The Red Magic 8 Pro was among the first Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 phones, coming at the very end of 2022. Now company is bringing the improved Red Magic 8S Pro with Qualcomm’s next best chip, better cooling and a cooler-looking exterior. The major change on the S-model is that it uses the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 2, a faster version of the 8 Gen 2 chip that powered the 8 Gen 2. The Plus version boosts the prime core from 3.2GHz to 3.36GHz and increases the GPU clock speed from 680MHz to 719MHz. What this means is that the 8S Pro should have 5% higher CPU and 5.7% higher GPU performance. Yes, this is basically the same configuration as the “for Galaxy” chips but with a neutral branding. This is the first phone to use this particular version of the chip.
Anyway, the phone comes in several
configurations, you can choose up to 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 512GB of UFS
4.0 storage. But there is a Pro+ model with twice that, we'll get to it in a
bit. The Red Core 2 chip makes another appearance and offloads some tasks from
the Snapdragon. The chipset’s performance level is maintained by the improved
ICE 12 cooling system. Compared to ICE 11 (used by the 8 Pro), the new system
adds 5W/mK thermal paste and improves the air duct used by the 20K RPM fan.
Every variant of the 8S Pro has RGB lighting on that fan (previously, this was
exclusive to the premium transparent version).
Speaking of variants, the new model keeps
the aviation-grade aluminum frame and front glass, the back material depends on
the variant you pick, which also dictates how much RAM and storage you get. The
phone is built around a large 6.8” AMOLED display with 1,116 x 2,480px
resolution (20:9) and 100% DCI-P3 coverage. Like the previous model, this panel
peaks at 1,300 nits of brightness and as DC dimming. Protection is provided by
the sheet of Gorilla Glass 5 on top.
The display has a refresh rate of 120Hz
and a touch sampling rate of 960Hz. There are two shoulder triggers with 520Hz
touch sampling rate (7.4ms response time). The dev team claims they have
optimized the software responsible for those triggers. The phone runs on a
6,000mAh battery with 80W fast charging, same as the 8 Pro before it. The new
cooling system also includes a graphene layer below the screen, which helps
spread out the heat during charging.
The camera configuration hasn’t changed.
The 16MP front-facing camera is under the display, so that it doesn’t get in
the way of game graphics. The rear camera is based on the 50MP GN5 sensor
(1/1.57”). Wired connectivity is on the level – there is a 3.5mm headphone jack
and the USB-C port can do video out if you want to play on a larger display,
wireless screen sharing is an option as well at up to 120Hz with Red Magic
Studio. For those times when playing without headphones, there are two speakers
with DTS:X Ultra sound.
The Red Magic 8S Pro goes on pre-order
today and will go on sale on the 11th. The base 8/128GB model starts
at CNY 4,000 (US$ 550/€ 510/₹ 45,500), you can see a price breakdown below. Note
that the Aurora variant (with a transparent back) is only available in two
memory configurations and they are a bit pricier than the other two colorways. As
we mentioned earlier, there is a Red Magic 8S Pro+ as well - this one starts at
16GB of RAM and 256GB storage for CNY 5,500 (US$ 760/€ 700/₹ 62,500). Once again the
Aurora version has separate storage options, going all the way up to 24GB of
RAM and 1TB storage for CNY 7,500 (US$ 1,035/€ 950/₹ 85,000). You read that right,
this is the first phone with 24GB of RAM. Also, the Plus model supports faster
charging at 165W but has a smaller 5,000mAh battery. One last thing - there is
a Red Magic 8S Pro+ Bumblebee limited edition (16/512GB) for CNY 6,500, which
comes with a bespoke yellow design for the back along with multiple matching
acceessories.
