RedMagic 11S Pro+ Review: PC Gaming on a Phone With Steam & Water Cooling

I. Introduction: Gaming Phone First to Feature Water Cooling — Red Magic Leads the Industry Again

In the gaming phone segment, Red Magic is a very special brand. It focuses exclusively on this one track, and many innovations in gaming phones were first introduced by Red Magic before being slowly imitated and learned from by others. For example, the now hugely popular built-in cooling fan design was first introduced by Red Magic as early as 2019, leading the industry by a full seven years.

The Red Magic 11 Pro+, released last year, was the first to apply water cooling technology to a smartphone, combining it with an active fan to achieve composite heat dissipation, delivering stronger cooling performance that better handles the heat generated by extreme performance release and high-speed wireless charging, once again leading the new direction of gaming phone thermal design.

The newly released Red Magic 11S Pro+ also continues the dual wind-and-water cooling solution, pushing the phone's thermal management and performance to even greater extremes.

The Red Magic 11S Pro+'s appearance is still highly distinctive, continuing the signature design of the Red Magic phone family — an almost one-of-a-kind fully flat back panel and an equally rare right-angle rectangular screen. Combined with the Red Magic 11S Pro+'s transparent aesthetic, it expresses the sci-fi, futuristic, pure, and extreme aesthetic style of a gaming phone to the fullest.

The transparent back panel also makes the pulsating water-cooling engine clearly visible on the back of the phone. The circular water channels and blue cooling liquid circulate after the water-cooling system is activated, not only delivering extreme cooling performance, but the dynamic visual beauty of the flowing liquid is also very eye-catching.

The Red Magic 11S Pro+'s front features a small-radius-corner rectangular screen with right-angle edges, using the Red Magic Wukong Display 2.0 — a 6.85-inch display with no punch holes and no notch. The hidden under-display front camera gives users a perfect screen: whether playing games or watching videos, there is no disappointment from an incomplete display, making it a godsend for perfectionists.

This screen uses BOE X10 light-emitting material, supports 144Hz high refresh rate, and has SGS and Rheinland eye-comfort certification, so eyes are less prone to fatigue even during extended gaming sessions.

Performance is nothing to worry about either. The Red Magic 11S Pro+ is equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Leading Version, which is the most powerful Snapdragon flagship chip to date, built on a 3nm process, screened layer by layer to ensure every unit has the strongest possible constitution.

Every chip that makes it into the Red Magic 11S Pro+ must be guaranteed to work stably at the ultra-high frequency of 4.74GHz, maintain stability under various temperature and voltage conditions, and must not exhibit abnormal power consumption or high-temperature throttling. Only chips that pass these rigorous tests can be called the "Leading Version."

This also ensures that every Red Magic 11S Pro+ delivers optimal performance, combined with the CUBE Optimus Gaming Engine 3.0's AI learning-based fine-tuning, ultimately achieving stable in-game frame rates, low operating power consumption, and a more enduring extreme gaming experience.

With such powerful hardware performance, it would be somewhat wasteful if it were only used to play mobile games. This time, Red Magic has built a PC emulator directly into the gaming space, connecting directly to Steam. 3A games on PC can be installed and run directly on the phone. The powerful translation capability means players do not need to manually configure the environment — just take out the phone and freely enjoy PC blockbusters.

II. Appearance Gallery: True Full-Screen with No Holes + Transparent Flat Back — Uniquely Futuristic and Sci-Fi

Red Magic phones can be said to be the most authentic gaming phone brand on the market today. Red Magic is also the only brand that continues to this day to insist on making the purest gaming phones, designed entirely around the needs of gamers from the very beginning, which has created its uniquely distinctive style. In today's era of extreme smartphone homogenization, it can still maintain a unique personality, instantly recognizable among the sea of devices at a glance.

The Red Magic 11S Pro+ is also Red Magic's pursuit of a pure gaming phone. The small-radius-corner body and screen on the front are highly recognizable. While it sacrifices some one-handed vertical grip feel, it has little impact during horizontal gaming hold, and there is no loss of display area at the corners.

A close-up of the phone's squared-off corners — the right-angle design and extremely narrow bezels give it a very sharp and strong look. The under-display front camera makes the screen feel more complete and seamless. For gamers, the slight image quality loss caused by the under-display camera is completely negligible; an uninterrupted, hole-free gaming display is what matters most.

The Red Magic 11S Pro+ equally features a very sharp, tech-oriented design. The metal CD texture and brushed texture with different surface treatments complement each other, fully covered by a protective glass layer, with the camera also sitting beneath the glass. The fully flat back panel provides a completely consistent grip feel for gamers.

A close-up of the phone's back: the upper half is arranged with a flush camera module and Red Magic's RGB logo light. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Leading Version logo is etched onto the brushed stainless steel back panel, very refined.

A close-up of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Leading Version logo.

In today's era where active fans are becoming widespread, Red Magic — the pioneer of the built-in phone fan — has for the first time applied wind cooling + water cooling in the Red Magic 11S Pro+, continuing to lead the industry's thermal technology.

The transparent back panel of the Red Magic 11S Pro+ lets you directly see the internal pulsating water-cooling engine. The blue coolant flows through the water channels, radiating a strong sense of technology. Moreover, the water-cooling system can not only enhance heat dissipation during gaming, but can also be activated during high-speed charging or wireless charging to allow the heat generated during fast charging to be dissipated in a timely manner.

The Red Magic 11S Pro+'s matte metal frame features a clean and crisp right-angle design, making the overall device more squared-off, sharp and strong, full of a cool, tech-forward feel.

The fan cooling channels on both sides allow airflow to pass through the core at high speed, carrying away the heat from the core. The power button and volume button have been moved toward the middle to avoid the cooling vents and shoulder buttons. The red competition key with a mirror diagonal stripe pattern below the power button allows the phone to enter the gaming space with one press, transforming it into a dedicated gaming device, fully in service of gamers.

A close-up of the red competition key — the diagonally etched stripes not only give the surface two different glossy textures, but also provide a uniquely tactile feel, identifiable by touch alone even in the dark. On the symmetrically opposite side of the frame is the gaming mode's breathing light strip.

The Red Magic 11S Pro+'s touch shoulder buttons also have a breathing light strip hidden inside.

The pulsating water-cooling engine at the center of the Red Magic 11S Pro+'s back — the blue coolant and circular water channels, combined with the CD-textured gloss of the metal surface, are full of technological flair.

III. One-Press Switch to Gaming Space: Direct Steam Connection — A Dedicated Gaming Device Built for Players

The red competition key on the side of the Red Magic 11S Pro+ can be lightly toggled to put the phone into the gaming space, instantly transforming it into a professional gaming console, suspending non-gaming functions temporarily and concentrating all performance on gaming, giving players the best possible performance.

After entering the gaming space, all the games installed on the phone are listed, with some games featuring specially drawn themed background images, providing players with an immersive experience.

Players can also make personalized settings for different games in the CUBE Energy Cube, covering everything from performance to visuals to controls, with a very high degree of freedom, allowing players to have the most suitable gaming experience across different games.

Some players may have already noticed that in the lower-left corner of the gaming space, a row of PC and console gaming platform logos has appeared, including the most familiar Steam. The Red Magic 11S Pro+ once again breaks through the performance ceiling of gaming phones, using a translation engine to bridge the platform gap between phones and PCs, enabling the phone to play not just mobile games, but also transform into a handheld PC gaming console.

We select the PC emulator games option, log in to our Steam account inside, and can see our Steam library. Large 3A games can also be installed directly, and the download speed is quite fast — we installed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which is over 50GB in size, and it only took about half an hour.

In our actual testing, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt ran locally on the Red Magic 11S Pro+ with frame rates fluctuating between 15 and 30 fps. Indoor scenes performed somewhat better. Using the phone to fully experience The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is still not entirely suitable, but using it to play a round of Gwent is perfectly fine.

Compared to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Tomb Raider (2013) runs quite smoothly on the Red Magic 11S Pro+. Even with the hair's "TressFX" effect enabled in settings, the average frame rate can reach around 50 fps. With a controller connected, the experience is on par with the PC platform.

In addition to large 3A games, lighter casual games like Stardew Valley run even more easily on the phone, and these types of games can even be controlled well with the on-screen virtual controller. When going out, you can escape into the game at any time, feeling as if you're playing a native mobile game, while also enjoying the rich selection of mods on the Steam platform.

IV. Mobile Game Testing: No Need for God of Destruction Mode to Achieve Smooth, Silky Gameplay — Dual Shoulder Buttons Make Advanced Controls Easier to Master

In the Red Magic 11S Pro+'s gaming space, a large number of plugins are available, not only for performance adjustment and image quality optimization of games, but also for AI-assisted gaming functions such as Tactical Coach and Moji Mouthpiece.

The Red Magic 11S Pro+ also provides the most powerful performance mode this time: God of Destruction Mode, which maxes out the device's performance but increases power consumption and heat generation. It is recommended that players use it judiciously.

In our actual mobile game testing, we only used Awakening Mode to test performance under standard conditions, without pushing the phone's performance to its extreme limits.

1. Honor of Kings

In Honor of Kings, we set the game graphics to the highest level and set the phone to Awakening Mode in the CUBE Energy Cube to test frame rate performance.

In a 5v5 match, the Red Magic 11S Pro+'s frame rate maintained a perfect 144fps with almost no fluctuation, dipping only slightly during the fixed animation cutscene at the end of the game. The entire match remained in the best possible silky-smooth state.

Average in-game power consumption was 3.78W, with a per-frame energy consumption of 26mW.

2. Peacekeeper Elite

In Peacekeeper Elite, we also set the game graphics to the highest level and set the phone to Awakening Mode to test the frame rate.

Because we used the Ultra HD graphics setting, the game frame rate was capped at 60fps. The frame rate remained a flat line throughout the entire game, with the Red Magic 11S Pro+'s performance still having headroom to spare.

Average in-game power consumption was 2.51W, with a per-frame energy consumption of 41.1mW.

3. Genshin Impact

In Genshin Impact, we set the game graphics to the highest level, the frame rate to 60, and the phone to Awakening Mode to test the frame rate while traversing the map.

The Red Magic 11S Pro+'s visual performance in Genshin Impact is outstanding. The HDR and highlight effects are extremely strong, and the blinding glare of sunlight reflection feels very realistic.

We traversed the Sumeru City scene for ten minutes, achieving an average frame rate of 61fps, with very stable frame rate performance and almost no fluctuation.

Average in-game power consumption was 3.63W, with a per-frame energy consumption of 59.6mW.

4. Honkai: Star Rail

In Honkai: Star Rail, we also set the graphics to the highest level, the game frame rate to 60fps, and the phone performance mode to Awakening Mode to test the frame rate while traversing the map.

Continuously traversing the map in the Golden Hour game scene for 15 minutes, the average frame rate was 60.7fps. While there were some fluctuations in between, they were very brief and had little impact on the overall smoothness of the game.

Average in-game power consumption was 6.71W, with a per-frame energy consumption of 110.6mW.

In the vast majority of games, both shoulder buttons can be mapped to on-screen buttons, allowing players to master advanced four-finger controls without any practice, making gaming easier and more relaxed. Players can also individually set the shoulder button mappings for different games to make the controls more comfortable; only a small number of competitive games do not support shoulder button mapping in the interest of match fairness.

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While testing Honkai: Star Rail, we used a thermal imager to capture the surface temperature of the phone. On the left, the front of the phone showed a maximum temperature of 41°C, slightly warm. On the right, the back showed a maximum temperature of only 40.1°C, even lower. Although the reflective glass back panel introduced some interference for the thermal imager, the circular water channels of the pulsating water-cooling engine could still be faintly seen, with temperatures slightly lower than the back panel. The hot air blowing out from the phone's side vents was also faintly visible.

The Red Magic 11S Pro+ simultaneously employs both active fan cooling and water cooling, pushing smartphone thermal management technology a significant step further. The actual performance is also excellent — even in the most demanding Honkai: Star Rail test, after prolonged operation the phone temperature was only warm, with no concern whatsoever about heat buildup causing throttling or stuttering. Smooth and fluid gaming was maintained throughout.

V. Battery Life and Charging: 7500mAh Dual-Cell Battery — Enough for a Full Day Even with Heavy Gaming

The Red Magic 11S Pro+ has a built-in 7500mAh large battery, supports 120W Magic Flash fast charging, and also supports 80W wireless fast charging. Both battery life and fast charging are top-tier specifications. With the built-in fan cooling and water cooling keeping things in check, the 80W wireless charging is also more reliable.

In Battery Dog's battery life test, the Red Magic 11S Pro+ achieved a strong result of 13 hours and 24 minutes under medium-to-high load, with no problem at all for a full day of everyday use.

We used the original 120W GaN charger to charge the Red Magic 11S Pro+, starting from 17%. In 5 minutes it reached 31%, in 15 minutes it reached 50%, in 30 minutes it reached 77%, in 40 minutes it reached 91%, after which it entered trickle protection mode and was fully charged at 55 minutes.

VI. Conclusion: Breaking Through the Boundaries of Mobile Gaming — Red Magic 11S Pro+ Unlocks New Ways to Play PC Games

It must be said that the Red Magic 11S Pro+ has truly subverted the mobile gaming experience this time. The most impressive highlight is its built-in professional PC emulator. With this feature, players do not need any external devices or complex flashing operations — they can log in to their own Steam account directly, and freely download, install, and run all kinds of PC games on the platform.

This purely local hardware-based running mode completely breaks down the barrier between the mobile and PC gaming ecosystems. In the past, if we wanted to play Steam games, we could only sit at a desktop computer; now the vast Steam game library has been brought directly to the phone, equivalent to carrying an entire PC gaming setup with you at all times, greatly enriching the entertainment options on mobile and enabling a different gaming experience anytime, anywhere.

Of course, objectively speaking, running PC games on a phone still has certain limitations. After all, it runs through instruction translation, and given the limited form factor of the phone body and the gap between touchscreen controls and keyboard-mouse or controller input, some 3A titles with extremely high configuration requirements will find it difficult to reach the ultimate visual quality and smoothness of a PC.

But this does not at all diminish its practicality. One more way to play means one more entertainment possibility. We actually tested the classic title The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and it is true that high-load operation through the full main storyline can be somewhat labored, with frame rates and visual quality falling short of a top-spec PC. However, if you just want to casually play a round of Gwent within it, it runs very stably and smoothly, perfectly adequate for killing time or commuting.

Moreover, not all PC games adapt poorly. The majority of lightweight indie games can be perfectly adapted on the Red Magic 11S Pro+, running at full frames throughout, with both visuals and controls feeling very responsive. In addition, classic early-generation 3A titles like Tomb Raider (2013) are optimized very well, and the device can output smooth and stable visuals without any noticeable stuttering or frame drops.

If you want an even more immersive gaming feel, it's simple — just connect a game controller, and the phone instantly transforms into a professional portable handheld, completely overcoming the shortcomings of touchscreen controls, truly achieving the freedom to enjoy 3A titles anytime and anywhere, completely breaking through the content limitations of traditional mobile gaming.

The ability to achieve such impressive PC game performance is inseparable from the phone's top-tier hardware configuration. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Leading Version processor in the Red Magic 11S Pro+ is itself a flagship chip built specifically for esports gaming, further augmented by deep tuning and optimization from the proprietary CUBE Optimus Gaming Engine, delivering maximum performance output far exceeding the operational demands of today's mainstream mobile games.

More critically, its thermal configuration is genuinely hardcore. The pulsating water-cooling engine combined with the ICE Magic Cold cooling system forms a full-domain high-efficiency thermal architecture, perfectly solving the throttling and overheating problems brought on by high-performance operation. Even during prolonged high-load operation of PC 3A games, the device can continuously and stably output performance, with minimal frame rate fluctuation. The overall device temperature remains consistently warm rather than hot, with no burning, throttling, or stuttering occurring, delivering a very stable long-session gaming experience.

Beyond the hardcore internal performance, the exterior design also caters to the aesthetics of esports players at every turn. The entire device adopts a fully flat, sci-fi-style body design with clean lines and a premium feel, with esports atmosphere fully dialed in, balancing both visual appeal and grip comfort.

To sum up, the Red Magic 11S Pro+ is not just an ordinary smartphone — it is a mobile gaming terminal tailor-made for hardcore players. From its standout esports appearance, to the raw performance capable of running PC 3A games, to the extremely stable gaming thermal management experience, every detail is deeply customized for player needs, making it the ultimate portable gaming tool for today's gaming enthusiasts.