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It’s getting more durable to disclaim the truth that gaming tablets are on the rise. These aren’t the greatest tablets ever, however they provide a number of processing energy in a conveyable type, with out all of the bells and whistles of an ordinary slate. Think a gaming telephone, however greater. And I’ve simply discovered a brand new love.
I’m on the bottom at MWC 2026, a cellular tech convention which has seen a couple of gaming devices exhibited. I’ve seen the pint-sized Lenovo Legion Tab (Gen 5), and Nubia Neo 5 GT gaming telephone, and each appeared nice. I’ve additionally seen loads of different highly effective gadgets just like the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and the understated Honor Magic 8 Pro. But what’s actually drawn my eyes is the Red Magic Astra.
This isn’t even a brand new machine; the gaming tab, from Nubia’s gaming-focused sub-brand, has been on sale for no less than half a 12 months. But once I received to see all these new cellular gaming powerhouses back-to-back, I understood why this slate isn’t one gaming followers must be sleeping on.
Astra? I barely know ‘er!
The Red Magic Astra is the gaming model’s second gaming tab, after the Nova, and was launched in 2025. A ‘Golden Saga Limited Edition Bundle’ was lately unveiled, with some additional safety and cooling perks, however deep down it’s the identical factor.
If you want a refresher on this model, Red Magic is the gaming arm of Nubia, which is a ZTE-owned phone brand. It mostly puts out chunky but powerful handsets like the Red Magic 11 Pro, though I’m a big fan of Nubia’s wider releases thanks to how wacky they can be. Another of its MWC releases was a Van Gogh Starry Night-inspired model of its flagship Z80 Ultra.
One of the big draws to me on the Red Magic Astra has got to be the display: it’s a 9.06-inch OLED panel with a 1504 x 2400 resolution and 165Hz refresh rate. Nice. Your entertainment is complete with dual speakers that support DTS:X Ultra, which creates 3D surround sound (up and down, as well as left and right).
As a gaming device, it’s naturally pretty powerful: it packs 2025’s top-end Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, as well as between 12GB and 24GB RAM, depending on which version you opt for. That’s right: more RAM than your average PC, on a budget handheld.
When I say ‘budget’, I’m talking $499 / £439 (about AU$900) for the base model, up to $849 / £739 (roughly AU$1,400) for the 24GB RAM and 1TB storage model. At the budget end, that’s really affordable.
Something else I liked about the phone is that it has a switch, and toggling it sends you straight into the gaming mode, making it much quicker to silence other apps and boot up a title.
It cuts straight to the point: this is a slate for gaming. No, Red Magic’s not trying to sell you a tie-in stylus or keyboard case or weird AI feature. The only accessories are protective folios and screen protectors
Nubia has game
Gaming phones aren’t in vogue now; a couple of years ago, Lenovo was making feature-packed Legion mobiles, Xiaomi’s Black Magic was pumping out budget blasters that could offer stunning performance, and Asus was trying to make a ROG Phone happen. Now they’re all gone, and Red Magic is one of the few gaming device brands on the market.
I respect the dedication to the bit, but I respect more what Astra’s going for. Red Magic clearly understands the point of a gaming tablet: people want something substantially bigger than their smartphone (I don’t think the Legion Tab is big enough), but not so big that it dwarfs their iPad Pro. When I played around with the Astra at MWC, I found it the perfect middle size. Goldilocks would love it.
More than that, a gaming slate needs lots of performance but, crucially, a big battery and solid cooling tech. These are all, thankfully, part of Astra’s sales pitch. The device has, according to Red Magic, 13-layer ICE-X cooling; while that name could mean anything, the fact that it’s a selling feature of the slate shows that cooling is important to the brand. In the MWC show room, nothing was cool, so I couldn’t test this out.
As someone who games on their tablet more than their phone, I see these devices being fantastic alternatives to gaming mobiles for buyers. They give you a portable powerhouse for your chosen title, for a low price, and one that won’t stop you from calling or making texts once it runs out of battery. I can see budget-conscious buyers save money by picking up the best cheap phone and a gaming tablet, rather than one expensive powerful smartphone.
So the Astra was a real gaming highlight from MWC, despite some hot competition, and that rivalry is only going to continue. Not only did Legion offer its own newest tablet, but it showed a folding gaming tablet concept, which could bend down to become more portable. I wasn’t too impressed by this, as it seemed incredibly fragile, but that’s par for the course for a concept device so I can’t dock points.
Black Shark is also coming back with a gaming tablet, and Lenovo’s Legion apparently has more on the way, so the gaming tablet niche is in a good place right now. But that’s all the better for Red Magic and whatever it does after the Astra; competition like this always makes devices better.
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