Redmagic 9S Pro in the test: The fastest Android smartphone costs 650 euros

After its predecessor, the Redmagic 9 Pro (test report) was able to beat even the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (test report) in terms of performance, the Redmagic 9S Pro wants to go one step further. With the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in the leading version, the performance has been enhanced again and aims to deliver the best Android and gaming experience. There is again an active fan on board.

Like its predecessor, the Redmagic 9S Pro is available in the manufacturer’s store with memory configurations of 12/256 GB. 649 euros and with 16/512 GB 799 euros Available. The smaller memory version is 24 percent cheaper than the Galaxy S35 Ultra. Our test shows whether it is suitable for everyday use other than gaming and whether it has the same weaknesses as other gaming smartphones.

Like previous models, the current RedMagic 9S Pro is not waterproof and does not have IP certification. With external dimensions of 164 × 76.3 × 8.9 mm it is quite compact, but at 229 grams it is quite heavy. The look of the 9S Pro is reminiscent of an angular Nothing phone and thus is in line with the look of the RedMagic line. With a 20: 9 format and very thin display edges, it looks extremely beautiful, but does not fit perfectly in the hand. Long gaming sessions can be a little painful for your hands if the corners of the 9S Pro press on your palms. At the top there is again a jack connection (3.5 mm) for headphones.

The workmanship all around is impeccable. The frame is made of metal and the back is completely glass, with no protruding cameras. Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5 is used on the front for protection. The volume rocker and power button can be found on the right side. There is also another switch. This puts the Redmagic 9S Pro into gaming mode. The touch surfaces on both sides act as shoulder buttons for games.

There is a fan on the back on the board, which at first glance appears to be a camera lens. It is activated under high load during games and blows air horizontally through the smartphone to additionally cool the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. According to the manufacturer, it should rotate at 22,000 rpm, and clear noise can be heard.

Apart from the fan, the shoulder buttons are also now illuminated and can be further configured using the software. If it wasn’t clear by now that this is a gaming smartphone, you can rest assured now. It also helps when gaming that the selfie camera is hidden under the display and hence doesn’t obstruct the display area.

The 6.8-inch OLED display with a resolution of 2480 × 1116 is ideal for gaming due to its 120 Hz refresh rate. Alternatively, 60 Hz or 90 Hz can be set. So there is no arbitrary dynamic switching from 24 to 1 Hz like Samsung’s S1 model.

The display is very high-contrast and color consistent, showing 100 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 color space. According to the manufacturer, the display reaches 1600 nits in automatic mode, which is superbly bright in testing, the display can be read even in direct sunlight.

When it comes to the camera, the Redmagic S9 Pro uses two 50-megapixel sensors from Samsung and a not-so-insignificant 2-megapixel macro lens. The main lens has an aperture of f/1.9 and offers optical image stabilization (OIS). It’s suitable for snapshots. However, the camera doesn’t come close to the quality of Samsung flagships; this becomes noticeable when you use digital zoom, which leads to noise in the image and washed out colors.

The wide-angle camera with f/2.2 aperture lacks a bit of contrast, so photos appear dull. The night mode offers good colours, but at the cost of fine details and strong transitions due to blur and image noise. The macro lens is almost useless and the 16-megapixel selfie camera is also forgettable. Videos can be recorded at a maximum of 8K/30, but a smooth 60 FPS can only be achieved up to 4K.

As we know from other gaming smartphones, the camera here isn’t the best, but it’s good enough for the occasional snapshot.

The usual Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 was not enough for the manufacturer ZTE. Instead, they rely on the “pioneer version” of the high-end SoC. It has a 100 MHz higher CPU clock and a full 250 MHz higher GPU clock. This can be clearly seen in the PCMark Work 3.0 and 3DMark Wild Life Extreme benchmarks, where the RedMagic 9S Pro achieves record values ​​of up to 21,200 and 5,500 points. This makes it about 24 percent higher than the Samsung Galaxy S10 Ultra (test report).

In addition, this time the improved Pro version again has a specially developed Red Core 2 chip. It is intended to take care of the efficient processing of many gaming features, vibration effects and lighting, thereby relieving the load on the CPU. The device is cooled by the active fan of the ICE 13.5 cooling system.

Storage and RAM sizes are generous at 512 GB and 16 GB and are extremely fast with UFS 4.0 and LPDDR5X standards. Alternatively, there is a weaker version with 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage. It cannot be expanded using an SD card, but two SIM cards can be used at the same time.

When it comes to wireless interfaces, the 9s Pro is in a good position with NFC, 5G, Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 7. The fingerprint sensor is placed at the bottom centre below the display, but it’s not the fastest. Also worth noting are the stereo speakers, which are quite loud but quickly sound shrill and get loud too.

The RedMagic 9S Pro comes with Android 14 and RedMagic 9.5 OS, which is quite suitable for gaming. Software updates will only be available for two years, with one version update for Android available as well. This is clearly less than the long support from Samsung and Google. The only bloatware is the “Booking.com” app. We don’t understand what harm it has done in a gaming smartphone. Maybe need to book early for Gamescom in Cologne? Sometimes there are poor translations, which makes the software look incomplete.

The main attraction for gamers is probably the “Game Space”, where all games are listed and many features are available for an optimal gaming experience. Here gamers set the triggers for each game and adjust the performance mode. But there are many other features that can be useful in one game or another. The main attraction is probably mainly the triggers themselves that appear in the games pubg And CoD Very useful for aiming and shooting at the same time, as well as the Gravity-X function. It can be used to connect a monitor or television directly to play games in large format.

The 6500 mAh battery is quite large and therefore ideal for gamers. With normal use, it can easily last the day, but if you play a lot, you will still have to charge it every day. The Redmagic 9S Pro does not offer wireless charging, but it does charge wired at up to 80 watts. The battery charges from 20 to 80 percent in about half an hour using the included power adapter and is cooled by a fan. However, this can also be turned off in software so as not to bother with charging overnight. The maximum charge level can also be limited to between 70 and 90 percent to protect the battery.

The Redmagic 9S Pro is only available in gray (“sleet”) color with 12/256 GB directly from the manufacturer 649 euros and with 16/512 GB in black and gold (“Cyclone”) or white and gray (“Snowfall”) 799 euros Available. A model in white color (“Frost”) with 12/256 GB is to follow. It is significantly cheaper than Amazon and is reasonably priced for the performance.

The Redmagic 9S Pro is aimed primarily at one thing: gaming. This is achieved really well, with absolutely excellent performance and some useful gaming features, as well as a large battery. In addition, it has an exceptional amount of RAM, storage, a beautiful modern design and impeccable workmanship. There is no need to hide the display either.

The fan can get quite annoying in the long run. The only major drawback – as with any gaming smartphone – is the camera, mainly for selfies. So if you can safely do without a powerful camera and instead want strong performance at a reasonable price, the Redmagic 9S Pro is a good choice.

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