RedMagic 10 Air review – An Android gaming champion just shy of greatness

Nubia’s reign in the Android market is commendable, especially with impressive flagships like the RedMagic 10 Pro in its arsenal. However, at a considerable cost, it might not be worth the leap for everyone. That’s where the RedMagic 10 Air comes in, a cheaper alternative that provides premium-quality features at a fraction of the cost.

But does it have what it takes to sit among the best gaming phones? Is it worth picking up over competitors like the Poco F7 or Nothing Phone (3a), two gaming beasts in a stealthy shell? Stick around, and let’s break down what the RedMagic 10 Air has to offer.

Price

Compared to the RedMagic 10 Pro, the brand’s latest addition is a step toward offering high-quality features without putting too much of a dent in your wallet. Over the last month, I’ve spent time with RedMagic’s $699 top-tier option, a full $100 cheaper than the Pro, which contains 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. However, if you’re not too bothered about having the biggest storage capacity, you can bag the handset for $549.

Specs

Here are the RedMagic 10 Air specs:

Performance and gaming

Now that you know what’s included out of the box, you can clearly see what it’s capable of; every second spent in-game feels like pure bliss. I’ll get to the magnificent display and impactful audio soon, but the RedMagic 10 Air truly shines when it comes to performance. Backed by a 9-layer ICE-X liquid cooling system and a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, extended periods of playtime in all the best mobile games are no issue.

Despite swapping out Pro’s more powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite hardware, this demotion is nothing but a blemish in reality. Cranking Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile up to max settings is child’s play, and it handles more demanding games like GRID: Autosport, an already stunning racer, with just as much ease. RedMagic is a leader of the pack on Android gaming performance alone, and it’s no surprise that this model keeps that reputation going strong.

Thanks to that aforementioned cooling system, I never felt the device get more than a tad warm, as it never reached a worryingly high temperature. However, like the Pro, the fan gets a little noisy if you’re really grinding over the course of a few hours.

Features and software

The RedMagic 10 Air does one thing that most mobile brands veer away from these days: bundle in a charger and USB-C cable together. Although the included charger sadly uses a type-A plug, you can easily resolve that with an adapter. What’s even more surprising is the inclusion of a hard case. It won’t win any awards for aesthetics, but it’ll keep the phone safe from any bumps and scrapes.

As you’ve likely guessed by now, the RedMagic 10 Air’s selling point is offering an excellent gaming experience, no matter where you are. Just like the RedMagic 10 Pro, the new device includes Game Space – a handy hub that lets you access all your free mobile games with a single tap. It functions similarly to Armory Crate, a proprietary frontend app for the Asus ROG Ally, or the excellent Backbone app included alongside one of the best mobile controllers.

While Game Space isn’t quite as streamlined as the Backbone app, it does lean into tailoring your gaming sessions with several options. You can easily tweak keyboard and mouse support for any of your installed games, as well as controller support, though your results will depend on each game’s compatibility. A separate menu screen handles Bluetooth accessory pairing.

There’s even a behavioral learning toggle that designs control schemes for Gravity X, a Game Space tool that brings together cloud streaming options from Xbox and PlayStation. And if you’ve got a hankering for Roblox games like Dress to Impress, RedMagic’s digital assistant, Mora, is essentially your own portable waifu in an app. I can’t say that it’s an app I’ll be interacting with much, but seeing them realized through AR lens hijinks is amusing for at least a couple of minutes.

Speaking of interactivity, Mini Game Wallpapers return here, swapping out photos for small-scale games like Tetris. On a more granular level, Game Space’s performance modes are a fast way to conserve battery while tracking your GPU and CPU in real-time. Beyond this, the RedMagic 10 Air delivers an Android 15 skin like its pricier cousin. I’ve got no major issues with this iteration of Android’s reliable OS, although the device comes preloaded with some bloatware I promptly deleted. Yes, Booking.com is yet again urging you to get a hotel locked in.

There’s the usual gamut of Google apps ready to go, too, although mainstays like Google Docs and Google Sheets are noticeably absent. Maybe it’s the writer in me seeking them out immediately, but you need to download them from the Google Play Store otherwise. If you ever get bored with Mora, then Google Gemini is available for all your queries and generative AI needs. I rarely use Siri on my iPhone 15 Pro, but starting a chain of questioning with seamless replies and an eerily conversational tone shows how Gemini is slowly surpassing Apple’s alternative.

Design and audio

If you’re looking for something with flair, the RedMagic 10 Air doesn’t quite hit that mark. It isn’t that much different from the Pro visually, opting for a simplistic block of color on the rear, devoid of any patterns or design quirks. With brands like Nothing proudly showing off engaging, eye-catching designs, it’s hard not to wish for the same kind of spark on other devices. Nevertheless, if subtlety is your bag, then you’ll feel right at home. The rear has a matte finish, but it can feel a bit too slippery at times. I recommend putting the hard case on as soon as possible to offset this.

Volume isn’t everything, but there’s no denying that the RedMagic 10 Air is giving it all on the speaker front. Booting up Game Space rumbles the device with a mighty chorus of synths, while playing games responds to bass-heavy situations without getting too muddy. It puts my iPhone to shame, with balanced mid and treble tones and sheer volume that fills up the room.

Display

Whether I’m in-game or catching up on my YouTube subscriptions, this display is pristine. I tend to favor screens with higher refresh rates, and I don’t take the ability to turn on 120Hz mode for granted. FPS games take full advantage of this, showcasing a hail of gunfire with crisp shadows and excellent clarity. I dare say it rivals some of the best Google Pixel phones display-wise.

The phone produces colors with a touch of vibrance, without coming across as overly saturated or from the uncanny valley. That’s thanks to the decision to use an AMOLED screen, which takes up a decent 6.8 inches of real estate across the front of the device.

In terms of resolution, you can revel in 2,480×1116 pixels with a responsive 2,000Hz sampling rate. When I say it can be bright, I mean it. The RedMagic 10 Air utilizes 1,600 nits, giving you visibility without hassle. In the harsh sunlight of a British spring, I had no issues seeing what was on-screen.

Camera

With all the goodness the RedMagic 10 Air has to offer, there has to be a catch. Unfortunately, that boils down to the camera. This isn’t a bad camera by any means, and it’ll certainly fulfill everyday usage and get candid moments uploaded to social media. However, the OV50E 50 MP and OV50D 50 MP ultra-wide-angle lenses didn’t wow me with stunning results.

That said, the wide-angle lens outperforms those on other mid-range phones I’ve seen at this level. It comes with an optimized distortion correction algorithm, indicating RedMagic recognizes that this is a specific weakness in mid-range phones.

Battery

To further reduce the cost, the RedMagic 10 Air scales back its battery functionality. This isn’t a huge detriment, though. Instead of using the larger 7,050 mAh powerhouse in the Pro, you can get by on the 6,000 mAh battery with 80W fast charging capability. To fully see how long it could last, I used the phone lightly over the first week, periodically checking social media apps and emails.

On this very battery-friendly usage, I only needed to charge it twice. Using the included 80W charger with an adapter, reaching full charge from as low as 30% in just short of an hour is incredible if you’re about to leave the house. I also juiced up the phone with a standard charger, but saw charging times extended to at least 90 minutes.

Should you buy the RedMagic 10 Air?

The RedMagic 10 Air achieves the device’s primary goal: offering S-tier gaming performance at a reduced price. If gaming is the key factor of your next smartphone purchase, then you won’t be disappointed with what there is to benefit from here. From blockbuster-level action in shooters to detailed gacha games like Honkai Star Rail, the RedMagic 10 Air can handle just about anything you throw at it.

However, the disappointing camera results and a downscaled battery diminish the RedMagic 10 Air’s greatness. While the handset’s chipset is powerful, competitors like the Poco F7 Ultra offer the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor for a tad more price.

Alternatives

Nothing Phone (3a)

You might not think of Nothing for its gaming prowess, but that hasn’t stopped the company’s products from carving out a name for itself in this space. The Nothing Phone (3a) also runs on Android 15, using Nothing’s minimalist OS skin to streamline your way between apps. With an eye-popping design that shows off its nuts and bolts, it sets the stage for the handset’s superb performance to reveal itself. It can get a little toastier than the RedMagic 10 Air, but at a similar price, you won’t need to sacrifice camera quality either.

Poco F7 Ultra

The Poco F7 Ultra is a tad pricier than the RedMagic Air 10, but not by a huge margin. It also features the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, the same processor found in the RedMagic 10 Pro. It’s an excellent performer for everyday tasks, but it doesn’t shy away from holding its own during extended gaming sessions. Frame dips are a little more noticeable here, but they’re so infrequent that they don’t massively impact the phone’s otherwise great performance.