ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro+ Review: specs and features, camera quality test, gaming benchmark, user opinions and photos

ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro+ - a step forward, and then back

The Plus index added to the name of a smartphone usually means a noticeable improvement to the original phone model. In some places, photographic capabilities are improved, in other cases additional functionality appears. As for the hero of today's review, the metamorphoses that have occurred are not so clear.

The appearance of the new product is worthy of the highest praise. There is hardly a person who will not fall in love with the design of the rear glass panel, the stylish camera unit, and the frameless display, inside of which is hidden not only a fingerprint sensor, but also a surprisingly high-quality 16-megapixel selfie camera. Of course, no gaming device would be complete without a metal frame with touch-sensitive trigger keys. There is no moisture protection, but its absence is explained by a well-thought-out active cooling system. The 6.8-inch AMOLED screen has a resolution of 2480x1116 pixels, the picture clarity is far from maximum, but this decision by the developer has a positive effect on overall energy efficiency. But in terms of touch panel responsiveness, brightness margin, image smoothness (120 Hz refresh rate) and color rendition, the AMOLED panel is excellent.

The technical characteristics also deserve exceptional compliments. Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 CPU, 16/24GB of RAM and Adreno 750 video adapter are the best option for the most sophisticated gamers. The throttling-free bundle scores more than two million points in the AnTuTu benchmark and is ready to demonstrate stable and comfortable gameplay for hours on end in Genshin Impact, Fortnite, and Diablo Immortal. Of course, such chipset performance is easy to notice in everyday life. Applications open in a split second, the Android 14 interface is completely free from the slightest jitter. The size of the internal storage can be 256, 512 or 1024GB depending on the configuration, the format is UFS 4.0. If there is more memory, then the battery capacity has decreased to 5500 mAh. However, such a battery guarantees about a day and a half of device operation, and fast wired charging at 165W will reduce your time at the outlet to 15-20 minutes. It's a pity that there is still no wireless alternative.

The main 50-megapixel (main Samsung GN5 sensor with optical stabilization and wide-angle lens) and 2-megapixel (macro camera) photo modules are ahead of their opponents' counterparts in terms of photo capabilities. With them, you don’t even have to be afraid of evening and night photography, because the results of photo sessions are almost always full of details and are not frustrating with an abundance of noise or a narrow dynamic range of colors. The stereo sound is loud, rich, and superior to that of inexpensive BlueTooth speakers. Of course, the phablet is characterized by support for NFC contactless payments and 5G networks. However, is it necessary to overpay several hundred dollars for it compared to its cheaper brother? Perhaps only for avid fans of resource-intensive Android games.