Gaming telephones just like the $629 (£529, roughly AU$930) Nubia PurpleMagic 7 aren’t attempting to compete with Samsung Galaxy gadgets or Google Pixel telephones. They as an alternative crank up the Android gaming expertise with specs that sound like they belong in a PC. The PurpleMagic 7 lets you max out video games for glorious responsiveness and efficiency.Features just like the 6.8-inch 165Hz refresh price AMOLED display, 12GB of RAM and 65W charging speeds even have a profit past simply being huge numbers. They give us a glimpse at options that can doubtless make their approach over to extra mainstream telephones in coming years.The PurpleMagic 7 comes with a 65W GaN charger.
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For the value, all of those options would possibly sound like a steal, however there are many the explanation why this telephone is not for most individuals, stemming primarily from tweaks to Android 12 that prioritize gaming efficiency over consumer expertise. The PurpleMagic additionally has a shorter software program replace cycle than different telephones at this worth. And whereas a cooling fan is a standard function on many gaming telephones, the PurpleMagic 7 contains an inside one, which is important to maintain the telephone from overheating throughout intensive gameplay.The PurpleMagic 7’s $629 beginning worth contains 128GB of storage and 12GB of reminiscence — the latter already being a ridiculous quantity for a telephone. The overview unit I examined is $799 and has 256GB of storage and an absurd 18GB of RAM. For perspective, the $800 Galaxy S22 has 8GB of RAM.
Like165Hz refresh price30-minute charging velocityPrice for the specs
Don’t LikeUnintuitive Android 12 skinShort software program replace timelineUncompetitive digital camera for the value vary
A little bit bit Android, a bit of bit SwitchAt first look, the PurpleMagic 7 looks as if some other Android 12 telephone. You unlock it with an in-screen fingerprint sensor and are greeted with a skinned model of Android 12 that features themed widgets like a change for the interior cooling fan and a toggle for rapidly cranking the show’s refresh price from 60Hz as much as 165Hz.However, this PurpleMagic OS customization makes various annoying default decisions that are not nice for informal customers. Luckily, they are often switched off fairly simply. Apps are organized into a number of residence screens like on iOS. To discover the app drawer, you must flip it on in settings. Once you set it up, you may preserve most apps there and set up those you need onto the house screens. The default web browser is NextWord, which is straightforward to change to Chrome or Firefox. And I hope you work this out sooner than I did, however the telephone places a PurpleMagic watermark on all of your pictures. After one other irritating journey to Settings I used to be capable of flip that off as properly. You could end up visiting the Settings menu so much to vary among the defaults within the PurpleMagic 7.
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OS annoyances apart, this telephone is clearly geared toward players. A crimson bodily change on the top-left of the telephone’s clear physique boots it right into a recreation launcher. The aptly named Game Space appears extra just like the menus you discover on the Nintendo Switch and mechanically provides video games out of your app library.Gaming mode makes a number of tweaks to the telephone’s settings: It disables notifications, activates the fan and provides menus for fast entry to show refresh charges and processor efficiency. I set it as much as present the frames per second as I performed which helped decide which video games supported increased refresh charges.On the correct aspect of the telephone there is a fan exhaust and touch-sensitive areas that emulate shoulder buttons on a recreation controller. You can arrange the “buttons” to faucet particular areas of the display throughout gameplay — as an illustration I coupled them to the shoot button in Apex Legends Mobile and on the Use and Report buttons in Among Us.Mortal Kombat Mobile helps the 165Hz refresh price allowed by the PurpleMagic 7’s display.
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Gaming runs quick and generally hotAlong with the 165Hz show refresh price, the PurpleMagic 7 touts a “720Hz Multi-Finger Touch Sampling Rate” — their phrases. This refers to how responsive display faucets are whereas taking part in video games. In lieu of getting bodily buttons, having a cranked-up contact price for the display makes numerous sense. I discovered it significantly useful for video games streamed from the Stadia cloud service.Cloud gaming generally is infamous for lag underneath even the quickest of web connections, however with the PurpleMagic’s 720Hz contact price display I used to be nearly capable of create combos in Mortal Kombat 11. It additionally made it potential to play Marvel’s Avengers utilizing the touchscreen over the Stadia cloud. These video games are made for a bodily controller, so whereas it is not a super or aggressive solution to play, it really works high-quality for a fast recreation over good Wi-Fi.The Game Space launcher on the PurpleMagic 7, which places Android video games right into a extra console-like menu.
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What was extra fascinating had been the handful of video games that supported the 165Hz display refresh price. Mortal Kombat Mobile (separate from Mortal Kombat 11) cranks all the best way as much as 165Hz, making all of the punches and battles look tremendous clean. On the opposite hand, Rayman Adventures, which helps 165Hz, runs at double or triple velocity. I needed to flip the display refresh price all the way down to 60Hz to run at a standard velocity.Most video games nevertheless ran at 60 frames per second no matter what I set. While Apex Legends Mobile appeared to high out at 60fps, the sport did let me max all of its settings out. Performance remained tremendous clean all through my 20-minute match, however I undoubtedly seen the telephone was bodily sizzling to the touch. The PurpleMagic comes with a case that makes the warmth from gaming considerably extra tolerable.The PurpleMagic 7 can cost from 0% to 100% in roughly 30 minutes.
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Fast charging that I need to see in additional telephonesThe 65W GaN charger that is included with the telephone is a severe perk. The twin 4,500-mAh double-cell battery can recharge from 0% to 98% in simply over 30 minutes. This is a telephone you undoubtedly will not must cost in a single day. Interestingly sufficient when charging, an onscreen graphic exhibits the share, and the cooling fan activates to dissipate any warmth.Battery life was nice: I constantly received by a complete day, even once I saved the display at 165Hz. Even on days the place I performed video games for an hour or so, I had 20% to 30% left by the night.Another neat trick is you may energy the telephone straight from the facility adapter, skipping the battery. This ought to assist the battery finally last more, since when out there the telephone will not want to attract energy immediately from it always. And throughout gaming, it will cut back the quantity of warmth the telephone offers off.I hope different telephones undertake these power-charging options. A 30-minute charging time means the telephone can absolutely cost up whilst you bathe and dress within the morning.Citi Field in New York. The PurpleMagic 7 applies a watermark by default that may be turned off within the settings menu.
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Photography and software program help take a again seatThe telephone has a 64-megapixel predominant digital camera, an 8-megapixel ultrawide digital camera and 2-megapixel depth sensor. The PurpleMagic can deal with most daytime images conditions, however it is not going to win any awards for its pictures.Crowds inside Citi Field, taken on the PurpleMagic 7.
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In phrases of picture high quality, pictures I took at a New York Mets recreation had been on par with decrease priced telephones just like the Moto G Stylus 5G. Photos taken outdoor in daylight usually appeared good, whereas decrease mild conditions had been tougher. PurpleMagic 7’s Night mode photograph at New York’s Citi Field.
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The telephone’s Night mode helps convey out just a few extra extra particulars, specializing in topics just like the indicators on the Mets stadium, however it’s not fairly as detailed as different telephones on this worth vary. If you need a telephone that takes nice pictures, I like to recommend trying on the $599 Pixel 6 or the $700 Galaxy S21 FE.The PurpleMagic 7 has an 8-megapixel front-facing digital camera.
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The 8-megapixel front-facing digital camera is disappointing, even for livestreaming. Selfie pictures are simply OK. The front-facing digital camera is not one thing I’d use to broadcast on Twitch. With gaming and livestreaming so interconnected, it would be good if the PurpleMagic 7 might operate as a starter machine in direction of that.Software help on the PurpleMagic 7 is not nice. PurpleMagic says that its merchandise are likely to get one main replace with a “maintenance period” that lasts between one and a half to 2 years.
Geekbench v.5.0 single-core
Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate
Note:
Longer bars point out higher efficiency
Geekbench v.5.0 multicore
Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate
Note:
Longer bars point out higher efficiency
Serious Android players solelyThe PurpleMagic 7 is not for most individuals, neither is it meant to be. If you’re a aggressive gamer who actually needs a fully screaming refresh price, and would not thoughts a built-in cooling fan, then this telephone is actually an choice for you. Just perceive the software program replace tradeoffs and all of the defaults you will in all probability need to change out of the field.But most different folks ought to look elsewhere for a every day driver telephone. Families contemplating the PurpleMagic as a substitute for a Switch, can be higher off shopping for a Nintendo Switch and a less expensive telephone.
PurpleMagic 7: A Little Bit Android, A Little Bit Nintendo Switch
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Nubia PurpleMagic 7 vs. Nubia PurpleMagic 6 vs. Samsung Galaxy S22 vs. Google Pixel 6
Nubia PurpleMagic 7
Nubia PurpleMagic 6
Samsung Galaxy S22
Google Pixel 6
Display dimension, decision
6.8-inch FHD+; 2,400×1,080 pixels; 165Hz
6.8-inches OLED, 2,400×1,080 pixels, 165Hz refresh price, HDR10, 500Hz single touchrate
6.1″ AMOLED; FHD+ (1080×2340); 120 Hz
6.4-inch OLED; 2,400×1,080 pixels; 60 or 90Hz
Pixel density
387ppi
N/A
425 ppi
411 ppi
Dimensions (Inches)
6.7 x 3.1 x 0.4 in.
6.69 x 3.04 x 0.38 in.
5.7 x 2.8 x 0.3 in.
6.2 x 2.9 x 0.4 in.
Dimensions (Millimeters)
170.57 x 78.33 x 9.5 mm
169.86 x 77.19 x 9.7mm
146 x 70.6 x 7.6 mm
158.6 x 74.8 x 8.9 mm
Weight (Ounces, Grams)
7.58 oz.; 215g
7.76 oz.; 220g
167g (168g for mmWave mannequin)
7.3 oz.; 207g
Mobile software program
Android 12
Android 11
Android 12
Android 12
Camera
64-megapixel (predominant), 8-megapixel (ultrawide), 2-megapixel (depth)
64-megapixel (huge), 8-megapixel (ultrawide), 2-megapixel (depth)
50-megapixel (huge), 12-megapixel (ultra-wide), 10-megapixel (telephoto)
50-megapixel (huge), 12-megapixel ultrawide
Front-facing digital camera
8-megapixel
8-megapixel
10-megapixel
8-megapixel
Video seize
8K at 30fps, 4K at 60fps
8K
8K at 24 fps
4K 30, 60fps (rear), 1,080p 30fps (entrance)
Processor
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
Google Tensor
RAM/Storage
12GB/128GB, 18GB/256GB
12GB/128GB
8GB RAM + 128GB 8GB RAM + 256GB
8GB/128GB, 256GB
Expandable storage
No
None
None
No
Battery/Charger
4,500 mAh
5,050 mAh
3,700 mAh (25W wired charging)
4,614 mAh
Fingerprint sensor
In-display
In-display
In-display
In-display
Connector
USB-C
USB-C
USB-C
USB-C
Headphone jack
Yes
Yes
None
No
Special options
720Hz multi-touch sampling price
5G-enables, 66W quick charging, 400Hz contact delicate aspect buttons, RGB lighting and emblem, Game Space {hardware} change, Wi-Fi 6E, NFC, dual-SIM
5G (mmw/Sub6), 120Hz show, IP68 ranking, 25W wired charging, 15W wi-fi charging
5G sub 6 (some provider fashions even have 5G mmWave) help, Wi-Fi 6E, 30W quick charging, Magic Eraser, Motion mode, Real Tone, Face Unblur, Cinematic Pan, 5 years OS and safety updates, IP68 ranking for mud and water resistance, Gorilla Glass Victus (entrance), Gorilla Glass 6 (again)
Price off-contract (USD)
$629
$599
$800
$599 (128GB)
Price (GBP)
£529
£509
£769
£599
Price (AUD)
N/A however converts to AU$930
Converts to AU$790
AU$1,149
AU$999