ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Specs, Price, and Best Deals

The ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro is an impressive gaming powerhouse featuring a unique design, a notch-free 6.8-inch 120Hz AMOLED screen, and a triple rear camera with 50MP main camera. This gaming smartphone packs the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip with customizable RGB cooling fans, 16GB RAM, and 6500 mAh with 80W fast charging support.

Design

The ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro continues the blocky, functional aesthetic introduced in the Red Magic 8 series but also sports some notable changes. It has a flat profile, measuring 164 x 76.4 x 8.9 mm (6.46 x 3.01 x 0.35 in), and weighing 229 g (8.08 oz), thus providing a solid and substantial feel in hand while maintaining a sleek and premium look.

The balanced dimensions and weight distribution contribute to comfortable handling during extended use, making it an ideal device for both everyday tasks and intense gaming sessions.

Furthermore, the phone features a glass front (Gorilla Glass 5), an aluminum frame, and a glass back, which gives a transparent feel.

The flat aluminum sides referred to as Aviation aluminum middle frame house the usual power and volume controls, along with a red Game Space slider for accessing the phone’s gaming tools. The front of the device is dominated by a 6.8-inch full-screen display surrounded by thin bezels. Likewise, the ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro features an under-display front camera that enhances its sleek, uninterrupted design.

Meanwhile, the rear of the Nubia RedMagic 9 Pro is completely flat aside from the flash module. The camera sits behind the glass panel, flush with the phone’s body, giving a clean and seamless appearance. There is a notable feature below the first two flush cameras: a cooling fan with an LED strip around it, almost disguised as a third camera sensor. Similarly, there is an Air vent accompanying the cooling fan on either side of the phone for efficient cooling.

Apart from the cooling fan LED, this device also has an ’09’ decal inscription with RGB lighting that adds a touch of elegance to the overall design

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Compared to its predecessor Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro, the volume rocker has been shifted to the right side of the phone above the power button. Furthermore, the right side hosts the switch for the Gaming Space Center.

Meanwhile, the bottom of the 5G device houses the SIM card tray, USB-C connector, and loudspeaker grille, while the top holds the 3.5mm audio jack, the second speaker grille, and an IR blaster, providing additional functionality. Overall, the ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro combines a sleek, premium design with practical gaming features, making it a standout device in its category.

Display

The ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro boasts impressive display technology with its 5th Generation Display Ingenuity. It has a 6.8-inch AMOLED screen that offers 1 billion colors, and a resolution of 1116 x 2480 pixels, resulting in a sharp 400 ppi density.

Mastering Under Display Camera (UDC) technology, the phone achieves a remarkable 93.7% screen-to-body ratio, providing an immersive viewing experience with minimal bezels. The display features BOE’s Q9+ luminescent materials, enhancing brightness and clarity.

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Meanwhile, Nubia claims the display can reach a peak brightness of 1,600 nits, making it ideal for bright environments.

The android device provides four refresh rate modes: 60Hz, 90Hz, 120Hz, and Auto. The 120Hz refresh rate offers exceptionally smooth animations and responsiveness, ideal for gaming and fast-paced interactions, while the 90Hz rate provides a good middle ground with enhanced fluidity for general use without excessive battery drain.

Meanwhile, the 60Hz rate ensures maximum power efficiency, suitable for static tasks and standard video playback. The auto refresh rate mode dynamically adjusts between these rates, optimizing the refresh rate based on current activities like the app or game to balance performance and battery life effectively.

The system prioritizes the highest refresh rate for smooth performance but drops to 60Hz to conserve power when the phone is idle or playing full-screen videos. Additionally, there’s also a snappy 960Hz touch sampling rate, which should help on-screen game controls feel more responsive.

Despite its many strengths, the display lacks HDR support, a notable drawback since many mid-range phones now offer Dolby Vision or HDR10+. The front is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5.

Camera

The ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro’s camera system is not too far from what was seen on last year’s Nubia Red Magic 8S Pro, especially on the main camera, but it still comes bearing some major improvements. The two 50MP cameras are known as the Optical Anti-Shake Camera, offering exquisite wide-angle shots and more clarity in your images.

Compared to last year, the 50MP Samsung GN5 ISOCELL sensor comes with PDAF, and optical image stabilization (OIS) which is particularly beneficial for low-light photography and video recording.

With OIS, users can expect improved low-light performance, reduced motion blur in action shots, and overall better image quality compared to smartphones without this feature. This wide-angle lens is designed to capture detailed and sharp images, even in challenging conditions where handshake might affect clarity.

Accompanying the main sensor is the ultrawide camera lens featuring a 50MP Samsung JN1 ISOCELL sensor, which allows users to capture expansive landscapes. It has an f/2.2 aperture, a 1/2.76″ sensor with a pixel size of 0.64µm,  thus enhancing the device’s photographic versatility. The ultra-wide lens is ideal for group shots and scenic vistas.

Additionally, there is the macro 2MP camera with f/2.4. This macro camera allows users to capture close-up shots with stunning detail and clarity, enabling them to explore the intricate details of small subjects such as flowers, insects, or textures. With its specialized lens and close-focusing capabilities, the macro camera opens up new creative possibilities for photography enthusiasts, allowing them to discover and capture the beauty of the world from a unique perspective.

Despite the absence of optical zoom, the Red Magic 9 Pro compensates with up to ten times digital zoom, allowing users to get closer to their subjects without physically moving. While digital zoom generally does not match the quality of optical zoom, it remains a useful feature for capturing distant details.

The camera features include an LED flash, HDR, and panorama mode, enhancing the versatility and quality of the images captured. Video capabilities are impressive, supporting up to 8K resolution at 30fps, 4K at 30/60fps, and 1080p at various frame rates including 30/60/120/240fps. This allows for high-definition video recording with a range of frame rate options suitable for different shooting scenarios.

On the front, the ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro sports a 16MP under-display selfie camera with an f/2.0 aperture and 1.12µm pixel size. This hidden camera design maintains the uninterrupted look of the display while still providing decent selfie capabilities. The front camera supports HDR and can record videos at 1080p resolution with frame rates of 30/60fps, ensuring good quality for video calls and selfies.

Hardware and Software

The ZTE Red Magic 9 Pro impresses with its top-tier hardware specifications. Under the hood, it is powered by a Qualcomm SM8650-AB Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, built on a cutting-edge 4nm process, ensuring remarkable performance and energy efficiency.

This chipset’s octa-core CPU configuration, featuring a Cortex-X4 core clocked at 3.3 GHz alongside Cortex-A720 and Cortex-A520 cores, delivers seamless multitasking and swift app launches.

Additionally, the chipset supports advanced AI capabilities through its AI Engine, enabling multi-modal generative AI models for various applications. Furthermore, it is optimized for gaming with support for Unreal Engine 5.2 and Frame Motion Engine 2.0, ensuring immersive and responsive gaming experiences. It is paired with the Adreno 750 GPU, thus offering stunning graphics rendering, enhancing the gaming and multimedia experience.

The Red Magic 9 Pro also comes with various memory configurations, including 256GB storage with 8GB or 12GB RAM, as well as 512GB storage with 12GB or 16GB RAM, all utilizing UFS 4.0 technology for faster data transfer speeds. Notably, this device also features an upgraded ten-layer ICE 13.0 Cooling System with a physical fan to enhance thermal management during gaming sessions.

Meanwhile, the Red Magic 9 Pro runs on Redmagic OS 9, a custom user interface (UI) based on Android 14 for an optimized user experience.  It comes with a game mode that optimizes performance and battery life for gaming.

Likewise, there is the shoulder trigger buttons that can be mapped to in-game controls for a more console-like experience. This OS also offers new customization options for the notification panel and lock screen with built-in security app that can scan for malware and viruses.

Furthermore, the ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro boasts an impressive 6500mAh non-removable battery, ensuring extended usage without the need for frequent recharging. It supports rapid charging with an 80W wired charging capability, leveraging PD3.0 technology to achieve a full charge in just 35 minutes, as advertised. This fast-charging capability adds convenience and minimizes downtime, ensuring users can quickly replenish their device’s battery levels and stay connected throughout the day.

ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Price and Availability

ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro price starts at $649.00 for the model with 12GB RAM and 256GB ROM and $799.00 for the model with 16GB RAM and 512GB ROM. The Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro price in Nigeria is expected at around ₦915,000 in Nigeria.