While the ZTE nubia Red Magic 3 was launched in May, its successor was just announced yesterday. The ZTE nubia Red Magic 3S has more up to date specs with the Snapdragon 855+ under the hood, alongside faster storage and a liquid cooling fan solution. In terms of appearance, the only design difference is the reshaped air intake grill around the back which comes in a new Y-shaped

ZTE nubia Red Magic 3s Features
The ZTE nubia Red Magic 3S comes with a 6.65 AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate and 19.5:9 aspect ratio. It also has a dual front firing speakers and a 16MP selfie camera. At the back, you will find a single 48MP f/1.7 Sony IMX586 sensor, and LED flash and the oddly shaped hexagonal fingerprint reader.
Just above the fingerprint reader you will find the newly designed vent. The manufacturer boasts that they managed to greatly improve the cooling solution on the nubia Red Magic 3S with a combined liquid cooling tube and fan solution.
According to the company, this new combo should result in noticeably better cooling management and can reduce the CPU core temperature by up to 18°C. The sides of the phone also feature the touch-sensitive shoulder triggers which can be remapped in certain games.
Also read: Sony Xperia 5 has been announced as the Compact Variant of Xperia 1
The biggest new feature comes under the hood, with the new Snapdragon 855+ chipset paired with 8GB/12GB RAM and up to 256GB UFS 3.0 storage. The battery capacity is 5000mAh with the same 27W fast charging support like that of its predecessor. The software front is covered by Red Magic OS 2.1 on top of Android Pie.
ZTE nubia Red Magic 3S Price and Release Date
The ZTE nubia Red Magic 3S is already up for reservations while the official sales is slated for September 9 in China. The price starts at CNY2,999 ($419) for the 8GB/128GB version, while the highest spec model will cost CNY3,799 ($531) and packs 12GB RAM + 256GB storage. The phone will make its way to more countries later this year.
ZTE nubia Red Magic 3S Specification
NETWORK | |
Technology | GSM / CDMA / HSPA / EVDO / LTE |
2G bands | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 – SIM 1 & SIM 2 |
CDMA 800 / 1900 | |
3G bands | HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1800 / 1900 / 2100 |
CDMA2000 1xEV-DO | |
4G bands | LTE band 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700), 17(700), 18(800), 19(800), 20(800), 25(1900), 26(850), 28(700), 30(2300), 66(1700/2100) – Global |
LTE band 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700), 17(700), 18(800), 19(800), 20(800), 26(850), 34(2000), 38(2600), 39(1900), 40(2300), 41(2500) – EU | |
LTE band 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700), 17(700), 18(800), 19(800), 20(800), 25(1900), 26(850), 28(700), 30(2300), 34(2000), 38(2600), 39(1900), 40(2300), 41(2500), 66(1700/2100) – NA | |
Speed | HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE-A (7CA) Cat20 2000/150 Mbps |
LAUNCH | |
Announced | 2019, September |
Status | Coming soon. Exp. release 2019, September |
BODY | |
Dimensions | 171.7 x 78.5 x 9.7 mm (6.76 x 3.09 x 0.38 in) |
Weight | 215 g (7.58 oz) |
Build | Front glass, aluminum body |
SIM | Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) |
RGB light panel (on the back) Pressure sensitive zones Built-in cooling fan |
DISPLAY | |
Type | AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
Size | 6.65 inches, 108.6 cm2 (~80.5% screen-to-body ratio) |
Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels, 19.5:9 ratio (~388 ppi density) |
Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass (unspecified version) |
DCI-P3 100% 90 Hz |
PLATFORM | |
OS | Android 9.0 (Pie); Redmagic 2.0 |
Chipset | Qualcomm SDM855 Snapdragon 855+ (7 nm) |
CPU | Octa-core (1×2.96 GHz Kryo 485 & 3×2.42 GHz Kryo 485 & 4×1.8 GHz Kryo 485) |
GPU | Adreno 640 (700 MHz) |
MEMORY | |
Card slot | No |
Internal | 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM |
MAIN CAMERA | |
Single | 48 MP, f/1.7, 26mm (wide), 1/2.0″, 0.8µm, PDAF |
Features | LED flash, HDR, panorama |
Video | 4320@15fps, 2160p@30/60fps, 1920fps |
SELFIE CAMERA | |
Single | 16 MP, f/2.0, 2.0µm |
Features | HDR |
Video | 1080p@30fps |
SOUND | |
Loudspeaker | Yes, with stereo speakers |
3.5mm jack | Yes |
DTS XU1tra sound 32-bit/384kHz audio Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic |
COMMS | |
WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot |
Bluetooth | 5.0, A2DP, aptX, LE |
GPS | Yes, with dual-band A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO |
Radio | No |
USB | 2.0, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector, USB On-The-Go; accessory connector |
FEATURES | |
Sensors | Fingerprint (rear-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass |
BATTERY | |
Non-removable Li-Po 5000 mAh battery | |
Charging |
Fast battery charging 18W Quick Charge 4+ |
MISC | |
Colors | Silver, Red/Blue |
Price | About 500 EUR |