RedMagic reveals new performance details for upcoming 11 Air ahead of launch

RedMagic is gearing up to launch a new gaming phone, touted to have a thin and light design, the 11 Air. The company recently showcased the design of the smartphone, and now, it has revealed the SoC of the device.

As expected, the RedMagic 11 Air is now confirmed to be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite, a flagship SoC from 2025. It will be paired with the Red Core R4 chip, and this combination promises to offer stable gaming performance.

The brand has further confirmed that UFS 4.1 storage and 'LPDDR5X Ultra' RAM will accompany the SoC, and both are said to be tuned for performance. There's a built-in PC game emulator, which is basically the same tool as Winlator, and RedMagic says the upcoming phone can emulate open-world games like "Tomb Raider 9" and racing games like "Need For Speed 17" at an average of 60 FPS.

As for native Android gaming, the RedMagic 11 Air is claimed to run open-world games like Honkai Impact 3rd with an average of 60 FPS, FPS games like Delta Force at 144 FPS, and MOBA games at 144 FPS. The 1% low for the last two is said not to drop below 141 FPS.

These are impressive benchmark numbers, and while they sound reasonably within the range of what a souped-up Snapdragon 8 Elite gaming phone can offer, they should be taken with a dash of salt. After all, these are coming from the manufacturer, and pre-release claims like these tend not to be fully accurate.

Other confirmed specs of the RedMagic 11 Air are a 6.85-inch display with a 95.1% screen-to-body ratio, a 144 Hz refresh rate, and a built-in active cooling fan. More official details of the gaming phone (8BitDo mobile controller curr. $39.99 on Amazon) are expected to emerge before the January 20, 2026, Chinese launch.