Starting at $649, the RedMagic 10 Pro is a dedicated gaming phone equipped with the latest high-performing chip from Qualcomm, a beautiful screen with a high refresh rate, and customized gaming controls. We particularly like that its battery lasts all day and can be fully charged in about half an hour. Despite these strengths, its 5G support is limited, its cameras could be better, and its software support window is shorter than most phones. While it’s a solid pick for Android gamers, the Google Pixel 9 ($799) offers a more well-rounded experience overall thanks to its excellent cameras, impressive AI tools, and seven-year support window, making it our Editors’ Choice winner in this price range.
Design: Stylish and Sturdy
The RedMagic 10 Pro is available in three configurations that share most features other than memory and storage. The base $649 model has 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, the $799 model has 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, and the $999 model has an impressive 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. I tested the 16GB/512GB model.
When it comes to design, the 10 Pro carries over the unapologetically boxy look of its predecessor, the RedMagic 9S Pro. It has a flat front, sides, and back. It measures 6.43 by 3.0 by 0.35 inches (HWD), making it smaller in every dimension than the 9S Pro (6.46 by 3.01 by 0.37 inches), but it weighs the same hefty 8.08 ounces. For comparison, the Pixel 9 is smaller and lighter (6.02 by 2.83 by 0.33 inches, 6.98 ounces).
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
A thin 0.7-millimeter bezel surrounds the 10 Pro’s screen, which is covered by Corning Gorilla Glass 7i. The panel hides an under-display front-facing camera and a fingerprint sensor, which worked quickly and reliably in testing. Face unlock is also available, though it is less secure.
The right side features two capacitive shoulder triggers with a 520Hz touch sampling rate, a cooling grille, a volume rocker, a power button, and a red slider that activates the phone’s Game Lobby software. A headphone jack and speaker grille line the top edge, while a dual SIM tray, a USB-C (3.2) port, and a second speaker grille are on the bottom edge. A second cooling vent is positioned on the left rail. The phone’s corners are relatively sharp when compared with the Pixel 9, which has softer curves.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
A gaming phone wouldn’t be complete without RGB lighting on the back. There’s one section that lights up the visible fan, another that lights up an X at the top right, and a third that illuminates the RedMagic logo at the bottom left. The transparent rear panel is made of Gorilla Glass 5 and gives you a view of screws, metal plates, ribbon cables, and other internal circuitry. The 10 Pro looks and feels like a high-end device with great attention to detail.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
The phone is relatively tough. Its middle frame is made of aluminum and has a sturdy feel. The 10 Pro is rated IP54, so it is dustproof and resistant to light spraying water; the 9S Pro does not have an IP rating at all, so this is an appreciable improvement. The Pixel 9 is fully waterproof.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
The colors are tied to the memory and storage configurations. The base model is Shadow (gray), the midrange model comes in Dusk (dark gray) or Moonlight (silver), and the most expensive model is Dusk Ultra (black). I tested the Moonlight model, which is pictured in this review.
Display: Beautiful and Bright
With the 10 Pro, RedMagic upgrades the screen to a 6.85-inch AMOLED panel with a resolution of 2,688 by 1,216 pixels, a refresh rate up to 144Hz, and a peak brightness of 2,000 nits. This is bigger, faster, and brighter than the 9S Pro’s 6.8-inch display with 2,480 by 1,116 pixels, 120Hz refresh rate, and 1,600 nits peak brightness. In comparison, the Pixel 9 has a smaller 6.3-inch OLED screen at a resolution of 2,424 by 1,080 pixels, a refresh rate that ranges from 60Hz to 120Hz, and a peak brightness of 2,700 nits.
The front-facing camera is at the top center (Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
The front-facing camera bears calling out. It is contained in a second display layer integrated with the main screen. RedMagic says it spent five years developing this new layer, which also has a 144Hz refresh rate. The process creates a realistic illusion that the display is uninterrupted even though a camera is hiding underneath. It is difficult to spot the front-facing camera save from a few angles. This helps with gaming and watching media but impacts the selfie camera’s performance (more on that later).
Everything looks beautiful on the 10 Pro’s display. Animations are fluid, and the screen’s brightness makes it easy to see in most indoor and outdoor settings. The display has an incredibly high peak touch sampling rate of 2,500Hz and an average touch sampling rate of 960Hz. Touch is registered instantaneously by the screen and the shoulder buttons. For comparison, the ROG Phone 9 Pro screen touch response reaches as high as 720Hz, which is good but doesn’t quite keep up with the 10 Pro.
Performance: Fast and Cool
Every RedMagic 10 Pro is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite, with game-boosting LPDDR5x Ultra RAM and UFS 4.1 Pro storage. RedMagic claims the Ultra RAM is 13% faster and uses 30% less power than the previous generation of LPDDR5x RAM. The model I tested has 16GB of memory and 512GB of storage. The phone features liquid metal cooling technology, usually found in gaming laptops, and a 23,000rpm fan that reaches just 4dB in volume. Pushing things even further, RedMagic includes its RedCore 3 chip to enhance gameplay and optimize battery life.
For comparison, the high-end Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition ($1,499.99) also uses the Snapdragon 8 Elite, while the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE ($649) uses the Exynos 2400e processor, and the Pixel 9 uses Google’s Tensor G4 processor.
(Credit: Geekbench/PCMark/GFXBench/PCMag)
In Geekbench 6, a suite of tests that quantifies raw computing power, the 10 Pro scored 3,029 on the single-core test and 9,361 on the multi-core test. This is a big improvement over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered 9S Pro, which scored 2,213 and 6,934 on the same tests, respectively. The S24 FE trailed with scores of 2,035 and 5,979, as did the Pixel 9 with scores of 1,742 and 4,573, while the ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition delivered bruising scores of 3,155 and 9,909.
On PCMark Work 3.0, which evaluates general mobile tasks, the 10 Pro reached 24,778, handily outpacing the 9S Pro (20,571), the S24 FE (17,205), and the Pixel 9 (10,468), while falling just short of the ROG Phone 9 (25,701).
Graphics performance is a different story. Running the GFXBench Aztec Ruins High Tier test, the RedMagic 10 Pro delivered 60 frames per second (fps), the same frame rate produced by the 9S Pro and the Google Pixel 9. The pricey ROG Phone, meanwhile, crushed everything with a score of 125fps.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
In real-world use, the RedMagic 10 Pro has no issues with games, including the resource-intensive Genshin Impact. At its highest graphics settings and 60fps, the 10 Pro produced smooth gameplay with detailed characters and zero slowdowns regardless of scenario. The phone remained comfortable, though it became lukewarm, through a 20-minute gaming session. It can handle everyday mobile apps and tasks without batting a lash.
Battery: It Goes On and On
RedMagic sticks a 7,050mAh battery inside the 10 Pro, a significant boost over the 9 Pro’s 6,500mAh cell. The 10 Pro supports wired charging at up to 100W, though its included charger is 80W. The phone also supports Charge Separation, so you can power the 10 Pro during gaming without charging the battery, which is useful in preserving battery health and keeping the phone cool. Wireless and reverse wireless charging are not supported. For comparison, the Pixel 9’s 4,700mAh battery charges at up to 27W and supports both wireless and reverse wireless charging.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
In our battery rundown test, in which we stream a 1080p video at full brightness, the RedMagic 10 Pro lasted 14 hours and 25 minutes. This is an excellent result, easily besting the Pixel 9’s time of 11 hours and 45 minutes.
Using the included charger, a full recharge took just 36 minutes with the phone in Turbo Charge mode. Charging at this speed generates heat, so the 10 Pro’s fan runs when necessary. Plugging in for 15 minutes brought the battery up to 50%, while a 30-minute charge brought the phone up to 89%. The 9S Pro and the ROG Phone 9 each took 55 minutes for a full charge, while the S24 FE needed 1 hour and 20 minutes. That the RedMagic’s large battery can charge so quickly is no small feat.
Connections: Limited 5G, Fast Wi-Fi
For connectivity, the RedMagic 10 Pro supports sub-6GHz 5G but not faster forms of 5G like mmWave. Officially, the phone is compatible with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, though not the carriers’ fastest airwaves. We recommend you check with your carrier to see if it will allow the phone to connect. Bluetooth 5.4, NFC, and Wi-Fi 7 round out the 10 Pro’s wireless connections.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
On T-Mobile’s 5G network in New York City, the 10 Pro hit 224Mbps down and 36.6Mbps up. Connected to an older Wi-Fi 6 access point, the 10 Pro reached a peak download speed of 559Mbps and peak upload speed of 22.5Mbps. When taken to the edge of my Wi-Fi network’s coverage, the 10 Pro dipped to 115Mbps down and 22.5Mbps up.
Call Quality and Speakers: Could Use More Bass
Voice call quality is very good. In a test voicemail, my voice was clear and rich, with no trace of the loud background music present during the recording.
The earpiece speaker reaches a maximum volume of 64.6dB, while the speakerphone reaches 76.1 dB. I find volumes near or above 70dB easy to hear, even in moderately noisy areas, so I would have liked a louder earpiece on this phone.
The 10 Pro’s stereo speakers are DTS-X certified and support Qualcomm Snapdragon Sound. They can easily fill a small room. When I played Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” I recorded a maximum volume of 96.2dB. The audio sounded good, but the lowest bass notes in The Knife’s “Silent Shout” weren’t audible. For fuller sound, you can plug in wired headphones or use a pair of Bluetooth earbuds.
Camera Quality: Passable
The RedMagic 10 Pro features three rear cameras: a 50MP main shooter with optical image stabilization (OIS), a 50MP ultra-wide camera, and a 2MP macro camera. Generally, photos look inconsistent between the three rear cameras, and the two 50MP cameras have trouble with sun flare.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
The main camera produces overly bright images that have oversaturated colors. Details look good as long as the subject is lit well. By default, the 50MP camera takes 12MP images using binning. You can capture full-resolution images by navigating to Camera > Full Size in the camera app. The high-resolution images contain a higher level of detail than the low-resolution ones.
Main camera, 12MP (Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
Main camera, 50MP (Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
The 50MP ultra-wide camera delivers mixed results, with some areas appearing muddy and others oversharpened, though colors are more realistic than the main camera. Distortion correction improves image quality, which is more natural looking when compared with the 9S.
Ultra-wide camera, 12MP (Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
Ultra-wide camera, 50MP (Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
The 2MP macro camera captures decent detail, though even the sharpest images are low-resolution in comparison with the main cameras.
Macro camera (Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
The 16MP under-display front-facing camera takes fine pictures, but greens are oversaturated, while reds are desaturated. Photos taken indoors can look hazy, which makes sense considering the display layer covers the camera. When shooting outdoors, photos retain a hint of haze.
Front-facing camera (Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)
The phone supports video capture at up to 8K30. Unfortunately, video at this resolution is dark and shaky. Video shot at 4K60 is brighter and more stable, though there is still some visual jitter in the background.
The front-facing video tops out at 1080p at 30fps and appears dark and grainy indoors. Thanks to the under-display arrangement, the video looks dream-like outdoors with soft, blooming colors. This camera should work fine for occasional video conferencing, but stick to the rear cameras for higher-quality video.
The Pixel 9 has a big advantage here, with much higher camera quality all around.
Software: Tuned for Gaming
The RedMagic 10 Pro ships with Android 15 and RedMagic OS 10.0 atop it. RedMagic says the phone will receive just one Android OS upgrade, two years of UI upgrades, and three years of security updates. This support window is on the short side. The ROG Phone 9 does slightly better with two years of OS updates and five years of security patches. Google backs the Pixel 9 with seven years of OS updates and security updates.
(Credit: RedMagic/PCMag)
RedMagic’s gaming features remain nearly identical to those of the RedMagic 9S Pro. The Game Lobby provides access to your games, plug-ins, and Mora, RedMagic’s virtual assistant. The plug-in library lets you enhance gameplay with options like 4D vibration effects, crosshairs, and gesture-to-click functionality. Everything is laid out clearly, and there are multiple avenues to access certain features.
(Credit: RedMagic/PCMag)
While playing, you can swipe from the top left or right of the screen to bring up an overlay showing CPU and GPU speeds, access plug-ins, and quickly jump into other apps. Apps launched from here appear in a resizable pop-up window, which can be helpful for looking at a site for guidance while gaming, amongst other things.
(Credit: RedMagic/PCMag)
Rather than develop its own AI, RedMagic ticks the AI checkbox using Google Gemini. Google’s AI tools let you easily edit photos and access real-time translation, but there’s nothing unique to the RedMagic 10; Gemini is readily available on other Android devices and even iOS.
Verdict: A Good Value for Gamers
The RedMagic 10 Pro pairs impressive hardware with excellent gaming-focused software at an approachable price. Its cooling system and long battery life allow you to play games at high frame rates for extended periods of time. As an affordable gaming phone, it’s a winner. As an all-purpose Android phone, however, the Pixel 9 remains our Editors’ Choice thanks to its excellent cameras, robust 5G radios, advanced AI, and generous software support window.
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About Iyaz Akhtar
Mobile Analyst
