RedMagic 11 Air review

Introduction and specs

A slim and portable gaming phone? It doesn't get any more niche than this. And yet, the nubia RedMagic 11 Air is exactly that. It's a slim and relatively light handset, at least as far as gaming phones go, and it's also a more affordable alternative to the regular RedMagic gaming smartphone series..

Despite the lower weight and slimmer body, however, the RedMagic 11 Air is built on the foundations that make the RedMagic phones unique. It has a seethrough-like design, it has a dedicated cooling fan and brings a handful of upgrades over the previous RedMagic 10 Air generation. The newer 11 Air now feels much closer to the RedMagic 11 proper.

ZTE nubia RedMagic 11 Air specs at a glance:

• Body: 163.8x76.5x8.0mm, 207g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass 7i), aluminum allow frame, glass back (Gorilla Glass 5); Pressure sensitive zones (520Hz touch-sensing), Built-in cooling fan, Aviation aluminum middle frame, IP54 dust protected and water resistant (water splashes), Illuminated RGB logo and fan lights (on the back).
• Display: 6.85" AMOLED, 1B colors, 144Hz, 2592Hz PWM, 1800 nits (peak), 1216x2688px resolution, 19.89:9 aspect ratio, 431ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8750-AB Snapdragon 8 Elite (3 nm): Octa-core (2x4.32 GHz Oryon V2 Phoenix L + 6x3.53 GHz Oryon V2 Phoenix M); Adreno 830.
• Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 16GB RAM; UFS 4.1.
• OS/Software: Android 16, Redmagic OS 11.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.9, 23mm, 1/1.55", 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 1/4.0", 1.12µm.
• Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.0, (wide), 1/2.77", 1.12µm, under display.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 8K@30fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps, gyro-EIS, OIS, HDR; Front camera: 1080p@30/60fps.
• Battery: 7000mAh; 80W wired, 120W wired - China only, Bypass charging.
• Connectivity: 5G; Wi-Fi 6; BT 5.4; NFC; Infrared port.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); stereo speakers.

For instance, the RedMagic 11 Air borrows the RedMagic 11 Pro's 6.85-inch OLED panel with 144Hz refresh rate, a step up from the 120Hz screen on the 10 Air.

The new Air is also equipped with a much more powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, compared to its predecessor, but still a notch below the RedMagic 11 Pro with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.

In addition to the upgraded chipset and display, the 11 Air is getting a new battery, too. The device now sports a Si/C battery with 7,000 mAh capacity, up from 6,000 mAh last year, but retains the 80W fast wired charging.

Now let's dive deeper into the RedMagic 11 Air and see what you stand to lose and what you gain with the more portable gaming device.

Unboxing the RedMagic 11 Air

The device comes in a standard retail box with the usual quick start guide, a transparent protective case and a USB-A to USB-C cable for charging and data transfer.

Interestingly, even the European retail package contains the compatible 80W fast wired charger. So kudos to RedMagic for that.