Pros
- One of the best screens I’ve ever used
- Two-day battery life
- Next-level charging speeds
- Top tier performance
Cons
- Terrible fingerprint sensor
- The software needs some refining
- Some of the cameras aren’t great
- Only three years of software updates
Key Features
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Review Price: £579 -
Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset: For high-end gaming performance
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Massive 7050mAh battery: Plus 80W fast charging
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GameSpace dashboard: See all of your games in one place
Introduction
I’ve never been one to understand the point of a dedicated gaming phone, but the Redmagic 10S Pro has completely turned me around.
When it comes to gaming on a smartphone, you’ve got quite a lot of options, from casual games like Beatstar, which scratches that Guitar Hero itch, to full-on console-style titles like Call of Duty Mobile that let you go head to head with players from around the world. That’s all well and good, but I’ve never quite understood phones that catered specifically to this market.
After all, smartphones have come so far that gaming doesn’t seem to be a problem for most handsets. Just take the base model iPhone 16 as an example – that can run Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding and yet gaming takes up barely a fraction of Apple’s marketing campaign for the phone.
With that in mind, when I popped my SIM card into the Redmagic 10S Pro gaming phone for the purpose of this review, my scepticism was alive and well. After spending roughly two weeks with the phone, however, my concerns have melted away completely. Here’s my verdict.
Design
- Squared off design
- No camera bump whatsoever
- RGB backlighting
In terms of design language, the 10S Pro has kept the same boxy design of the Redmagic 10 Pro, which is no bad thing. Admittedly, it’s not quite as comfortable in the hand as something like the Motorola Edge 60 Pro, but it’s quite distinct, and when you’ve tested as many phones as I have, anything that stands out in a sea of handsets is worth commending.
There’s no camera bump whatsoever, so not only does the 10S Pro sit perfectly flat on a table, but I haven’t had to worry about the sensors tearing away at my pockets in the same way as other phones.
It made me realise just how much we’ve all come to expect larger-than-life camera bumps (OnePlus and Vivo phones come to mind) that it’s hard to imagine them being absent, but Redmagic shows that it can be done, and I’m grateful for it.
There’s a subtle bit of RGB lighting on the back that can be customised to suit your preferences, but it’s definitely not ‘in-your-face’ in the same way that RGB lighting tends to be on gaming products. In fact, it feels as if the 10S Pro’s gaming credentials are sensibly toned down, so it never feels gaudy in everyday use as a phone.
The only elements that do give the phone away are the fans on either side, and the splash of red found on the GameSpace switch. There are recessed shoulder buttons that can be used for gaming, but because they don’t protrude from the phone itself, they can be easy to miss at first glance.
Admittedly, it’s not too dissimilar to the 10 Pro, but what has been introduced is an official IP54 rating for dust and water resistance. While that doesn’t offer peace of mind if the phone becomes submerged in water, it does at least provide more durability than what was previously available.
Screen
- 6.85-inch AMOLED panel
- 1.5K resolution
- Very small bezels make everything more immersive
I’ve seen some great displays in my time – the Honor 400 still surprises me given its low price point – but on the Redmagic 10S Pro, I have felt absolutely spoiled. This display is nothing short of gorgeous, and I genuinely think it’s going to be difficult to go back to anything less after this review.
There’s a 6.85-inch 1.5K AMOLED panel on the 10S Pro, and it does a great job at really bringing out the colours not just in the games you might be playing on the phone, but plenty of commonplace apps too. I can’t remember the last time that YouTube videos looked this good. Part of what helps the panel is just how small the surrounding bezels are.
With a 95.3% screen-to-body ratio, the bezels can, at times, feel almost non-existent, which just makes entertainment feel even more immersive. There is a slight downside in that I found the screen registering quite a few accidental touches at the corners where my hands were resting naturally, but this only ever happened when holding the phone horizontally, so it never derailed the day-to-day experience.
I do think that part of the reason why those touches were registered is that the screen itself is very quick to respond to one’s inputs. This has been brilliant for gaming as even during fast-paced matches online, I’ve felt in sync with the action happening onscreen, and given the full ability to respond in the moment.
Also giving the gaming experience a leg-up is the inclusion of a 144Hz refresh rate. For trigger-finger titles like Call of Duty, having that higher rate is a huge boon towards how smooth each match can feel, plus it’s been nice to swipe through social media at a pace that makes the 60Hz panel on my iPhone 16 Plus feel positively ancient by comparison.
Even the most staunch supporter of Apple’s ecosystem would find it nearly impossible to hide pangs of envy after laying eyes on the 10S Pro’s display.
Cameras
- The main wide-angle lens does a great job
- Ultra-wide is lacking in colour
- The selfie camera is still a mess
Given that so much of Redmagic’s attention has been paid towards ensuring a smooth and enjoyable gaming experience, there was almost always going to be one aspect of the 10S Pro that would fall short as a result, and I’m afraid that it’s the cameras.
Thankfully, the situation isn’t completely dire, but more of a mixed bag in the results that I’ve seen. There are two key cameras on the back, a 50MP 1/1.55” wide-angle lens and a 50MP 1/2.88” ultra-wide lens (there is a third 2MP OIS lens, but I’m not counting that as it doesn’t really do much), but with the wide-angle lens, you can get some great shots from this phone.
Taking pictures on a sunny day in Central London, the 10S Pro easily captured the colour that surrounded me, with plenty of detail and just a touch of saturation that makes for the ideal shot to share on social media.
Even taking shots of the London Eye at night, or down the dimly lit Leake Street tunnels, the 10S Pro did an amazing job. Its night-time capabilities are particularly impressive, as you can no doubt see from all the colour it was able to inject into the view across the River Thames. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the ultra-wide lens.
For whatever reason, switching to ultra-wide would just sap the colour out of almost every shot to the point where I would rarely ever use it. The only time when the ultra-wide actually seemed to do a decent job was when the sun went down.
I also don’t recommend zooming in with the main wide-angle sensor as the clarity of an image starts to fall apart almost immediately. The camera app doesn’t even give you the option to tap on a zoom length for quick access, instead just giving you the choice of using the wide-angle lens or the ultra-wide lens, almost as a means of steering you away from zooming in at all.
The selfie camera on the Redmagic 10 Pro was a bit of a disaster, which is why this time around, the company has touted the inclusion of a new AI algorithm that can supposedly improve its performance on this front. Unfortunately, it hasn’t made too much of a difference aside from making pictures feel a bit like they’ve been fed through an AI image generator.
You can see as much from the selfies I’ve included here – my face just looks a little bit too smooth and unrealistic (I’m not getting any younger folks) and it all looks out of place. Compared to the outstanding selfie camera on the OnePlus Nord 5, which I recently tested, this is a big let-down.
Performance
- Snapdragon 8 Elite Leading Version
- Excellent everyday speeds
- Makes short work of almost all games
As you might expect from a top-tier gaming phone, Redmagic has made sure to focus most of its attention on the performance of the 10S Pro, and in this department, the phone is an absolute joy to use.
Under the hood, you’ve got the Snapdragon 8 Elite Leading Version, which is a slightly beefier chipset than the standard 8 Elite processor that you’ll currently find in the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and the OnePlus 13. Speaking from personal experience, I haven’t used a phone with that standard chipset, but compared to almost any other phone I have tested, the Redmagic 10S Pro is leagues ahead in speed.
Even before I started testing out any games, I noticed right away just how quickly the device was able to load up apps, connect to Wi-Fi, sync with my accompanying smartwatch and more. It’s all the day-to-day stuff that you tend not to think about until you see it running at lightning speed, and then you wonder how you ever put up with what you had before. When I shifted the testing over to gaming, the 10S Pro is practically unmatched.
Whether I was running through Nuketown in Call of Duty Mobile or crashing into cars mid-air in Asphalt Legends Unite, I couldn’t detect a whiff of lag or slowdown. When kicking things up a notch by booting up Fortnite, it all ran wonderfully well, which was handy as I needed the game to remain steady as I made my way through some difficult platforming segments in the Fall Guys game mode.
Only in Honkai: Star Rail did I encounter the odd moment of stuttering, but it was never enough to derail my enjoyment, and given just how demanding that game can be on lesser-powered phones, I think the majority of gamers will get on well with the overall experience.
Part of me wishes that Android had a similar availability of on-device triple-A games in the way that Apple does. The latest iPhones have access to titles like Resident Evil 4 Remake and Death Stranding, and I would love to see how they would fare on a chipset like this, but for the time being, it’s just not meant to be.
Part of what helps the overall experience is the upgraded ICE-X cooling system, which utilises two chambers on either side of the device to ensure there’s plenty of airflow getting to where it needs to be. It certainly does the job too, as I never felt heat rising in the areas where your hands would naturally rest as you game.
Unfortunately, the only area of performance that really held the 10S Pro back was in the sign-in options. Both face unlock and the fingerprint sensor are very slow and oftentimes just wouldn’t work for me, to the point where I’d almost always have to defer to the PIN in order to unlock the phone.
I’m not quite sure why this bit of tech is so far behind everything else, but I would love to see it improved in the next Redmagic phone.
Software
- Solid customisation options
- A sizeable amount of bloatware
- Only three years of updates
Not too dissimilar to the phone’s cameras, the software of the Redmagic 10S Pro is something of a mixed bag. On a competency level, it all runs really well, and there’s a great collection of wallpapers and widgets so you can customise your homepage in really fun ways, but when you do boot up the phone for the first time, you’ll notice the bloatware right away.
It’s definitely not as bad as some phones, but given the relatively high price tag of the 10S Pro, I’m surprised to see as much bloatware as there is on this phone, and it’s only made worse by having Z-Board sit in place of the Google News board when you swipe right from the homescreen.
I love using the Google News board to stay up to date with all things tech, but the Z-Board alternative just makes it feel as if I’m being bombarded with random news stories that don’t interest me, and it doesn’t help that there’s a constant row of apps that it suggests you download every time you open it.
Also holding the phone back is the fact that it’s only going to get three years of software updates from the time of launch. Given that you can now get double that on phones that are almost half the price, this highlights how far Redmagic is lagging behind the competition in this regard, so it’s something worth bearing in mind if you do plan on having this phone for a substantial period of time.
Thankfully, it’s not all downhill as the phone’s saving grace is undoubtedly its Game Space dashboard. Similar to SteamOS on the Steam Deck, GameSpace acts as a centralised hub wherein you can launch and tweak all of the games downloaded to the phone, and it can be toggled quickly just by flicking the GameSpace switch on the side of the device.
Having quick access to all of your stored games is such a great idea, and it also offers up customisation like I’ve never seen before. You can set different crosshairs, set specific zones for screenshots mid-game, and remap the controls if needed.
It’s all far more than I would ever need to enjoy a bit of mobile gaming, but I’m sure that gamers who have more free time than I do will love diving into all of the available details.
Battery
- Massive 7050mAh cell
- Can last for up to two days
- Lightning fast on charging
If there’s one area where Redmagic absolutely understood the assignment, it’s in battery life. There’s a massive 7050mAh cell inside the Redmagic 10S Pro, which is almost unheard of, and the results have been exactly what you would expect for a battery of that size.
When it comes to everyday use, even when trying to push the phone a bit more with NFC payments, using Google Maps navigation and taking pictures, I struggled to end the day with anything less than 60% in the tank, making it very easy to get two days of use on a single charge.
Of course, that longevity will no doubt decrease if you really plan on pushing the phone with lots of gaming, but I think that there’s still enough here that you can get to the end of the day without worry. If you do somehow manage to go overboard, then you won’t have to wait long to get the 10S Pro back up to a full battery.
From 0% it took just 30 minutes to get back up to 68% (more than enough for a day of use) and just 48 minutes to reach 100%.
While I know that there are some phones that are faster than this, it’s by far the fastest charging phone that I’ve ever used, and when paired with the massive cell, the Redmagic 10S Pro never left me with any feelings of battery anxiety. There’s no wireless charging, unfortunately, but when wired charging is this fast, I think it’s a fair trade-off.
Should you buy it?
You’re a mobile gaming obsessive
Between the power of the chipset, the longevity of its battery life and all the customisation of GameSpace, the Redmagic 10S Pro is a mobile gamer’s dream come true.
You want a decent array of cameras
The biggest letdown of the Redmagic 10S Pro is its camera set-up, so if you still want decent sensors alongside gaming prowess then you’re better off looking elsewhere.
Final Thoughts
If you’re an avid mobile gamer who absolutely needs a top-shelf chipset to keep up with the latest titles, and a battery life that gives you almost nothing to worry about, I can’t think of a better phone out there for your needs than the Redmagic 10S Pro.
Even as someone who isn’t that much of a mobile gamer, I’ve still loved having the 10S Pro’s gorgeous 6.85-inch 144Hz AMOLED screen available in a pinch, and the ability to get up to two-days of use on a single charge still blows my mind, plus it’s one of the fastest phones to charge that I’ve ever tested.
Unfortunately, I do think that the fairly lacklustre camera set-up, as well as the comparatively short promise of three years of software updates, makes the Redmagic 10S Pro a phone that the majority of people will skip, but for the gamers out there, I think you’ll love what Redmagic has put together. To see what the 10S Pro is up against, check out our breakdown of the best gaming phones.
Trusted Score
How We Test
We test every mobile phone we review thoroughly. We use industry-standard tests to compare features properly and we use the phone as our main device over the review period. We’ll always tell you what we find and we never, ever, accept money to review a product.
- Used as a main phone for two weeks
- Thorough camera testing in a variety of conditions
- Tested and benchmarked using respected industry tests and real-world data
FAQs
Yes, you can set up bypass charging on the 10S Pro to power the phone directly instead of topping up the battery.
Test Data
| Redmagic 10S Pro | |
|---|---|
| Geekbench 6 single core | 3130 |
| Geekbench 6 multi core | 9737 |
| Max brightness | 2000 nits |
| 1 hour video playback (Netflix, HDR) | 4 % |
| Time from 0-100% charge | 48 min |
| Time from 0-50% charge | 17 Min |
| 30-min recharge (no charger included) | 68 % |
| 15-min recharge (no charger included) | 43 % |
| 3D Mark – Wild Life | 6965 |
| GFXBench – Aztec Ruins | 60 fps |
| GFXBench – Car Chase | 60 fps |
Full Specs
| Redmagic 10S Pro Review | |
|---|---|
| UK RRP | £579 |
| USA RRP | $699 |
| EU RRP | €649 |
| CA RRP | CA$949 |
| Manufacturer | Nubia |
| Screen Size | 6.85 inches |
| Storage Capacity | 256GB |
| Rear Camera | 50MP 1/1.55” wide-angle len, 50MP 1/2.88” ultra-wide lens, 2MP OIS lens |
| Front Camera | 16MP AI Algorithm Enhanced sensor |
| Video Recording | Yes |
| IP rating | IP54 |
| Battery | 7050 mAh |
| Fast Charging | Yes |
| Size (Dimensions) | 76.14 x 8.9 x 163.42 MM |
| Weight | 229 G |
| Operating System | Android 15 |
| Release Date | 2025 |
| First Reviewed Date | 07/08/2025 |
| Resolution | 2688 x 1216 |
| HDR | Yes |
| Refresh Rate | 144 Hz |
| Ports | USB-C, MicroSD Card Slot |
| Chipset | Snapdragon 8 Elite |
| RAM | 12GB |
| Colours | Nightfall, Moonlight, Dusk |
Trusted Score
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