RedMagic 11S Pro Review: Unfair advantage

I was three matches deep into PUBG Mobile on maximum settings when I realized the phone hadn’t gotten warm. The phone was as cool in my hands as when I had first picked up from the table. The match was still going. The frame rate was still smooth. I kept playing. I won. I don’t want to give too much credit to the hardware, but I was unfairly deadly that evening. I felt bad for my opponents.

This is the best gaming phone I’ve used. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Leading Version is a monster, the upgraded AquaCore liquid cooling system works exactly as advertised, and the battery is good enough to power everything. The cameras are still not great, and the software remains as barebones as ever. Still, nothing in this price range comes close if you’re looking for an elite-tier gaming phone.

Design: nothing else looks like this

The first thing I noticed when I took the RedMagic 11S Pro out of the box was the back. The transparent panel reveals the AquaCore liquid cooling system, and if you look closely, you can actually see the fluorinated liquid circulating through it. The glowing blue ring around the cooling loop makes it impossible to miss. RedMagic introduced this with the 11 Pro, and I’m glad they kept it for the 11S Pro because it’s genuinely one of the coolest design features on any phone right now.

The form factor of the phone is excellent. The 11S Pro is the right size for a gaming phone. It fits large hands comfortably. The edges are slightly rounded so there’s nothing sharp digging into your palm during long sessions, and the whole device feels smooth and well-balanced.

The smooth back with no camera bump remains my favourite thing about Redmagic devices. And the illuminated RGB logo on the back marks this clearly as a gaming device. You can change the colours or turn it off entirely, but I prefer to lean into it.

Display: gorgeous as always

The 144Hz BOE full-screen display is excellent. Colours pop, blacks are genuinely black, and the panel is bright enough that outdoor use isn’t a problem. The 520Hz shoulder triggers feel snappy and precise, and the touch response across the screen is immediate. That responsiveness is part of the reason why I was able to dominate in PUBG: Mobile despite being one of the more inexperienced players.

I love that there’s no notch or punch hole for a front facing camera. It’s just all screen. However, this results in severe selfie limitations, which I’ll get into in a moment.

Performance: absolutely beastly

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Leading Version handles everything I threw at it without hesitation. Call of Duty: Mobile, PUBG Mobile, Genshin Impact… I played everything on maximum settings and threw caution to the wind. They all ran buttery smooth without a single stutter. The combination of the processor, the 520Hz shoulder triggers, the 144Hz display, and the AquaCore cooling system creates an awesome gaming experience. It’s fascinating how cohesively the hardware components all work together on this device.

The cooling system is the real hero of the story here. There’s a 24,000 RPM turbo fan and flowing fluorinated liquid cooling to keep the device at a comfortable temperature even through extended gaming marathons. I never experienced thermal throttling. That liquid cooling is not a gimmick.

Battery: don’t worry about it (too much)

This device has an enormous 7,500mAh battery. It lasts for days with regular use, which is what I expect from such a large battery. However, with heavy gaming sessions I found it drained quickly. It powers everything from the games to the liquid cooling to that stunning display. An included 80W fast charger gets it back up to full power quickly enough, but battery anxiety during a gaming session is a real thing here.

Software: still barebones

Redmagic OS 11.5 still lacks personality. It’s a minimalist OS that gives you basics but not much else. Sure, the animations are smooth, the interface is responsive, and day-to-day use is frictionless, but I always load a third party launcher on RedMagic devices. This time I decided just to keep the stock OS and focus on performance.

Game Center mode is the same as with all other RedMagic devices, and I didn’t notice anything different. This is a special zone for handling your games. You can adjust the refresh rate, bind the shoulder triggers, set performance modes, and toggle AI assistance for gameplay. There’s even an animated girl, RedMagic calls it a waifu, and it’s exactly as strange as it sounds. I don’t use Game Center often, but I can see why competitive players would dig into it.

Google Gemini AI is integrated into the OS. This is new from last year’s iteration. Gemini adds useful daily productivity features like Circle to Search, real-time translation, and AI photo tools.

Cameras: still not there yet

There’s no point beating around the bush. The under-display front-facing selfie camera is unusable. Images from this lens are blurry and washed out. Every selfie I took looked like it was shot through a frosted window. I understand why it is under-the-display — after all, this is a gaming phone and you want that uninterrupted display. But image quality is so poor it’s essentially pointless even putting a camera there.

The rear camera setup is more capable but still not in the same conversation as a Pixel, Galaxy, or iPhone. The 50MP main sensor with optical image stabilizaiton (OIS) produces decent shots in good light and acceptable results in low light. It’s perfectly fine for snapping a photo of your meal or a quick shot at an event. Anyone who takes photography seriously will want a different device. But then again, this is a gaming phone, the cameras are not what you buy this for.

Should you buy it?

Last year’s RedMagic 11 Pro was the best gaming phone I had used. This year’s 11S Pro is even better, mainly because the Snapdragon chip is even faster and the cooling continues to be…cool. It has virtually the same design as last year’s device, with slightly softer edges for better grip.

So should you buy this? Provided you’re in the market for an elite-tier gaming device, then absolutely. This is a device built for gaming and it handles regular daily use just as well as any other Android. It starts at $1,149 and can be purchased directly from RedMagic’s global site, with free shipping.