Nubia Redmagic Nova review: Big screen, big performance

Nubia’s Redmagic model is synonymous with gaming smartphones. The corporate’s line of handsets has been featured many instances on this website, most of them gaining robust evaluations for his or her mix of efficiency and value.

Now, the Redmagic model is showing on a bigger show with the discharge of the brand new Nova gaming pill. So, does the magic scale up? Right here’s the complete Tech Advisor overview. 

Design & Construct

• Compact design
• Aluminium chassis
• Fingerprint sensor on the ability button

Slightly than going for an outsized development that would show unwieldy when taking part in video games, the Nova is a pleasantly compact 253.3 x 164.6 x 7.3 mm (9.97 x 6.48 x 0.29 in) and weighs in at a manageable 530g / 1.17lbs.

The body itself is an aerospace-grade aluminium shell, with controls across the edge for quantity and energy. The latter can also be house to the built-in fingerprint sensor to unlock the gadget. Every of the shorter edges has twin audio system, plus there’s a USB-C port for charging. 

Turning the gadget round reveals a fairly uncommon plate alongside the highest fringe of the panel. That is the place you’ll discover a clear cowl that permits you to see the fan (together with its multi-colour LEDs that you would be able to choose within the software program), the digicam module, components of the inner cooling system, plus the Redmagic title which additionally could be illuminated by the color LEDs.

That is just like what you’ll discover on the Redmagic 9S Professional and its forebears, and whereas it’s admittedly cool, the identical holds right here because it does there in that you just’ll by no means actually have the ability to see the lights, as they’re at all times dealing with away from you. Nonetheless, they’re cool. 

The underside edge has the 5 metallic pins that make up the magnetic connector with which you’ll connect the optionally available Redmagic Nova Magnetic Keyboard, though that’s offered individually, as are the entire different equipment. These embody an ordinary folio case, a devoted stylus, and a Redmagic gamepad to rework the gadget right into a form of mini console. You do at the very least get a cable and 80W charger within the field, which is healthier than another producers. 

Alongside the highest fringe of the Nova, you’ll discover a small rounded rectangular space. That is the magnetic attachment for the stylus which additionally makes use of NFC. Nubia says a fast 1-minute cost for the stylus will get you two hours of writing time, which appears fairly respectable to me. 

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The aforementioned ICE 2.0 cooling system is a complete design, comprising 9-layers which embody an under-screen aluminium panel, a superconducting copper foil space on the mainboard, a 3D warmth pipe such as you’d discover on a PC, an inside circulation duct, plus the 20,000RPM fan to push the air about. 

There’s no IP waterproof score talked about by Nubia, which might be as a result of fan and air expulsion required to chill the circuitry, so don’t get the gadget moist. 

Following the custom of Henry Ford, you will get the Nova in a variety of colors, as long as they’re black (or Midnight). 

Display screen & Audio system

• 10.9-inch IPS show
• 144Hz refresh fee
• Quad audio system

The compact nature of the Nova pill is due largely to the ten.9-inch IPS LCD panel. It is a good dimension for each taking part in video games handheld or with the gadget propped up on a desk and a Bluetooth controller related.

It’s a good show too, with a 2880 x 1800 decision (16:10, 312ppi) holding issues clear and effectively outlined. The ultra-fast 144Hz refresh fee additionally ensures every part is easy and detailed even when there are fast modifications occurring on the display screen – good for gaming. 

Response instances are fast as effectively, with as much as 840Hz contact sampling charges. This made it straightforward to really feel in command of issues in frantic gaming periods, because the Nova executed my instructions swiftly and with out error (the failures within the video games have been sadly all on me). 

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There are slim bezels across the fringe of the display screen, however this helps with unintentional touches as you’ve got someplace in your fingers to go when gripping the pill. It additionally means you don’t have any notches or punch holes within the show because the front-facing digicam is neatly ensconced within the higher bezel. 

Colors are heat and effectively balanced, with the Nova delivering a most brightness, in line with Nubia, of 550 nits. In my very own assessments, the display screen managed simply over 500 nits, which is nice indoors however does battle a bit outdoors. The reflective display screen additionally doesn’t assist issues, so that you may not discover the Nova a totally cell gaming platform in the event you spend a whole lot of time in strongly lit areas. 

You possibly can’t plug in headphones both, as there’s no 3.5mm headphone jack on the pill. This appears a bizarre omission, because the small Redmagic telephones nonetheless have the function included and it’s a should if you wish to use many gaming headsets. There’s Bluetooth 5.4 although, which is a quick and steady technique of wi-fi connection, so that you’re not with out choices. 

In fact, you possibly can depend on the built-in quad-speakers that are surprisingly good. They will get fairly loud earlier than starting to distort, and the sound is balanced throughout the frequency vary. They help DTS-X Extremely Sound with 3D audio, and it does make a distinction to the standard of the tones the Nova kicks out. 

The one draw back is that the audio system are positioned on the shorter sides of the pill, which can also be the place your palms have to be in the event you’re holding the pill. So I did discover that the audio might lose a few of its high quality if I held too tight and coated them up.

Specs & Efficiency

• 3.2GHz Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Main Model
• 12/16GB LDDR5X reminiscence
• 256/512GB UFS 4.0 storage

The Redmagic line has at all times been about efficiency over just about every part else, and the Nova isn’t about to begin upsetting any applecarts. It comes with a 3.4Ghz Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Main Edge processor (that is the tweaked, sooner model of the usual Snapdragon 8 Gen 3), joined by both 256GB or 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage and 12GB/16GB of LDDR5X reminiscence.

It’s a potent combine, because the Nova pill flies via life with out seemingly a care. Apps pop open immediately, and efficiency is mostly easy and fast throughout the board. That is additionally true throughout gaming periods, as I didn’t discover the Nova struggled with something, even busy video games of graphics-heavy titles like Genshin Affect.

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This shouldn’t actually be a shock, because the pill is designed particularly for gaming and subsequently revels on this pursuit. The cooling system additionally works very effectively to maintain the Nova lukewarm more often than not, so I by no means frightened in regards to the gadget overheating or changing into too toasty to carry. It’s a powerful and succesful gadget. 

Nubia Redmagic Nova benchmarks

Right here’s how the Nova fared towards its rivals in our commonplace efficiency benchmark assessments.

Cameras

• 20Mp entrance digicam
• 50Mp rear digicam
• 4K/30fps video

Cameras on tablets stay one thing of a marmite situation for many individuals. Why on earth would you maintain up a honking huge show to take images when you probably have a smartphone in your pocket? Chances are high that the smaller gadget can even have higher cameras, because the lenses on the Nova are serviceable fairly than splendid. 

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The 50Mp rear module can get some good photographs if gentle is wealthy and the topics comparatively stationary. However something aside from that may be tough. Low gentle rapidly introduces grain, and focussing could be problematic at instances. It’s an identical state of affairs on the 20Mp front-facing digicam.

Sure, you possibly can stand up to 4K video, however that is solely at 30fps and doesn’t look that spectacular. The Nova does have cameras, they usually can take photos, however I wouldn’t suggest you employ them that always. 

Listed below are just a few examples of pictures taken with the Nova:

Battery Life & Charging

• 10,100mAh Twin-cell battery
• 80W quick charging
• 80W Charger included

The Nova comes geared up with a big 10,100mAh battery, together with an 80W quick charger within the field. It is a stable mixture.

I discovered I might get a superb 4-5 hours of reasonable gaming out of the pill earlier than it wanted to be plugged in once more. Then, it’s solely round an hour to get that cell fully refilled. In the event you haven’t received that lengthy and have to be again within the recreation, then a 15-minute cost received me to 39% and in half-hour the Nova replenished 70% of the battery. 

You possibly can in fact eke out extra life by lowering display screen brightness and turning off another power-hungry apps and settings, however this may also make the expertise rather less immersive. 

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When not gaming, the Nova appeared blissful to final all day, taking gentle web browsing, Netflix binging, and a spot of studying in its stride, with nonetheless somewhat left within the tank by bedtime. In our commonplace PCMark battery take a look at, the Nova racked up 7 hours and 23 minutes, which is a decent rating on this class. 

Software program

• Android 14 
• Redmagic OS 9.5
• Solely two years of safety updates

The Nova pill comes with Android 14, though it’s buried below the Redmagic OS 9.5 overlay. There’s a good quantity of customisation choices out there, with a number of themes and icon packs included, all of which might make a big impact on the appear and feel of the gadget. Desire a futuristic aesthetic? That’s straightforward to realize. Choose a easy vanilla Android flavour? There’s that too. 

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You’ll know that this isn’t simply Android although, as you encounter translation errors right here and there, plus the information feed that you just open by swiping proper on the Residence display screen is fairly horrible. With the Google model you get helpful tales during which you is likely to be genuinely , on Redmagic it feels very random and low high quality. 

However, the software program works easily and I didn’t actually encounter any crashes or issues. It’s not the prettiest, but it surely will get the job completed. The phrase useful involves thoughts. 

One Redmagic staple is Recreation Area. That is the devoted software program suite that lets you change varied settings – akin to when the fan comes on, CPU and GPU efficiency, stage of contact sensitivity, put in video games and tweaks for in-game controls and choices.

On the Redmagic telephones, there’s a devoted button to open Recreation Area, however that is curiously lacking on the Nova pill. As an alternative, you possibly can entry Recreation Area by swiping in from either side of the show when in a recreation. It’s a implausible addition for critical avid gamers a cornerstone of the Redmagic expertise. 

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One draw back on the software program entrance is that Nubia has advised me that the Nova will solely obtain one Android model improve and safety updates will solely final for 2 years.

The latter is especially disappointing because it signifies that the pill will doubtlessly change into unsafe to make use of as soon as the updates are discontinued. Two years is just not a protracted lifespan for a tool today, particularly when rival tablets supply considerably longer help. 

Worth & Availability

The Redmagic Nova is offered straight from the Redmagic web site, the place it begins at £439 in the UK or $499 in the US. That will get you 12GB of RAM and 256GB of inside storage, although you possibly can step as much as £559/$649 for the 16GB/512GB variant.

There aren’t many gaming tablets in the marketplace in the mean time. One notable mannequin is the Lenovo Legion Tab (Gen 2) which includes a 12GB/256GB complement, however solely a 3.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor. Nonetheless, the £400/$699 price ticket that it often sells for does soften the blow. 

Whereas not a devoted gaming pill, the Honor MagicPad 2 does function a Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset, 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for round £500, and naturally, there’s at all times the 11-inch iPad Air (2024) which options a variety of recreation titles and the spectacular M1 chipset for the asking value of £599/$599.

Any premium pill ought to present a stable platform for cell gaming, you possibly can check out our greatest pill information for some wonderful choices. 

Must you purchase the Purple Magic Nova?

The Nova has a whole lot of issues going for it. Efficiency is spectacular, the audio is sweet, and the compact design feels sturdy and sturdy. Battery life is middling, though it’s additionally quick to recharge.

Total, it’s an awesome gaming pill, arguably the most effective Android one at present out there, plus it isn’t costly for what it’s. 

The one downside, and it’s a fairly large one, is the dearth of promised software program help. If Nubia holds to what it has said, then the Nova could possibly be rendered out of date in solely two years, which is much too quick a lifespan for a product nearly as good as this. 

Specs

• Android 14 
• Purple Magic OS 9.5
• 10.9-inch IPS show, 144Hz refresh fee, 2880 x 1800 pixels, 312ppi, 16:10 ratio
• Quad audio system
• 3.4GHz Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Main Model
• 12GB/16GB LDDR5X reminiscence
• 256GB/512GB UFS 4.0
• ICE 2.0 cooling system
• 20Mp f/2.0 entrance digicam
• 50Mp f/1.8 rear digicam
• Embedded Fingerprint sensor in Energy button
• WiFi 6
• NFC (no funds help)
• Bluetooth 5.4
• USB-C charging port
• 10,100mAh Twin-cell battery
• 80W quick charging (charger included)
• 253.3 x 164.6 x 7.3 mm (9.97 x 6.48 x 0.29 in)
• 530 g (1.17 lb)