A very interesting new gaming smartphone just
came out called the Nubia Red Magic 3.
It has some pretty fantastic specs and an
internal cooling fan, like something you'd
see on a gaming laptop or desktop computer.
Plus it can film in 8K, all for less than
$500.
But then there's always that question: are
cheap phones durable?
Today we'll find out.
This gaming smartphone durability test video
is sponsored by RAID: Shadow Legends.
If you remember, they sponsored one of my
other gaming phone durability tests, and right
now RAID has a special global tournament going
on.
You can compete with millions of other players
in a massive arena tournament for in-game
prizes, as well as prizes that get delivered
to your house.
RAID is a brand new, free-to-play mobile RPG
game with detailed 3D graphics and giant boss
fights.
This dragon is crazy intense and there are
hundreds of champions to collect and customize.
I'll put a link for RAID: Shadow Legends in
the description of this video, and only through
that link can you get an additional 50,000
silver and a free epic champion, and you can
join in on that launch tournament right away.
I'm personally not a big gamer, but they've
put a lot of work into this one.
Huge thanks to RAID: Shadow Legends for sponsoring
this video.
Now it's time to check out the Nubia Red Magic
3 and see if that internal cooling fan has
any affect on durability.
Let's get started.
[Intro]
It seems like gaming phones are getting more
and more popular these days.
Probably because the high end specs and unique
designs make them stand out in this world
of normal boring smartphones that appeal to
the masses.
This Nubia Red Magic 3 is anything but normal.
Inside the box we get our standard charging
cable, wall plug and information booklet.
But check out this body, with it's long customizeable
LED light bar in the center.
The lights don't show up very well here on
my brightly lit desktop, but you get the idea.
The reason this Red Magic 3 caught my eye
though...or should I say ear...is the cooling
fan inside the phone.
This is the first smartphone with an active
cooling system built directly into the phone.
Normal phones would just toss in a copper
heat pipe and call it a day, but Nubia says
this turbo fan can decrease the processor
temperature by 16 degrees.
I'm pretty blown away.
There's a side vent that allows the ejected
air to flow out of the phone, but this thing
is crazy.
Obviously water protection goes down the drain,
but it'll be super interesting to see this
fan from the inside during the teardown.
Let's start with the scratch test.
Gotta love it when companies include free
screen protectors.
The Red Magic 3 has a 90 Hertz screen refresh
rate, which is great for gaming phones.
We saw the same thing on the OnePlus 7 Pro,
but this phone is almost $200 cheaper.
With our Mohs scale of hardness scratch test,
we see the industry standard scratches at
a level 6, with deeper grooves at a level
7.
Glass is pretty scratch resistant when compared
to plastic screens, but a screen protector
is always still a good idea, especially if
scratches bother you.
This might come as a surprise, but scratches
don't really bother me.
The Red Magic 3 does have dual front firing
stereo speakers, which is also nice for gaming.
Front firing speakers are just about great
for everything actually since your face and
ears are usually pointed at the screen.
The speaker grills are made from plastic and
are permanently attached to the phone.
The selfie camera is 16 megapixels and also
protected under that same front glass layer.
The sides of the phone are made from metal,
along with the gray power button and gray
metal volume rocker.
There are 2 plastic top triggers built into
the frame – also used for gaming.
Hopefully these plastic indentions in the
metal frame won't cause any structural issues
later on.
We'll find out.
Check this out...a gaming phone with a headphone
jack.
I'm liking this thing more and more.
It's almost like if you want a headphone jack
these days on your cellphone, you just gotta
go spend less money, which isn't a bad thing
at all.
Over here on the left side of the phone, we
get more metal sides, and some circular metal
pins that probably work as a gaming port for
accessories.
The red switch up here at the top is a dedicated
gaming switch.
This allows the fan to turn on and can block
texts and calls if you want as well.
It's made from metal.
Down here at the bottom of the phone we get
our standard USB-C port and 2 screws that
hold the whole thing together.
The bottom forward firing stereo speaker grill
is down here as well, covered in plastic.
I know I've mentioned quite a few cool things
about this phone, but for me, one of the coolest
is the ability for this 48 megapixel glass
covered camera to film in 8K resolution.
Seeing that technology come to mobile smartphones
for the first time is fantastic.
Granted, it is a beta and still in it's infancy,
but this short little video I filmed is indeed
7680 x 4320 pixels in resolution.
It's also kind of only filming in 15 frames
per second, but it's cool to see it happening,
especially now that 8K TVs are starting to
come out.
The elongated hexagon above the LED light
bar is a rear facing fingerprint scanner.
It is scratchable, but does still maintain
it's function with the inflicted damage and
unlocks the phone every time.
Getting a close up look at the cooling fan
intake grill.
It appears to be a metal mesh screen, but
I'll have to check it out from the inside
of the phone if it survives the rest of this
durability test.
Each of the red corner accents are made from
metal.
There's also a single hexaonally shaped plastic
LED flash.
The unique part of this phone is that the
4 sides, top, bottom, left, and right, slope
down away from the center ridge.
Each quadrant is made from the aluminum metal
that we've been seeing everywhere else on
this phone.
That center LED peak is covered with plastic.
Now, as you very well know, I'm one of the
world leaders in razor blade cellphone art.
It is a tough industry, you know, with like
lots of competition.
And people everywhere are always asking me,
'Hey Jerry, how are you going to stay on top?
How are you going to take your art to the
next level?'
And I always say the same thing, it's the
3 P's of success: practice, persistence, and
practice.
I thought it was only fitting that since this
phone is called the Red Magic 3, that we draw
a magic genie on the back.
And I think maybe my genie spent a bit too
much time in the lamp.
I also hear it's like super hot in Agrabah,
which brings us to the burn test.
Not every phone would be able to survive in
the Cave of Wonders.
After about 20 seconds, the 1080p AMOLED display
starts to turn white and pulse, which I haven't
seen before.
It does leave a permanent white mark in the
middle of the screen, but everything is still
working just fine.
The real question though is will everything
still be working just fine after the bend
test?
Gaming phones live a much rougher life, I
imagine, than your average smartphone.
And with the first flex of the Red Magic 3,
I hear a loud pop, which is actually the screen
popping out from the metal phone frame.
But everything is still working.
When I bend from the front, there is no flex
at all to the phone, but rotating it around
again to the back side, we hear another pop.
The screen and the housing separate again.
Probably because there is no water resistance
or adhesive holding the display to the body,
just those two screws down at the bottom.
But it is still alive.
The Nubia Red Magic 3 survives my durability
test.
And honestly, for the money, it's a steal.
It's hard to justify spending $1000 on brand
name flagships when some $500 phones are getting
everything right.
Let me know down in the comments what phone
you want to see tested next.
Genie and the internal fan say to hit that
subscribe button if you haven't already.
Come hang out with me on Instagram and Twitter.
And thanks a ton for watching.
I'll see you around.
