Mobile Technology

Nubia RedMagic 5G gaming phone sports 144-Hz display

Nubia RedMagic 5G gaming phone sports 144-Hz display
The RedMagic 5G is claimed to be the world's first smartphone with a 144-Hz display
The RedMagic 5G is claimed to be the world's first smartphone with a 144-Hz display
View 5 Images
The RedMagic 5G is claimed to be the world's first smartphone with a 144-Hz display
1/5
The RedMagic 5G is claimed to be the world's first smartphone with a 144-Hz display
The triple lens camera is a 64/8/2 MP affair
2/5
The triple lens camera is a 64/8/2 MP affair
"Fluid and crystal clear visuals all the time" is what's on offer here
3/5
"Fluid and crystal clear visuals all the time" is what's on offer here
The shoulder trigger buttons are more responsive for console-like control
4/5
The shoulder trigger buttons are more responsive for console-like control
The RedMagic 5G is powered by a Snapdragon 865 flagship chipset, supported by up to 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage
5/5
The RedMagic 5G is powered by a Snapdragon 865 flagship chipset, supported by up to 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage
View gallery - 5 images

Packing the kind of refresh rate that desktop computer gamers enjoy from monitors made by Asus, Samsung, LG and others, the RedMagic 5G gaming smartphone also rocks a flagship processor, a triple-lens camera, fast-charging battery and 5G mobile comms.

Simply put, the refresh rate of a display is the number of times the screen updates every second. The AMOLED display on the OnePlus 8 Pro announced yesterday, for example, tops out at 120 Hz meaning it updates 120 times per second. The RedMagic 5G betters that with a refresh rate of 144 Hz, for "fluid and crystal clear visuals all the time."

"Fluid and crystal clear visuals all the time" is what's on offer here
"Fluid and crystal clear visuals all the time" is what's on offer here

That 6.65-inch AMOLED display has a 1,080 x 2,340 resolution (387.5 ppi), 600-nits max brightness with 4,096 control levels, covers 100 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut and has a contrast ratio of 100,000:1. It benefits from a 240-Hz touch sampling rate too, which makes for lightning-fast response. And the shoulder trigger buttons now have a 300-Hz touch refresh rate and 2-ms touch delay for an improved console-like control setup. The phone also features in-screen fingerprint technology to unlock the phone.

Processing and graphics grunt come courtesy of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset that's currently powering the year's smartphone flagships, supported by up to 12 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 256 GB of UFS 3.0 storage (which is reported 83 percent faster than the previous flash storage specification). As the name suggests, this phone is 5G-compatible too, with SA and NSA dual modes for key region support.

The RedMagic 5G is powered by a Snapdragon 865 flagship chipset, supported by up to 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage
The RedMagic 5G is powered by a Snapdragon 865 flagship chipset, supported by up to 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage

The main camera of the triple lens setup has a 64-megapixel Sony IMX686 sensor, while the other snappers stack up as an 8-MP wide angle and a 2-MP bokeh. And there's an 8-MP selfie cam to the front as well.

The liquid cooling technology has been improved compared to the company's previous phones, and air flow has been increased. This model gets its power from a 4,500-mAh battery, with a 55-W fast charging adapter available in North America and Asia. And finally, the phone runs on RedMagic OS 3.0, which is based on Android 10.

Pre-orders started on April 14, with the RedMagic 5G going on general sale from April 21. The price for the 8 GB of RAM/128 GB of storage model is US$579, while the 12-GB/256-GB flavor comes in at $649.

Product page: RedMagic 5G

View gallery - 5 images
2 comments
2 comments
Bob809
I am sure there must be another name for such devices, as 'Phone' does not describe this device, or many others. For some time, it has not been about the phone, but about the 'things' it can do. More or better cameras, film streaming, Internet browsing and so on. Smartphone does not cut it either; someone needs to think of another name for them, something more appropriate.
Wright Casey
Can I buy the 5G, I live in Austin, Texas?