The new Nubia Red Magic 3 is similar to the OnePlus 7 Pro in terms of specifications and software but has a large battery and special gaming features. You can buy the Red Magic 3 from 479 euros. You should know this.
In Asia, ZTE is one of the largest smartphone brands, but in Europe, it does not yet go well. The company wants to change that and bet on gaming smartphones. They are sold under the Nubia name, a sub-brand of ZTE.
Last year the Red Magic Mars appeared, which is now being succeeded by the Red Magic 3. This is the world’s first smartphone with active, physical cooling. A small fan works with heat pipes to keep the device cool while playing heavy games. See
Buy Nubia Red Magic 3 in the Netherlands
The ZTE Nubia Red Magic 3 can be purchased from 27 May through the official European web store. It also delivers in the Netherlands. The smartphone appears in the colors black, red and camouflage. The red and black versions come with 8GB / 128GB memory and a price tag of 479 euros. The camouflaged model has 12GB / 256GB memory and costs 599 euros. With its powerful hardware and competitive prices, the Red Magic 3 is an interesting alternative to the OnePlus 7 Pro (from 709 euros) and Asus ROG Phone (849 euros).
Affordable gaming smartphone
The price difference is not reflected in the design of the smartphone. The Red Magic 3 has a sturdy metal housing, touch-sensitive buttons on one side and stereo speakers below and above the display. The device would also deliver 4D vibration and has an RGB LED strip on the back. It is mainly there to make it clear to everyone that you have a gaming device in your hands.
Just like other gaming smartphones, Red Magic 3 has powerful hardware. Under the hood is the fast Snapdragon 855 processor, which you also see in the OnePlus 7 Pro and Xiaomi Mi 9. The working memory is 8 GB or even 12 GB, combined with 128 GB or 256 GB storage space respectively.
Large screen, long battery life
The 6.65 inch HDR screen uses an OLED panel with full HD resolution. The 90Hz refresh rate is worth mentioning, meaning that the display refreshes ninety times per second. At present, only a handful of (gaming) devices, including the OnePlus 7 Pro and Asus ROG Phone, have a 90Hz screen.
Razer is the only one that offers smartphones with a 120Hz display. All other smartphones use a 60Hz display. A higher speed results in smoother images, which you notice when reading the text and playing games, among other things. Apps and games must be optimized for this.
Due to the large display and the focus on gaming, ZTE has equipped the Red Magic 3 with a huge 5000 mAh battery. That is considerably larger than the batteries of the Asus ROG Phone, OnePlus 7 Pro and Razer Phone 2 (4000 mAh) and Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus (4100 mAh). The battery charges up to 18 watts via the USB-C connection. Wireless charging is not possible.
The device has a 16-megapixel selfie camera, headphone jack and Bluetooth 5.0, but lacks an NFC chip. Contactless payment in the supermarket is therefore not possible. On the back, there is a 48-megapixel camera that photographs using the quad more bay technology. This should yield better 12-megapixel photos. Special is the (beta) possibility to film in 8K resolution: other smartphones film at most in 4K.
Stock Android
The Red Magic 3 runs on a barely modified version of Android 9.0 (Pie). ZTE’s update policy is unclear. Android Planet has asked the manufacturer if the smartphone will be updated to Android 10.0 (Q) and how long it will receive security updates. We will update this article upon a response.