We Pit These Two Bizarre-Wanting Android Gaming Telephones Head to Head

From a design standpoint, the OnePlus 15 and RedMagic 11 Pro are virtually full opposites. OnePlus goals to evoke a premium design and smooth aesthetics, whereas the angular, futuristic-looking RedMagic 11 Pro seems like one thing out of a sci-fi film. 

However, they share almost similar inside specs and are each closely centered on gaming. The OnePlus 15 goals to be a flagship telephone that additionally delivers a robust gaming expertise, whereas the RedMagic 11 Pro is, at first, a gaming telephone that additionally handles on a regular basis smartphone duties.

They’re each extremely highly effective, and every one makes totally different trade-offs to ship a uniquely distinct expertise.

Display

Big, lovely, quick shows are entrance and heart right here and are spectacular each technically and visually. The RedMagic 11 Pro homes an virtually completely rectangular 6.85-inch AMOLED show with a 144Hz refresh price. OnePlus went with a 6.78-inch in. OLED panel with a 120 Hertz refresh price that may ramp as much as 165 Hz throughout supported video games. 

The AMOLED panel on the RedMagic 11 Pro reveals higher colours, and the upper refresh price offers it the sting right here. Plus, RedMagic has been hiding its selfie cameras underneath the show for a couple of years now, so the display is really edge-to-edge, with no digicam cutout. It’s a bit extra angled than most different telephones, however not uncomfortable, and the large, attractive show is fantastic to have a look at. 

Performance

The RedMagic 11 Pro and the OnePlus 15 have almost similar spec sheets. Both home the newest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 with comparable storage configurations of 12GB or 16GB of RAM and 256GB or 512GB of storage. RedMagic does have a bonus right here, providing a maxed-out model with 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, however most individuals will not want that a lot energy. However, contemplating that model is similar value because the 16GB and/ 512GB version OnePlus 15, that is a value-oriented level for RedMagic.

RedMagic and OnePlus have each designed proprietary processors to accompany Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 to assist increase gaming efficiency, and the result’s two telephones that merely fly. I by no means as soon as skilled any slowdowns or stutters wherever throughout the software program. No matter what I did, neither telephone ever appeared to decelerate. 

Battery and charging

Both telephones have large batteries, with the OnePlus 15 coming in at 7,300-mAh and the RedMagic 11 Pro squeezing out a bit extra juice at 7,500-mAh. Both will simply get you thru two days — so long as you retain gaming to a minimal. 

Both units fortunately assist quick charging, and it is a few of the quickest within the business, particularly within the US. Each can cost at as much as 80-watt speeds over wired charging, and each include an 80W charger within the field, which is frustratingly uncommon today. OnePlus fees over the proprietary SuperVooc commonplace, which implies you may want to make use of that included energy adapter so as to obtain the telephone’s quickest velocity. Meanwhile, RedMagic makes use of the extra common USB-PD commonplace, so its charging brick may quick cost different units.

Wireless charging is offered on each units — a primary for RedMagic. Even extra spectacular is how briskly they’ll cost wirelessly. OnePlus was the primary (and continues to be the one) firm to convey 50W wi-fi charging to the US a couple of years in the past. RedMagic claims that the 11 Pro can cost at as much as 80W wirelessly. That’s a fully absurd declare and one I sadly can’t check, as the one 80W wi-fi charger I may discover is made by Xiaomi and thus not out there right here within the States. OnePlus achieves that sooner velocity utilizing the AirVooc commonplace — so once more, you may want the wi-fi charger that OnePlus makes so as to get the sooner 50W velocity. While we won’t check the 80W wi-fi charging declare, we do know that the telephone works with the extra common Qi wi-fi charging commonplace.

Gaming

RedMagic has constructed its complete ethos round cellular gaming, and the 11 Pro is the epitome of that. The lack of digicam bump means it is completely flat, so it feels higher in your hand and suits into cellular controllers higher. There are touch-sensitive shoulder triggers on the correct aspect that may act as a contact level on the display. For instance, setting the left one to aiming and the correct to fireside in Call of Duty: Mobile simply makes the telephone really feel extra like a gaming controller. There’s even a devoted cooling fan constructed into the aspect to maintain the telephone cool throughout longer gaming classes. 

The pinnacle of all of it is a function that is nonetheless a rarity on all however the highest-end gaming PCs: a self-contained liquid cooling system. On the Nightfreeze and Subzero fashions, you possibly can truly see the electric-blue cooling liquid contained in the telephone. Turn it on, and the liquid will actually move throughout the internals to assist keep peak gaming efficiency for longer than ever. 

This might all appear a bit overkill (and it completely is for nearly everybody), but it surely actually units RedMagic aside.

OnePlus takes a distinct method, aiming to be a extra conventional smartphone that also excels at gaming. On the OnePlus 15, the devoted contact sampling and Wi-Fi processors, together with a proprietary inside cooling system, are particularly designed to squeeze out as a lot efficiency as potential whereas gaming. 

And it really works. Highly demanding video games comparable to Call of Duty: Mobile, Genshin Impact, PUBG and Wuthering Heights — amongst others — all ran flawlessly on the OnePlus 15. In Call of Duty, I very hardly ever dropped beneath 165 frames per second, which is considerably larger than the typical gaming PC can maintain. 

Both firms additionally add software program options to enhance the gaming expertise. OnePlus presents a preinstalled app referred to as Game Assistant that permits you to tweak settings for every recreation. RedMagic goes a step additional to offer you a {hardware} button that launches Game Space. This is actually a separate launcher that nearly turns your telephone right into a mini console. It additionally allows you to modify settings, but it surely presents way more choices to tweak, together with an in-game overlay the place you possibly can set up plugins and macros for terribly granular customization.

Software

Aside from the wildly totally different aesthetics, the software program experiences are additionally worlds aside. OnePlus has taken various cues from Apple’s Liquid Glass design language for OxygenOS 16, however the general expertise stays very quick, very easy and pretty near Google’s supposed model of Android. It’s nonetheless certainly one of my favourite takes on the working system.

The RedMagic 11 Pro is aware of it is a gaming telephone by and thru. Thankfully, RedMagic has closely toned down the wildly over-the-top gaming-focused design components over time, however they’re nonetheless readily obvious all through the software program. The firm additionally preloads the telephone with an unacceptable quantity of bloatware and ineffective apps, a few of which can’t be uninstalled. 

CNET senior editor Mike Sorrentino got here away feeling slightly upset within the software program expertise on the RedMagic 11 Pro throughout his testing, however I personally did not discover it too insufferable. Nearly the entire points he and I’ve with the software program are the identical ones I’ve had with Samsung’s software program for years — and, finally, most of them are simple sufficient to keep away from.

But with out query, this one goes to OnePlus. 

Price and availability

Prices for each RedMagic and OnePlus telephones have steadily elevated over time to the purpose the place each sit squarely in flagship territory. The OnePlus 15 begins at $899 for 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage and jumps as much as $999 for the 16GB and 512GB model. The base mannequin solely is available in black, however OnePlus usually presents the top-tier fashions on the lower cost throughout launch. 

The RedMagic 11 Pro begins at $749 for the 12GB of RAM and 256GB mannequin and in addition goes up $100 to $849 for the 16GB and 512GB mannequin. The top-end configuration of 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage prices $999 — the identical value because the lower-specced OnePlus 15. 

Both units shall be out there in most areas. The OnePlus 15 shall be on sale at Best Buy, Amazon and the OnePlus website, though the extremely violet colour choice will solely be out there in restricted portions at Amazon and OnePlus. The RedMagic 11 Pro shall be out there on RedMagic’s web site and Amazon.