Red Magic 9S Pro and 9S Pro+ arrive with overclocked SD 8 Gen 3, improved cooling
The Red Magic 9S Pro and 9S Pro+ arrive with a beefed up chipset and improved cooling. The chipset is the so-called Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Leading Version, i.e. the version of the chip that runs its prime CPU core at 3.4GHz and boosts the GPU to 1GHz.
The company boasts that the 9S Pro has achieved an AnTuTu score of 2,369,542 points, the highest of any Android yet. Good for bragging rights, but we found other numbers more interesting. For example, the revamped ICE 13.5 cooling system features a vapor chamber (10,182mm²) and new cooling gel that reduces thermal resistance.
Combined with the 22,000 RPM active cooling fan, the system can reduce chipset temperature by up to 19.5°C compared to 18°C for the original ICE 13 system used in the Red Magic 9 Pro and 9 Pro+.
The battery situation presents the same choice as before â a large 6,500mAh battery with 80W charging on the 9S Pro and a smaller but faster 5,500mAh battery with 165W charging. Even the 80W version is quite fast â it can do a full charge in just 35 minutes. But if you opt for the plus model, 100% is achieved in 16 minutes (noting that the battery on the plus is 1,000mAh smaller).
The phones also have the option to bypass the battery and run directly off external power, which generates less heat and reduces wear and tear on the battery. In terms of dimensions, the two phones stick to the key dimensions of the 9 Pro pair. They measure 8.9mm thick and weigh 229g.
Gaming is done on a flat 6.8â OLED display (BOE Q9+), which has rare qualities â itâs a proper rectangle (no rounded corners) and the 16MP camera is under it, so there is nothing getting in the way of game UI. This display has 1,116 x 2,480px resolution and runs at 120Hz. For controls, it can reach an instant touch sampling rate of 2,000Hz and there is a pair of 520Hz shoulder triggers (with an updated backlight design).
Connectivity includes fast Wi-Fi 7 and USB-C 3.2, plus a 3.5mm jack for wired headphones. If you want, you can use the dual speakers (with DTS:X Ultra certification) instead.
We already mentioned the selfie camera, now for the rear camera â itâs unchanged. It features a 50MP main sensor (1/1.57â GN5, lens with OIS) and a 50MP ultra wide (JN1). Red Magic should be commended that it keeps its cameras flush with the back, no bumps here.
Red Magic didnât miss the opportunity to add AI features to the new Red Magic 9.5 OS. These include Smart Navigator with real-time recommendations, AI Trigger, Sound Recognition for games and more. Other AI features include image enlargement, wallpaper, wallpaper generation, a writing assistant, summaries, search and so on.
Besides the battery and charging, the differences between the regular Pro and the Pro+ include different memory options - the 9S Pro has 12GB of RAM and 256/512GB storage, while the 9S Pro+ has 16GB of RAM and 512GB storage.
Thatâs not quite right. The Red Magic 9S Pro+ also has a special edition with 24GB of RAM and 16TB storage. This one is priced at CNY 7,000.
This halo version aside, you have to pick between the Dark Knight/White Knight colorways and the transparent Silver Deuterium/Dark Knight versions (which are a bit pricier). The two 9S Pro models will be available in China from July 9 with the base model starting at CNY 4,800 (this converts to $660/â¬610/â¹55,000). Pricing for the other versions is in the table below:
| 12GB/256GB | 12GB/512GB | 16GB/512GB | 24GB/1TB | ||
| Red Magic 9S Pro | Dark/White Knight | CNY 3,800 | CNY 5,200 | - | - |
| Transparent | CNY 5,000 | CNY 5,400 | - | - | |
| Red Magic 9S Pro+ | Dark/White Knight | - | - | CNY 5,800 | - |
| Transparent | - | - | CNY 6,000 | - | |
| Special edition | - | - | - | CNY 7,000 |