What's old is new again About five years into my gaming tech review journey. grain It became a thing for about a year. Then they unravel faster than a cheap 4th of July sparkler. But they're back again, and if the Redmagic Nova gaming tablets are any indication, they're better than ever. This 10.9-inch slate (starting at $500, $650 reviewed) has plenty of power under the hood, thanks to an overclocked Qualcomm Snapdragon chip that makes gaming an absolute pleasure. The display is bright and vivid, and the Quad speakers fill the walls without going overboard. The slate also has a pair of cameras if you want to quickly capture a streaming or video conference.
However, the slightly patchy user interface with lots of bloatware is a bit of a barrier for some consumers to overcome. And it would be nice if Redmagic included a keyboard and stylus with the tablet instead of being an additional purchase. But for gamers looking for a powerful tablet to take mobile gaming to the next level, the Redmagic Nova is a great choice.
The Redmagic Nova comes in two flavors. The $499 (€478.50) has 12GB or RAM and 256GB or ongoard storage. The company sent me the $699 (€670.28) one, which has 16GB of RAM and double the storage.
Redmagic Nova gaming tablet
Tablets built for gaming (and everything else)
prose
- Excellent performance
- Solid battery life
- Beautiful display
- Customizable gaming display
- interesting design
consult
- The user interface can be difficult to navigate.
- No headphone jack
Redmagic Nova gaming tablet review: Design
Tablets suffer from design problems Where smartphones and laptops bend and roll, tablets are kind of there – straight slabs or glass and plastic or metal. Redmagic is trying to shake things up with a few embellishments on it. Gray Aluminum Back Panel
at the top of the panel On the side (or side, depending on the orientation of the slate), your eye is immediately drawn to the glowing RGB Redmagic logo. While the company is speaking my multicolored love language, the more computational side is the clear panel. It shows off some of the tablet's internals, including a few heat pipes and Qualcom's Snapdragon chip. According to Redmagic, the Peekaboo window makes the Nova the world's first transparent gaming tablet. It's a great design feature. But now I want a full glass back panel, even that isn't possible.
Next to the window is the housing for the 50-megapixel rear camera. Unlike the window behind the metal back home, the sensor is a bit more vulnerable. That means the slate will never lie flat, which is annoying. Redmagic's logo sits in the center of the panel looking like a late-90s tramp, which is both fun and sad.
The front of the tablet is made of glass, with the 10.9-inch display partially surrounded by a third. The 20MP camera is located in the top (or right) center, just like the tablet's side back panel does. From anodized aluminum, with a power button that doubles as a fingerprint reader sitting on the top left, with a volume rocker around the corner, the USB-C charging port is upright. Center on the right side of the Nova and you get speakers on both sides of the slate. Finally, below you'll find a set of POGO connectors for the optional magnetic keyboard ($109). Surprisingly, the tablet doesn't have an audio jack.
The Nova weighs 18.7 ounces (530 grams) and measures 11 x 7.4 x 1.89 inches (279 x 188 x 48 millimeters). For comparison, it's larger than the current model. iPad Mini modelIt weighs 10.3 ounces (293G) and measures 7.7 x 5.3 x 0.25 inches (195.4 x 134.8 x 6.3 mm). Keep in mind that the iPad is a smaller tablet than the Redmagic overall.
Redmagic Nova gaming tablet review: Display and sound
It's not old, but I'll still use it. It was difficult to take my eyes off the Nova's 10.9-inch 2880 x 1800 LCD display. Colors almost pop right off the screen with crisp, clear detail. In fact, detail was so sharp during the “forgiveness” preview that I saw fiber patterns on the blank canvas and brushstrokes remaining in the paint as they touched the canvas. The display is very well done for actors André Holland, Andra Day, and John Earl Jelks' skin. Red by some characters
Although you can watch movies, read comics and check your social media accounts. But this is a gaming tablet. So the Nova's games look gorgeous on the screen, especially with its 144Hz refresh rate. The screen also has an 840Hz touch sampling rate if you're using the touchscreen to play fast-paced FPS instead of the Bluetooth controller I have. Seek to blast around and defeat fantastic creatures in wuthering waves.
The tablet's Quad speakers are surprisingly loud—so loud they put a couple of these systems to shame. Even at Max Volume, the Nova delivered hot, balanced sound whether I was streaming music from Spotify or Tidal. The bombs from my mobile game sound good too. My only issue is the lack of bass. But considering it's a tablet, it's not too shocking.
Redmagic Nova gaming tablet review: UI and software
Even if Nova runs Android 14Redmagic has Redmagic OS 9.5, a design that won't set the world on fire. The default skin is a collection of light grays and blues meant to impart a futuristic beauty. However, the lock and home screens are customizable, and Redmagic has several themes. This is fine except for hot apps and hot games, a collection of 20 recommended bloatware apps more than anything useful.
Since the Nova is a gaming tablet, it makes sense that it has software that would support more gamer-centric tracks. The games area is the main app for this as it brings together all the games you have installed and lets you launch them from within the app. In the game lobby, you can adjust the touch sampling rate, smoothness, protection against accidental edge touches, CPU and GPU performance profiles, and display settings.
Jump to the game boss and you can check which tablet prinstalled plugins and games can use them, including the free key or display remapping feature which lets you customize the game screen ratio and create modes. Landscape and Portrait This is where you can customize Mora, Redmagic's AI assistant. Aside from changing her clothes, you can peruse her different actions. When activated, Mora acts as a guide in the game area. But it can also be used across the phone to interact with alerts and system notifications like low battery. While the game area was easy to navigate, it was hard to find. I searched high and low for the app. But it is found in the quick settings menu in the notification shade.
Redmagic is committed to updating Android OS at least once, so should Nova upgrade to Android 15, the company will support security updates for up to two years. This isn't as long as Samsung or Apple offer for their devices. But it's better than nothing.
Redmagic Nova gaming tablet review: Performance
Nova is powered by a top-of-the-line 3.4-GHz Snapdragon 8th Gen 3 processor, the only native SOC model with an extra OMBH overclock, and 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM allows the NOVA to handle my 50 Google Chrome tabs. Edit lighting in Adobe Photoshop Express and multiple open Google Docs. But more importantly, when combined with the Adreno 750 GPU, the tablet delivered consistently fast and smooth gameplay in every taxing game I threw at it, including Dead Cell, Zener Zero, and Isolation. from aliens
I ran a few benchmarks to see how good the Nova would be. I have to say I was quite impressed. In Geekbench 6, the slate scored a single-core score of 2,208 and a multi-core score of 6,422. When I ran the 3dmark Steal Wandering Light benchmark, which tests tablet GPUs, it returned a respectable 1.743 score.
When the Nova is working hard, it keeps its internal fan running at 20,000 rpm to keep things cool. According to Redmagic, the Nova is the world's first gaming tablet with a built-in turbo fan and 3D heat pipes. I spent Two hours of fighting through dead cells. At the start of my playtime, the center back panel measured a cool 78 degrees Fahrenheit (26.5 degrees Celsius) with the fans designed in. Two hours in, the temperature rose to a cool 91 degrees Fahrenheit (32.7 degrees Celsius). It was hot, but not uncomfortable.
Redmagic Nova gaming tablet review: Camera
The Nova has two cameras: a 50MP rear camera and a 20MP front shooter. Both cameras take solid photos and can handle any video conferencing or streaming you want to do. They also have a fashion similar to what you'd find on a smartphone. (Expiration time, panoramas, and slow motion) No matter which camera I used, I was impressed with both color reproduction and detail.
A lot of the colors on my property looked good in selfies and they didn't wash out my skin tone. The camera picked up the exact yellow mustard of the can in the background. In the picture of my friend holding an Astro Bot Plushie, the green wall and his shirt are nice and lively. Details are sharp enough to make out certain words on tags when you zoom in with minimal blur.
Speaking or details, look at the picture of my puppies on my couch. Not only can you see the silhouette of their beautiful fur along with each strand of fur. You can see the intricate details in my fabric panel.
Redmagic Nova Gaming Tablet Battery Battery Life
I squeezed 12 hours and 18 minutes out of the Nova's 10,100mAh battery as the tablet played 24 hours of video at 50% brightness. That time shortened significantly when I started gaming. I spent just 3 hours and 29 minutes wuthering waves before it was time to hit the charger.
When it comes to chargers, it's rare to see a smartphone ship with a tablet. Redmagic Bundles an 80W charger with the slate, and the company estimates that it takes 55 minutes to charge the tablet from 0. up to 100%
Redmagic Nova gaming tablet review: Verdict
I'm not a fan of tablets. I'm especially skeptical of them, not when the smartphone unfolds or rocks its nearly 8-inch screen, but through my usual purposeful avoidance, I have to admit that the Redmagic Nova has made a solid impression. plus Stray logo bumps aside, I liked the design, especially the transparent window and RGB. Even after playing for a couple of hours, I experienced minimal slowdown. And while the screen is not old But the colors are nice and vibrant. Paired with the impressive quad speakers, you'll be treated to an audio treat. And depending on what you're doing, you can expect strong battery life.
The user interface takes some getting used to and I wish more accessories had come with the tablet. Overall, the Redmagic Nova gaming tablet is a great option for gamers or people looking for a tablet that doesn't make something like Apple or Samsung.