ZTE Nubia Red Magic 10 Pro Review: Is It a Value-for-money Gaming Smartphone?

Dhaka
January 11, 2025, 04:00 PM
by Farhana Afrose Rini

UNB News
Dhaka
Publish- January 11, 2025, 04:00 PM
Farhana Afrose Rini
Update- January 11, 2025, 04:23 PM

ZTE Nubia Red Magic 10 Pro

The ZTE Nubia Red Magic series has consistently delivered high-performance gaming smartphones with cutting-edge features. Launched on November 18, 2024, the Red Magic 10 Pro continues this legacy with several notable upgrades. Let’s take a look at the main features, pros, cons, and pricing of the ZTE Red Magic 10 Pro in Bangladesh.

Key Specs of ZTE Nubia Red Magic 10 Pro

Design and Build Quality

The Red Magic 10 Pro features a sleek yet sturdy design with a glass front, an aluminum frame, and a glass back. The transparent design options (e.g., Transparent Silver Deuterium and Transparent Dark Knight) add a futuristic aesthetic. It retains pressure-sensitive zones with a 520Hz touch-sensing rate, enhancing gameplay precision. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass.

Compared to the Red Magic 9 Pro, the 10 Pro offers similar dimensions and weight, maintaining a comfortable grip for gaming despite its bulk. However, at 229g, it feels heavier than the rival Sharp Aquos R8s Pro (203g), making portability a slight concern. While not as sleek as the Huawei Mate 70 Pro, which boasts IP68 water and dust resistance, the Red Magic 10 Pro compensates with its gamer-centric aviation aluminum middle frame and built-in cooling fan.

Display Quality

The 6.85-inch AMOLED display on the Red Magic 10 Pro is a standout feature, with 1 billion colors, a 144Hz refresh rate, and an astounding peak brightness of 2000 nits. It has a resolution of 1216 by 2688 pixels featuring 431 PPI density. This makes it suitable for gaming and multimedia consumption, offering vibrant colors and seamless motion.

The Red Magic 9 Pro had a slightly smaller display (6.8-inch) with a lower refresh rate (120Hz) and lower peak brightness (1600 nits). The 10 Pro’s improvement is significant, providing a more immersive and responsive experience.

Against the Sharp Aquos R8s Pro, which features a smaller display (6.6-inch) with a lower refresh rate (120Hz), the Red Magic 10 Pro excels in smoothness and brightness, making it a better choice for gamers. However, the Huawei Mate 70 Pro’s 6.9-inch LTPO OLED display with 2500 nits brightness slightly edges out the 10 Pro in outdoor visibility.

Camera Performance

The 50MP triple-camera system on the Red Magic 10 Pro is competent, featuring a primary wide sensor (50MP f/1.9) with optical image stabilization (OIS), an ultra-wide lens 50 MP (f/2.2), and a macro lens 2MP (f/2.4). It has a 16MP (f/2.0) selfie sensor. Photos in well-lit conditions are crisp and detailed, but low-light performance is average, which remains a limitation compared to non-gaming smartphones.

The Red Magic 9 Pro had a similar setup but with a slightly smaller main sensor (1/1.57” versus the 10 Pro’s 1/1.5”). The new model shows marginal improvements in sharpness and dynamic range.

However, the Huawei Mate 70 Pro’s 50MP main sensor delivers superior low-light photography and telephoto zoom capabilities. Similarly, the Sharp Aquos R8s Pro offers a unique 1.0-inch sensor, outperforming the 10 Pro in color reproduction and detail.

In the video section, Red Magic 9 Pro can capture a maximum of 8K footage at 30fps like its ancestor 9 Pro and rival Sharp Aquos R8s Pro. However, the Huawei Mate 70 Pro falls behind with 4k video capacity.

Processor Performance

The Red Magic 10 Pro is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, paired with an Adreno 830 GPU. With an octa-core CPU clocked at up to 4.32GHz, it provides a massive leap in processing power over the Red Magic 9 Pro, which used the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Benchmark tests show a 15–20% performance increase in CPU and GPU performance.

In direct competition, the Sharp Aquos R8s Pro’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and the Huawei Mate 70 Pro’s Kirin 9020 lag behind in raw performance. The 10 Pro’s performance remains unmatched for gaming and intensive tasks, making it a clear winner among its competitors.

Gaming Performance

The Red Magic 10 Pro is optimized for gaming, with its dedicated cooling fan, liquid cooling system, and shoulder triggers providing an edge over general-purpose flagships like the Huawei Mate 70 Pro. It handles prolonged gaming sessions without noticeable throttling, maintaining stable frame rates in graphically demanding games.

Compared to the Red Magic 9 Pro, the enhanced cooling and the Snapdragon 8 Elite 3nm chipset’s efficiency allow for smoother gameplay. The GPU section contains an Adreno 830 graphics card.

Against competitors like the Sharp Aquos R8s Pro, the Red Magic 10 Pro’s 144Hz refresh rate and pressure-sensitive zones make it more gamer-friendly.

Battery Life

The Red Magic 10 Pro is powered by a 7050mAh battery, an improvement over the Red Magic 9 Pro’s 6500mAh. With 100W fast charging, it recharges fully in under 40 minutes, offering more gaming hours on a single charge.

While its larger battery gives it an edge over the Sharp Aquos R8s Pro (5000mAh), the Huawei Mate 70 Pro (5500mAh) with 100W wired and 80W wireless charging options provides more versatility for general users.

Software and User Interface

Running on Android 15 with Redmagic OS 10, the Red Magic 10 Pro offers several gaming-centric customizations, including Game Space for performance tuning and game optimization. However, software updates are limited to one major Android update and two Redmagic OS updates, which may not appeal to long-term users.

Compared to competitors, the Huawei Mate 70 Pro’s HarmonyOS 4.3 feels more polished and feature-rich for non-gaming tasks, while the Sharp Aquos R8s Pro’s Android 13 lacks significant gaming-oriented features.

Storage Options

The Red Magic 10 Pro offers ample storage configurations: 256GB with 12GB RAM, 512GB with 12/16GB RAM, and 1TB with 24GB RAM, all using the fast UFS 4.1 Pro standard. This provides a clear advantage for gamers requiring extensive storage for large game files.

In comparison, the Red Magic 9 Pro lacks the 1TB option, while competitors like the Sharp Aquos R8s Pro max out at 256GB and rely on microSD for expansion, which is slower. The Huawei Mate 70 Pro offers up to 1TB but without the cutting-edge UFS 4.1 Pro technology.

Pros and Cons of ZTE Nubia Red Magic 10 Pro

Pros

- Aluminum frame with a built-in cooling fan.
- Large 6.85-inch AMOLED display with a 144Hz refresh rate.
- Powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset.
- Offers 12GB, 16GB, or 24GB RAM configurations.
- Triple rear camera system with dual 50MP sensors.
- Massive 7050mAh battery with 100W fast charging (80W in China).
- 5G and NFC-enabled for advanced connectivity.
- Android 15 OS with Redmagic OS 10.
- Bright 2000 nits display for outdoor use.
- Stereo speakers and an infrared port.
- Pressure-sensitive zones for gaming.
- Under-display fingerprint scanner and selfie camera.
- 8K video recording capability.

Cons

- No FM radio support.
- Lacks a microSDXC card slot for storage expansion.
- Missing optical zoom in the camera system.
- No dust or water resistance.
- Lacks reverse and wireless charging support.
- Selfie camera limited to 1080p video recording.
- Missing Gorilla Glass protection.
- No Gyro-EIS for stable video recording.

Price of ZTE Nubia Red Magic 10 Pro

The ZTE Nubia Red Magic 10 Pro is unofficially priced at approximately BDT 105,000.

Final Words

The ZTE Nubia Red Magic 10 Pro excels in gaming performance, display quality, and battery life but falls short in camera features and durability. It is ideal for hardcore gamers and tech enthusiasts seeking a performance powerhouse. However, those prioritizing photography, compact designs, or advanced durability features can explore other alternatives.