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RedMagic 11 Air: Two-minute overview
Like its light-weight predecessor, the RedMagic 10 Air, the RedMagic 11 Air represents a sensible piece of repurposing. It takes the RedMagic 10 Professional and slims down the bundle, shedding just a few kilos (to not point out some digicam capabilities) and leading to a temptingly approachable gaming telephone.
At an asking worth of lower than $500 / £500, you’re getting a massively succesful performer with a Snapdragon 8 Elite processor and ample reminiscence. It’s not up there with the very quickest telephones in the marketplace, because of the inclusion of a barely older chip, however it’s nonetheless able to operating probably the most demanding video games at excessive body charges.
Because of remappable set off buttons and mother or father firm Nubia’s customized Sport House gaming UI, it’s a well-optimized option to play aggressive on-line video games like Name of Obligation: Cellular.
RedMagic has improved on its first Air telephone in a few methods, most notably by reinstating the bodily cooling fan for superior sustained efficiency. You additionally get a superior 144Hz show and a considerably bigger 7,000mAh battery.
(Picture credit score: Future)
You would argue that that is all a case of Nubia strengthening the place it was already sturdy whereas neglecting the remainder of the bundle. None of our key complaints in regards to the RedMagic 10 Air have been addressed.
RedMagic OS continues to be a messy, clunky Android UI. The digicam system, too, continues to underwhelm, with selfies a specific low level. Even at this low worth, you will get a a lot better photographic expertise when you’re prepared to compromise on gaming output.
Certainly, in sure methods, the RedMagic 11 Air represents a downgrade from its predecessor, with a clumsier design and an inferior ultra-wide digicam.
If gaming is a precedence, nevertheless, you gained’t discover a extra succesful machine for lower than $500 / £500.
There’s ample room for enchancment, however this Nubia sub-brand continues to produce the most effective worth gaming telephones in the marketplace.
RedMagic 11 Air overview: worth and availability
(Picture credit score: Future)
- From $499 / £439 / €499
- Launched on February 11, 2026
The RedMagic 11 Air hit cabinets on February 11, 2026, in a alternative of two colours and two reminiscence/storage variants. It’s obtainable from redmagic.gg in addition to chosen retail companions.
Pricing begins at $499 / £439 / €499 for 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The mannequin we’re reviewing right here, with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, prices $629 / £529 / €599.
Whereas the telephone is confirmed to be obtainable in Australia, RedMagic solely supplies a ‘international’ worth of $499 (which works out to about AU$725) for the 256GB mannequin and $599 (about AU$864) for the 512GB mannequin on its web site.
There aren’t too many telephones at this sort of worth providing this degree of efficiency. Within the official reviewer’s information, Nubia itself reveals that it views the Poco F8 Professional as its most direct rival, however even that begins at £549, and is not obtainable within the US.
RedMagic 11 Air overview: specs
Swipe to scroll horizontallyRedMagic 11 Air specs Header Cell – Column 0 Header Cell – Column 1
Dimensions:
163.82 x 76.54 x 7.85mm
Weight:
207g
Show:
6.8-inch AMOLED (2,688 x 1,216) as much as 144Hz
Chipset:
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite
RAM:
12GB, 16GB
Storage:
256GB, 512GB
OS:
Android 16
Major digicam:
50MP 1/1.55-inch sensor
Extremely-wide digicam:
8MP 1/4.0-inch sensor
Entrance Digicam:
16MP 1/2.77-inch sensor
Battery:
7,000mAh
Charging:
80W wired (worldwide)
Colours:
Phantom, Prism
RedMagic 11 Air overview: design
(Picture credit score: Future)
- Slimmer and lighter than the cumbersome Professional line
- Has regressed from the interesting RedMagic 10 Air design
- Cooling fan reinstated
I described the RedMagic 10 Air as “by far the best-looking gaming telephone RedMagic has ever made” in my RedMagic 10 Air overview. Sadly, I don’t suppose the RedMagic has managed to maintain up the great work.
After final 12 months’s mannequin eased again from the Professional line’s overt gamer aesthetic with a clear etched glass again and refined branding, the RedMagic 11 Air steps proper again on the fuel.
There are solely two pretty nondescript colours in Phantom (black) and Prism (white), however each have the model’s signature semi-transparent end. This permits some faux circuit board particulars to point out by, in addition to a sprinkling of RGB lighting across the digicam and throughout the new facet vent.
As seems to be go, it’s to not my style, neither is it prone to attraction to anybody else above the age of 30. Maybe that youthful air (pun unintended) is the entire level.
(Picture credit score: Future)
Cheapened seems to be apart, the really spectacular feat right here is that RedMagic has managed to reimplement a mechanical cooling fan (therefore the RGB-adorned facet vent) with out including any actual bulk to the telephone.
At 7.85mm thick and 207g, the RedMagic 11 Air is about the identical thickness and solely 2g heavier than the RedMagic 10 Air earlier than it. What’s extra, with dimensions of 163.8 x 76.5mm, the newer telephone really has a smaller footprint than its 164.3 x 76.6mm predecessor.
An IP54 mud and water resistance score makes a return to the spec sheet, which is way from the most effective on the market. Nevertheless, an aluminum alloy Body and Corning Gorilla Glass 7i display (with Gorilla Glass 5 on the again) present a suitably powerful exterior.
There are a handful of additional gaming-oriented controls on the sides of the telephone. On the precise edge, flanking the ability and quantity buttons, are the model’s signature 520Hz capacitive shoulder buttons. In lots of video games, these may be mapped to key controls – suppose purpose and shoot in Future Rising or brake and speed up in GRID Legends.
On the left fringe of the telephone, there’s a pink Magic Key button devoted to booting up the Sport House UI, which affords fast entry to put in video games and particular person sport settings. It’s nonetheless remappable, do you have to want to attribute it to a extra generic perform like a digicam or flashlight shortcut, however it’s now a somewhat bland rectangle as an alternative of the ten Air’s dimpled circle.
RedMagic 11 Air overview: show
(Picture credit score: Future)
- 6.85-inch AMOLED
- 2688 x 1216 decision
- 144Hz refresh fee
- 1800-nit peak brightness
If the RedMagic 11 Air’s design represents a disappointing climb down from the great work began within the RedMagic 10 Air, then the telephone’s show is a marked enchancment.
One of many letdowns with the RedMagic 10 Air was that it adopted instantly on from the RedMagic 10 Professional with its much-improved show. I’m glad to report that the RedMagic 11 Air adopts the latter’s upgraded panel.
It’s a barely larger 6.85-inch OLED than earlier than with a sharper 2688 x 1216 decision (up from 2,480 x 1,116) and a extra fluid 144Hz most refresh fee (up from 120Hz). The highest brightness of 1,800 nits is an improve, too, in comparison with the RedMagic 10 Air’s 1,600 nits.
All of those enhancements have optimistic ramifications for gaming, although comparatively few video games are capable of output body charges over 120fps.
Usually use, it is a sharp, vivid show that outputs vibrant colors by default. These may be toned down utilizing the versatile Coloration Mode menu in Settings.
One other pro-gaming function is the implementation of an under-display entrance digicam. This affords a blissfully unbroken view of gaming and certainly video content material, although it additionally has a fairly disastrous affect on selfies.
RedMagic 11 Air overview: cameras
(Picture credit score: Future)
- 50MP primary with OIS
- 8MP ultra-wide
- 16MP selfie digicam
- As much as 8K/30fps video
Photographic expectations are at all times fairly low when a brand new RedMagic telephone rolls round. ‘Aggressively priced gaming telephone’ isn’t an outline that will get us considering of fantastic snaps.
Nevertheless, the RedMagic 11 Air’s digicam system is a disappointment even by such modest requirements. There hasn’t been any optimistic motion on the photographic entrance since final 12 months’s RedMagic 10 Air. In reality, there’s been some regression.
Whereas the RedMagic 11 Air packs the identical 50MP 1/1.55″ f/1.9 primary digicam sensor as its predecessor, there’s now an inferior 8MP 1/4.0″ f/2.2 ultra-wide. The latter is each smaller and fewer pixel-packed than its predecessor, which is not the route of journey we have come to anticipate.
You continue to don’t get a 3rd digicam sensor both, which implies that there’s no devoted telephoto digicam for zoomed pictures.
This primary sensor is not a horrible performer. In respectable lighting, it could seize fairly sharp pictures with wealthy (albeit not massively natural-looking) colors. Night time pictures, whereas removed from best-in-class, are pretty clear, aided by OIS and powerful picture processing from the Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC.
That new 8MP ultra-wide doesn’t get wherever near the primary sensor, although, neither when it comes to sharpness nor distinction. The tone may be markedly totally different, in truth, and may undergo from blown-out highlights.
That lack of a telephoto digicam makes for some severely restricted zoomed pictures, too. The element shortly falls away previous 2x, with 5x and 10x snaps badly missing in crispness.
The weakest efficiency, nevertheless, is reserved for the RedMagic 11 Air’s 16MP under-display entrance digicam. As we’ve talked about, RedMagic has made the choice to prioritize an obstruction-free show within the identify of an optimum gaming expertise. That’s been achieved on the expense of any sort of high quality on selfies. They’re a number of the worst you’ll discover on any telephone, making faces look fuzzy and vague. Yuck.
Video recording is fairly good, a minimum of on paper, with assist for 8K at 30fps or (extra usefully) 4K at 60fps. However actually, when you have any critical ambitions to seize the world round you, you may do your self a favor and go together with a non-gaming telephone.
RedMagic 11 Air overview: digicam samples
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RedMagic 11 Air overview: efficiency
(Picture credit score: Future)
- Snapdragon 8 Elite chip isn’t the most recent, however it’s quick
- Cooling fan reinstated
- 12GB or 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM
- 256GB or 512GB UFS 4.1 storage
RedMagic has fitted its newest Air machine with a straight-up generational efficiency improve, through Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite chip.
That’s now not the most recent or most succesful chip in the marketplace – you’ll must go for the marginally costlier RedMagic 11 Professional if you would like the last word cell gaming efficiency – however it’s nonetheless greater than quick sufficient to run superior video games at excessive settings. Particularly when you go for the upper mannequin with 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM, which is the one I used to be testing – although the baseline 12GB variant ought to present ample efficiency for many. I used to be capable of run Future: Rising and GRID Legends on larger settings with pleasingly clean body charges.
CPU and GPU benchmark outcomes, too, are broadly in keeping with the 2025 flagship telephone brigade, which in flip aren’t too far off 2026 telephones just like the OnePlus 15.
What’s extra attention-grabbing is how the RedMagic 11 Air performs over sustained intervals. Because of the return of a devoted cooling fan (on high of a meaty vapor chamber), the telephone yielded constant outcomes throughout 3DMark’s high-end stress assessments.
A stability rating of 95% within the demanding 3DMark Photo voltaic Bay Stress Check is best than any fashionable flagship telephone, to not point out the RedMagic 10 Air (which managed 89.8%). This suggests that the SoC doesn’t must throttle again on account of excessive operating temperatures, which is what sometimes occurs with non-gaming telephones beneath extended GPU load.
It’s not absolutely the quickest telephone in the marketplace, then, however the RedMagic 11 Air remains to be a robust performer – and it could keep quick for longer than most.
- Efficiency rating: 4.5 / 5
RedMagic 11 Air overview: software program
(Picture credit score: Future)
- RedMagic OS 11 on Android 16
- Fluid however ugly UI
- Devoted gaming interface
RedMagic telephones have at all times punched above their weight on uncooked efficiency, however the software program expertise has been universally under par. The RedMagic 11 Air doesn’t do something to alter that dim outlook.
This is similar RedMagic OS 11, layered on high of Android 16, that I wrote about in the direction of the top of 2025 with the RedMagic 11 Professional.
It’s a superbly practical tackle Android, with fluid animations and the standard menus in broadly the precise locations. Nevertheless it’s additionally ugly, with clumsy interface components (there’s a clean app icon merely marked ‘Unknown’ on my take a look at unit) and a largely redundant widget that serves as a handbook management for the fan.
Above this widget may be discovered Extra Video games and Extra Apps folders, providing obtain prompts for poor-quality sponsored apps. Suffice to say, you virtually actually gained’t need any of those cluttering up your storage.
Don’t overlook these preinstalled TikTok, Fb, and Reserving.com apps, both, nor RedMagic’s personal internet browser. Inessential, every person.
Scroll to the left of the Residence Display, and also you’ll discover not the basic Google Feed, however an disagreeable home-brewed amalgam that features step-counting and climate widgets, in addition to a common search bar in the direction of the highest.
(Picture credit score: Future)
Beneath that, a Beneficial apps banner that’s stuffed with these aforementioned low cost and not-so-cheerful sponsored apps. A little bit decrease down, an prolonged information pane supplying assorted native tales, only a few of which had been of any curiosity to me.
Hopefully, a firmware replace will revert this to a Google Feed, as was the case with the RedMagic 11 Professional. As issues stand, it is a complete waste of display area.
As at all times, the excessive level right here is RedMagic’s Sport House UI, which may be accessed by the Magic Key button. This allows you to entry your video games whereas additionally adjusting game-related settings.
You’ll be able to swap between CPU and GPU profiles, letting you both extract extra efficiency or battery life out of your gaming session. It’s also possible to alter display sensitivity and ratios, or – in sure well-liked video games – play with customized plug-ins that automate sure in-game duties.
Throughout gameplay, you possibly can swipe in from the nook of the display to entry an abbreviated model of this UI, which can also be the place you possibly can map these shoulder buttons.
RedMagic is dedicated to offering the 11 Air with simply two main OS updates (which means Android 17 and 18) and 5 years of safety replace assist. It’s removed from the most effective on this regard, even throughout the mid-range market.
RedMagic 11 Air overview: battery life
(Picture credit score: Future)
- 7,000mAh battery
- Multi-day utilization
- 80W wired charging
As we hinted at within the Design part, the RedMagic 11 Air nonetheless ranks as a fairly hefty little bit of equipment in comparison with non-gaming telephones.
On the optimistic facet, which means that the model hasn’t felt obliged to compromise on battery capability, not like genuinely skinny telephones just like the iPhone Air or the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge.
Certainly, RedMagic has really elevated the scale of the battery because the RedMagic 10 Air. At 7,000mAh, it’s virtually 17% larger than earlier than, and isn’t too far off the class-leading OnePlus 15.
Should you don’t go heavy on media consumption, you possibly can conceivably obtain multi-day battery life on a single cost. Meaning extending past the two-day mark that we’d previously have classed as ‘excellent’.
Naturally, that’s not what the RedMagic 11 Air is designed for. Fairly, the additional battery capability allows you to take pleasure in an prolonged session of Dredge (different Lovecraftian fishing video games can be found) in your commutes to and from work with out having to fret in regards to the telephone making it to bedtime.
On this worldwide mannequin, there’s assist for 80W wired charging. No, it’s not the 120W that China will get, however it’s nonetheless fairly respectable, and also you get that charger within the field.
A full cost for me took a smidgen over an hour, however there’s a Turbo cost choice within the Battery Settings menu that may pace this up additional.
You don’t get the RedMagic 11 Professional’s wi-fi charging provision. That is a disgrace, although it is not notably stunning provided that the function was solely lately launched to the vary, to not point out the funds standing of the Air.
Ought to I purchase the RedMagic 11 Air?
Swipe to scroll horizontallyRedMagic 11 Air rating card
Attributes
Notes
Score
Design
RedMagic’s design has at all times been considerably gauche, however it’s disappointing to see the 11 Air taking a backward step from its predecessor on this entrance.
3.5 / 5
Show
Huge, sharp, vivid, and fluid, this is a wonderful show for the cash, and a real step up from the RedMagic 10 Air earlier than it.
4.5 / 5
Efficiency
It’s not the quickest telephone in the marketplace, however the RedMagic 11 Air will outperform just about the entire 2025 Android crowd. Crucially, it stays quick over longer intervals.
4.5 / 5
Digicam
You don’t anticipate a superb digicam system from a gaming telephone, however the RedMagic 11 Air’s is even worse than its predecessor, because of a downgraded ultra-wide.
3 / 5
Battery
With a meaty 7,000mAh battery, the RedMagic 11 Air will final a number of days of regular utilization, and can nonetheless get you thru a full day of heavy gaming.
5 / 5
Software program
RedMagic OS 11 is practical, with some highly effective customized gaming prospers. Nevertheless, it’s additionally ugly, with a disappointing degree of assist.
3 / 5
Worth
For simply $499 / £439, you’re getting a telephone that performs in addition to if not higher than the 2025 class of flagship telephones.
4.5 / 5
Purchase it if…
Do not buy it if…
RedMagic 11 Air overview: additionally contemplate
The RedMagic 11 Air is a succesful mid-range gamer, however it is not your solely choice.
How I examined the RedMagic 11 Air
- Overview take a look at interval = 1 week
- Testing included = On a regular basis utilization, together with internet shopping, social media, images, gaming, streaming video, music playback
- Instruments used = Geekbench 6, 3DMark, native Android stats, RedMagic 80W energy adapter
First reviewed: January 2026
