a powerhouse Android gaming pill

Within the smartphone world, RedMagic is synonymous with top-tier cell gaming. It’s liable for certainly one of this yr’s finest gaming telephones, the RedMagic 9S Professional, and now it’s increasing into the pill area with the RedMagic Nova. Nonetheless, it faces some stiff competitors, with Apple, Samsung, Honor, and extra all releasing new tablets in current months.

Whereas it would appear to be every other pill from the surface, dig a bit of deeper, and it’s clear why RedMagic isn’t shying away from taking up the massive names. It’s a efficiency beast, using probably the greatest Android processors to supply a gaming expertise that few can match on the $500 worth level whereas nonetheless providing a lot of the multitasking and video streaming options you need from an iPad equal. Nonetheless, the query stays: how does the Nova instantly examine to the picks on our record of the most effective gaming tablets? Let’s discover out.

Worth and availability

The RedMagic Nova gaming pill is now obtainable from the official RedMagic website. You possibly can select from both the 256GB+12GB or 512GB+16GB configurations, beginning at $499 and $649, respectively. Whichever you go for, it is best to have greater than sufficient area to retailer a group of your favourite cell video games. By way of colorways, it’s obtainable in simply Midnight, which is someplace between gray and black.

Specs

Listed here are the RedMagic Nova’s specs:

Options and software program

The RedMagic Nova runs on the model’s personal RedMagicOS Android 14 pores and skin, which is a superbly tremendous little bit of software program. It’s not as simplified and useable as Apple’s iPad iOS, nevertheless it’s additionally not as clunky as among the different Android skins on the market. Its theming could be very gamer-centric, however you possibly can customise that within the settings if you’d like it to really feel much less such as you’re utilizing a 14-year-old boy’s pill.

By way of bloatware apps, there aren’t hundreds, however you continue to should do a little bit of upkeep when you’ve arrange the pill (and no matter you do, don’t comply with obtain all of the knock-off cell video games whenever you first load it up). It’s not wherever as egregious as among the examples of bloatware I’ve come throughout on telephones just like the Xiaomi 14T and Nubia Flip 5G, although, so I can hardly complain.

Transferring on to gaming-specific software program, there’s RedMagic’s Sport House, which I’m already used to having spent a little bit of time with the RedMagic 9S Professional. With a sport open, all it’s a must to do is pull the Sport House overlay out from the left of the show, and also you’re good to go. From right here, you possibly can document gameplay, flip off notifications, or boot up purpose help, all with out taking your self away from the motion. There are many different Sport House options, however the record is simply too lengthy for this text.

Sport House is a superb device, however I nonetheless assume there might be a number of enhancements. For a begin, I’d moderately learn about my body charges than GPU or CPU efficiency, and the software program places these particulars entrance and middle. It’s additionally a bit complicated, and I can see avid gamers who aren’t too bothered concerning the particulars simply avoiding it altogether moderately than threat the confusion of determining what all of the totally different buttons and settings do. I’m not saying it’s a nasty factor to have a lot freedom to configure, nevertheless it may not be user-friendly sufficient for some.

Design and audio

Purely when it comes to design, there’s not a lot that helps the Nova stand out when taking a look at its show. It’s certainly not ugly, nevertheless it’s comparatively plain and serves as a reminder that manufacturers like RedMagic and Asus are abandoning these kinds of edgy designs you may affiliate with gaming tablets and telephones. There aren’t any splashes of pink throughout the bezels, stick-on flames, or cases of the phrase ‘gamer’ in graffiti wherever on the entrance of the factor. I just like the simplicity, nevertheless it may be a bit tame for some.

You’ll find a barely attention-grabbing design function on the rear, although. The pill has a clear part alongside the highest of the again cowl that appears like a window into the pill’s interior workings and cooling system. I say appears to be like like as a result of there’s some trickery afoot, and also you’re not actually taking a look at what you assume you’re. Nonetheless, it’s good to see a model attempt new issues with the pretty inflexible limitations of pill design, even when you hardly ever see it.

Whereas I’m eager on the Nova’s understated design, I want RedMagic had added the identical Sport House button to the pad that you will discover on the 9S Professional mobile phone. There’s one thing about flicking that swap and going into the Sport House overlay that will get you within the zone, nevertheless it’s not the identical right here. I’d additionally fairly like a 3.5mm jack, as I nonetheless personal a pair of dependable wired headphones for gaming, however I’ve had to make use of my lower-quality Bluetooth earbuds whereas testing.

As regards to audio, the Nova has a fairly respectable set of audio system, they usually’re loud sufficient that you simply don’t have to hook up with a Bluetooth speaker when you’re seeking to hearken to music or stream a movie. The sound high quality isn’t superb, with some noticeable muddiness within the low-end in comparison with my 2021 iPad Mini, however contemplating the value level, you possibly can’t have every little thing, and I’d moderately discover the audio a bit of flat than the visuals.

Show

The RedMagic Nova may need probably the greatest LCDs I’ve seen on a pill, even when it’s nonetheless a bit disappointing that it’s not OLED. I’ve acquired a Nintendo Change OLED, a Steam Deck OLED, and my day-to-day cellphone is an Honor Magic6 Professional, with, you guessed it, an OLED show. All of those units have made me a little bit of a display screen snob, however the Nova nonetheless impresses; there’s just a bit much less depth of shade than you may get from a pill with an OLED.

The Nova’s 144Hz refresh charges aren’t simply increased than something we’ve seen from Apple’s iPad sequence but in addition beat out my Steam Deck, Change, and Honor cellphone. Which means whereas the on-screen colours may not be fairly as vivid as these OLED units, the in-game motion is as clean as clean will get, and I solely needed to play half an hour of Zenless Zone Zero to see this for myself. The soar from 120Hz to 144Hz isn’t massively noticeable, however when you put the 2 facet by facet, you possibly can see that the upper refresh fee is a bit nicer on the attention.

Nonetheless, the Nova’s show isn’t good. Its bezels are a bit of chunkier than I’d like. They’re not imposing, however I’ve seen equally priced tablets with extra display screen retail property, and that’s a fairly necessary issue when it’s a gaming-specific gadget like this. I need as a lot display screen as attainable, particularly if I play one thing with tiny in-game textual content. Nonetheless, this isn’t an issue unique to this pill, and the bezels are simply as huge on Apple’s newly introduced iPad Mini.

It’s additionally price stating that with a peak brightness of 550 nits, you may wrestle utilizing the Nova in direct daylight, although I haven’t been in a position to put this to the take a look at as I’m within the UK and it’s autumn, so it’s always gloomy. Oh effectively, all of the extra cause to spend extra time gaming indoors. Poor me.

Efficiency

On condition that the RedMagic Nova is a gaming-specific pill, you’d hope this factor packs sufficient horsepower to make cell gaming a delight. Excellent news; it does. That’s not a lot of a shock contemplating it’s packing the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Main Model chipset, a juiced-up model of the processor powering 2024’s finest gaming telephones, together with the RedMagic 9S Professional.

When it’s time to check tablets and telephones, I usually use video games like Honkai Star Rail and Zenless Zone Zero to see whether or not I can push a tool to its limits, as each are fairly performance-intensive, particularly when you dial as much as 60fps gameplay. The Nova takes these video games in its stride, even in busy sequences with a number of characters on-screen. I doubt there’s a cell sport on the market it could actually’t deal with, and whereas I’ve not tried it myself, I’m certain it’s greater than seemingly a monster relating to emulation, too.

Not solely is the Nova a efficiency beast, nevertheless it additionally makes use of some fairly subtle cooling tech to make sure issues by no means get too scorching to deal with. I’m not going to delve into the sophisticated particulars an excessive amount of right here, however the mixture of a strong inside fan and progressive cooling tube means your palms by no means get toasty whereas gaming. Higher nonetheless, that fan by no means will get as loud as my Steam Deck OLED, which often sounds prefer it’s readying for takeoff moderately than making an attempt to maintain up with the calls for of Baldur’s Gate 3.

Battery

The RedMagic Nova’s 10,100mAh battery is a combined bag, as whilst you can tinker with the settings to make gaming all day with out charging a risk, it drains battery faster in standby mode than every other Android pill I’ve used. It’s 2024, and I’m not used to turning issues off as soon as I’ve completed with them for the day, so I’d usually choose up the Nova the next morning with much less battery than I anticipated. Nonetheless, I’d moderately that than lose upwards of 30% battery in an hour whereas gaming, which isn’t an issue with the Nova.

By way of charging time, the RedMagic pill juices from flat again as much as 100% in slightly below an hour, supplied you’re utilizing the charger from the field. You possibly can’t argue with these speeds, and it’s a lot faster than many Android pill and iPad equivalents, even Apple’s 2024 flagship iPad Professional. If, like me, you all the time overlook to place your gadget on cost till simply as you’re on the brink of go away the home, a 25% increase from quarter-hour of charging is greater than optimum.

RedMagic Nova cameras

The RedMagic Nova’s cameras are okay, and that’s about as excited as I can get about them. The 20MP selfie digital camera is stable sufficient for video calling, however when you’re a giant selfie-taker, I’d advocate utilizing your cellphone as a substitute. Selfies I’ve taken lack a bit of definition, and whilst you might spend time enhancing them, that isn’t actually what that is for.

On the again, the Nova has a 50MP lens, however don’t let that megapixel rely idiot you into pondering this is identical type of digital camera high quality you’d get on an Android flagship cellphone. Once more, it’s not an terrible digital camera, and you may seize some respectable pictures if the lighting is right, nevertheless it’s nonetheless less than the usual as one thing you’d get on a mid-range or flagship smartphone.

Do you have to purchase the RedMagic Nova gaming pill?

In the event you’re on the lookout for a pill for the specific objective of gaming, I’d advocate the RedMagic Nova above all else. On simply the gaming expertise alone, you’d assume this factor is way more costly than its $500 price ticket, beating out dearer tablets and smartphones within the efficiency division. Add to that the dearth of considerations round thermals, and there’s little higher for a little bit of Honkai Star Rail, PUBG Cellular, or Diablo Immortal. Choose your poison; the Nova can deal with it.

Nonetheless, when you’re on the lookout for a pill that doubles as a creativity station or selfie machine, there are higher choices. The identical goes for anybody on the lookout for a pill only for a little bit of streaming. In that regard, it’s a bit like shopping for a supercar that you simply’re solely ever going to make use of for choosing up groceries. Simply seize an affordable second-hand iPad and be accomplished with it.

Alternate options

If we haven’t bought you on the RedMagic Nova, try our recommendations for options under.

iPad Air M2

Apple is the pill market chief for a cause, and whereas the Nova may be the most effective for gaming, the newest iPad Air takes the cake in virtually each different division. Its iPadOS software program is extra user-friendly, and its Apple Pencil compatibility makes it a greater possibility for anybody who desires to stability gaming with some creativity. The caveat is that it’s a bit dearer, however there’s nonetheless loads of worth for cash. If you would like the total lowdown, try our iPad Air evaluate.

OnePlus Pad 2

In the event you’re on the lookout for extra of an all-rounder pill, the OnePlus Pad 2 is one other implausible possibility. Your alternative is right here easy: if you’d like one thing for gaming, go for the Nova, however when you prefer to get inventive, go for the OnePlus Pad 2. Each are virtually precisely the identical worth and have related LCD screens and Snapdragon chipsets, so it would finally come right down to model allegiances.