REDMAGIC 7 Review - The new gaming phone standard-bearer

The Nubia REDMAGIC 6S Pro went full steam ahead in providing the best environment possible for high-end mobile gaming, and the Nubia REDMAGIC 7 is no different.

This is essentially the REDMAGIC 6S Pro+, with a very similar form factor, display and camera system to the 6S Pro, but with a half-generational bump up in performance. On that front, the Snapdragon 888 Plus has been exchanged for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and this is backed by either 12, 16 or 18GB of LPDDR5 RAM, which is more than enough for anything you might like to throw at it.

REDMAGIC has supported this cutting-edge chip with a meaty cooling system, which incorporates a physical Turbo Fan to keep things from getting too toasty during mammoth Genshin Impact sessions.

As before, the REDMAGIC 7 is fronted by a large 6.8in OLED display with an eye-catching 165Hz maximum refresh rate and a rarely matched 720Hz touch sampling rate. Again, this is all in service of a tip-top gaming experience.

You also get a pair of touch-sensitive shoulder buttons on the right-hand edge for a more tactile gaming experience – fans of competitive shooters and console ports take note.

Another robust, relatively restrained gaming phone, the design of the REDMAGIC 7 is very close to the previous REDMAGIC 6S Pro.

Of course, “restrained” is an important qualifier, because gaming phones aren’t known for exhibiting a great deal of taste or restraint. They usually have the nasty habit of unleashing their inner 12-year-old, with garish RGB lighting and tacky body detailing.

Recent REDMAGIC phones have tended to tone those elements down a little, if not eradicate them completely, and the REDMAGIC 7 is similar.

REDMAGIC hasn’t changed things with its display offering, which isn’t a bad thing. This panel is plenty large enough at 6.8in across the diagonal, and while a resolution of 2,400 x 1,080 (FHD+) isn’t full-on flagship standard, it’s ideal for hardcore mobile gaming, with performance taking precedence over pixels.

The stand-out feature here relates to the display’s responsiveness. With a maximum refresh rate of 165Hz, the REDMAGIC 7 goes above and beyond the 120Hz standard of regular flagship phones. Meanwhile, a 720Hz touch sampling rate makes it two to four times more responsive to inputs. You won’t notice the latter in general use, but it could make the difference in competitive shooters such as Call of Duty Mobile and PUBG Mobile.

The main point of progression from the REDMAGIC 6S Pro to the REDMAGIC 7 is the power plant at the heart of both phones. REDMAGIC has moved on from the Snapdragon 888 Plus to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 in 2022.

Here’s a quick one-line summary: it’s not a revolutionary leap in power when it comes to the CPU, but the GPU gains are rather impressive.