One of the best gaming phones of 2021 just got better - REDMAGIC 6S Pro

This is the second RedMagic flagship phone of 2021 that I have tested, and it is an absolute beast when it comes to gaming. It adds the Snapgragon 888+ processor, beefs up the display touch sampling and improves the cooling system. There is also a new transparent design available on the Ghost model. If you are buying a RedMagic handset for the first time, the 6S Pro will hugely impress you.

 

The 6.8in RedMagic 6S Pro is a gorgeous phone to hold and use, despite its large frame and relatively hefty 220g weight.

It feels robust in the hand and looks stunning thanks to the aero-grade aluminium heat dissipation back plate and RGB light strips and logo that lights up.

The super responsive 450Hz dual triggers placed at the top and bottom of the right side are a key feature: they are perfectly positioned when using the phone in landscape mode for gaming.

The 450Hz sampling rate has been increased from the 400Hz on the 6 Pro.

The dual triggers are placed at the top and bottom right of the frame.

This means they are in comfortable positions when you use the phone in landscape mode for gaming.

The seventh-generation in-screen fingerprint reader on the 6S Pro is even quicker than before.

 

The 6.8in FHD+ AMOLED flat-edged display of RedMagic 6S Pro is stunning and suits all kinds of entertainment.However, the device does not support the Netflix or Disney+ apps so be warned. I could download and watch Prime Video without a problem.

RedMagic 6S Pro has a widescreen aspect ratio of 20:9, a resolution of 2400x1080, and a screen-to-body ratio of 91.28 per cent.

It supports 10bit colour and the wide DCI-P3 colour gamut.

And there are no cut-outs on the screen.

Brightness has been improved and is rated as 700 nits.

This phone has the industry’s highest refresh rate AMOLED screen at 165Hz.

This means it refreshes with 21 more frames a second than the 144Hz panels on the Rog Phone 5S or Legion Phone Duel 2.

 

The average user probably won’t notice the difference between 165Hz and 144Hz, but there is a noticeable difference when using the new RedMagic alongside a phone with a 90Hz refresh rate display.

And bear in mind that many phones, including the iPhone 13, still only have a 60Hz display.

Using the ridiculously smooth 165Hz all the time drains power quickly. So you can also opt to choose 120Hz, 90Hz and 60Hz.

The RedMagic 6S Pro display also features one of the industry’s highest touch sampling rates. It has an improved single finger touch sampling rate of up to 720Hz which is just incredible.

As a result, the display is extremely responsive, enabling players to hit and play faster and more accurately.

There are slightly thicker top and bottom bezels to aid a comfortable grip in horizontal orientation and reduce accidental touches during gameplay.

 

RedMagic 6S Pro has a Snapdragon 888+ processor and up to 16GB of the latest LPDDR5 RAM.

The chipset has eight Kryo 680 CPU cores and an Adreno 660 GPU, built on a 5nm process.

You can choose between 128GB or 256GB of the fastest UFS 3.1 storage. My review unit had 128GB storage and 12GB RAM.

In a range benchmark tests, it scores as highly as, or higher than, OnePlus 9 Pro and Rog Phone 5S and Rog Phone 5, the fastest Android phones of 2021.

In everyday use it’s one of the zippiest handsets I’ve ever tested.

Only the iPhone 13 series is faster thanks to Apple’s outstanding A15 Bionic chipset.

The 6S Pro runs Android 11 with RedMagic OS 4.5 on top.

The Magic OS is a little buggy but I like that you can hide away the apps in a drawer or choose and iOS style home screen layout.

There is very little bloat and the OS is perhaps best described as pure Android with a few design tweaks.

Real Racing 3 is a huge mainstream title with 165Hz frame rates and it’s awesome. Others include PAC-MAN and 1945 Air Force.

Intensive games that deliver the best this phone has to offer include Genshin Impact, Asphalt 9 and Arena or Valour.

But even as 2021 comes to a close, there is still only limited Android support for AAA games above 120fps and most still run at 60fps.

 

RedMagic 6S Pro packs the ICE 7.0 Multi-dimensional Cooling System with a built-in turbofan.

The built-in turbo fan uses a brushless motor, and RedMagic said the air heat transfer is significantly increased in this model.

The fan can be set to switch on automatically when you launch the Game Space mode using the red slider on the side of the device.

It makes a little noise which may annoy some users over sustained use. So I would suggest buying the optional Dual-Core Ice Dock which costs €43.90.

It’s a clip-on accessory that means you don’t need to use the Turbo Fan. And it keeps the handset ice cool.

When you activate Game Space you will see the main appeal of this phone.

Game Space is a slick control room and arena for playing and storing your games.

It really is a gamer’s delight to use and allows you to view stats like FPS, GPU usage, and network speed.

You can adjust the lighting and mute notifications and other non-gaming distractions. It has shortcuts for screen brightness, mapping game controls, setting up the shoulder triggers, creating macros for repetitive input and recording your gameplay.

You lower the frame rate of a game without exiting it.

A 4D vibration mode works a little like a PlayStation or Xbox controller.

The 450Hz dual shoulder triggers are super responsive too.

 

You can enjoy marathon gaming sessions without the handset heating up as it has a built-in turbofan and high-end cooling system.

But I’d still encourage you to buy the optional Dual-Core Ice Dock which costs €43.90 as it ensures quiet and cool game play. And it has 12 additional built-in RGB lights.