As a successor to the 7 Pro, the Nubia Red Magic 7S Pro is now available in China. The business recently debuted the device for the global market a few months ago. However, as is typical with biannual improvements, the 7S Pro is not a true replacement. It’s more of an update. This is because the 7S Pro shares many of the same features and hardware as the 7 Pro.
However, several significant upgrades might make you want to acquire the 7S Pro instead of the 7 Pro if you are on the market for a gaming-centric smartphone.
The chipset is the most noticeable and perhaps most crucial component. The 7S Pro is powered by the upgraded Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 made using the 4nm process by TSMC. The standard SD 8 Gen 1 was developed by Samsung, and Qualcomm now says that TSMC’s upgraded node has increased the original SoC’s efficiency by 30 percent. It will be fascinating to compare the test results of the 7 Pro and the 7S Pro, as both devices share nearly identical hardware except the processor.
Unboxing the Nubia Red Magic 7S Pro
The box is identical to the one that holds the standard version and contains the same contents: user manuals, the 65W Power Delivery 3.0 charger, and a USB-C to USB-C cable.
Design and ergonomics
The 7 Pro and 7S Pro have similar designs and materials. Both have an aviation-grade aluminum main frame, a glass front, and both on the back. The screen protection isn’t official, but we presume it’s Gorilla Glass 5.
Three cameras and an LED flash are set in a square camera bump with rounded sides for symmetry. Metal surrounds the module in a glass panel. Mercury replaces Obsidian Black and Supernova. The latter two have transparent glass backs so you can view the LED-illuminated cooling fan.
Obsidian means we can’t view the internals this time. Two LED strips in the middle of the panel are for calls, notifications, charging, etc. They must work while gaming.
The exhaust fan is on the left side of the frame. The back air intake grille is next to the camera module.
The right side frame has the power button, volume rocker, and touch-sensitive shoulder triggers. SIM card tray, bottom-firing speaker grille, and USB-C port are on the bottom. Left is the gaming mode switch, while the top has the 3.5mm audio jack and secondary speaker grille. Perhaps the top bezel wasn’t big enough for a grille.
The 7S Pro’s bezels are too thin for us. It should be reviewed as a gaming phone. Accidental palm touches might happen when holding the phone horizontally.
The comfy, curved back is slick. Unwieldy phone. 6.8-inch screen, 235g, 10mm profile. We rarely carry a hefty phone.
Gaming Features and Game Space
The new Game space and in-game overlay have been substantially improved. The latter may now display CPU and GPU frequency, and real-time FPS can also be monitored. The improved connectivity with certain messaging programs, such as Discord, is greatly appreciated. There’s quick access to the supported ones (WhatsApp, Facebook, and Telegram are on the list) and a little window that you may expand, move or open in full screen.
By tapping the icon in the upper-right corner, you may access the Game Space Center, where you’ll find additional Game Space features and options. A fast summary of how much and which games you’ve lately played is accessible, as are controls for network settings and the ability to modify barrage messages (a pretty neat feature to read your texts while in-game). You can also modify performance parameters and change the display’s sensitivity.
In the Power Base menu at the bottom of the Game Space’s home screen, you will find a new set of features that appear to be supported by nearly all games. A vast assortment of plugins. One of them adds a custom crosshair and zooms in on the crosshair in shooters. A useful countdown for your foe’s spell and ability cooldowns is also provided. We can see how some of these characteristics could provide you with a competitive advantage.
As previously indicated, the new Red magic Studio is likely the most significant addition to the gaming-oriented capabilities. It is similar to the Asus ROG Phone’s ability to stream the handset’s screen to an external source, such as a computer with a keyboard and mouse. This finally provides you an unfair advantage when utilizing a keyboard and mouse to play competitive mobile online games. Therefore, it would depend on who you ask, but we’d still consider it a good feature to have.
Intriguingly, the screencast can be transmitted via Wi-Fi or USB cable directly connected to the PC. The entire pairing procedure with the desktop application is flawless and incredibly simple. You can configure unique mapping profiles for each game you play, and the keyboard and mouse input is solid. We naturally took it for a spin. It involves the installation of the so-called Red magic Studio application on a Windows-based computer and the connection of the handset via USB cable. The streaming feature is accessible in all menus and applications, not just games. Therefore, it may be useful for purposes other than gaming. The gestures and keystrokes feel natural.
An under-the-hood gaming-related feature is the so-called Smart game, which intelligently maintains the phone’s temperature by increasing the cooling fan as needed and assesses the game’s capabilities to match an appropriate refresh rate. It does not specify that a variable refresh rate is being used. It selects between the display’s regular 60, 90, 120, and 165Hz steps.
According to Red Magic 7S Pro press announcement, this feature is still referred to as Touch Choreographer, and it has been developed even further. The refresh rate of the display is altered dynamically and in real-time, although we are not yet sure that it can make 1Hz or 10Hz increments. Probably, it simply selects the optimal refresh rate from the available HRR steps. Nubia asserts that the new Touch Choreographer will increase frame stability by up to 50 percent.
The best gaming feature, though, would have to be the shoulder triggers. Even more responsive than previously (at least on paper), they make racing and first-person shooter games even more enjoyable. The software allows you to map certain controls to triggers and modify the pressure sensitivity to prevent accidental touches.
Standard triple-camera arrangement with 64MP primary sensor
The Red Magic retains the same camera hardware for yet another iteration. And that is not a particularly good thing. Particularly, the primary sensor is long overdue for an upgrade, as it is a budget 64MP chip with small pixels (1./1.97″, 0.7m). The sensor is combined with an aperture of f/1.8.
The ultrawide lens has also been neglected; it remains the same little 8M f/2.2, 1.12m, 1/4.0″ lens. The 2MP f/2.4 macro lens is also available.
Since the Red Magic 7 Pro, the front-facing camera has been upgraded to 16MP, f/2.0, 1/2.8″. That’s a relatively large sensor and aperture for a selfie camera. However, as nubia makes no improvements to the front-facing camera, we observe the same inadequate quality due to technological constraints. The quality is discussed lower down the page.
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