Redmagic 11 Pro review - "Cooler, faster, and somehow just…better!"

I’ll be honest. I wasn’t expecting to be impressed by another Redmagic phone. I’ve used several of the older models before (9S Pro, 10 Air, 10S Pro), and I kind of thought they had already peaked in that “gaming phone with attitude” niche.

But the Redmagic 11 Pro actually surprised me, in the best possible ways. It just feels better than the older models, and I didn't even believe that would be possible. Let's talk about the why.

Redmagic 11 Pro specs

I will start off by listing all the specs of the 11 Pro, then you'll see exactly why I'm stoked about it. 

• Performance: Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 Chip, 4.6 GHz, up to 24GB LPDDR5T RAM and 1TB UFS 4.1 Pro Storage, 20% CPU Performance Boost; 30% GPU Performance Boost
• Display: 2688x1216 Pixels, 144Hz Refresh Rate, with 95.3% Screen-to-Body Ratio
• Battery: 7,500 mAh Battery with 80W Fast Wired
• Cooling: Liquid Metal 3.0 + Vapor Chamber 13,116 mm2, Waterproof TurboFan 24,000 RPM
• AI integration: Real-time voice translation, AI photo editing, customizable Magic Key 
• Other: 80W Wired & Wireless Charging, Reverse Wireless Charging Supported

Design & feel

Redmagic always has this “cyberpunk element in your pocket” aesthetic, and that’s still applicable here. But the 11 Pro feels more refined. The weight is nicely balanced, and the display? Smoooooth. Scrolling, swiping, anything you can imagine - everything has this effortless fluidity.

Picking up this phone makes me feel like I'm holding a piece of forbidden magical tech in my hands. It doesn't even come close to anything else. But that's not nearly enough to describe it.

Yes, the cooling is THAT good

Here is where Redmagic flexes hard.

The water cooling system on this phone is borderline absurd in the best way. They call it “AquaCooling”, but honestly, I just call it “I can marathon Genshin Impact without my phone turning into a toaster.”

Long sessions in COD Mobile, Honkai Star Rail, or whatever your current obsession is will stay consistently smooth. Frame drops are nonexistent, and the phone never got hot to the touch in my experience.

This is one of those features that sounds like marketing fluff until you actually feel the difference. Of course, you can turn it on or off however you please, just like the fan - and yes, it still has the fan, too! 

Talk about a cool phone (see what I did there?).

Now, about the triggers. YES.

I can't overstate how much I love the built-in shoulder trigger buttons. These are not gimmicks. These are game-changers, literally.

In COD Mobile, being able to map ADS and fire to the triggers makes everything feel sharper and more responsive. Your reaction time gets faster simply because your thumbs aren’t doing all the work. It’s like playing with a mini-controller, but still mobile and intuitive.

If you play shooters, you'll love it. It works in other games too, but let's be honest - it's most useful in shooters.

Battery life that just goes and goes...

When I say super long battery life, I mean it. This thing survives my long hours of Discord + work + YouTube Music + browsing + gaming sessions without begging for a charger by the end of the day.

If you’re not gaming, you might even stretch that to three days. For a gaming phone? That’s wild.

Charging is fast as well, so even when you do need to plug it in, it doesn’t disrupt your rhythm for long. Oh, and if you don't want to plug it in, do not panic - THERE'S FINALLY WIRELESS CHARGING! Yay!

We need to talk about the camera, though

Okay, so here’s the downside: the camera is…fine. Not bad, not painful, just fine.

It gets the job done if you’re taking casual photos, but it's not as good as that of the iPhone 17 Pro or Samsung S25. You could argue that it's a gaming phone, sure, but you can still play games on those camera-heavy phones, too. 

All in all, if you’re hoping for Pixel / Samsung flagship photo magic, it’s not there yet. I say "yet", because you never know what magic Redmagic could pull next. 

I really hope Redmagic continues improving the camera pipeline because the phone deserves to be great on both gaming and daily-life fronts. That would be the ultimate phone on the market, I believe.

We can always look at the bright side: it has improved when compared to older models. So I’m staying hopeful.

Should you get it?

If you're a gamer who wants nothing but the best (especially someone who plays shooters or demanding titles), the Redmagic 11 Pro is easily my best recommendation. The cooling system is something never before seen, and the battery life speaks for itself. 

The camera could use an upgrade, yes, but everything else about this phone feels like a level-up, regardless of what you do. It just feels better than the older models, and I didn't even believe that would be possible.