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MagyarNubia RedMagic 6R smartphone review - Gaming with 144 Hz and hot fingers
Possible competitors in comparison
Rating | Rating Version | Date | Model | Weight | Drive | Size | Resolution | Price from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 81.6 % | v7 (old) | 08/2021 | Nubia RedMagic 6R SD 888 5G, Adreno 660 | 186.41 g | 256 GB UFS 3.1 Flash | 6.67" | 2400x1080 | |
| 88 % | v7 (old) | 04/2021 | Asus ROG Phone 5 SD 888 5G, Adreno 660 | 239 g | 256 GB UFS 3.1 Flash | 6.78" | 2448x1080 | |
| 84.7 % | v7 (old) | 10/2020 | Nubia RedMagic 5S SD 865, Adreno 650 | 218 g | 128 GB UFS 3.1 Flash | 6.65" | 2340x1080 | |
| 87.7 % | v7 (old) | 04/2021 | Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 SD 888 5G, Adreno 660 | 259 g | 512 GB UFS 3.1 Flash | 6.92" | 2460x1080 |
Case, equipment and operation
The Nubia RedMagic 6R is available in a dark blue or high-gloss silver and looks great. The build quality is also pleasing. Gaps and torsional stiffness are good, but the shoulder buttons could have been designed more attractively.
The configuration has a few gaps. Besides a microSD slot, an audio jack is also missing. However, USB 3.2 (Gen. 1) is a fast data interface that also supports wired image output. The frequency configuration for the mobile network is also limited to the bare essentials. Nubia has really cut corners in this area, even though the relevant frequencies for Europe are supported. The Wi-Fi module, on the other hand, not only uses the latest Wi-Fi 6E standard, but also convinces with stable and fast transfer rates to our reference router Netgear Nighthawk AX12 in the test.
We like the voice quality of the RedMagic 6R very much when held to the ear. Even most ambient noise is reliably filtered out; it only reaches its limits in very loud noise and has short transmission dropouts. In speaker mode, the user echoes a bit and is recorded rather faintly. VoLTE and WLAN calling are supported. Full-fledged dual-SIM is also on board, but an eSIM cannot be used.
Google's Android 11 is used as the operating system, which is covered by the slightly customized RedMagic UI. This is characterized by a few gaps and peculiarities in the translation. For example, location is simply translated as where.
The touchscreen responds very reliably to inputs and implements them quickly. The optical fingerprint scanner sometimes reacts a bit sluggishly and the recognition rates could be a bit better. The latter succeeds better with facial recognition (2D), which is, however, also less secure.
| Networking | |
| iperf3 transmit AX12 | |
| Asus ROG Phone 5 | |
| Nubia RedMagic 6R | |
| Nubia RedMagic 5S | |
| Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 | |
| iperf3 receive AX12 | |
| Nubia RedMagic 5S | |
| Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 | |
| Asus ROG Phone 5 | |
| Nubia RedMagic 6R | |
Cameras - Quad camera in the RedMagic 6R
The front-facing camera of the Nubia RedMagic 6R enables good selfies with balanced illumination. A beauty filter is permanently active, but can be adjusted to the user's preferences.
The main camera relies on a 64 MP sensor, which delivers quite decent picture results during the day, but lacks a bit in sharpness and dynamics. However, the additional lenses drop considerably in quality compared with the main sensor. Videos can even be recorded in 8K.
Image Comparison
Choose a scene and navigate within the first image. One click changes the position on touchscreens. One click on the zoomed-in image opens the original in a new window. The first image shows the scaled photograph of the test device.
Wide angleWide angleZoom (5x)Low-Light
Display - 144 Hz panel with low brightness
The 6.67-inch (16.94 cm) AMOLED display of the RedMagic 6R offers a refresh rate of up to 144 Hz and resolves with 2400 x 1080 pixels.
Whether with (442 cd/m²) or without a sensor (435 cd/m²), the brightness works on a similar level and barely increases even with an even distribution of bright and dark areas (APL50) (452 cd/m²), anything but optimal for a smartphone that supports HDR10+. Our test device does not reach the promised 770 nits at any time. Outdoors, the readability is therefore limited on bright days.
The OLED's flickering is also quite unconventional. At minimum brightness, it fluctuates between 66 and 178.6 Hz. Beyond that, the frequency increases and fluctuates between 181.2 and 769.2 Hz. Already from 51 percent of the adjustable brightness, the panel lapses into a 90 Hz mode, although we selected fixed 144 Hz in the settings. At this point, the display is not even particularly bright with 120 cd/m².
The screen's calibration is good for a gaming smartphone.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 90 %
Center on Battery: 442 cd/m²
Contrast: ∞:1 (Black: 0 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 2.2 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.95
ΔE Greyscale 3.3 | 0.5-98 Ø5.2
99.2% sRGB (Calman 2D)
Gamma: 2.25
| Nubia RedMagic 6R AMOLED, 2400x1080, 6.7" | Asus ROG Phone 5 AMOLED, 2448x1080, 6.8" | Nubia RedMagic 5S AMOLED, 2340x1080, 6.7" | Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 AMOLED, 2460x1080, 6.9" | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Response Times | 13% | 10% | -71% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 4 ? | 2.4 ? 40% | 2.8 ? 30% | 8 ? -100% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 3.2 ? | 2.4 ? 25% | 2.4 ? 25% | 6 ? -88% |
| PWM Frequency | 769 ? | 568 ? -26% | 581 ? -24% | 568 -26% |
| Screen | 49% | -15% | -13% | |
| Brightness middle | 442 | 789 79% | 589 33% | 463 5% |
| Brightness | 442 | 795 80% | 592 34% | 466 5% |
| Brightness Distribution | 90 | 98 9% | 90 0% | 98 9% |
| Black Level * | ||||
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 2.2 | 1.4 36% | 3.1 -41% | 3.24 -47% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 4.9 | 3 39% | 7.2 -47% | 5.75 -17% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 3.3 | 1.7 48% | 5.6 -70% | 4.4 -33% |
| Gamma | 2.25 98% | 2.27 97% | 2.31 95% | 2.201 100% |
| CCT | 7101 92% | 6596 99% | 6633 98% | 7273 89% |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | 31% /
37% | -3% /
-7% | -42% /
-32% |
* ... smaller is better
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 3.2 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 2 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 1.2 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows very fast response rates in our tests and should be very well suited for fast-paced gaming. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 11 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (21.1 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 4 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 2 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 2 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows very fast response rates in our tests and should be very well suited for fast-paced gaming. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 11 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (33.1 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM detected | 769 Hz | ≤ 51 % brightness setting |  |
The display backlight flickers at 769 Hz (worst case, e.g., utilizing PWM) Flickering detected at a brightness setting of 51 % and below. There should be no flickering or PWM above this brightness setting. The frequency of 769 Hz is quite high, so most users sensitive to PWM should not notice any flickering. In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 17263 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured. | |||
Performance, emissions and battery life
The Snapdragon 888 nominally provides enormous computing power and is supported by 12 GB of LPDDR5 RAM. The Nubia RedMagic 6R already gets slightly warm in system mode, but nothing that we would find annoying. This looks different under load.
The gaming smartphone already gets hot in the normal load test and reaches up to 52.9 °C (~127 °F) on the surface. That is already very unpleasant. Moreover, the system interrupted the charging process in the test in order not to heat up the battery too much. The RedMagic 6R cannot convince at all in the 3DMark Wild Life stress test. It simply shut down in both variants because it gets too hot. We could measure up to 57.6 °C (~136 °F) on the smartphone's surface immediately after shutting it down. The RedMagic mastered the GFXBench without crashes. Unfortunately, we could not read the results because the app closes. However, the determined total number of frames shows that the frame rate is limited to 60 FPS during the test.
A benchmark detection also kicks in during 3DMark, which provides a boost of about five percent. If we hide 3DMark, it is even possible to get results for the onscreen tests of the Sling Shot (Extreme). Other smartphones with the Snapdragon 888 actually only display a Maxed Out! due to the high performance.
The shoulder buttons are convincing in gaming and are a real asset especially in shooters. The 4D vibration feedback, which works in PUBG among other games, is quite nice, but sometimes not quite suitably tuned. The 90 Hz mode for the popular shooter is limited to the lowest detail level, but also runs smoothly in higher settings. A noticeable warming is also present here, but it does not become unpleasant at any time. Thus, noticeable restrictions are not to be expected due to the poor cooling because the Snapdragon offers enough performance reserves and Nubia takes precautions with software limitations.
The mono speaker on the chin side delivers a decent sound, but it is a bit undersized and poorly positioned for a gaming smartphone.
The battery runtimes are not particularly long, and the RedMagic 6R also pulls heavily on its own battery in standby. Leaving the smartphone unplugged overnight wastes about a quarter of the battery charge.
| GFXBench | |
| on screen Aztec Ruins Normal Tier Onscreen (sort by value) | |
| Nubia RedMagic 6R | |
| Asus ROG Phone 5 | |
| Nubia RedMagic 5S | |
| Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G (32 - 73, n=26) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (3.6 - 123, n=198, last 2 years) | |
| 1920x1080 Aztec Ruins Normal Tier Offscreen (sort by value) | |
| Nubia RedMagic 6R | |
| Asus ROG Phone 5 | |
| Nubia RedMagic 5S | |
| Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G (46 - 87, n=27) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (2.3 - 229, n=198, last 2 years) | |
| on screen Aztec Ruins High Tier Onscreen (sort by value) | |
| Nubia RedMagic 6R | |
| Asus ROG Phone 5 | |
| Nubia RedMagic 5S | |
| Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G (25 - 51, n=26) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (0.85 - 119, n=198, last 2 years) | |
| 2560x1440 Aztec Ruins High Tier Offscreen (sort by value) | |
| Nubia RedMagic 6R | |
| Asus ROG Phone 5 | |
| Nubia RedMagic 5S | |
| Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G (19 - 32, n=26) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (0.85 - 94, n=198, last 2 years) | |
| Nubia RedMagic 6R | Asus ROG Phone 5 | Nubia RedMagic 5S | Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 | Average 256 GB UFS 3.1 Flash | Average of class Smartphone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AndroBench 3-5 | 17% | -7% | 15% | 31% | 34% | |
| Sequential Read 256KB | 1330 | 1779 34% | 1348 1% | 1999 50% | 1756 ? 32% | 1729 ? 30% |
| Sequential Write 256KB | 690 | 795 15% | 674 -2% | 754 9% | 1152 ? 67% | 1338 ? 94% |
| Random Read 4KB | 227.2 | 291.4 28% | 213.3 -6% | 262.6 16% | 285 ? 25% | 266 ? 17% |
| Random Write 4KB | 312.9 | 278 -11% | 243.5 -22% | 261.5 -16% | 316 ? 1% | 292 ? -7% |
PUBG Mobile - Benchmarks
Temperature
(-) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 52.9 °C / 127 F, compared to the average of 35 °C / 95 F, ranging from 21.9 to 56 °C for the class Smartphone.
(-) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 50.8 °C / 123 F, compared to the average of 33.8 °C / 93 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 30.2 °C / 86 F, compared to the device average of 32.7 °C / 91 F.
Speaker
Nubia RedMagic 6R audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (92.1 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 23.9% lower than median
(+) | bass is linear (5.6% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | reduced mids - on average 5.7% lower than median
(+) | mids are linear (4.4% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(±) | higher highs - on average 6.6% higher than median
(+) | highs are linear (5.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (19.4% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 22% of all tested devices in this class were better, 8% similar, 70% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 37%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 43% of all tested devices were better, 8% similar, 49% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Asus ROG Phone 5 audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (92.4 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 20.8% lower than median
(+) | bass is linear (4.4% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 2.9% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (4.9% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 4.1% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (3% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(+) | overall sound is linear (14% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 1% of all tested devices in this class were better, 1% similar, 99% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 37%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 14% of all tested devices were better, 4% similar, 83% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Battery life
| Nubia RedMagic 6R 4200 mAh | Asus ROG Phone 5 6000 mAh | Nubia RedMagic 5S 4500 mAh | Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 5500 mAh | Average of class Smartphone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battery Runtime | |||||
| WiFi Websurfing | 541 | 754 39% | 730 35% | 907 68% | 960 ? 77% |
Pros
Cons
Verdict - RedMagic 6R with potential for improvement
The Nubia RedMagic 6R reads like a real bargain for gamers. Starting at 499 Euros (8/128 GB version, ~$587), it offers an appealing design, Snapdragon 888, 144 Hz AMOLED display, additional shoulder buttons, USB 3.2 and a quad camera.
However, a closer look reveals that the display cannot keep its promise of luminosity or maintain the 144 Hz permanently, because the smartphone reduces the refresh rate to 90 Hz in the upper brightness range. This is an understandable decision in view of the already high energy consumption.
The RedMagic 6R cannot keep all promises and shows weaknesses especially in cooling and power consumption in the test.
However, we find the smartphone's weak cooling more disturbing. The charging process is already interrupted during normal load due to the high temperatures. If the RedMagic 6R has to perform well, as in the 3DMark Extreme stress test, it simply shuts down due to overheating and gets really hot on the outside.
An inexpensive gaming alternative is the Black Shark 4, but it only has mechanical shoulder keys and a weaker camera setup. If you are primarily looking for a lot of performance for little money, you should also take a look at the Poco F3 as well as the real GT, however, they are not gaming smartphones. If you do not want to compromise, you only have the Asus ROG Phone 5, but it also plays in a different price range.
Price and availability
The RedMagic 6R starts at €499 (~$587) Euros in the small memory configuration (8 GB RAM, 128 GB UFS 3.1). The variant tested here with 12 GB RAM and 256 GB ROM costs €100 (~$118) more. Both can be ordered directly from RedMagic's online store. Apart from that, it is not available in this country at the time of the test. Online retailers like Amazon do, however, carry matching cases and protective foils.
Nubia RedMagic 6R
-
08/30/2022 v7 (old)
Daniel Schmidt
Price comparison
