After Qualcomm officially unveiled the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, the Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro became the first commercially available device to feature it. Basically, Nubia started a trend of being the first to offer devices with next-gen chipsets. Well, the trend continues with the Red Magic 8S Pro series.
It’s the first range of devices to come with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Leading Version, a tweaked version of the flagship Android SoC launched last year. And to let the users get the best possible performance out of the new chipset, the Red Magic 8S Pro lineup comes with better cooling and up to 24 GB of RAM.
More About the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Leading Version
So, the major change from the Red Magic 8 Pro series is the new chipset. The S-Models come with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Leading Version, which is a faster version of the regular 8 Gen 2 chipset. The enhanced version of the SoC has a boosted prime core, which is at 3.36 GHz from 3.2 GHz.
In addition, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Leading Version sees an improvement in terms of the GPU clock speed. It’s at 719 MHz from 680 MHz found in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. These improvements will enable the Red Magic 8S Pro to perform much better than the 8 Pro series.
To be exact, the new series should theoretically deliver around 5% better performance in terms of CPU and 5.7% in terms of GPU. But if you take a closer look at the chipset, it has the same configuration as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 “for Galaxy” chipset. The clock speeds are almost the same as the said SoC.
It seems Qualcomm has just rebranded the overclocked version of the old chipset and gave it a more brand-neutral name. Still, it’s good to see that Samsung’s exclusive version of the chipset is coming to more phones.
Other Specs of Red Magic 8S Pro Lineup
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Leading Version is not the only highlight of the new Red Magic 8S Pro. As mentioned earlier, the series also comes with high-end specs to make sure you get the most out of the rebranded chipset.
RAM and Storage Options
For the 8S Pro, you can get it with up to 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage.
But the Red Magic 8S Pro+ phone has a configuration that allows you to get the phone with 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. Yes, you read that right, up to 24GB of RAM. While I think 24GB of RAM is a bit overkill, it could come in handy when running highly resource-intensive games or apps.
Other than that, there is an 8GB RAM option and 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage options available for the 8S Pro. And for the 8S Pro+, there are 16GB RAM and 256GB and 512GB storage options. In other words, Red Magic is offering a lot of storage and RAM configuration for the 8S Pro series. It’s good news for gamers who wants to have more flexibility while choosing their next gaming device.
Red Core 2 Chip and ICE 12 Cooling
The Red Core 2 chipset makes another appearance on the Red Magic 8S Pro series. This chipset is there to offload some tasks from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Leading Version SoC. As a result, you get better gaming and multitasking performance out of the devices.
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And when it comes to thermals, Nubia has improved the cooling system. Instead of ICE 11, which the 8 Pro series used, the 8S Pro lineup comes with ICE 12 cooling. This improved cooling adds 5W/mk thermal paste to the system and improves the air duct of the external 20K RPM fan.
This cooling system improvement will ensure that the devices do not throttle too much in heavy loads. And like some of the previous Red Magic gaming phones, the 8S Pro series comes with RGB lighting.
Display of the Red Magic 8S Pro Series
Nubia has utilized a large 6.8-inch AMOLED screen for the Red Magic 8S Pro lineup. It comes with an 1116 x 2480 px resolution and 100% DCI-P3 coverage. Like the screens found in the predecessor, this panel has up to 1300 nits of peak brightness and DC dimming. And for protection, there’s Gorilla Glass 5 on the top of the screen.
As the lineup is geared toward gamers, the display of the 8S Pro devices comes with a 120Hz refresh rate. I would have loved to see support for a 144Hz refresh rate, though. That would have made the devices head-to-head with the latest Asus Rog Phone devices, another gaming-centric phone series.
But the good news is that the display of the Red Magic 8S Pro lineup has a touch sampling rate of 960Hz. That will eventually make the display appear smoother and more fluid.
Camera, Battery, and Pricing Info of Red Magic 8S Pro
Nubia did not change the camera of the Red Magic 8S Pro lineup. It is the same 6000 mAh cell with 80W wired charging as the 8 Pro lineup. However, the new cooling system adds a graphene layer right below the screen. It should keep the battery cooler during heavy loads.
The case is the same for the camera configuration. It’s the same as the 8 Pro series. You will find a 50MP GN5 primary sensor on the back, along with two secondary cameras. And on the front, there’s a 16MP under-display selfie shooter.
Regarding pricing, the Red Magic 8S Pro starts at CNY 3999 for the base model, which is around $552. And for the 8S Pro+, the starting price is CNY 5499, approximately $758. If you want to get the top-end model with 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, you will need to spend CNY 7500, which is about $1035.
