixel Sony IMX586 sensor. The pictures taken of the phone are alright, the lighting is decent, but it’s nothing to write home about. I noticed that the focus and bokeh effect was actually quite decent with minimal adjustments and tweaks. It’s definitely capable of being an everyday shooter, the occasional selfies, and shaky video. The low-light pictures are a bit disappointing, but that’s to be expected. But some pictures close up, are surprisingly detailed.
The front facing camera is a 16MP shooter, which also like the rear camera, is decent. There’s no ‘portrait’ mode on the camera, but selfies look pretty good regardless. And based on that, I wouldn’t get the phone for the camera. This is pretty much for the gamer, so keep that in mind if you’re on the market for a new device right now.
Final Verdict
All in all, the Red Magic 3 is a very good gaming phone. Notice how I said, gaming phone, and not just smartphone. It’s because the Red Magic 3 is a good choice for the select few who need a ‘gaming’ smartphone. It does everything right, and it comes at the right price. But the one thing holding it back from being a daily driver, is it’s size. You can’t continuously use the phone without tiring yourself out, and that can be a deal breaker for most. But if you’re looking for a gaming phone, one that doesn’t cost as much as the rest, probably outperforms them at this point, and have features that make it stand out, the Red Magic 3 is the one for you.
The Nubia Red Magic comes with two configurations; 8GB RAM + 128GB Storage for RM 2199, and 12GB RAM + 256GB Storage for RM 2799. The phone is available on Shopee and Nubia.my. Celcom also currently has the 8GB + 128GB variant.
