In the past two years, due to the increasing heat generated by flagship processors, many regular smartphones have had to reduce their frequency and display quality. On the other hand, gaming smartphones like the Red Magic have the advantage of incorporating a cooling fan, allowing them to perform exceptionally well in games and creating a noticeable gap compared to regular smartphones. Now, with the highly acclaimed second-generation Snapdragon 8 processor, how will the Red Magic 8 Pro differentiate itself in the competition?

As a gaming smartphone, the performance of the Red Magic 8 Pro is undoubtedly a key focus for many people. However, let's first talk about its appearance. The Red Magic phones are known for their iconic armored design, but this time, the Red Magic 8 Pro brings a refreshing change. While still maintaining the hardcore armored style of Red Magic, it adopts a more rugged body design, providing players and users with a different sensory experience.

The Red Magic 8 Pro features a design with straight edges and all four corners are almost square. The overall look of the phone is sharp and aggressive, but when held in the hand, it doesn't feel sharp due to subtle modifications made to the middle frame, screen, and back cover. The advantage of this design is that it gives gaming phones more possibilities, allowing them to break free from the identity of being solely for gaming and cater to a wider range of usage scenarios. We received the model with the "Dark Knight" color scheme, and the back of the phone features a large area of frosted glass, which shimmers under light. When touched, it has a delicate matte texture and is not prone to fingerprints. The flash and camera are vertically aligned in the center, minimizing their impact on the rear layout, although the camera still protrudes slightly. Like previous Red Magic models, the back of the phone is imprinted with unique textures to showcase its distinctiveness and reinforce the armored aesthetic. Beneath these textures and patterns, Red Magic has added a clever touch. In fact, these are hidden RGB light effects that, when activated, allow players to display their preset lighting effects during gaming, enhancing the gaming atmosphere. At the top of the phone, the Red Magic 8 Pro also brings a pleasant surprise by retaining the "highly advanced" 3.5mm headphone jack. The position of this headphone jack has also been carefully considered so that it does not get blocked when held horizontally, optimizing the user experience.

The front of the Red Magic 8 Pro is particularly impressive. Firstly, the display adopts a COP packaging technique with excellent border control, combined with a hole-less full-screen design. Isn't this the dream screen? I also took a close look at the under-screen front camera. Unless you specifically look for it, you won't notice its presence in daily use. As the industry's first under-screen flexible straight display, this screen is a joint effort between Red Magic and BOE, boasting a resolution of 2480×1116, a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz, a peak brightness of 1300 nits, 10-bit color depth, and support for P3 and sRGB color gamuts. It also supports a 1440Hz PWM high-frequency dimming and DC dimming. The corners of the Red Magic 8 Pro's screen are not rounded but have a straight edge design reminiscent of the non-full-screen era, bringing back a sense of nostalgia. On the middle frame of the phone, the dual independent IC touch shoulder triggers are naturally not absent. This time, the touch sampling rate of the shoulder triggers reaches 520Hz, with a response time of only 1ms, making it the fastest in the industry. The shoulder triggers also offer rich customization settings to help players achieve complex operations with a single press, making it easy to become a master. As for the interface, it goes without saying that it is Type-C. However, it is worth mentioning that the Red Magic 8 Pro comes standard with a USB 3.2 Gen1 full-featured interface, which, in addition to charging and data transfer, also supports features like DP and Red Magic's console mode, providing players with a more diverse user experience.

After discussing the appearance, let's return to the performance, which is the main concern for many. Let's take a look at the overall configuration of the Red Magic 8 Pro. It is equipped with the second-generation Snapdragon 8 mobile platform, which utilizes TSMC's latest 4nm process technology. The high-performance core frequency reaches 3.2GHz, resulting in a 37% CPU performance increase and a 42% GPU performance increase, while reducing power consumption by nearly 50%. In addition to that, the Red Magic 8 Pro is equipped with the self-developed Redmagic Game Engine (RedCore R2), which enhances the user's gaming experience. All the functions related to gaming experience, such as the shoulder triggers, haptic feedback, lighting effects, and sound effects, are supported by this chip. Furthermore, the Red Magic 8 Pro comes standard with LPDDR5X memory and UFS 4.0 flash storage, ensuring a powerful performance output. Without further ado, let's take a look at the actual gaming experience of the Red Magic 8 Pro. Starting with "Genshin Impact" running at maximum graphics settings, after 30 minutes of gameplay, the average frame rate reached 60.2 frames per second, remaining stable at around 60 frames throughout, which is an impressive performance, demonstrating the power of the Snapdragon 8 Gen2 processor. While delivering powerful performance, the Red Magic 8 Pro also performs well in terms of power consumption. Thanks to the CUBE system, it effectively maintains a balance between performance and power consumption. Another interesting feature is that the Red Magic 8 Pro has made a power-saving setting specifically for "Genshin Impact." Considering that some users tend to put down their phones and consult game guides while playing, the Red Magic 8 Pro automatically enters a power-saving mode after 30 seconds of inactivity, reducing the frame rate to 30 frames per second. When the phone is touched again, it returns to 60 frames per second, thus achieving power savings. In addition to "Genshin Impact," we also tested the Red Magic 8 Pro with "Arena of Valor." Throughout the game, the frame rate remained almost constant at 120 frames per second, with a final average frame rate of 120.6 frames per second, which is quite impressive.

Despite the boost from the Snapdragon 8 Gen2, ensuring powerful performance, the Red Magic 8 Pro has also put a lot of effort into heat dissipation to maintain consistent and stable performance. Firstly, it continues the tradition of incorporating an internal cooling fan. This time, the Red Magic 8 Pro features a highly recognizable shark fin high-speed centrifugal fan with a maximum speed of 20,000 RPM, which effectively reduces the device's temperature by 2.7℃ when activated. Moreover, the Red Magic 8 Pro has designed a large full-penetration air duct for the fan, increasing airflow by 37% and flow velocity by 18%, greatly enhancing heat dissipation efficiency. Additionally, the Red Magic 8 Pro introduces the industry's first 3D Ice Blade dual-pump VC, with a volume of 2068mm³, which significantly improves heat dissipation efficiency compared to traditional single-piece and double-piece VC designs. To address the most noticeable heat issue with the screen, the Red Magic 8 Pro also incorporates a layer of graphene for heat dissipation below the screen, increasing its thermal uniformity by six times. All these components constitute the Red Magic 8 Pro's ICE 11 Ice Cooling System, which comprehensively enhances heat dissipation and ensures stable performance. We also recorded the temperature changes inside the device while running "Genshin Impact" at maximum graphics settings for 30 minutes, and the overall performance was quite impressive. In terms of the feel, it is generally warm and comfortable.

Of course, to achieve an excellent gaming experience, apart from exceptional performance, various aspects need to work together, and the Red Magic 8 Pro has taken corresponding considerations. In addition to the aforementioned dual independent IC touch shoulder triggers, the Red Magic 8 Pro is equipped with dual X-axis linear motors, with a 1ms response speed and a start-stop cycle within 20ms, providing excellent tactile feedback and precision.

Regarding screen touch response, the Red Magic 8 Pro offers a 960Hz multi-finger touch sampling rate, greatly enhancing the gaming control experience. As for the network, it is equipped with a faster WiFi solution, with a 60% speed increase compared to the previous generation and reduced latency of 2ms, ensuring smooth gameplay. The antenna layout has also been optimized, with nine antennas and intelligent switching in four directions, ensuring that 5G signals are not obstructed regardless of horizontal or vertical grip. In terms of battery life, the Red Magic 8 Pro adopts an 80W fast charging combined with a 6000mAh battery, providing fast charging and long-lasting battery life, meeting the daily needs of users. We tested the charging speed of the phone and found that after 35 minutes of charging from a completely powered-off state, it reached 98.85%, which is consistent with the official description and quite fast. As for battery life, with a capacity of 6000mAh, it can easily last a day even for heavy users. Additionally, the beloved Game Space and Red Magic Assistant Mora are also present. Game Space provides rich plugins and game-related settings to enhance the gaming experience. Red Magic Assistant Mora introduces the fourth skin, "Cosmic Battle Maiden," and brings the industry's first virtual idol live streaming feature, "Mora Live." Of course, there are also classic features like Mora Dressing, Mora News, and Mora Care. It is worth mentioning that the Red Magic 8 Pro also comes with the Red Magic Shadow Blade controller, which provides a different gaming experience. It connects to the phone via a zero-delay Type-C interface and has been optimized specifically for Red Magic phones, offering a superior gaming experience. For example, with the controller's button mapping feature, players can enjoy games like "Call of Duty" with the satisfying experience of physical buttons, surpassing the touch controls on the screen. Moreover, it can be used with emulators, turning the phone into a Switch-like device for playing classic console games. One phone, two different experiences.

Compared to the performance improvements, the biggest change in the Red Magic 8 Pro is actually its design. Departing from the previous mecha-style appearance, it adopts a design with sharp edges and corners, making it suitable for a wider range of usage scenarios. The straight screen design also enhances game control. In terms of performance, the Snapdragon 8 Gen2 brings comprehensive improvements, and the addition of Redmagic's self-developed RedCore R2 further elevates the gaming experience. Under all these upgrades, as a gaming phone, the Red Magic 8 Pro also performs admirably in terms of imaging, making one wonder if it is seeking to excel in more than just gaming. If you desire a phone that combines aesthetics, performance, and personality, the Red Magic 8 Pro is definitely worth considering.