Gaming phones have a reputation for being big, bulky and scorching hot. They’re often so aggressively styled that pulling one out in public makes you feel self-conscious. RedMagic has been chipping away at that reputation for a few generations now, and the 11 Air is the most convincing argument yet that you can have gaming performance and a stylish device in the same package.
I used the RedMagic 11 Air as my daily driver for a solid month, and the thing that surprised me was how normal it felt to carry it around. It’s only 8mm thick and weighs 207g. It feels like a well-made phone that also happens to demolish whatever game I throw at it. That is an impressive balance to pull off, so kudos to RedMagic.
Design: slim and pleasant to hold
The first thing that surprised me when I pulled the RedMagic 11 Air out of its box was how it didn’t look or feel like a gaming phone. It’s slim and light, and rounded edges mean it feels nice to hold in the hand for extended lengths of time. That’s an improvement over the RedMagic 10 series, which felt like I was holding a brick.
The design itself is completely unremarkable, and I mean that as a compliment. It has a clean, minimal look, and the only flourish is the illuminated RGB logo. You can toggle that off or change the colours. I leave it on. It’s a gaming phone — lean into it.
The build quality is solid thanks to Gorilla Glass 7i on both front and back, an aluminum alloy frame, and IP54 water resistance. It’s not IP68, so don’t drop it in a pool, but it’ll handle sweat and the occasional splash.
Display: edge-to-edge and nice to look at
The display is one of the best things about this phone. The 6.85-inch AMOLED panel is nearly bezel-free, and although it doesn’t get as bright as the RedMagic 11 Pro, it gets the job done. Colours are punchy, and the 144Hz refresh rate keeps everything buttery smooth. There’s no flickering thanks to 2592Hz PWM dimming. I measured it at 1,515 nits of brightness, which is exceptional for the price.
Performance: the best part of this phone
I threw everything at this phone, and the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor never faltered or lagged. Call of Duty: Warzone, Genshin Impact and even War Thunder all played smoothly on this device at high settings. I didn’t notice any meaningful thermal throttling during extended sessions, and the phone stayed comfortable to hold even after long gaming marathons. Benchmark numbers back that up, scoring 3,068 on Geekbench single-core and 7,084 for multi-core.
The pressure-sensitive shoulder trigger zones at 520Hz are genuinely responsive for mobile gaming. It’s hard to go back to a regular phone after you’ve used them in a high-stakes shooter like Call of Duty: Mobile.
Battery: don’t worry about it
This device packs an enormous 7,000 mAh battery. I was consistently getting over 24 hours of use on a single charge. Even with heavy gaming mixed in, I could easily get 12 to 15 hours without issue. I stopped thinking about battery life completely, which is par for the course with the last two generations of RedMagic phones.
Charging is quick thanks to fast charging and charge separation. But the phone gets really hot during charging if I don’t remember to manually turn on the fan. I don’t like the lack of wireless charging, but that’s my own thing. I love wireless charging.
Camera: don’t buy this phone for the cameras
The cameras are the worst part of this phone. RedMagic devices have never had great cameras because photography is not their focus. The RedMagic 11 Air’s cameras are another order of bad. The 50MP main sensor with optical image stabilization (OIS) gets the job done in good light, and Xiaomi’s camera software is excellent as always. But the hardware is basic. The 8MP ultrawide is mediocre. Low light performance is soft. Video is functional but nothing special, even if the specs list 8K recording.
This is a gaming phone. The camera suite exists to check a box. If you care about photography, look at Samsung or Google. If you want a gaming phone that can fire off a quick snap of your dinner for your Discord chat, this could be the phone for you.
Software: same old RedMagic minimalism
RedMagic’s OS remains one of the more barebones Android skins on the market. Whether that’s a plus or a minus depends on your own tastes. Personally, I like it. It reminds me of the old Google Nexus phones from a decade ago. No gimmicks and no bloat. The phone gives you a clean slate to customize how you want.
The gaming-focused software is what makes RedMagic phones unique. Pressing the red button on the left side of the phone launches the Game Space launcher. Here you will find all your installed games, a plugin library to help you during gaming performance, a weird waifu animated character and options for AI behavioural learning.
Should you buy the RedMagic 11 Air?
This device set out to be a slimmed-down, mid-range version of the more powerful RedMagic 11 Pro, and it mostly achieves that. It has a great display, a decent cooling system, a powerful CPU and great battery life. The cameras are bad, the software is bare-bones, and there’s no headphone jack, but those aren’t the reasons you’re buying this phone.
Canadians won’t find this phone at your local telco kiosk. Instead, you can buy it directly from RedMagic at redmagic.gg. It starts at $729 and includes free shipping.
This is a phone for gamers who want performance and battery life without dropping a lot of money or carrying a gaudy giant gaming phone in their pocket. It’s a decent mid-range device, and I recommend it for anyone needing a simple phone that plays games well.
