Red Magic 3S now available - Snapdragon 855+ starting at $479

The Red Magic 3S from Nubia launched yesterday, bringing with it the fastest Qualcomm SoC currently on the market at a reasonably affordable price. 

The Red Magic 3S is a small iteration on the Red Magic 3, a popular gaming smartphone. The Red Magic 3S is almost a carbon copy of the Red Magic 3 save for the upgraded Snapdragon 855+ CPU (vs. the Magic 3’s Snapdragon 855) and the faster UFS 3.0 storage (vs. the Magic 3’s UFS 2.1). Otherwise, the phone’s design and internals are the same. The Magic 3S packs the same 90 Hz refresh rate display, the same 8 or 12 GB of RAM, and the same 128 or 256 GB of storage, albeit with the faster UFS 3.0 standard. 

Here’s a full run-down of the specs:

• CPU/GPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ SoC w/ Adreno 640 GPU
• RAM/Storage: 8 GB RAM / 128 GB UFS 3.0 storage OR 12 GB RAM / 256 GB UFS 3.0 storage
• Display: 6.65-inch 90 Hz full HD+ HDR AMOLED 
• Cameras: 48 MP main camera (Sony IMX586 sensor) / 16 MP front-facing camera.
• Battery: 5000 mAh
• Software: Android 9.0 Pie (Stock)

The older Nubia Red Magic 3 scored well in our review (87%). Considering its US $479, the Magic 3 has a lot to offer. The improved Magic 3S has the same $479 price tag ($599 for the 12 GB RAM/256 GB storage model) and seems the obvious choice. However, the Magic 3 unit we reviewed experienced issues with thermal management and throttling, despite its active cooling. While we cannot remark on the thermals or performance of the Magic 3S, these are factors to keep under close observation. 

The Nubia Red Magic 3S is available now from Nubia’s site.

Buy Red Magic 3S Battery on Amazon.
Buy Red Magic 3S Keyboard on Amazon.