Gaming smartphones are on a roll! Shortly after Razer set the pace with its Razer Phone, several competitors appeared on the market. It was barely a week ago that the Xiaomi-back 'Black Shark' gaming smartphone was revealed that a new one popped up. Enter Red Magic.

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To accentuate the gaming adjective in its smartphone, ZTE packed the Red Magic with a customizable RGB strip at the back of the device. There you have it, RGB lovers: a phone with customizable RGB lighting!

Other notable features of the phone are as follows:

• 18:9 aspect "edge-to-edge" 6-inch full HD+ screen
• CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 (up to 2.45GHz)
• GPU: Adreno 540
• RAM: 6 GB or 8 GB LPDDR4X
• Storage: 64 GB or 128 GB UFS2.1 2-LANE
  
• Battery: 3800 mAh
  
• Android 8.1 Oreo OS
  
• Weight: 185g

Other than its customizable RGB strip, the Red Magic doesn't have any other stand-out "game-y" accessories like a dedicated gamepad (as of now) but it does feature a "Gameboost" switch to boost performance. It also features yesteryear's Snapdragon 835 processor and a 3800 mAh battery instead of the newer Snapdragon 845 and 4000 mAh battery that its competitors boast. The brand claims that it was the best available chip that could sustain performance without throttling.

The Red Magic gaming smartphone will be available to pre-order on Indiegogo starting April 24 at an Early Bird price of $399.

Chinese users can already book the 6GB+64GB model for 2,499 yuan or the 8GB+128GB model for 2,999 yuan on ZTE's Nubia branch site.

Red Magic Official Website

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

ZTE and Huawei aren't banned, it's just reccoreco that you don't buy them. Ironically, I'm actually typing this from my huawei phone

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Ninja'd

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They still have gapps ootb. At least huawei's phones still do

The ruling literally happened a day or two ago, so any new devices released after today will likely not have GApps as stock.

 

[APartOfMe]

The ruling literally happened a day or two ago, so any new devices released after today will likely not have GApps as stock.

oh. that sucks

 

[WhiteMaze]

50 bucks says Atari will also release a gaming smartphone within one month.

 

[Xzi]

These are all Chinese brands. Clearly they don't know what gaming spec is, because you can get an Adreno GPU in just about every smartphone. There's nothing that makes this worth the premium they're asking. Design is kinda neat but that's it.

 

[SuperDan]

Well when this flops like the Razor phone.. I might grab one cheap... Probably won't I'm. Still quite happy with my S8... It' jjust a shame most mobile games are crap... Purb Mobile... No controller support... & fortnite.. Is pretty boring... Then again I'm still bored of my switch

 

[ClassyDragon]

RGB is cool and all, but I'd honestly prefer something like an Xperia Play 2 or some kind of successor to that. Gaming solely on a touchscreen just doesn't feel natural.

 

[Jayro]

I remember a time when gaming laptops were scoffed at, hut now they're quite good. Seems like Gaming cellphones are finally coming along too.

 

[ClassyDragon]

I remember a time when gaming laptops were scoffed at, hut now they're quite good. Seems like Gaming cellphones are finally coming along too.

I think the main reason gaming smartphones aren't being taken seriously yet is because there just aren't many games that require powerful hardware on mobile yet. Hopefully this will change soon though

 

[Dontwait00]

I think the main reason gaming smartphones aren't being taken seriously yet is because there just aren't many games that require powerful hardware on mobile yet. Hopefully this will change soon though

On what i wrote before, i approve what you said. Like now that came out PUBG on mobile, as been improved mobile gamers by 25%.

But not us much we will need to reach a good level. If like Activision or EA Sports interacts more on mobiles, giving more value on mobile gaming, meaby it will be a smart move now days. But the problem will be that (meaby) consoles will become more usuless. (Im not saing this as will be)

 

[KingVamp]

Wishing for better smartphone games. This is a great concept.

I wish they would stop thinking that they can just skip over the controller for these so called gaming phones.

Why couldn't they make this with controls that came out of it like the Xperia Play

Or at least a proper attachment included in the box.

Within a year, this is probably the best timing for a Xperia Play 2 to happen.

 

[Vieela]

Apparently gaming phones are the new thing everyone's investing. First Razer, then Xiaomi, and now ZTE. (and apparently even Asus too). Maybe this will make big gaming companies port their games to mobile? Still, i don't think there's enough games and market to make phones completely dedicated to mobile gaming, but who knows in the future it becomes an actual thing?

 

[VitaType]

Gaming... Smartphone... Gaming... Smartphone... Gaming... Smartphone... Nope. No matter how often I say it it keeps to sound wrong and absurd. It's very ugly, but that can be said about alot of pre-build "gaming PCs" and "gaming Laptops" as well.
Gaming. Smartphone.

Wonder if they put a fan into this device

 

[Deleted User]

Ah, another one?

Anyways, I said in the last thread, but it bears repeating here: these gaming phones need good tactile controls if they want the Android gaming market to be taken at least somewhat seriously by AAA devs. That 18:9 6-inch display is ruined if phone manufacturers can't find a way to get peoples' fat thumbs off the screen. Not just an analog stick will suffice; they need a full-on controller with at least four buttons and a D-Pad, and even that's not enough for a lot of games.

That said, it seems like a pretty powerful phone. I'm glad that there's an influx of gaming phones. Aside from Nintendo's offerings in the handheld department and Sony's attempts with the Vita, the portable gaming market seems to have been in a bit of a sad state for quite a while. It'd be nice to see alternatives.

 

[Burlsol]

so basically galaxy s8 with rgb shit...
why
why is rgb shit so popular among gamers

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It's not. It's popular with the younger members of the culture who want to be blinded every time they look at their keyboard, can't legally drive yet so want neon all over their PC tower (rather than their car like in years past), and care more about looks than function (see rise of Alienware (before the meme)). These are the same people that made the Paul brothers millionaires for being dickwads, and led to the prevalence of webcams on gaming videos for sake of watching exaggerated and often overly rehearsed reactions from Youtubers.

It's the same reason why many motherboards and videocards now come with fancy glowy parts as standard, even if it comes at the expense of important things like error notification lights. It's the same reason why Microsoft pushed its Metro layout. It's a blight on society. It's companies trying to look new or edgy just for sake of attention, rather than just having good reliable hardware or software.

No front facing camera is a big plus... But the lights and strip on the back are the sole reason why I would intentionally not want this phone. I don't want a glowing line of color shining through the fabric of my pocket or just casting light when in my room. It serves no fucking purpose other than draining battery and drawing attention to itself. I don't want people to see my phone and think it is worth something. I don't give a shit what my coworkers think of my phone, and definitely don't want to draw attention from thieves. Flashy lights, fancy branding, these are the kinds of things that pickpockets look for.

 

[ov3rkill]

If any company add a 'gaming' name, they should at least add some form of a controller.
Great specs though.

 

[KingVamp]

At least it isn't green, right?

No front facing camera is a big plus...

lol Didn't even notice. I'm fine with a front facing camera, but I'm glad they didn't try to shoehorn in one with a notch. Like a lot of these other companies are doing.

 

[Dontwait00]

Apparently gaming phones are the new thing everyone's investing. First Razer, then Xiaomi, and now ZTE. (and apparently even Asus too). Maybe this will make big gaming companies port their games to mobile? Still, i don't think there's enough games and market to make phones completely dedicated to mobile gaming, but who knows in the future it becomes an actual thing?

What did i just said?

 

[Burlsol]

At least it isn't green, right?

lol Didn't even notice. I'm fine with a front facing camera, but I'm glad they didn't try to shoehorn in one with a notch. Like a lot of these other companies are doing.

I don't use my cellphone as a mirror. I don't take selfies like an image obsessed twat. A front facing camera is something that is completely useless, opens my phone to be a means for unknown parties to continually monitor me no matter what I point my phone at (see Facebook). It is extra cost of installing another image sensor and lens which only uses up important real-estate on the front of the phone which would either be more screenspace, or just make the phone small enough to actually fit in a pocket. Like glowing lights on every piece of "gamer" hardware, it is just another shining example as to how companies add shit just to appeal to a broader audience.

 

[KingVamp]

I don't use my cellphone as a mirror. I don't take selfies like an image obsessed twat. A front facing camera is something that is completely useless, opens my phone to be a means for unknown parties to continually monitor me no matter what I point my phone at (see Facebook). It is extra cost of installing another image sensor and lens which only uses up important real-estate on the front of the phone which would either be more screenspace, or just make the phone small enough to actually fit in a pocket. Like glowing lights on every piece of "gamer" hardware, it is just another shining example as to how companies add shit just to appeal to a broader audience.

Privacy is another issue altogether, but I wouldn't compare glowing lights to a front facing camera. Other people use the front facing camera all the time. Not just for close up videos with friends and families, but video calls too. Much more functional than just glowing lights.

 

[Dontwait00]

Ahah funny thing