Introduction and specs
About six months after the RedMagic 11 series, it’s time for a refresh, so here comes the RedMagic 11S series. As per tradition, we have the regular Pro variant with us for review, which is often very similar to the Pro+ version only found in China.
As is usually the case with the S lineup, the RedMagic 11S Pro brings modest changes to the table. It now relies on a more powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 SM8850-1-AD chipset (or the Leading edition as RedMagic calls it), as opposed to the regular SM8850-AC variant that we saw in the RedMagic 11 Pro.
The AD version of the SD8 Elite Gen 5 isn’t exactly new either. We’ve seen the chip in action inside the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra under the name “Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy”, but the exclusivity has seemingly ended and is now being distributed to other manufacturers as well.
ZTE nubia RedMagic 11S Pro specs at a glance:
- Body: 163.8×76.5×8.9mm, 230g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass), aluminum frame, glass back; Pressure sensitive zones (520Hz touch-sensing), Built-in cooling fan, Aviation aluminum middle frame, IPX8 water resistant (immersible up to 1.5m for 30 min).
- Display: 6.85″ AMOLED, 1B colors, 144Hz, 2592Hz PWM, 1800 nits (peak), 1216x2688px resolution, 19.89:9 aspect ratio, 431ppi.
- Chipset: Qualcomm SM8850-1-AD Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (3 nm).
- Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 16GB RAM; UFS 4.1 Pro.
- OS/Software: Android 16, Redmagic OS 11.5.
- Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.9, 23mm, 1/1.55″, 1.0µm, multi-directional PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 50 MP, f/2.0, 13mm, 1/2.88″, 0.61µm, AF; Depth: Auxiliary lens.
- Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.0, 26mm (wide), 1/2.77″, 1.12µm, under display.
- Video capture: Rear camera: 8K@30fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps; Front camera: 1080p@30/60fps.
- Battery: 7500mAh; 80W wired, 80W wireless, Reverse wireless.
- Connectivity: 5G; Wi-Fi 7; BT 5.4; NFC; Infrared port; 3.5mm jack.
- Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, ultrasonic); stereo speakers.
The more powerful Snapdragon offers higher clocks on its two main Oryon V3 Phoenix L cores and the Adreno 840 GPU.
The rest of the hardware, however, remains. We have a familiar 6.85-inch, 144Hz OLED display, dual 50MP camera setup on the back, a generous 7,500 mAh battery with 80W fast wired and wireless charging and a cooling fan coupled with an actual liquid cooling system. The transparent and flat glass back design also makes a return.
Despite the somewhat modest chipset upgrade, it could trigger other changes down the line, such as battery life or sustained performance, for example, not just raw performance. So let’s take a closer look.
Unboxing the RedMagic 11S Pro
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.