This is the new RedMagic 7 Pro. It’s one of RedMagic's latest gaming phones, and their flagship model at that. This time round, it even has a slightly updated design language compared to the RedMagic 7 and its predecessors. So without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the phone. Starting with the design, the RedMagic 7 Pro has flatter sides and thinner bezels on the display, which is a departure from recent RedMagic phones. I think it gives the phone a slightly more mature and modern look, and it also feels a little nicer to hold despite being a bit chunkier. The rear of the phone has similar gaming motifs that we’ve come to expect from RedMagic, and like with its predecessors, I really dig it. The transparent back shell version I have here looks especially nice to me, and I like the contrast against the large metal backplate in the middle which is there to help with heat dissipation. And if you’re into RGB lighting, it even has some around the cooling fan. The phone is a little shorter this time round thanks to smaller bezels. But we’re still getting an uninterrupted display




because of the use of an under-display camera. The display itself is bright enough outdoors, and the colors look pretty good. Combine that with the pretty good-sounding stereo speakers, this is an awesome phone for gaming and media consumption. It even has a 3.5mm audio jack that can provide audio playback with almost no latency. For music consumption, it doesn’t have a ton of power, but I think the output is relatively decent, albeit a bit on the leaner and brighter side. Anyway, one of the minor downsides of using an under-display camera is that the resolution and brightness around the camera is a little lower, but it’s not really that noticeable in day-to-day usage. I’m also guessing that the reason the refresh rate here is 120Hz instead of 165Hz is due to that camera as well, but this is also not a big deal to me. The difference between 120 and 165Hz isn’t really that big. Not to mention that only a handful of games can really take advantage of it. Like with the RedMagic 6, only certain apps are able to make use of the 120Hz refresh rate. Most apps like Twitter and Facebook will run at 90Hz to save battery, which is still more than fast enough. But it’s a bummer to see apps like Instagram and Chrome still drop to 60Hz like on the RedMagic 6. So if you want a more consistent experience without compromising too much on battery life, it might be easier to just lock the refresh rate to 90Hz in developer settings. A few more miscellaneous stuff to go through before we talk about performance.


First of all, I’m really happy to see that we’re still getting a pre-applied screen protector, casing, and charger in the box. So for folks like me who want to take good care of their devices, the phone is good to go immediately after getting it. Secondly, the fingerprint sensor is fast and responsive, and it can be used to measure heart rate as well. Not sure how useful this is, but it’s actually pretty accurate. Last but not least, I want to talk about the lack of wireless charging and IP rating. The lack of an IP rating alone would usually be a deal breaker for me, but in this case I don’t think it is. This is a gaming phone after all, so the priority is performance. On top of producing more heat which isn’t good for performance, wireless charging wouldn’t work through the metal backplate that is being used to dissipate heat. Then because of the cooling fan which is crucial for extracting the most amount of performance out of this chipset, it’s probably pretty hard to make it dust and water resistant considering that it requires a good air flow. This brings us to how the phone performs. The phone is using the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset with a ton of fast RAM and storage. There is also an additional Red Core 1 chip that is meant to handle some of the gaming related functions like haptics and audio processing, freeing up a bit more power from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. So as expected, it’s an extremely fast phone. That said, I find that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 has the tendency to warm up quite easily, perhaps even more so than the Snapdragon 888, especially when under heavier loads. This is where all the cooling measures that RedMagic has implemented really shines. Most, if not all regular modern flagship phones will throttle and limit performance to make sure the device doesn’t heat up too much, and cause additional wear and tear on the internal components. However, with all the cooling measures built in, the RedMagic 7 Pro is able to take advantage of all the power that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 can offer. So while it does draw a lot of power, especially with the fan running, the phone seems to be able to handle even the notorious Genshin Impact at the highest graphics settings. But as expected, battery life with a ton of gaming isn’t that great. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 seems to be noticeably more power hungry compared to the Snapdragon 888 while gaming. However, it’s actually not that bad with lighter usage. So if I’m just using the phone regularly, with just a bit of gaming every now and then, I can still get a full day of use out of the phone pretty easily. Anyway, while the global version of the RedMagic 7 Pro only supports up to 65W charging, I think because of the better cooling system, it seems to be able to sustain a higher charging speed for a longer period of time. The best result I got was around 23 minutes for a full charge from empty, which is really quick. It also has a “charge separation” feature, which can power the phone directly without charging the battery. Thus reducing wear and tear on the battery, as well as the amount of heat generated on the phone. The phone is running RedMagic OS 5 based on Android 12. Apart from a custom skin, and a handful of extra customisation options and features, it’s a pretty simple software experience with the only bloatware being this browser. Most of the extra features are pretty basic, like Always On Display, using three fingers to take a screenshot, and whatnot. But I do want to mention this feature in the sidebar that can display a completely black screen overlay in apps like YouTube. Aside from that spelling error that has been around since the RedMagic 6

, this is actually a really convenient feature that lets me play videos while keeping the screen off. Anyway, performance of the software is relatively smooth for the most part, but I think the software could probably use a lot more polish. Like older RedMagic phones, there are still a lot of weird translations and UI elements, double tap to wake can be a little slow, auto brightness is a bit twitchy, and gesture navigation still doesn’t play nice with third party launchers. None of those are huge deal breakers, but I can see them being a bit annoying in the long run. Also, RedMagic’s track record when it comes to software updates is not that good. But when it comes to gaming related features, you can tell that this is where RedMagic has put in the most effort. On top of the things I’ve talked about before in past reviews, like quick access to Game Space, the shoulder triggers, adding a crosshair, blocking notifications, adjusting performance, and things like that, RedMagic has also added a few interesting features. There is an option to zoom in around the middle of the screen like a scope to make aiming easier, adjust the audio settings to make footsteps easier to hear, and on screen timers for perhaps keeping track of enemy skills cooldown. Personally, I feel like a lot of the features are more suitable for FPS games or perhaps emulators, so whether they are useful to you or not will likely depend on the type of game that you play. But there is no denying that it is a comprehensive set of gaming features. When it comes to camera performance, it’s not great as expected from a gaming phone. The main camera works okay in good lighting, but that’s about it. The ultra wide angle camera is now accessible in auto mode which is good, but quality is still not great. There is a macro camera, but it doesn't even work as well as just zooming in using the main camera. Then there is the front camera which is hardly usable in anything but the best lighting condition thanks to it being under the display. Anyway, it’s a gaming phone afterall, so camera performance might not be the most important thing here. But that said, I feel like at this type of asking price, the camera performance should be better than this. I feel like instead of wasting money and internal space on a poorer quality ultra wide angle and macro camera, it would be better to just focus on the main camera. All in all, you can probably tell that RedMagic 7 Pro isn’t the most versatile or well rounded device. The camera isn’t great, it’s lacking water resistance, and the software experience leaves much to be desired. So it’s not a phone that I would recommend to most folks, since there are cheaper Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 devices out there that can provide a more balanced experience overall. But, if you play a ton of mobile games, especially those that can take full advantage of the extra gaming related hardware and features, the RedMagic 7 Pro will most likely be able to improve your gaming experience. Especially genres like FPS or Battle Royale for example, PSP emulators, or even just graphically intensive games like Genshin Impact. It’s also a great media consumption device as well, thanks to the uninterrupted display, nice sounding stereo speakers, and a 3.5mm audio jack. You still have to be okay with some of the compromises I’ve mentioned earlier, but as a gaming centric phone, the RedMagic 7 Pro is pretty great.