Nubia Red Magic 3s Review: An Ultimate Gaming Smartphone?

After emerging mobile gaming especially on Android smartphones, some of the device manufacturers have become quite focused on flagship gaming devices. The 2019 year has been great so far in terms of the best-in-class Android gaming smartphones. A couple of years ago, the flagship hardware specification devices were only considered as a better gaming smartphone. But these days the affordable and competitive gaming mobiles offer similar kinds of premium user experience including flagship hardware, better software support, and some of the dedicated gaming features. The Nubia Red Magic 3s is no exception here. Check out the Nubia Red Magic 3s Review, if you’re interested to buy a great gaming mobile.

3s Specs

Now, talking about the Red Magic 3ss, it’s the successor model of the previous generation Red Magic 3 which was a great hit (launched in May 2019). Recently, you may have noticed that there are plenty of Android devices coming with a 90Hz display refresh rate, Snapdragon 855+ SoC, higher RAM & faster storage option, great design, thermal cooling feature, nice software UI, and a lot more. The Nubia Red Magic 3s is also one of them and offers more than other gaming smartphone specifications.

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Nubia Red Magic 3s Review: A True Gaming Smartphone

The Red Magic 3s is an upgraded gaming smartphone launched recently by Nubia with impressive specifications. First of all, we need to mention that the device is quite heavy around 215 grams which you should consider if you’re looking for a gaming smartphone. However, the eye-catching overall design and metal construction will make you feel good factor.

The device has a 6.65″ AMOLED display Full-HD (2340×1080 pixels) resolution that offers HDR support and a 19.5:9 aspect ratio with 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection. Most importantly, it has a 90Hz refresh rate and 240Hz touch response rate for a buttery smooth user experience also known as touch sensitivity. It runs on Android 9.0 Pie with a near Stock Android that can be used as customized gaming skin. The device has an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ (7nm) mobile platform with Adreno 640 graphics. It packs the 8/12GB RAM and 128/256GB of the UFS 3.0 internal memory option. However, there is no expandable storage option available on this device.

gaming 3s

The handset sports a 5,000mAh battery with up to 27W fast charging support. Usually, you will get an 18W fast charger out-of-the-box. Meanwhile, it has a single 48 MP (wide) rear camera (Sony IMX586 sensor) with an f/1.7 aperture lens which can record up to 8K video @30fps, offers Time-lapse, and slow-motion videos up to 1920p. The rear camera features PDAF, HDR, Panorama mode, an LED flash, etc.

On the front side, the device has a 16 MP selfie camera with an f/2.0 aperture lens. In terms of connectivity, the handset has Bluetooth 5, Dual-Band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, Type-C USB 3.0 port, Dual nano-SIM slot, a 3.5mm audio jack, USB OTG, GameBoost Switch, etc. The device features on-screen navigation support, Pressure Sensitive Zones, Esport inspired RGB Strip on the back panel, internal cooling fans, DCI-P3 100% Color Gamut, Gaming Port, etc. Whereas the handset packs a fingerprint sensor (rear-mounted), G-sensor, Electronic, Compass, Gyroscope, Proximity, Ambient Light Sensor, Sensor Hub, etc.

Additionally, it has Air Vent Hole on the back panel, 3D Stereo Speaker (DTS:X/DTS 7.1), capacitive shoulder buttons, unique convex shape for better grip & comfortable hold for longer use. With the Game Space 2.1 feature, you can customize & save the control options for each and every game. Additionally, you can manage external gamepads, take screenshots, record gameplay with audio, etc. Game Space 2.1 also offers focused gaming mode by simply turn off the notifications, calls, messages for a distraction-free gaming experience.

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What To Consider As A Gamer?

In a gaming smartphone, first of all, we look for a better processor & memory with an overall hardware/software combination. Here in this department, Nubia Red Magic 3s takes a lead having SDM855+ chipset, an 8GB of RAM at least, a better storage option, an impressive camera, gaming mode, hardware shoulder buttons, better battery life, and more. While the 90Hz refresh rate and 240Hz touch sensing rate is the icing on the cake.

The built quality and design are one of the best parts of this device and whether you’re a mobile gaming freak or not, a separate looking design & architecture with RGB LED Strip gives a subtle but stunning feel. Especially, the shoulder buttons, dedicated cooling fans, customized gaming mode, etc are pretty much reliable and come in handy mostly.

You May Like: How to Install Nubia Red Magic 3s Stock ROM [Back to stock firmware]

Cameras

camera 3s

Whereas the pin connector for accessories and Game Space can bring your gaming experience to the next level. Though the single rear camera and a hexagonal traditional fingerprint sensor may be a downside for some of the users. In terms of the fingerprint sensor, it should be quite fast and consistent enough for most of the users.

However, the single 48 MP rear camera is just stunning and offers some pro modes, multi-exposure, time-lapse, slow-motion, 8K video recording, night mode, and more. The night mode delivers awesome low light images that you should really appreciate. It usually captures 12 megapixels images that can be switched up to 48 megapixels resolution using settings. Though the stock camera app isn’t that fully-featured such as no portrait mode. One thing is to need to mention that although it can record 8K videos, it records @15fps. While you can record both the 1080p and 4K videos @60fps respectively.

One Of The Best Batteries in a smartphone

3s battery

The bigger 5,000mAh battery can last one day very easily on normal to moderate usage. Meanwhile, if you play hardcore 3D games on Red Magic 3s continuously then it may run up to 5 hours approximately. The 18W fast charger can charge up your Nubia Red Magic 3s device from 0-50% at around 40-45 minutes and can take 60 minutes to charge up to 80%. Therefore, the device will get fully charged around 1 hour 50 minutes which is quite normal as the finishing charge takes quite some time.

The best Cooling system in an Android phone

The effective heat transfer during heavy gaming built-in cooling fans offer longer gaming performance without overheating or drastic FPS drops. The Nubia Red Magic 3s has an Active Cooling Fan with Thermal Gel and Copper Foil to reduce the overheating of the CPU. Whereas the multiple layers of Graphite and the Liquid Cooling Tube helps to maintain that temperature dissipating ratio quite nicely.

3s cooling

As a gaming smartphone lover or a user, you may not consider your handset if it doesn’t have any expandable MicroSD card slot. Even if you’re using the higher 256GB storage variant, it’s always good to have an external storage option whether your device features a dedicated slot or a hybrid one.

While most of the smartphone OEMs and even the users are preferring to have an NFC support on their upper mid-range and flagship devices, Nubia hasn’t included it on Red Magic 3s for some reason.

The much appealing and cool looking futuristic design of the back panel may not be attractive for some of the users. As these days, users want a minimal design that can be easily customizable with skins or back covers. But due to the RGB LED strip, air vent hole, capacitive shoulder buttons, cooling fan vent, and gaming port, most of the users may have to use their devices without any skin or cover.

The selfie camera, especially for the indoor shots, isn’t that powerful enough. Some of the selfie lovers may not get satisfied with the selfie camera results in low light or indoor conditions.

Nubia has to focus on regular and frequent software updates for this device. These days, users know very well about software updates of the Android version and security patch. So, if someone is using a great gaming smartphone with all premium specs and features but doesn’t have the latest software version or security patch level, then users may become worried about it. Currently, the device is running on Android 9.0 Pie out-of-the-box and installed an outdated security patch level.

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Done with Nubia Red Magic 3s Review? Check out the summary below.

Conclusion

The Nubia Red Magic 3s is actually an ultimate gaming smartphone that worths every penny as compared to other gaming smartphones. It’s a value for money device due to its flagship hardware specifications and precise engineering for its stunning design. Most importantly, the latest and fastest available Snapdragon 855+ processor, an 8GB RAM, UFS 3.0 storage, a 90Hz bigger AMOLED display, an active cooling fan, the capacitive shoulder buttons, and 8K video recording – plays a major role.

Ravis Sharma
Ravis Sharma
Ravis Sharma, a tech expert, simplifies complex Android, iOS and Windows topics, offering clear news coverage and user-friendly how-to guides.

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