The REDMAGIC 8S Pro is a gaming phone from 2023. REDMAGIC announced it in China on July 5, 2023. Sales in China started on July 11. The global launch followed, with open sales from August 3, 2023. In the US, it started at $649 for 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. In Europe, it cost €649. The phone is no longer sold by REDMAGIC, and the REDMAGIC 9 Pro took its place. In China, a variant with a 5,000 mAh battery and 165W charging was sold as the 8S Pro+.
Design and display
The 8S Pro keeps the flat, angular body of the 8 Pro. It measures 163.98 x 76.35 x 9.47 mm and weighs 228 grams. Midnight and Platinum have an etched back with a circular pattern. Aurora has the brand’s transparent look. All three colors were sold worldwide and in China. Every version has a visible cooling fan with RGB lighting.
The front is a 6.8-inch AMOLED screen with a 1116 x 2480 resolution. It refreshes at up to 120Hz and samples touch at up to 960Hz. REDMAGIC rates peak brightness at 1,300 nits. The selfie camera sits under the display, so there is no notch or punch hole. Corning Gorilla Glass covers the screen.
Performance
The phone runs on a Leading Version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Its main core runs at up to 3.36 GHz. Global models have 12 or 16 GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 256 or 512 GB of UFS 4.0 storage. In China, the 8S Pro topped out at 12 GB of RAM. The 8S Pro+ went up to 24 GB.
The ICE 12.0 cooling system combines a 20,000 rpm fan, a vapor chamber and graphene layers. A separate Red Core R2 chip handles the shoulder triggers, vibration and lighting. The two capacitive shoulder triggers sample touch at 520Hz. A physical switch opens the Game Space mode.
Cameras
The back has three cameras. The main one uses a 50 MP Samsung GN5 sensor with an f/1.88 lens. It is joined by an 8 MP ultrawide and a 2 MP macro camera. Video recording goes up to 8K at 30 fps. The front camera has 16 MP and sits under the screen. Reviews found its image quality weak compared with punch-hole cameras.
Battery and charging
The 8S Pro has a 6,000 mAh dual-cell battery. Global models support 65W wired charging, and a 65W charger comes in the box. Chinese models were listed with 80W charging. There is no wireless charging.
Software and updates
The phone launched with REDMAGIC OS 8.0 based on Android 13. Later updates brought REDMAGIC OS 9.5. REDMAGIC did not publish a fixed update period for this model. The phone also has a 3.5 mm headphone jack, stereo speakers, NFC, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3. It has no official water resistance rating.
Should you buy the REDMAGIC 8S Pro?
The 8S Pro suits gamers who want shoulder triggers, active cooling and a large battery. A headphone jack and an uninterrupted screen add to that. Buyers should accept a heavy body, no IP rating and no wireless charging. Production has ended, so new units are hard to find. The REDMAGIC 9 Pro is its direct successor.
