Since the birth of gaming consoles, the portable handheld form factor that allows gamers to play anytime, anywhere has become one of the most popular product categories. From the explosive popularity of the Switch to the high demand for the SteamDeck, it's clear that gaming handhelds still hold great appeal for consumers today. In terms of performance, smartphones are undoubtedly the most powerful portable smart devices currently available, with top-of-the-line SoC processing power, storage and memory specifications that are second to none. Thanks to performance upgrades, smartphone games are constantly innovating in terms of graphics and experience. However, the integration of smartphones and gaming features is still in a relatively early stage.

The emergence of "gaming smartphones" is an attempt to enhance the gaming experience, and the Red Magic 8 Pro+ is moving closer to becoming a "gaming handheld" by not only offering the usual "mobile gaming enhancements," but also through the connection and adaptation of peripherals. Anyone familiar with the Red Magic gaming phone series will surely remember the fan built into the body, which, when combined with the lighting effects, creates a very cool overall effect. After several generations of product evolution, the Red Magic ICE 11 cooling system has added "3D Ice Stair Dual Pump VC" technology, in addition to the fan that can spin at a speed of 20,000 rpm and the VC heat-dissipation plate with an area of 2068mm³. This technology increases the cooling capacity by stacking the components.

A good cooling structure is the basic preparation for fully releasing performance and, like previous Red Magic products, the Red Magic 8 Pro+ is a "performance juice extractor." In terms of benchmark scores, the scores of Antutu, Ludashi and 3Dmark are 1317690, 1375993 and 3744, respectively. With the top-tier hardware of the Snapdragon 8+ full-blooded LPDDR5x+UFS4.0, there is no doubt that the Red Magic 8 Pro+ can compete for the top spot in various rankings. For many experienced gamers, playing games for more than two hours a day is common. During long gaming sessions, the heat generated by the phone not only affects the feel of the device, but also leads to throttling. Many competitive mobile games are not very dependent on smartphone SoC performance if they are played in 60Hz low refresh rate mode, even if there is throttling. But if 120Hz display and highest graphics settings are turned on, it can easily lead to fluctuating frame rates. In team battles, the advantage accumulated in the first 15 minutes can be directly lost due to screen freezing, and the voice channel becomes a "Zuan battlefield." Therefore, the strengthening of cooling materials and the introduction of active cooling allow the Red Magic 8 Pro+ to achieve better sustained performance during long gaming sessions.

Continuous testing was carried out using highly competitive MOBA mobile games as an example. Let's first talk about "King of Glory". The graphics settings were set to the highest frame rate and highest quality. In the 1-hour test, the Red Magic 8 Pro+ was able to run at full frame rate throughout the entire game, and after entering the fourth game, the temperature entered a stable curve and remained at around 35°C without increasing. Another mobile game, "League of Legends", also performed similarly. The graphics were set to 120Hz, the highest frame rate and highest quality. While continuously and stably outputting a 120FPS image, the final temperature of the Red Magic 8 Pro+ also remained stable at around 35°C. In terms of the current SoC performance and the heat dissipation capacity of the manufacturer's body, there is basically no pressure for short-term games. However, if you want to play ranked games on weekends or continuously play with friends, then stable frame rates provided by gaming phones become more important. It not only prevents overheating but also prevents the sudden freezing of the screen from becoming a "breakthrough point" for the team.

In addition to continuous game testing, the Titanium Media App also used baking software to conduct extreme environment stress tests. First, there was the AnTuTu 60-minute stress test. It is worth noting that many products can reach temperatures of 45°C to 50°C or more in tests lasting 30 to 45 minutes, and after reaching high temperatures, there will be a very obvious frequency reduction problem for the SoC. However, even with the whirring of the fan, the Red Magic 8 Pro+ was still able to suppress the "heat", and the maximum temperature could be controlled at 41°C.

Another test was the 20-round continuous stress test of 3DMark, which places greater load on the GPU. The test showed that the stability of the Red Magic 8 Pro+ reached 97.9%, and the full test score remained above 3663 points. In the baking test, the Titanium Media App also used a thermal imager to measure the temperature of the front and back of the product while the machine was being baked, which can directly reflect the temperature performance of the Red Magic 8 Pro+ in extreme situations. The highest temperature on the front was 41.5°C on the upper side, and the overall temperature was around 40°C. As expected, the back was in the middle, and also 41.5°C. It can be said that for this product, there is no need to worry about getting "burned" during gameplay, whether it's playing big games or playing for extended periods of time.

As a gaming phone product, the overall design of the Red Magic 8 Pro+ is also linked to gaming scenes. The mechanical elements, combined with a strong overall design, make for a more visually stunning effect. The transparent elements on the back have always been a hallmark of the Red Magic brand, and the addition of fan lights not only enhances the experience of performance release, but also adds to the visual appeal. The product uses a 6.8-inch AMOLED screen on the front, with a square shape and narrow bezels, allowing the overall screen ratio to expand further, reaching 93.7%. Additionally, when you pick up the Red Magic 8 Pro+, you'll notice that there are no "notches" or "punch holes" at the top, but instead, a single screen. This is because the 120Hz screen uses the latest generation of UDC under-screen cameras, which, in combination with the PRO+ screen display chip, achieves a "truly full-screen" visual effect.

The product has a built-in battery capacity of 5000mAh, which is larger than many gaming handheld devices. The addition of 165W fast charging allows it to achieve the ability to fully revive in 14 minutes. The top of the device still has two touch-sensitive shoulder buttons, which, together with the Redcore R2 gaming chip, can achieve quick touch response while coordinating features such as vibration, touch, and sound effects. The screen has a 960Hz touch sampling rate, which is among the best in the industry, making it more responsive for short and long touch operations in games. For example, in the mobile game "KartRider Rush+", advanced techniques such as quick oxygen supplementation, fine-tuning the vehicle's heading, dual-spray and reverse-gathering, all require more precise touch and trigger sensing capabilities, and the Red Magic 8 Pro+ performs very smoothly in these scenarios.

Alongside the product launch, the Red Magic 8 Pro+ also introduced peripheral accessories that can be used with the product: the Red Magic Shadow Blade gamepad. From the overall appearance, it has significant differences compared to traditional phone peripherals. First, the overall design is different. In addition to the dual joysticks and common control buttons on the front, it has four additional function buttons. With the addition of four top buttons and back buttons, the overall layout and quantity are similar to those of a handheld console. Moreover, the RT and LT at the top use linear triggers, a design previously more commonly seen on console gamepads. By connecting the gamepad to the USB-C port on the phone, the built-in X Gravity platform can quickly recognize the connection and automatically complete power supply, driver installation, and connection.

For supported games, REDMAGIC OS 6.0 can automatically map controller buttons according to the built-in schemes, such as the default layout seen when opening Genshin Impact. However, for those who are accustomed to touch screen controls, this control logic has a certain learning curve, and it takes practice to fully utilize the advantages of precise skill release and movement. With the enhancement of mobile phone performance and display capabilities, the visual quality of mobile games has progressed rapidly in the past two years. Among them, there are already excellent works with high-quality graphics engines such as Genshin Impact. The emergence of these high-quality games has further blurred the boundary between smartphones and game consoles. So how does the Red Magic 8 Pro+ perform in high-quality "3A" games?

First is Genshin Impact. With the highest graphics and 60fps options, the Red Magic 8 Pro+ can maintain full-frame operation throughout 25 minutes of continuous gameplay. With the addition of a controller peripheral, the overall experience is very similar to that of a handheld game console, with button feedback and rich, smooth game visuals. In addition to mobile game content, by installing third-party apps, the application space of the controller can be further expanded. Many people may feel that the overall layout is very similar to the Nintendo Switch when they first see it. With the installation of emulators available on the market, the Red Magic 8 Pro+ is not just a "lookalike", but becomes a "game console" that can achieve a similar experience in appearance and content.

If the previous Red Magic products were more focused on developing mobile products around "mobile games", then starting with the Red Magic 8 Pro+, the brand's overall ecosystem has presented a preliminary "game blueprint" and is beginning to expand. Leveraging the previously launched console mode and Red Magic casting, the phone can provide a support point for big screen games. And the new Red Magic Shadow Blade controller peripheral enables it to evolve towards a handheld game console.

For experienced mobile game players, the Red Magic 8 Pro+ provides stable game frame rates and responsive touch controls. If you are a gaming enthusiast who wants to experience multiple game ecosystems in your spare time, this product is also a good choice.