Nubia Redmagic 11 Air review: Cool, light gaming on the go

Best Prices Today: Redmagic 11 Air

Last year, Redmagic introduced a new slimline version of its gaming smartphone range, dubbed (in Apple-esque fashion) the Redmagic 10 Air. Now the second iteration has arrived with a few upgrades to tempt those wanting a powerful gaming platform without the heft of the Redmagic 11 Pro. So, how does the new model compare to its predecessor, and would you be better off going with the full-fat version instead?

Design & Build: Slimmer but still chunky

If you’ve ever used a Redmagic phone, you’ll know that they’re not petite devices. The 11 Air, however, is as close as the company has come to achieving this.

The metal and glass construction feels as solid as ever, but (as with the 10 Air) the phone sits nicely in the hand, without its 163.82mm x 76.54mm x 7.85mm dimensions feeling cumbersome. This is helped by its relatively light weight at 207g (the Redmagic 11 Pro comes in at 230g).

Once again, along the flanks are the 520Hz shoulder triggers for controlling action in-game, plus there’s the red Magic Key which can open the dedicated gaming software or can be configured to open other apps or features instead.

It’s definitely a two-handed device and the smooth surfaces make it a little slippery

The rear glass panel has a cool, futuristic pattern, which is a normal design choice on Redmagic phones, plus there’s the company logo that’s illuminated when you’re gaming thanks to the colourful RGB lights underneath.

The camera module area now also boasts an additional circular unit over the 10 Air, but this isn’t another lens. Instead it’s a sign that Redmagic managed to add a 24,000RPM fan this time around, to improve cooling.

It’s definitely a two-handed device and the smooth surfaces make it a little slippery, especially during a sweaty gaming session, but Redmagic does include a plastic case in the box.

Further thoughts:

• Redmagic offers two colour options – Phantom (kind of transparent black) and Prism (transparent white).
• The Redmagic 11 Air has an IP54 rating for dust and water resistance, which is the same as the previous model but not as good as the IPX8 rating on the Redmagic 11 Pro.

Screen & Speakers: Full screen fun

Redmagic remains pretty much the only smartphone manufacturer to use under-screen selfie cameras, alongside the more standard embedded fingerprint sensor, which allows the display on the 11 Air to stay free from notches or punch-holes.

While this does compromise the front camera quality, it’s a small price to pay for the uninterrupted 6.85-inch OLED panel that’s perfectly designed for playing games or watching video content.

The 2688 x 1216 resolution and 144Hz refresh rate means everything looks nice and sharp, plus the peak brightness of 1800 nits is enough to half-blind you if you have content that features a lot of white scenes. The Corning Glass GG7i screen should resist scratches and survive a few drops, but it can be a little reflective in strong light.

Sadly, the Air range doesn’t have a 3.5mm headphone socket

Audio is supplied by a dual speaker setup, with one speaker on the bottom edge. The other is the phone speaker at the top of the front panel. These combine to offer a decent sound profile, although to get the best quality, you should connect wireless headphones via the phone’s Bluetooth 5.4 capabilities. Sadly, the Air range doesn’t have a 3.5mm headphone socket as Redmagic’s Pro devices do.

Further thoughts:

• The display on the Redmagic 11 Air features a 95.10% screen-to-body ratio.
• The panel also boasts a 960Hz global touch sampling rate and 2,500Hz instant touch sampling rate for accurate and responsive gaming.

Specs & Performance: Plenty of power onboard

Gaming phones require a lot of CPU and GPU power. So, it’s no surprise that Redmagic has gone for a top-of-the-line setup that includes a 4.32Ghz Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, Adreno 830 GPU, and RedCore R4 dedicated gaming chip. Add to these either 12GB or 16GB LPDDR5X Ultra RAM and you’ve got a pretty hefty set of specs.

The cooling system (now including that fan) kept things to manageable levels

Putting the 11 Air through its paces with various games, from lightweight titles such as Stardew Valley up to Genshin Impact, showed that the powerful processing capabilities had no problem dealing with busy 3D animations, while the cooling system (now including that fan) kept things to manageable levels. Yes, the unit does get warmer during extended sessions, but never so bad that you have to put it down.

One slight downside is that, unlike the Pro models, there’s no flat glass panel on the back to smooth over the camera bump. This means the lens covers fell under my fingers during landscape-orientated games which, while not uncomfortable, wasn’t as effortless as the smooth surfaces on the Pros.

The shoulder triggers are responsive, as is the display panel, and being able to assign these in the Game Space software remains a great feature for those who want the most from their mobile gaming.

Here’s how the Redmagic 11 Air compared to some of its closest rivals in our standard benchmark tests:

Further thoughts:

• The Redmagic 11 Air comes with either 256GB or 512GB of UFS 4.1 storage.

Cameras: Capable but not class-leading

Redmagic equips the 11 Air with two lenses (as with the 10 Air): a 50Mp f/1.89 main shooter (which the system calls 23mm), plus an 8Mp unit (14mm), with OIS and an anti-glare coating to keep things sharp.

The 11 Air is a perfectly serviceable option that can produce some lovely images to share

The main camera can take some good images, with a reasonably quick focus that means I didn’t miss too many shots (although Google lens kept trying to open, as its button is right next to the shutter one, which was rather annoying). This can be fixed by enabling the setting that allows you to use either shoulder triggers as the shutter button.

Give the 11 Air some favourable lighting and you’ll be impressed with the results. I did notice it struggled with blowing out highlights in more challenging situations, but otherwise the colours are good and the pictures look lively and balanced.

Low light is okay, although noise creeps in quite quickly when shooting away from a light source. If you’re not buying a phone specifically for its cameras, the 11 Air is a perfectly serviceable option that can produce some lovely images to share on social media or with your friends.

The under-display 16Mp camera continues to make marginal improvements with each iteration. Gone are the fuzzy selfies of older Redmagic efforts, with more recent ones bringing sharpness to the party. It does tend to be somewhat software-corrected so, while fine, it’s a little overly processed at times. Still, it’s definitely better than it was a couple of years ago.

The 11 Air is capable of capturing footage up to 8K / 30fps, but you’ll get more usable (or at least shareable) files if you opt for 4K / 60fps or even 1080p / 60 fps instead. I found it to be a decent unit, able to quickly refocus when switching subjects or lighting without much hunting. Again, it’s more than good enough for day-to-day use.

Further thoughts:

• One of the rings on the rear of the 11 Air is for the dedicated circular flash.
• The 11 Air also comes with various scene modes such as Star Trail, Light Draw, Slow Motion, Time Lapse and several others.

Battery Life & Charging: Bigger battery, longer playtime

Battery life can be where gaming devices live or die. It’s all well and good having super-fast performance, but if the unit switches off after only an hour playing your favourite game, it’s going to be a disappointing experience.

Redmagic has always done a good job of kitting out its phones with big batteries, and the 11 Air includes a big, 7,000mAh cell this time around, a full 1,000mAh more than the 10 Air.

In everyday use, the 11 Air is easily a two-day phone

In everyday use, the 11 Air is easily a two-day phone. Of course, you don’t buy a Redmagic phone unless you intend to do some gaming and, using it like this, the battery life is shorter but still very good.

Testing out an hour of Asphalt Legends saw the charge drop by around 15%. So, if that remains consistent, you should get between 6-7 hours of gameplay from a single charge.

In our standard PCMark battery test, the 11 Air scored a decent 8hrs and 36mins, which makes it just over an hour shy of the Redmagic 11 Pro, but that phone has a 7,500mAh cell.

Recharging the handset with the included brick took the 11 Air from 0% to 35% in 15 minutes, and 64% in 30 minutes, with a full restoration coming in at 1 hour 8 minutes, which is pretty snappy for a large battery like this.

Further thoughts:

• Redmagic includes a charger in the box, so you can instantly make use of the 80W wired fast charging capabilities of the handset.

Software & Apps: Minimal bloatware and excellent Game Space

The 11 Air has Android 16 as the operating system, with Redmagic OS 11 running on top. As any regular user of a Redmagic phone will know, there are plenty of tweaks to Android, including lots of futuristic themes that can be selected.

Game Space will prove a unique and genuinely useful bonus over other options

One cool feature is the ability to create bespoke wallpaper using AI features on the device – I entered one short prompt and got a Blade Runner-style backdrop in seconds.

Aside from this, there are other AI features such as transcriptions of recordings, live translation, a notepad app into which you can dictate notes, outlines or brainstorm ideas and have it all converted to text and even summarised.

There’s little in the way of bloat software, aside from the usual suspects such as Facebook, Booking.com, TikTok and few utilities. These can all be deleted, giving you a clean system that behaves well.

One of the standout features of Redmagic phones is Game Space. This is a dedicated suite of tools aimed at mobile gamers, allowing you to enhance gameplay, manage screenshots, and adjust the performance and mapping of in-game controls. There’s even an anime-style assistant to help you with tactical advice, act as your in-game voice, or take voice commands to keep your hands free.

I’m guessing that anyone seriously looking at a Redmagic phone will have gaming as a main requirement. As such, Game Space will prove a unique and genuinely useful bonus over other options. 

Further thoughts:

• Redmagic states that the 11 Air will get five years of Android and security updates in the UK. Elsewhere, support lasts for three years.

Price & Availability

The Redmagic 11 Air launched on 11 February 2026, with a few configurations and prices, all of which can be ordered from the UK Redmagic site, or from Redmagic US.

Here’s how the options line up:

• Redmagic 11 Air 12GB+256GB (Phantom or Prism) – £439/$529
• Redmagic 11 Air 16GB+512GB (Phantom or Prism) – £529/$629

There are no current networks that offer the Redmagic 11 Air on a contract, so you’d probably be best pairing it with one of the offers in our SIM deals roundup.

As ASUS has announced its exit from the gaming smartphone space, and retired the ROG range of handsets, there’s not much direct competition now for the 11 Air.

Obviously, there’s the Redmagic 11 Pro, which has a bigger battery and a few other spec bumps, with prices starting at 629/$749. Aside from that, you could look towards any of the current recommendations in our Best Smartphones chart, as these phone will have top-shelf specs, albeit at prices a bit higher than those offered by Redmagic. 

Should you buy the Redmagic 11 Air?

The slimline, lighter format of the Air range does make them nicer day-to-day phones than the Redmagic Pro lineup. The 11 Air has very capable hardware, a clean design, and the addition of the fan is good news for the cooling system.

It can play everything you’d want, and doesn’t kill your hands in the process. But, if you want the best gaming phone, the Redmagic 11 Pro has all the bells and whistles, not to mention the revolutionary liquid cooling system. So, it comes down to the old choice between comfort and speed. Take your pick.

Specs

• Android 16
• Redmagic 11 UI
• 6.85in OLED display with 1.5K resolution, 144Hz
• 4.32Ghz Snapdragon 8 Elite processor
• Dedicated RedCore R4 gaming chip
• Adreno 830 GPU
• 12GB or 16GB LPDDR5X Ultra RAM
• 256GB or 512GB UFS 4.1
• 24mm 50Mp main camera
• 14mm 50Mp wide camera
• 16Mp under-display selfie camera
• Stereo speakers
• 520Hz Touch-sensitive shoulder triggers
• Under-display fingerprint sensor
• Wi-Fi 7
• Bluetooth 5.4
• NFC
• Dual SIM (Nano)
• ICE cooling system
• 24,000 RPM fan
• IP54 rating
• 7,000mAh battery
• 80W wired fast charging
• USB-C
• 163.82 x 76.54 x 7.85mm
• 207g

Best Prices Today: Redmagic 11 Air