Smartphone ZTE nubia Red Magic 3 - advantages and disadvantages

On April 28, the 3rd model of the Red Magic gaming line from Nubia was introduced in China. Red Magic 3 became the world's first smartphone with a pumped cooling system in the form of a built-in fan.

The review provides a detailed description of the smartphone, technical specifications, as well as advantages and disadvantages.

Information about ZTE and Nubia

ZTE is a huge corporation founded in China in 1985.The company develops and manufactures smartphones, fixed terminals and telecommunications equipment. The development is aimed at the following network industries:

• optical networks;
• data transmission;
• intelligent networks;
• mobile communications;
• next generation networks (multiservice).

ZTE has 19 research and development centers located in different countries, employing more than 30,000 specialists.

In 2012, ZTE established a subsidiary, Nubia. The company's goal was to create elite-class equipment at a reasonable price. In addition to smartphones, Nubia also produces headphones, cases, external batteries and other accessories for smartphones.

Since 2017, Nubia has become an independent company: ZTE owns only 49.9% of the shares. Rumor has it that ZTE thus protected themselves from possible losses due to problems with America, and in fact Nubia remains a subsidiary company.

Review ZTE Nubia Red Magic 3

Table with the main characteristics

Device package

The buyer will receive the device in a beautiful matte black box with a red company logo. Inside is:

• phone in a protective film;
• charger in a separate small box;
• metal key to open the SIM card slot;
• smartphone user manual.

Design

ZTE Nubia Red Magic 3 is made in a beautiful bold style that cannot fail to attract attention. The buyer can choose a smartphone in one of four colors: black, bright red, camouflage or red and blue.

The body of the Red Magic 3 is made up of a one-piece metal construction with softly rounded corners. The back of the case has a small relief, in the middle of which there is an LED strip with RGB backlight. The backlight color can always be changed in the settings. At the top, there is a rear camera and a dual-color LED flash. Below them is a grill for the intake of cold air and a fingerprint scanner. During the game, the fingerprint scanner works as an additional button. There are also two decorative inserts in the form of the letter V and the company logo.

On the right side there are volume buttons, power buttons, a vent for ejection of hot air and two touch buttons for active games that act as a gamepad. On the left side there is a slot for SIM cards, a Game Space 2.0 power button and a magnetic connector for connecting a docking station.

The Game Space 2.0 utility will help you get quick access to the library of games, adjust the fan speed, control the temperature, incoming notifications and other useful settings.

The top has a built-in microphone and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The USB Type-C port, the second conversational microphone are located on the bottom. At the top of the screen is the camera, as well as proximity and light sensors. On the strips at the bottom and top are large stereo speakers.

Display

Red Magic 3 received a capacitive AMOLED display with a diagonal of 6.65 inches. The screen with an area of ​​108.6 cm2 has a ratio to the body of 80.5%. The number of pixels per inch is 388 and the resolution is 1080x2340.

The display covers 100% of the DCI-P3 color space, which will allow you to view videos and photos in high quality. The screen contrast is 100,000:1 and the brightness is 430 nit. DC Dimming technology will help to reduce the flickering effect at a low brightness value.

The screen refresh rate reaches 90 Hz. If desired, the performance can be reduced to 60 Hz. The touch layer refresh rate is 240 Hz and the response time is 4 ms.

Cooling system

The main highlight of this smartphone for gaming is the high level of protection against overheating, which ensures stable performance.

The first level of protection is provided by the ICE liquid cooling system, which includes a heat pipe with a vapor chamber. The second, main, is a built-in centrifugal fan, the number of revolutions of which is 14,000 per minute. It would seem that such a powerful fan is able to land the battery in a very short period of time, but no.Thanks to the use of a brushless motor and a light weight of 1 g fiber made from light nanomaterial, the fan consumes only 1% of the battery charge in 1 hour.

There is no need to worry about the life of the fan. Manufacturers claim that the presence of hydrodynamic bearings will provide 30,000 hours of operation. That is, subject to active work for 3 hours every day, the cooler will last 27 years. And for the safety of work and protection against dust and moisture, IP55 protection and an isolated chamber, in which the fan itself is located, are responsible.

The principle of operation of the fan

Cold air enters through the grill, which is located on the back of the smartphone. And already hot air comes out through the vent on the right side face. The fan works quite quietly: based on the load on the chipset, a special algorithm regulates the rotation speed.

Camera

The resolution of the main camera Sony IMX586 is 48 MP. The matrix size is ½ inch, the aperture is f/1.7, the viewing angle is 80.32 degrees, and the pixel size is 0.8.

The camera with LED flash takes excellent photos at night, thanks to a technology that combines 4 pixels into 1 large 1.6 micron. It is worth noting that then the resolution of the camera is reduced and is 12 megapixels.

Among the features of the camera, it is necessary to highlight the following functionality:

• Shooting video in 8K resolution;
• Slow motion at 1920 fps;
• Phase focus 0.1 second.

The 16MP front camera has a 2µm pixel size, an 80-degree field of view, and an f2. Camera features include fixed focus, face beauty mode, and face detection.

Performance: processor, software and memory

In Red Magic 3, the high-performance and nimble Snapdragon 855, already familiar to all top models, was installed, with a 7 nm technical process. The processor has 8 Kryo 485 cores operating at frequencies: one at 2.84 GHz, three at 2.42 GHz and four at 1.8 GHz. The Adreno 640 video chip is responsible for high-quality graphics.

The smartphone runs on Android 9.0 Pie with a proprietary Redmagic 2.0 shell, which optimizes the device for the game as much as possible and has additional features.

Depending on the version of the smartphone, the amount of LPDDR4x RAM is 6, 8 or 12 GB, and the built-in UFS 2.1, 128 or 256 GB.

autonomy

The device has a non-removable Li-Po battery 5000 mAh. This container will provide:

• 8 hours of continuous play;
• 9 hours of video viewing;
• 13.5 hours of web surfing.

Nubia abandoned wireless charging, so Red Magic 3 is charged from the mains via a USB connector. An important factor is the presence of a 27W fast charging function. By charging the battery for 10 minutes, the gamer will provide himself with an hour of play.

Sound

Stereo speakers with 3D sound function and support for DTS:X technology are responsible for the sound, which will provide not only the pleasure of listening to music, but also high-quality sound during the game.

The microphone system provides maximum noise reduction during the game, and the 4D Smart Shock system provides active vibration feedback during the game, which will allow you to immerse yourself in the game process.

Communication standards and wireless connections

The novelty supports 2G, 3G and 4G networks and modern communication technologies GSM, CDMA, HSPA (at a speed of 42.2 / 5.76 Mbps), EVDO and LTE (7 CA).

Wireless interfaces:

• Bluetooth 5.0 Wi-fi (802.11 a/b/n/ac).
• Navigation system: A-GPS, GLONASS, OBD.

Victory in the ranking of quality smartphones according to AnTuTu and Master Lu

In the AnTuTu and Master Lu benchmarks, the best popular models are accepted for testing, among which the ZTE Nubia Red Magic 3 became the absolute winner, gaining the maximum number of points: 437,534 and 470,574 points.

How much does ZTE Nubia Red Magic 3 cost?

Depending on the amount of memory, the cost will be as follows:

• $430 for the model with 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal memory.
• $475 will cost a model with 6 GB of RAM, 128 GB of internal memory.
• $520 must be paid for 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal memory.
• $640 for the top model with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal storage.

• beautiful design;
• LED strip, with the ability to change color;
• additional game button in the form of a fingerprint scanner;
• additional touch buttons for games;
• providing quick access to settings and optimization of the gameplay using the utility
• Game Space 2.0;
• DC Dimming technology to reduce display flicker;
• high screen refresh rate;
• high level of protection against overheating by liquid cooling system and centrifugal
• fan;
• protection against moisture and dust IP55;
• proprietary shell Redmagic 2.0;
• large battery capacity;
• fast charging function;
• high-quality sound with DTS:X technology.

• lack of a gamepad;
• weak camera.

Conclusion

ZTE Nubia Red Magic 3 is a high quality gaming smartphone at an affordable price. A high level of performance, overheating protection, as well as additional utilities and functions will ensure a high level of comfort during the game.