For over a decade, the battle in smartphone gaming has revolved around one simple but unsolved problem: power creates heat, and heat destroys performance. Every generation of high-end chips promised to fix it, every vapor chamber claimed to end it, and every fan system swore to defy physics. None did—until now. The REDMAGIC 11 Pro, launching worldwide today, finally makes good on that impossible promise.
For once, this is not PR hyperbole or a fancy new buzzword. The 11 Pro is a device that doesn’t just run fast—it keeps running fast indefinitely. It’s the first truly water- and air-cooled smartphone, capable of holding peak frame rates without crumbling under thermal stress. What we’re witnessing isn’t just an evolutionary upgrade; it’s a genuine turning point for mobile performance hardware.
A Brand That Doesn’t Play by the Rules
Ask any tech follower about REDMAGIC, and you’ll probably hear the same description: “those crazy phones with fans.” It’s not wrong. Born out of Nubia Technology in 2018, the company quickly set itself apart from the polished minimalism of Apple and Samsung. Instead of chasing thinner designs or higher camera counts, REDMAGIC spent its energy building what were essentially pocket PCs. The 11 Pro feels like the culmination of that philosophy—an unapologetic, over-engineered powerhouse that exists for gamers first, everyone else second.
From the earliest models, REDMAGIC’s identity has been borderline rebellious. While others covered their phones in glass, the company cut vents. While competitors obsessed over portrait photography, REDMAGIC bolted in RGB lighting. Over the years, these experiments have matured into something uniquely functional. This time, the madness yields measurable science. The firm’s deep investment in fluid dynamics—yes, fluid dynamics—has given the 11 Pro an ability no other phone possesses: active, circulating liquid cooling inside a sealed chassis. That single concept transforms the entire performance equation.
A Design That Feels Less Like a Phone and More Like Hardware
Before you even power it on, the REDMAGIC 11 Pro looks like something assembled in a high-tech lab. The transparent “Nightfreeze” version exposes a faint pulse of moving coolant under its back glass, lit by a controlled ice-blue glow that traces between metallic ridges. Where most phones hide their components, this one declares them proudly. Even the 24,000 RPM fan—the fastest in the industry—is visible, spinning silently thanks to waterproof bearings.
At 163.8 × 76.5 × 8.9 mm and 230 grams, it should feel bulky, but the dense symmetry offsets the size. The aluminum mid-frame carries both premium solidity and shock protection, while the completely flat back eliminates the usual camera hump. The aesthetic is almost philosophical: function as form.
That decision wasn’t aesthetic indulgence; it was necessity. Positioning a full vapor chamber, a piezo micro-pump, and multiple cooling conduits inside a phone required an entirely new layout of the motherboard. REDMAGIC engineers refer to it internally as the “Aqua Loop,” and though it sounds like a sci-fi gadget, it works astonishingly well in practice. The phone never exceeds warm-to-touch temperatures, even during its most brutal load cycles.
Display: Maxed-Out Immersion in Motion
Gaming lives and dies by what you can see and how fast you can react, and the REDMAGIC 11 Pro’s display might be one of the few that can keep up with reflex-driven inputs. The 6.85-inch BOE X10 AMOLED display pushes 2688 × 1216 pixels with a blazing-fast 144 Hz refresh rate and 3,000 Hz instant touch-sampling.
During testing, REDMAGIC’s new Synaptics 3910v controller kept tap latency around 2.8 ms, nearly half that of the Galaxy S24 Ultra. It’s the difference between tapping and hitting. The panel peaks at 1,800 nits outdoors, making it nearly as bright as an iPhone 15 Pro Max while consuming 10 percent less power.
There’s no notch, no hole-punch, no symmetrical distraction—just an uninterrupted slab of screen that fully hides the under-display 16 MP camera. Combined with TÜV flicker-free certification and hardware-level blue-light filtering, it’s comfortable for marathon play sessions. Even prolonged HDR sequences never provoke the flicker fatigue common to gaming OLEDs.
After a week of use, the bigger revelation isn’t the numbers; it’s how consistently the phone feels locked to your input. Whether sliding through PUBG Mobile weapon inventory or aiming in Arena Breakout, the response feels analog, not digital. It’s the kind of feedback usually reserved for mechanical devices.
Hardware and Benchmarks: Sustained Power Unseen Before
If you glance at the specs, you’ll think you’ve heard this story before: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, LPDDR5T RAM up to 24 GB, UFS 4.1 storage to a terabyte. But what RedMagic achieves with these pieces is on another level.
On Geekbench 6, the 11 Pro averaged around 3,680 (single-core) and 11,500 (multi-core), while AnTuTu runs found scores above 4.3 million, a figure almost identical to Qualcomm’s own reference device. On paper, it’s expected. In practice, it’s shocking how stable it remains across repeated tests.
On a 120-minute loop, thermal variance between the first and final runs sat at just 1.1%, while the average CPU frequency held 96% of its boost clock. The previous generation fell to 83%. The difference comes down to REDMAGIC’s bespoke Red Core R4 chip, a companion processor that monitors thermals and redistributes power on the fly.
Combine that with the new Energy Cube 3.0 software stack, and you get unprecedented frame-rate discipline. The system predicts spikes an average of 35 milliseconds in advance and diverts load to cooler cores or GPU segments before you ever see a frame drop.
A New Definition of “Cooling System”
REDMAGIC calls it the AquaCore Cooling System, but that undersells it. Inside the phone runs a fully self-contained fluid circuit: a fluorinated, non-conductive coolant loops from a heat-collection baseplate near the SoC to a thin vapor chamber and back again via piezoelectric micropump. The micro-pipes are laser-cut and bonded with low-temperature epoxy to survive drops and bends.
The liquid itself remains stable from 40 °C to 70 °C, so even mountain cold or desert heat won’t halt flow. A new layer of Liquid Metal 3.0 pads the CPU to boost thermal conductivity by 15% over copper. Additional airflow comes from the 24,000 RPM centrifugal turbofan, which draws air through micro vents and exhausts it without breaking the device’s IPX8 seal.
In layman’s terms: it’s a tiny water-cooled and air-boosted engine inside a smartphone. Lab data backs the hype. After two hours of Genshin Impact at max detail and 60 FPS, the 11 Pro held GPU temperatures at 62.3 °C, compared to the 10 S Pro’s 75 °C—a whopping drop of more than 12 degrees. Back plate readings averaged 36–40 °C, and the battery stayed below 43 °C.
Even under Star Rail at maximum settings and constant stream recording, the phone’s internal sensors never crossed 68 °C. Frame-rate variance in the same test remained below 0.6 FPS, while power draw hovered at 6.9 W. To put that in context, most Android flagships throttle within 20 minutes under that heat load. The 11 Pro did not flinch in two hours.
Surface temperature caps at 57.5 °C externally only under sustained extreme synthetic testing, a level safe enough to grip yet showing the hardware’s upper headroom.
The World’s First Waterproof Fan System
If one feature of the REDMAGIC 11 Pro deserves its own headline, it’s that this is the first smartphone in history to combine active cooling with complete waterproofing. Every previous attempt at internal fans required cutouts or mesh gaps for airflow; water-resistance standards made that design a contradiction. Somehow, REDMAGIC’s engineers found a way around it.
The phone achieves an official IPX8 rating, meaning full submersion in water up to 1.5 meters for 30 minutes—unheard-of for a device containing physical spinning components. The breakthrough lies in a newly developed sealed air circulation channel. Instead of venting directly outside, the 24,000 RPM turbofan circulates heat within a closed internal chamber, pushing air through graphite fins and liquid conduits before returning it to the vapor chamber.
That internal “breathing loop” allows the cooling system to operate without any open air intake. Air moves, heat leaves, but moisture never enters. The fan’s bearings use a special fluorinated lubricant and magnetic levitation design so that, even at full RPM, the assembly remains isolated from condensation.
During testing, the phone was submerged in a water tank while rendering a 3DMark loop at 15 W load. Not only did it survive the dunking without fault, performance graphs stayed flat—no internal leakage, no electrical disruption, and critically, no sound distortion from trapped fluid. Once removed and towel-dried, the fan resumed spinning as if nothing had happened.
This combination of mechanical cooling and waterproof sealing is unprecedented. Some gaming phones offer splash resistance, but none can claim the durability proof recorded here. In practical terms, it means players who stream from wet environments—outdoor sports, rainy days, humid events—can use the 11 Pro safely. Even accidental coffee spills or cleaning with a damp cloth become non-issues.
It also hints at a new design maturity for REDMAGIC. What once felt like experimental engineering now appears refined, almost overdesigned to last. Between the liquid-metal interface, the fluorinated coolant loop, and this sealed internal fan system, the 11 Pro becomes something more than a gaming novelty: it’s a genuine ruggedized piece of advanced hardware disguised as a phone.
Real-World Gaming: Numbers Meet Feeling
Performance data can only tell half the story; the other half comes from visceral experience. Launching into PUBG Mobile, the 11 Pro snaps to 120 FPS without a hint of delay. Frame drops? None visible. Controller latency measured 12 ms, equivalent to wired gamepads on a console.
In Honkai: Star Rail, a title infamous for melting devices, temperatures average 48.5 °C, and battery temperatures sit a remarkably low 31.5 °C in a 30 °C room. Even after an hour, the back panel feels barely warm. You almost doubt the numbers until you touch it.
Games like Wuthering Waves and Arena Breakout showcase the benefits of REDMAGIC’s collaboration with game developers to optimize Vulkan APIs. The result is higher render efficiency, roughly 40% better per watt than previous models. During tests, the device sustained 90 FPS with no visible judder or ghosting. Even 3DMark’s Wild Life Stress Test—a benchmark that brings most phones to their knees—kept result stability above 99%.
It’s the first mobile gaming device where you can push everything to max and never feel forced to dial back. No “high performance mode” toggles or warnings. It just stays there—cool, steady, and endlessly reliable.
Audio, Controls, and the Subtleties of Immersion
Audio and haptics often feel like afterthoughts on gaming phones. The 11 Pro reverses that balance. Its dual 1115 series speakers produce spatial depth and resonance far beyond previous models, delivering a measured 84 dB at half volume and maintaining clarity up to maximum. With the fan running, sound level rises by only 2.5 dB, and the blades operate mostly below 2 kHz—frequencies the human ear is least sensitive to.
The physical shoulder triggers, now rated at 520 Hz touch refresh, are larger and flatter with distinct feedback zones. This time you can map two functions per key, allowing simultaneous ADS and fire control in shooters. Vibration feedback through the expanded 0815 x-axis motor is tight and clean, creating localized impact based on game events—a small but noticeable layer of immersion.
Voice commands can toggle performance modes hands-free through the improved Game Space 11 dashboard. The entire control system feels built for professionals rather than casual players.
Battery Life: Big Cell, Smarter Management
Power is nothing without stamina, and the REDMAGIC 11 Pro delivers it in bulk. Its 7,500 mAh dual-cell battery outlasts almost every gaming competitor. In tests, continuous Genshin Impact play at 60 FPS sustained for 7.4 hours straight before hitting 10% battery. Streaming 1080p YouTube at maximum brightness lasted 12.5 hours. During mixed use—social media, video, games, calls—it comfortably endures two days.
More importantly, charging is cool and quick. The phone supports 80 W wired and wireless fast charging, with bypass charging available for gaming while plugged in. That feature routes power directly to the system board, bypassing the battery entirely to avoid heat build-up—a lifesaver for competitive sessions.
Average charge time to 100% is about 40 minutes via cable and 68 minutes wirelessly. Thermal rise stays below 6 °C when charging while playing, versus nearly 15 °C on typical flagships. You can feel the difference immediately: your hands never sweat around the port.
Cameras: Decent Optics in a Gamer’s Body
Cameras remain REDMAGIC’s secondary focus, but they get serious upgrades nonetheless. The dual 50 MP setup (standard and ultrawide) delivers plenty of detail, with an average dynamic range of 12.1 EV stops and better edge-correction than older models. The 2 MP auxiliary sensor remains basic but serves macro functions adequately. AI-driven noise control reduces color grain in low-light by over 20% compared to the 10 S Pro+.
Video performance tops out at 8 K 30 FPS or 4 K 120 FPS, the latter being surprisingly stable for a gaming-centric device. The front camera is a 16 MP under-display unit: soft on detail but stealthy in presentation—fine for stream overlays or calls. If you expect flagship-grade photography, look elsewhere, but for most users, this setup is perfectly functional.
Software: AI Companions and Smarter Game Control
Running REDMAGIC OS 11 on top of Android 16, the 11 Pro finally finds a balance between performance and polish. Game Space, the brand’s in-game hub, has become cleaner and more intuitive. Through quick swipes, you can adjust fan speed, toggle refresh rates, or record sessions. You also get temperature and power readouts in real time, making the device feel like a piece of instrumentation rather than a phone.
An optional AI Performance Coach uses Red Core’s telemetry to suggest optimal settings per game. In supported titles like PUBG Mobile and MLBB, the coach can recommend aim sensitivity or battery-saving profiles. Elsewhere, the MORA voice assistant adds a humanized layer—she’ll announce CPU temps or FPS drops mid-match. It sounds gimmicky, but it’s surprisingly useful when you’re under fire and need quick data.
Beyond gaming, MORA acts as a digital companion, answering queries through integration with Google Gemini. You can ask it to translate chats or summon performance graphs. The voice has a slightly robotic accent but rarely mishears.
REDMAGIC promises three major Android updates and five years of security patches—a welcome sign for a brand once loosely committed to long-term support.
Connectivity and Secondary Features
Everything expected of a 2025 flagship is here: 5G dual modems, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, USB 3.2 Gen 2, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack for zero-latency audio. Dual GPS (L1 + L5) offers sub-meter precision. There’s even DisplayPort-over-USB output for connecting to monitors at 120 Hz, with mouse and keyboard support through the Host Mode. It essentially turns the 11 Pro into a mini desktop PC for cloud gaming or productivity.
Durability impresses as well. The phone passed REDMAGIC’s internal series of drop tests without cracking—an achievement given its see-through aesthetic. Corning Gorilla Glass and an anti-puncture membrane now protect both front and rear panels. Despite its precision engineering, it feels ready for real-world abuse, not just showcases.
The Launch and What It Means
The REDMAGIC 11 Pro will reach international markets on November 3, rolling out simultaneously through redmagic.gg and authorized regional partners. The pricing will start from $699, aligning pretty much with previous models. That figure undercuts nearly every flagship with comparable hardware.
Availability will span North America, Europe, the UK, and the Asia-Pacific region shortly after launch. For a brand once considered a niche import, that’s a quiet but significant win—the moment REDMAGIC steps out of the shadow of “tech for enthusiasts” and into the mainstream conversation about raw innovation.
Final Verdict: Momentum That Outruns Its Limits
Holding the REDMAGIC 11 Pro after a week of intensive testing is like holding proof that the laws of physics can bend, at least a little, with enough ingenuity. There’s no question this phone is built for a very specific audience—people who care about frames per second the way others care about camera bokeh. But by solving a thermal problem that has haunted mobile devices for years, REDMAGIC has done something that benefits everyone. Every future chip, every next-gen smartphone that runs cooler or charges faster, will owe something to the lessons learned here.
We often say innovation comes at the edges of reason. The 11 Pro lives there—half engineering lab, half art. It’s loud, visible, and somewhat ridiculous, yet it’s also the most consistently powerful and thermally disciplined smartphone on the market. Frames don’t drop, power doesn’t spike, and temperatures stay civilized. If you’ve ever watched your phone throttle mid-boss fight or dim its screen from overheating, this device feels like revenge on physics itself.
No one else is doing what REDMAGIC is doing right now. When the 11 Pro officially lands on November 3, it won’t just be another gaming flagship. It will stand as the first production phone to merge true liquid cooling and sealed waterproofing without compromise—a first stab at a wholly new category of mobile engineering.
For players, content creators, and those who simply appreciate the audacity of innovation, the REDMAGIC 11 Pro is not only the most distinctive phone of 2025—it’s one of the most important. Because long after other brands catch up on features, this one will be remembered for something rarer: it actually kept its cool.