RedMagic 11 Pro Review: The true power of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is revealed

A gaming phone has to do more nowadays than offer an exceptional player experience. It's all well and good being able to play games at high frame rates and detailed resolutions, but it still has to function as a phone. So is the RedMagic 11 Pro able to find that sweet spot that the best gaming phones manage to hold?

There are a few must-haves that every gaming phone needs: we're looking for a powerful processor, high levels of RAM and a large battery. We also want to see a vibrant display and refresh rate that shows games at their best. Thankfully, the RedMagic 11 Pro ticks these boxes thanks to the might of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, as well as a boatload of RAM and a unique liquid cooling system.

Unfortunately, the issues and limitations that plagued its predecessors are still apparent. The camera quality leaves a lot to be desired, plus the design limitations caused by having a fan cooler have only been partly addressed. Even with that, the RedMagic 11 Pro has a lot to offer someone looking for something a little different, and a lot powerful.

RedMagic 11 Pro: Specs

RedMagic 11 Pro: Price and Availability

The RedMagic 11 Pro first went on sale in November 2025, costing $749/£628/AU$1,299 for the base model with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It is possible to get more RAM, but it's limited depending on which color you choose.

The Cyro (matte black) color only comes with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The Subzero and Nightfreeze colors offer 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage for $849, or the top spec of 24GB of RAM with 1TB of storage for $999. These prices are still in flagship phone territory, but you'd be paying several hundreds more for these specs in a phone from a more familar brand.

RedMagic 11 Pro: Design

RedMagic is no stranger to interesting designs, and that pattern holds with the RedMagic 11 Pro. From the front, the device looks pretty basic, with a 6.8-inch display with slightly rounded corners. As always, it's the back of the phone where things get interesting.

As we have seen before, the RedMagic 11 Pro is completely flat on its reverse side, with even the cameras being fully embedded. It gives the 11 Pro a really nice feel and a stable footing if you lay the phone down on a table. However, the most interesting feature is only available on the more expensive Nightfreeze and Subzero options.

The RedMagic 11 Pro declares itself to be the first mass-produced smartphone to offer liquid cooling. While this feature is present on all versions of the phone, you can actually see the "AI server-grade" coolant moving around on the Nightfreeze and Subzero versions of the phone, thanks to the transparent back.

Speaking of keeping the phone cool, the RedMagic 11 Pro also features a large vapor chamber and has the same fan-powered cooling that we have seen on a number of previous RedMagic models. Unfortunately, the fan itself is pretty loud, which might be a turn-off for some.

This many holes on the phone chassis also means that it only offers an IPX8 rating. That means that this is the first RedMagic with a fan that can be submerged in water. Unfortunately, there's still no protection against dust, which limits where you can safely use the phone.

Looking around the sides of the phone, we see something of a throwback, a 3.5mm headphone jack. This is useful for keeping the sounds to yourself while gaming, lest you lose a round of Fortnite due to nearby bus passengers on the warpath.

There are also the two capacitive shoulder buttons on the right-hand side of the phone. These shoulder buttons can be set to perform different actions when playing a game, but otherwise won’t affect your daily handling of the device.

Finally, you have the red Game Space switch, which takes you to the RedMagic's gaming library and settings page. It's a handy shortcut, and the switch is still entirely mechanical, which I personally love.

RedMagic 11 Pro: Display

One of the most important parts of any gaming phone is its display, and the RedMagic 11 Pro certainly doesn’t disappoint. The phone features a 6.8-inch AMOLED display with a 2,688 x 1,216 resolution with a 144Hz refresh rate.

I tested several different titles, all with varying graphics, including Honkai Impact 3rd and Destiny Rising. Overall, each of them looked fantastic, with bright colors and crisp graphics, plus no noticeable stuttering.

The phone's thin bezels are helpful for immersion, maximizing the space you have available to play. However, as with any gaming phone, you do have the issue of having to have your hands on the screen. If that's going to be a problem for you, it would be worth investing in one of the best phone controllers to make sure you have the optimum experience.

Special mention should be made for the under-display front camera and fingerprint sensor, which are completely unnoticeable during daily use. I also tested to see if they affected the touchscreen, but as far as I can tell, they didn't hinder it in any way.

The marketing material claims that the phone has a peak brightness of 1,800 nits. We haven’t had the chance to put the phone through lab testing to get our own figures, but if RedMagic's number is accurate, then that would actually mean it offers a lower peak brightness than models like the iPhone 17 Pro Max, Galaxy S25 Ultra and especially the Google Pixel 10 Pro.

RedMagic 11 Pro: Cameras

The RedMagic brand as a whole isn't focused on having the best cameras on the market. But the RedMagic 11 Pro, on paper, has a pretty decent setup with a 50MP main camera, a 50MP ultrawide and a 2MP macro. On top of that, you also have a 16MP under-display selfie camera.

However, the only way to really gauge a camera is to compare it to another phone. So I grabbed the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL to see which was the better experience.

When it comes to the main camera, I have to say that the results were relatively matched. The RedMagic 11 Pro's main camera is slightly brighter, but that has led to some of the details being lost. Meanwhile, the Pixel 10 Pro XL was a bit more natural and the weather looks far more lifelike.

Meanwhile, the ultrawide camera on the Pixel 10 Pro XL fits more into its shot and offers a bit more detail than we see in the RedMagic 11 Pro's image. The color profile on the Pixel 10 Pro XL is also more naturalistic, while the RedMagic 11 Pro has a slight greenish tint that I am not a fan of.

Sadly, while having the selfie camera under the display helps when gaming, it also impacts the quality. The RedMagic 11 Pro's selfie camera shows a lot of bloom, with the colors looking washed out. Meanwhile, the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL is a lot more natural-looking.

The final camera on the RedMagic is a 2MP macro camera. Unfortunately, it's not really all that impressive, with the macro on the Pixel 10 Pro XL offering a lot more definition on the flower and better color depth.

Overall, photography on the RedMagic 11 Pro is fine, but it struggles to compete when compared to the best camera phones.

RedMagic 11 Pro: Performance

A gaming phone isn't worth much if it doesn’t have the power to run the latest titles. However, there’s little danger of that thanks to the use of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. The RedMagic 11 Pro is one of the first smartphones to go on sale with this advanced chip, and it doesn't disappoint.

As the above table shows, the RedMagic 11 Pro achieved an excellent single-core score on Geekbench 6. The only phone that exceeds it in this area is the iPhone 17 Pro Max, which makes sense as this is an area where Apple’s A-series chips have historically excelled.

Meanwhile, the RedMagic 11 Pro multi-core score blows all the competition out of the water, reaching a score of 11,022. In the real world, that should mean that the phone offers unparalleled performance when it comes to resource-heavy programs — like games — as well as multitasking.

The Wild Life Extreme test, which measures graphics performance, sees the RedMagic beating both the Galaxy S25 Ultra and iPhone 17 Pro Max in score and frames per second. So, if you're looking for gaming-focused performance, the RedMagic 11 Pro offers the best experience.

Unfortunately, the RedMagic 11 Pro wasn't quite as fast as the iPhone 17 Pro Max when it comes to transcoding a video from 4K to 1080p. However, the phone was faster than the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which makes sense considering it has a more advanced version of the same chip.

As I said earlier, I tried several different games and had no issue running either for long periods of time. Special mention should be made of the phone’s cooling system. While the phone can still get pretty warm, it never becomes uncomfortable to hold, thanks to the cooling system spreading the heat around evenly.

RedMagic 11 Pro: Battery

The RedMagic Pro 11 features an impressive 7,500 mAh battery, a capacity that far exceeds many of the devices that sit on our best phone battery life list. According to RedMagic, the phone is capable of running for over thirty hours, or playing Genshin Impact for 7.4 hours, before needing a charge.

Unfortunately, we haven't had a chance to test the full capability of the battery yet, but we do have a good idea of how long the phone should last, thanks to our other methods.

The main test we use is to play a video at 1080p for three hours while the screen is at 50% brightness. I ran the test three times and saw an average battery drop of 85%. That matches what we've seen with Galaxy S25 Ultra, which also lost 15%. This isn't a bad result by all means, but it pales in comparison to the OnePlus 15, currently the longest-lasting phone we've tested, which only drained by 12%.

It's not just about how long a battery will last, however, as you will have to charge it at some point. Thankfully, the RedMagic 11 Pro offers 80W wired and wireless charging to make sure you're not waiting around when you need more battery. I put the phone on charge for thirty minutes when it was (finally) at 0% and the phone's battery reached 69% after thirty minutes of charging, via the 80W charger provided.

RedMagic 11 Pro: Software

RedMagic OS 11 is based on Android 16, but with a far clearer focus on gaming. The biggest aspect of this is Game Space, which allows you to manage your games and monitor their performance metrics like FPS and battery level. It also allows you to control certain hardware parts like the fan, while also customizing controls like the phone's capacitive triggers.

It works well enough, and being accessible through a simple switch is still a nice touch. However, the biggest issue I have with it is that you just don't need it a lot of the time. Yes, it gives you a hub for all your games, but most of the time it's just as easy to select them from the home screen.

RedMagicOS also allows you to smartcast your phone to a TV or even a PC. It's easy enough to set up, and the actual transition and experience are seamless and easy to do. While it is true that most phone games won't see a major benefit on a bigger screen, it's still a nice option to have.

Not only that, but the phone also features native keyboard and mouse support, which is great for gaming, but also if you want to get some work done. There are also the shoulder keys, which I find quite hard to place at times. The thing is, the games that really require them are minimal (usually shooters), so you won't use them all that much. However, they can help to make controlling certain titles much more appealing.

Meanwhile, if you’re looking for AI features, then the RedMagic 11 Pro also comes with full Google Gemini support. That means you can use features like Circle to Search and real-time translation. However, for those looking for something a little more personal, the RedMagic 11 Pro also sees the return of RedMagic's own AI virtual companion: Mora.

You can chat with Mora, who offers tailored responses to keep you engaged — if you’re so inclined. She also works as your personal wake-up call, plus offers the odd comment as you use your phone and can offer aid for both work and study. She's also relatively customizable, and you can add her to your phone’s wallpaper (as you can see above), although you may want to hide your phone at work if you do.

GameSpace also features its own personal AI coach, which offers real-time strategy and advice as you play. However, the usefulness of this feature is heavily dependent on what you're actually playing. The majority of phone games are pretty simple, and the quality of the advice I got varied in usefulness in other, more complex games.

RedMagic 11 Pro: Verdict

When looking at a gaming phone, the first question should always be about how well it allows you to actually play games. On that note, the RedMagic 11 Pro is almost perfect, but you'll want to grab certain accessories like a gaming grip or wireless controller for the best experience. It’ll handle any game that you want to play at high quality, and remain cool while doing it.

However, there’s no escaping the fact that it also needs to perform as a phone as well. The biggest issues for some will be the camera performance, which is only okay at best. On top of that, while the fans help with keeping the phone cool, they're also noisy and the lack of dust protection will turn some away.

With that being said, the RedMagic 11 Pro is a solid gaming phone with a lot of power at a reasonable price. Even if you're not a gaming fan, the power, battery and other features certainly make it a strong contender.

Alternatively, if you're looking for a better-balanced gaming phone, then you could invest in the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro. Alternatively, the OnePlus 15 offers a similar processing power and battery for the same cost.

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