Nubia Red Magic 3: Great For Gaming, Average In Everything Else

Gaming phones like Asus ROG Phone 2, Razer Phone 2, and Black Shark 2 are here to give hardcore gamers the best experience ever with playing games on a handheld device. But that is what manufacturers claim, whether these models deliver the promise is still a matter of debate.

Nubia’s first few tries have failed to make a name for the brand in this niche market, so let’s see if this third attempt can win the hearts and minds of gamers.

Nubia Red Magic 3 Price And Availability

Nubia Red Magic 3’s price starts at Rs. 35,999. And its 4G has Indian band support.

Design And Display

If a large screen is what you are after for the most immersive experience possible, you can never go wrong with Nubia Red Magic 3.

The 6.65-inch display is impressively big, and that coupled with its thick body and the design makes the whole phone a real spotlight grabber. The phone is available in camo, red, or black with red accents, and illuminated LED strips on the back. Nubia Red Magic 3 is nowhere near subtle or elegant.

Other highlights are the in-built fan, touch-sensitive triggers that can be adjusted to suit different games, and buttons for power and volume.

The Gorilla Glass screen is between two front-firing speakers. The screen-to-body ratio is 80.5%, and on the left, you can find a pogo pin connector so that users can attach accessories on the device.

On the back of the phone, there is a fingerprint scanner, a camera, logo of Red Magic, an RGB strip, and red accents. The scanner and camera are not as competent as those of OnePlus 7 Pro or even Black Shark 2.

Other specs of the Red Magic 3 that fall behind those of other premium offers are the aspect ratio of 19.5:9, 1080 x 2340 resolution, and 388ppi pixel density. There is one advantage though, which is the AMOLED screen. The screen is suitable for gaming, but for other tasks, it is a bit too much.

While we will have an AMOLED display with a refresh rate of 90Hz, but compared with other models with the same display, that of the Red Magic 3 is not exactly excellent.

The colors are still vibrant and black is deep, but what phones like Asus ROG Phone, Huawei P30 Pro, and Galaxy S10 display is still one step ahead of those of Nubia Red Magic 3.

Battery Life

The beefy 5,000mAh battery can last conservative users two days, while hardcore gamers may find the phone with 35% of juice left after one day. Users have 18W fast charging, but since the regular charge takes just two hours, you may not find yourself in need of that technology often.

Camera

Nubia Red Magic 3 sports a 48MP camera and f/1.7 26mm wide-angle lens on the rear and a 16MP selfie snapper on the other side. Users will have MultiExposure, Electronic Aperture, LightDraw, Time Lapse, Clone, Pretty, Pro, Video, and Photo modes, but most of them a gimmick and cannot meet your expectation for them.

Even if you shoot in good lighting condition, the photos will still come out far too bright, and a subtle handshake can ruin the whole shoot because there is no image stabilization on the device.

While it shares the same sensor with Xiaomi Mi 9 and Asus ZenFone 6, the quality of images taken by Nubia Red Magic 3 cannot be compared with those from the two regular, non-gaming smartphones.

The camera department has one highlight though, which is the selfie snapper. The photos captured by the front camera deliver details, and the beauty mode works decently.

Interface And Reliability

Powered by Android 9, Nubia Red Magic 3 can have all the apps available on Play Store like other smartphones on the market.

The phone’s interface is similar to stock Android, with just a few minor differences. If you want to adjust anything in the connected gaming accessories, you can do so in the game launcher.

Movies, Music, And Gaming

The screen is ideal for both gaming and even watching movies. That, coupled with a decent quality of the speakers, makes for a more immersive experience.

Specs And Benchmarks

Nubia Red Magic 3 benchmarks scores are quite impressive. On AnTuTu, it is given 271,775, while on Geekbench and 3DMark Sling Shot Extreme, its scores are 10,611 and 4,832 (OpenGL) / 4,972 (Vulkan) respectively.

The phone has two authentication systems, one is face unlock, and the other is the fingerprint scanner. The latter is reliable and easy to locate.

The absence of wireless charging and waterproofing ability are not much of a problem, but the fact that there is no NFC or microSD card is a little hard to understand, especially if you want to make payment via your smartphone.

Verdict

Nubia Red Magic 3 is much more affordable than many other gaming smartphones with Snapdragon 855. It will stay cool thanks to the in-built fan; the screen is large, and speakers have decent volume.

While it is suitable for gaming and entertainment, the poor performance of the rear camera and quality of the display might deter some users from stretching their budgets for it if they want a device that can handle not only games but also other day-to-day tasks.

So if you have a tight budget and want a decent overall gaming phone, Nubia Red Magic 3 is not a bad choice at all. But for others, especially those who are willing to pay, you can have better options out there that offer value for money.