Nubia Redmagic Nova review: Big screen, big performance

Nubia’s Redmagic brand is synonymous with gaming smartphones. The company’s line of handsets has been featured many times on this site, most of them gaining strong reviews for their blend of performance and price.

Now, the Redmagic brand is appearing on a larger display with the release of the new Nova gaming tablet. So, does the magic scale up? Here’s the full Tech Advisor review. 

Design & Build

• Compact design
• Aluminium chassis
• Fingerprint sensor on the power button

Rather than going for an oversized construction that could prove unwieldy when playing games, the Nova is a pleasantly compact 253.3 x 164.6 x 7.3 mm (9.97 x 6.48 x 0.29 in) and weighs in at a manageable 530g / 1.17lbs.

The frame itself is an aerospace-grade aluminium shell, with controls around the edge for volume and power. The latter is also home to the integrated fingerprint sensor to unlock the device. Each of the shorter edges has twin speakers, plus there’s a USB-C port for charging. 

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Turning the device around reveals a rather unusual plate along the top edge of the panel. This is where you’ll find a transparent cover that lets you see the fan (along with its multi-colour LEDs that you can select in the software), the camera module, parts of the internal cooling system, plus the Redmagic name which also can be illuminated by the colour LEDs.

This is similar to what you’ll find on the Redmagic 9S Pro and its forebears, and while it is admittedly cool, the same holds here as it does there in that you’ll never really be able to see the lights, as they are always facing away from you. Still, they are cool. 

The bottom edge has the five metal pins that make up the magnetic connector with which you can attach the optional Redmagic Nova Magnetic Keyboard, although that is sold separately, as are all of the other accessories. These include a standard folio case, a dedicated stylus, and a Redmagic gamepad to transform the device into a sort of mini console. You do at least get a cable and 80W charger in the box, which is better than some other manufacturers. 

Along the top edge of the Nova, you’ll notice a small rounded rectangular area. This is the magnetic attachment for the stylus which also uses NFC. Nubia says a quick 1-minute charge for the stylus will get you two hours of writing time, which seems pretty decent to me. 

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The aforementioned ICE 2.0 cooling system is a comprehensive design, comprising 9-layers which include an under-screen aluminium panel, a superconducting copper foil area on the mainboard, a 3D heat pipe like you’d find on a PC, an internal circulation duct, plus the 20,000RPM fan to push the air about. 

There’s no IP waterproof rating mentioned by Nubia, which is probably due to the fan and air expulsion required to cool the circuitry, so don’t get the device wet. 

Following the tradition of Henry Ford, you can get the Nova in a range of colours, so long as they’re black (or Midnight). 

Screen & Speakers

• 10.9-inch IPS display
• 144Hz refresh rate
• Quad speakers

The compact nature of the Nova tablet is due in large part to the 10.9-inch IPS LCD panel. This is a perfect size for both playing games handheld or with the device propped up on a table and a Bluetooth controller connected.

It’s a decent display too, with a 2880 x 1800 resolution (16:10, 312ppi) keeping things clear and well defined. The ultra-fast 144Hz refresh rate also ensures everything is smooth and detailed even when there are rapid changes happening on the screen – perfect for gaming. 

Response times are rapid as well, with up to 840Hz touch sampling rates. This made it easy to feel in control of things in frantic gaming sessions, as the Nova executed my commands swiftly and without error (the failures in the games were sadly all on me). 

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There are slim bezels around the edge of the screen, but this helps with accidental touches as you have somewhere for your fingers to go when gripping the tablet. It also means you don’t have any notches or punch holes in the display as the front-facing camera is neatly ensconced in the upper bezel. 

Colours are warm and well balanced, with the Nova delivering a maximum brightness, according to Nubia, of 550 nits. In my own tests, the screen managed just over 500 nits, which is great indoors but does struggle a bit outside. The reflective screen also doesn’t help matters, so you might not find the Nova a fully mobile gaming platform if you spend a lot of time in strongly lit areas. 

You can’t plug in headphones either, as there’s no 3.5mm headphone jack on the tablet. This seems a weird omission, as the small Redmagic phones still have the feature included and it’s a must if you want to use many gaming headsets. There is Bluetooth 5.4 though, which is a fast and stable method of wireless connection, so you’re not without options. 

Of course, you can rely on the built-in quad-speakers which are surprisingly good. They can get quite loud before beginning to distort, and the sound is balanced across the frequency range. They support DTS-X Ultra Sound with 3D audio, and it does make a difference to the quality of the tones the Nova kicks out. 

The only downside is that the speakers are positioned on the shorter sides of the tablet, which is also where your hands need to be if you’re holding the tablet. So I did find that the audio could lose some of its quality if I held too tight and covered them up.

Specs & Performance

• 3.2GHz Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Leading Version
• 12/16GB LDDR5X memory
• 256/512GB UFS 4.0 storage

The Redmagic line has always been about performance over pretty much everything else, and the Nova isn’t about to start upsetting any applecarts. It comes with a 3.4Ghz Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Leading Edge processor (this is the tweaked, faster version of the standard Snapdragon 8 Gen 3), joined by either 256GB or 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage and 12GB/16GB of LDDR5X memory.

It’s a potent mix, as the Nova tablet flies through life without seemingly a care. Apps pop open instantly, and performance is generally smooth and quick across the board. This is also true during gaming sessions, as I didn’t find the Nova struggled with anything, even busy games of graphics-heavy titles like Genshin Impact.

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This shouldn’t really be a surprise, as the tablet is designed specifically for gaming and therefore revels in this pursuit. The cooling system also works very well to keep the Nova lukewarm most of the time, so I never worried about the device overheating or becoming too toasty to hold. It’s an impressive and capable device. 

Nubia Redmagic Nova benchmarks

Here’s how the Nova fared against its rivals in our standard performance benchmark tests.

Cameras

• 20Mp front camera
• 50Mp rear camera
• 4K/30fps video

Cameras on tablets remain something of a marmite issue for many people. Why on earth would you hold up a honking big display to take photographs when you most likely have a smartphone in your pocket? Chances are that the smaller device will also have better cameras, as the lenses on the Nova are serviceable rather than splendid. 

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The 50Mp rear module can get some good shots if light is rich and the subjects relatively stationary. But anything other than that can be difficult. Low light quickly introduces grain, and focussing can be problematic at times. It’s a similar state of affairs on the 20Mp front-facing camera.

Yes, you can get up to 4K video, but this is only at 30fps and doesn’t look that impressive. The Nova does have cameras, and they can take pictures, but I wouldn’t recommend you use them that often. 

Here are a few examples of photos taken with the Nova:

Battery Life & Charging

• 10,100mAh Dual-cell battery
• 80W fast charging
• 80W Charger included

The Nova comes equipped with a large 10,100mAh battery, along with an 80W fast charger in the box. This is a solid combination.

I found I could get a good 4-5 hours of moderate gaming out of the tablet before it needed to be plugged in again. Then, it’s only around an hour to get that cell completely refilled. If you haven’t got that long and need to be back in the game, then a 15-minute charge got me to 39% and in 30 minutes the Nova replenished 70% of the battery. 

You can of course eke out more life by reducing screen brightness and turning off some other power-hungry apps and settings, but this might also make the experience a little less immersive. 

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When not gaming, the Nova seemed happy to last all day, taking light internet surfing, Netflix binging, and a spot of reading in its stride, with still a little left in the tank by bedtime. In our standard PCMark battery test, the Nova racked up 7 hours and 23 minutes, which is a respectable score in this category. 

Software

• Android 14 
• Redmagic OS 9.5
• Only two years of security updates

The Nova tablet comes with Android 14, although it’s buried under the Redmagic OS 9.5 overlay. There’s a fair amount of customisation options available, with a selection of themes and icon packs included, all of which can make a huge impact on the look and feel of the device. Want a futuristic aesthetic? That’s easy to achieve. Prefer a simple vanilla Android flavour? There’s that too. 

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You’ll know that this isn’t just Android though, as you encounter translation errors here and there, plus the news feed that you open by swiping right on the Home screen is pretty terrible. With the Google version you get useful stories in which you might be genuinely interested, on Redmagic it feels very random and low quality. 

But, the software works smoothly and I didn’t really encounter any crashes or problems. It’s not the prettiest, but it gets the job done. The word functional comes to mind. 

One Redmagic staple is Game Space. This is the dedicated software suite that allows you to change various settings – such as when the fan comes on, CPU and GPU performance, level of touch sensitivity, installed games and tweaks for in-game controls and options.

On the Redmagic phones, there’s a dedicated button to open Game Space, but this is curiously missing on the Nova tablet. Instead, you can access Game Space by swiping in from both sides of the display when in a game. It’s a fantastic addition for serious gamers a cornerstone of the Redmagic experience. 

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One downside on the software front is that Nubia has told me that the Nova will only receive one Android version upgrade and security updates will only last for two years.

The latter is particularly disappointing as it means that the tablet will potentially become unsafe to use once the updates are discontinued. Two years is not a long lifespan for a device these days, especially when rival tablets offer substantially longer support. 

Price & Availability

The Redmagic Nova is available directly from the Redmagic website, where it starts at £439 in the UK or $499 in the US. That gets you 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage, though you can step up to £559/$649 for the 16GB/512GB variant.

There aren’t many gaming tablets on the market at the moment. One notable model is the Lenovo Legion Tab (Gen 2) which features a 12GB/256GB complement, but only a 3.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor. Still, the £400/$699 price tag that it regularly sells for does soften the blow. 

While not a dedicated gaming tablet, the Honor MagicPad 2 does feature a Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset, 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for around £500, and of course, there’s always the 11-inch iPad Air (2024) which features a wide range of game titles and the impressive M1 chipset for the asking price of £599/$599.

Any premium tablet should provide a solid platform for mobile gaming, you can take a look at our best tablet guide for some excellent options. 

Should you buy the Red Magic Nova?

The Nova has a lot of things going for it. Performance is impressive, the audio is good, and the compact design feels sturdy and durable. Battery life is middling, although it’s also fast to recharge.

Overall, it’s a great gaming tablet, arguably the best Android one currently available, plus it isn’t expensive for what it is. 

The only drawback, and it’s a pretty big one, is the lack of promised software support. If Nubia holds to what it has stated, then the Nova could be rendered obsolete in only two years, which is far too short a lifespan for a product as good as this. 

Specs

• Android 14 
• Red Magic OS 9.5
• 10.9-inch IPS display, 144Hz refresh rate, 2880 x 1800 pixels, 312ppi, 16:10 ratio
• Quad speakers
• 3.4GHz Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Leading Version
• 12GB/16GB LDDR5X memory
• 256GB/512GB UFS 4.0
• ICE 2.0 cooling system
• 20Mp f/2.0 front camera
• 50Mp f/1.8 rear camera
• Embedded Fingerprint sensor in Power button
• WiFi 6
• NFC (no payments support)
• Bluetooth 5.4
• USB-C charging port
• 10,100mAh Dual-cell battery
• 80W fast charging (charger included)
• 253.3 x 164.6 x 7.3 mm (9.97 x 6.48 x 0.29 in)
• 530 g (1.17 lb)