RedMagic 11S Pro+ Review: Hardcore Gaming Phone Redefined

In recent years or so, gaming has undoubtedly become the standout theme of the entire market.

On one hand, flagship devices in recent years, even those that previously focused purely on "imaging" and "business" selling points, have all started talking at length about performance tuning and gaming optimization at new product launch events.

On the other hand, in the past few months, an increasing number of leading brands have begun "independently converging" on releasing "professional gaming phones" with built-in active cooling fans, explicitly targeting gaming control and esports orientation.

Against this market backdrop, as the industry's earliest entrant into "gaming phones" and possibly the only brand still continuously operating in the "hardcore gaming phone" space, Red Magic's response deserves special attention. After all, with leading manufacturers entering the arena one after another, how Red Magic will "respond to the challenge" and maintain its position as the "number one gaming phone" brand is obviously going to be something worth watching.

So what is Red Magic's response? It is the latest model just released on May 18th, which may also currently be the most "hardcore" positioned gaming phone in the industry — the Red Magic Gaming Phone 11S PRO+ (hereinafter referred to as the Red Magic 11S PRO+).

【Appearance Design: True Full Screen + Transparent Design, Both Air Cooling and Liquid Cooling】

To be honest, the appearance design of the Red Magic 11S PRO+ itself can be called one of its most unique moats.

On one hand, Red Magic has insisted on using under-screen camera technology ever since the Red Magic 7 PRO years ago.

On the Red Magic 11S PRO+, its "Wukong Screen 2.0" is realized based on a 6.85-inch, 2688*1216 resolution 144Hz high-refresh-rate OLED panel.

Due to switching to a BOE X10 substrate, the global peak brightness of this screen has also been increased to 1600nit, with local brightness even reaching 2000nit. Whether used for unobstructed gaming or outdoor use, this screen currently has no significant shortcomings.

On the back of the device, the Red Magic 11S PRO+ is also one of the currently very rare models that has truly achieved a completely "flat" back surface.

It is worth mentioning that for it, the significance of a flat back may not just be aesthetics, but also means that when installing a cooling back clip, the clip can truly "press" against the area above the SoC heat source. For gamers, this is obviously an advantage that cannot be ignored.

Moreover, unlike other gaming phone brands in the industry that talk about gaming on one hand, yet design the device body in a relatively mediocre shape that shows no gaming characteristics on the other, Red Magic's designers clearly wanted to more boldly present the "identity" of this model.

So it can be seen that the Red Magic 11S PRO+ still continues the iconic deuterium-forged transparent back cover design. Through the glass on the back of the device, you can directly see its NFC coil, built-in air duct cover, and the only built-in active liquid cooling channel in the entire industry at present.

Information officially released shows that the Red Magic 11S PRO+'s built-in liquid cooling system uses a piezoelectric ceramic micro-pump, combined with fluorinated liquid thermal conductivity material commonly used in servers. Since fluorinated liquid itself is completely non-conductive, this also improves the safety of this system.

Even in the side frame area that most models might not design particularly carefully, the Red Magic 11S PRO+ is full of "hardcore" characteristics. On one side of the device body, you can see the intake vent of the active cooling system, as well as the hollow light strip decoration on the middle frame.

On the other side are the active cooling exhaust vent with RGB lighting effects, two touch game shoulder buttons, power and volume buttons, and a prominent red "game key" toggle switch.

Even on the frames at both ends of the device, the Red Magic 11S PRO+ has surprises.

On one hand, it has not cancelled the 3.5mm wired headphone jack in order to sell TWS earphones. This means the Red Magic 11S PRO+ can easily achieve game audio latency much lower than TWS earphones, while also being able to swap in various high-end monitor headphones to maximize the player's auditory perception advantage in games.

On the other hand, the USB Type-C specification at the bottom of the Red Magic 11S PRO+ is a USB 3.2 Gen2 (10Gbps) full-featured interface, which means it can even use this interface for wired HD video output. This is clearly also a feature that is rare today but of great significance to gamers.

Finally, as a hardcore gaming phone with built-in active air cooling + liquid cooling, a 7500mAh large-capacity battery, and 120W wired + 80W wireless fast charging packed in, the Red Magic 11S PRO+ body thickness is only 8.9mm. This is much thinner and lighter than many current imaging flagship models with severe camera bumps.

【Performance Benchmarks: Equipped with Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 "Leading Edition," Scores Hit New Highs】

When talking about the appearance earlier, there was actually one detail we intentionally skipped, which is the SoC model nameplate on the back of the Red Magic 11S PRO+.

Yes, the Red Magic 11S PRO series all come standard with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 "Leading Edition" platform. Compared with the ordinary Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, the "Leading Edition" is essentially a high-frequency version "specially selected" after pressure testing, cut from the best-quality areas of the wafer.

It can be seen that the two CPU super-large cores of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Leading Edition have their clock speed increased from the original 4.6GHz to 4.74GHz, while the GPU peak clock speed has also increased from 1200MHz of the standard version to 1300MHz.

However, it should be noted that this is actually not the key point, because a better chip quality that can run at higher limit clock speeds also in all likelihood means that these "Leading Edition" chips have lower power consumption and heat generation in the mid-to-low frequency range compared to the standard version.

This means that at the same low load level, the Red Magic 11S PRO+ may actually be more power-efficient than other "gaming phones"; or in high-load scenarios, it can stably operate at higher frequency points with the same power consumption. And this is the greater significance of the "Leading Edition."

Of course, we know what everyone wants to see. So without further ado, let's go straight to the benchmark results.

First, we tested the flash storage speed of the Red Magic 11S PRO+. From the results, the UFS4.x flash storage in our 16GB+512GB Red Magic 11S PRO+ unit seems to have extremely high quality. It is most likely a high-end model among TLC types, so it can be seen to have very good random performance, with little difference between random read and write speeds.

GeekBench 6.7.1 results at room temperature (left) and low temperature (right)

Next are the GeekBench CPU benchmark scores. Before its release, the Red Magic 11S PRO+ was reported to have become the first Android model with a CPU single-core score exceeding 4000. In our testing, after adding sufficiently powerful cooling and turning on "Destroyer Mode," this score can indeed be reproduced.

3DMARK results at room temperature

3DMARK results at low temperature

Meanwhile, the higher GPU peak frequency of the "Leading Edition" shows little difference from the standard version in 3DMARK at room temperature. But in a low-temperature environment, the benchmark score can be about 6% higher than the standard version, which is also consistent with the degree of difference in its extreme frequency.

In AnTuTu Benchmark V11, our 16GB+512GB Red Magic 11S PRO+ unit completely unleashed its terrifying "potential," scoring 4.359 million at room temperature, with the low-temperature environment score approaching 4.64 million.

Placing these scores in our SanYi Life temperature-differential benchmark rankings, it can be found that at room temperature the Red Magic 11S PRO+'s score ranks second currently, but in a low-temperature environment after fully releasing performance potential, it takes first place with an overwhelming advantage.

Meanwhile, the smaller gap between room temperature and low temperature benchmark scores compared to the previous generation indicates that the Red Magic 11S PRO+ clearly has more aggressive performance release at room temperature. This is also consistent with our earlier inference, namely that under the premise of the frequency not being fully maxed out, the "Leading Edition" may actually have lower power consumption and heat generation than the standard version.

【Gaming Tests: "Leading Edition" Takes the Lead, Actual Power Consumption Has Highlights】

Next, we will look at the Red Magic 11S PRO+'s performance in actual gaming scenarios.

Honor of Kings: Average frame rate 145.28, average power consumption 3239.84mW

First is the most basic Honor of Kings. Unlike most current high-end models, the Red Magic 11S PRO+ has a higher screen refresh rate ceiling (144Hz) and also has built-in wind cooling + liquid cooling dual active cooling systems, so even in this low-load game its power consumption is indeed slightly higher than other flagship models.

Honor of Kings Super Resolution + Super Frame: Average frame rate 142.24, average power consumption 3831.86mW

In addition, the Red Magic 11S PRO+ also integrates the "Red Core R4" gaming chip. The official description states it is responsible for game lighting effects management while also being able to assist the SoC in executing game super resolution and super frame calculations. However, in our actual testing after enabling super frame and super resolution, the final image compositing and rendering should still be completed by the GPU. Fortunately, enabling super resolution and super frame does not significantly increase power consumption, and there is no need to worry about heat.

Subway Surfers: Average frame rate 146.03, average power consumption 2709.36mW

In comparison, Subway Surfers has a lower load, and at this point the Red Magic 11S PRO+'s power consumption is not much different from those flagship models without active cooling.

Escape from Tarkov Mobile: Average frame rate 134.2, average power consumption 2976.20mW

Escape from Tarkov Mobile Super Frame Super Resolution: Average frame rate 112.86, average power consumption 4744.19

In the FPS game Escape from Tarkov Mobile, the Red Magic 11S PRO+ supports native 144FPS mode, but enabling super frame and super resolution switches it to 120FPS mode. From the results, this game seems to actually have a better experience using native frame rate settings, and the power consumption is also significantly lower.

Arknights: Endfield: Average frame rate 60.71, average power consumption 3433.82mW

Honkai: Star Rail — The Golden Moment: Average frame rate 60.91, average power consumption 6100.98mW

Honkai: Star Rail — The Golden Moment Super Frame: Average frame rate 113.89, average power consumption 7413.26mW

Next we increased the pressure, entering the currently popular high-quality open-world game segment. In both Endfield and Star Rail, the Red Magic 11S PRO+ can steadily maintain 60FPS at maximum graphics settings, and can even enable super frame in Star Rail to enjoy visual smoothness approaching 120FPS.

Even more impressive, however, we found that Wuthering Waves version 3.3 on the Red Magic 11S PRO+ already has the 90FPS mode switch visible.

Wuthering Waves Darkened Plains map traversal: Average frame rate 60.88, average power consumption 3852.66mW

Wuthering Waves Super Frame Super Resolution Darkened Plains map traversal: Average frame rate 113.23, average power consumption 6166.72mW

However, from the actual test data, Wuthering Waves' 90FPS adaptation work for Red Magic phones still needs to be advanced. Fortunately, the Red Magic 11S PRO+ can still rely on its own super frame and super resolution to forcibly run the game at a higher visual level. At this point, although the overall device power consumption increases noticeably, frankly speaking, compared to the level of 10W and above that Red Magic's previous old flagships would often hit, the Red Magic 11S PRO+ running on the new generation "Leading Edition" platform is much more power-efficient.

【More Details: Why Is Red Magic "Hardcore" Enough? It's Not Just About Performance】

Having finished the Red Magic 11S PRO+'s gaming tests, we wonder what everyone thinks of its performance tuning. In our view at SanYi Life, the frame rate performance of Red Magic gaming phones is something that "needs no worrying about," and what truly surprised us was actually its noticeably lower gaming power consumption compared to previous older model devices.

But if one thinks that Red Magic's "hardcore" is only reflected in daring to use the fully-configured "Leading Edition" SoC, while also packing in wind cooling + liquid cooling, and having the capability to push gaming power consumption to lower levels, that would be underestimating Red Magic, and even more so underestimating those passionate mobile gaming enthusiasts.

Setting aside everything else, just looking at the dazzling array of game assistance features inside the Red Magic 11S PRO+'s "plugin library" tells the story.

From AI gaming coaches to AI automatically triggering specific actions, to directly displaying sound direction, adding extra crosshairs and rangefinder images on the screen, and more — in a certain sense, these game plugins of the Red Magic 11S PRO+ even have a bit of a "cheating" feel. But after all, it has created things that other manufacturers haven't thought of or can't do, providing players with more choices.

In addition, the Red Magic 11S PRO+ also directly integrates a PC emulator, and this new PC emulator has opened up access to the Steam game library, not only allowing direct downloading and installing of legitimate games from the Steam library, but even enabling save file synchronization with a PC.

Moreover, even for some games in the PC emulator, Red Magic has done obvious compatibility optimization work, saving users the trouble of debugging themselves.

On top of that, Red Magic also has its own peripheral ecosystem, a specially designed screen projection mode and console UI, which means that if you want, the Red Magic 11S PRO+ can be completely connected to a keyboard and mouse, cooling unit, and display, directly "transforming" into a gaming console.

For these reasons, whether from the perspective of improving gaming win rates or from the perspective of "diversity" of gameplay modes, the Red Magic 11S PRO+ has demonstrated functional design that far surpasses other "gaming phones," and also shows that Red Magic's design team genuinely understands players better than other manufacturers and is more devoted to the matter of gaming.

【Conclusion: Holding Fast to Hardcore Gaming DNA Is Red Magic's Greatest Confidence】

Having finished testing the Red Magic 11S PRO+, we have finally found the answer to the question posed at the beginning of this article. When leading manufacturers successively enter the gaming phone segment, Red Magic's way of "responding to the challenge" is by no means simply throwing hardware at the problem, but rather upholding the "hardcore gaming" DNA carved into every detail.

From the industry's only wind cooling + liquid cooling dual active cooling system to the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Leading Edition selected from the core area of the wafer, from the 144Hz unobstructed true full screen to the technological texture beneath the deuterium-forged transparent back cover, the Red Magic 11S PRO+ uses an AnTuTu extreme composite score approaching 4.64 million, full-frame gaming performance across all scenarios, and power consumption control far below the previous generation to redefine the core value of a "gaming phone." It is not a "gaming derivative version" of a flagship phone, but rather professional equipment custom-built for players with no weak points, and this is precisely the confidence that allows Red Magic to hold firm as the "number one gaming phone" brand.

Eight years of deep cultivation in the esports track, Red Magic has always held as its original aspiration "creating the ultimate gaming experience for players," and the current Red Magic 11S PRO+ is the best interpretation of this original aspiration. In today's era where gaming has become the mainstream of the industry yet homogenization is also increasingly serious, the Red Magic 11S PRO+ uses its actual performance to tell us that a truly gaming phone has never been "a phone that can play games," but rather "a phone born for gaming."

For players pursuing the ultimate gaming experience, this model is not only a gaming device, but also a microcosm of Red Magic's hardcore strength, and an irreplaceable benchmark work in the mobile esports field. Only after using the Red Magic 11S PRO+ will you truly understand the real meaning of a "gaming phone."