I don’t know if you’ve noticed something lately, but ever since a certain California-based competitor unveiled the iPhone Air, many people seem to have developed a fixed impression of what an “Air” model should be.

Most people imagine these devices to be extremely light and thin, with excellent hand feel, but with relatively weak battery life and camera performance—more like stylish, refined gadgets.

So when the RedMagic 11 Air arrived at the editorial office, Tony expected something paper-thin yet explosively powerful. However, once unboxed, its 7.85mm thickness brought me back to reality. Yes, everyone, this is exactly the same thickness as last year’s RedMagic 10 Air. In fact, RedMagic has always had its own definition of “Air.”

Compared with the Pro series, which goes all-in on cooling and performance with a more aggressive appearance, RedMagic’s “Air” means a lower price, a more restrained design, and guaranteed convenience for gaming anytime.

That’s why the RedMagic 11 Air uses last-generation flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite. The body is indeed thinner than the Pro series, but not dramatically so.

This actually makes sense, because phones need a certain thickness to accommodate cooling structures. Generally speaking, the thinner a phone is, the worse its sustained performance becomes. Looking at benchmark results of foldables and other brands’ Air models, you can clearly see this issue.

In terms of design, the RedMagic 11 Air uses a transparent back panel, which looks genuinely cool. Combined with shoulder triggers on the side and a red “Game Switch” that takes you directly into Game Space, it strongly emphasizes the phone’s gaming identity.

As for the highly recognizable under-display camera, the RedMagic 11 Air naturally includes it. The seamless screen delivers strong immersion when gaming or watching videos, though the downside is average quality in scenarios like video calls. Whether this trade-off is acceptable depends on personal preference.

Our unit is the black version, but Tony personally prefers the silver color among the three options, because after seeing so many red accents on gaming phones, the orange details on the silver body look refreshingly clean and elegant.

So honestly, when the RedMagic product manager criticized homogenous smartphone designs on Weibo recently, there was some confidence behind that. RedMagic really does original design instead of copying, but whether consumers will embrace this look is another question.

That said, Tony was somewhat disappointed with the previous RedMagic 10 Air, because the originally flat camera module of the Pro series had to compromise and become protruding due to reduced thickness. But with the 11 Air, I actually think the protruding camera makes sense.

Because inside the camera module of the RedMagic 11 Air, there is an active cooling fan.

Those who have used the RedMagic Pro series know how effective that fan is—it keeps temperatures low and frame rates stable.

However, possibly due to space constraints, the Air doesn’t use the Pro series’ full-through airflow channel. So how does it actually perform? Let’s go straight to real-world testing.

First, we turned the fan off. In Genshin Impact (Sumeru city roaming test), recorded by Perfdog, the average frame rate after 30 minutes was 61 FPS, with average power consumption of 4.2W. Overall performance was very stable.

The highest temperature appeared on the screen side: 46.4°C.

With the fan set to maximum, average frame rate and power consumption remained similar, but stability improved slightly, and the peak temperature dropped to 44.9°C.

Next, we increased the load by running Honkai: Star Rail in “Golden Hour” for another round. With the fan off, the average frame rate was still a solid 60.7 FPS, while power consumption rose to around 8W.

Along with higher power came higher temperatures. The maximum temperature appeared on the back of the phone at 59.5°C.

Time to turn the fan on.

With the fan at full speed, after 30 minutes in Golden Hour, average frame rate was 60.9 FPS, power consumption 8.3W, and temperature dropped to 54.7°C—still a bit hot to the touch.

After these two gaming tests, RedMagic 11 Air’s frame rate performance is clearly excellent. The Air’s fan is indeed effective, but its main focus seems to be on “more stable performance output.” If you care a lot about gaming temperatures, Tony still recommends the Pro models with full-through airflow, which offer better thermal control.

Do you think that’s all this phone can do? No, no, no. As a hardcore gaming phone, RedMagic has packed in plenty of extras. For example, it supports the same PC emulator as the RedMagic 10S Pro and RedMagic 11 Pro.

Installing PC games is simple: just copy the game folder containing the .exe file into the “PC_GAME” folder in the phone’s root directory, then import it in Game Space.

You can also connect an external controller for a more console-like experience.

Tony tested GTA 5, Need for Speed 18, and other games using the RedMagic 11 Air’s PC emulator. Aside from occasional stuttering in complex scenes, most games run smoothly.

However, with power consumption often around 10W, the phone gets too hot for the small fan to handle alone. Luckily, using a controller avoids holding the device directly—otherwise it would feel like a hot plate.

Of course, for games that struggle on the emulator, there’s no need to force it. If you have a powerful PC or console at home, the RedMagic 11 Air also supports game streaming, eliminating concerns about heat and stutter altogether.

Tony does want to complain about one thing: since the RedMagic 11 Air already supports PC emulation, could it also support USB 3.0? Transferring the 100GB GTA 5 folder from PC to phone took over two hours. Do you know how painful those two hours were?

Additionally, if the port were upgraded to USB 3.0 and supported DP video output, latency would be even lower than current screen-casting solutions, and playing PC games on a large display would feel even better. It’s a bit of a pity for now—hopefully the next-generation RedMagic Air will address this shortcoming.

On the gaming side, Tony also wants to highlight RedMagic’s traditional shoulder triggers. Recently, I’ve been playing CrossFire Mobile, and in FPS games like this, the RedMagic 11 Air’s shoulder buttons are extremely valuable. I set the right trigger to fire and the left trigger to reload. After getting used to it, going back to phones without shoulder triggers feels uncomfortable.

Now let’s talk about other aspects of the phone.

First, the system. As a gaming phone, the Air is no less hardcore than its Pro siblings. The “Game Switch” on the left side of the body takes you directly into Game Space, where all installed games are gathered.

Game Space isn’t just a launcher—it also provides rich features and parameter tuning. For example, you can customize control, performance, and display settings through the “CUBE Energy Cube.”

For each different game, RedMagic also provides a dedicated “Intelligent Navigator,” where you can ask questions like how to control recoil or how to build certain characters.

One more thing about AI: when opening “About Phone” in settings, you’ll see a prominent note saying “AI services powered by Volcano Engine · Doubao Large Model.”

I know what you’re thinking—does this mean it can automatically play games for you like the Doubao phone?

Well, Tony tested it. It does not have the high-level system automation of the Doubao phone. It likely only cooperates on features such as AI photo tools and AI writing assistance, which aligns with our previous speculation.

Some smaller manufacturers may reduce their own AI R&D and outsource it to ByteDance’s Doubao, which is quite attractive for them.

As for battery and charging, the RedMagic 11 Air fits a 7000mAh battery into a relatively slim body. For reference, the thicker RedMagic 11 Pro only has 8000mAh. Combined with 120W fast charging and bypass charging, this capacity is actually quite respectable within the RedMagic lineup.

But if you want to go even more extreme, maybe learn from Honor and push toward 10,000mAh-class batteries?

In terms of cameras, the RedMagic 11 Air features a 50MP main camera with optical image stabilization, plus an 8MP ultra-wide lens. It’s sufficient for everyday snapshots.

Pricing-wise, the launch promotion price starts at 3,499 RMB. If your region offers government subsidies, you can save another 500 RMB. For a Snapdragon 8 Elite gaming phone at this price, are you satisfied?

Finally, let’s wrap things up. Although the RedMagic 11 Air is not an ultra-thin Air in the traditional sense, Tony feels the name is still well deserved.

Because as a gaming phone, it still includes an active cooling fan in a slim body, delivers solid performance, and offers rich gaming features in the system, along with a sizable battery and high charging power—ensuring a reliable baseline gaming experience.

Moreover, even after becoming thinner, the RedMagic 11 Air retains many unique characteristics, such as the under-display camera, unconventional small-radius corners, and a transparent sci-fi aesthetic.

So if you’re looking for a top-tier gaming phone, is RedMagic a brand you simply can’t ignore?