8.0/ 10 SCORE RedMagic Astra Tablet Pros
Sturdy, compact design good for journey
Excellent 165Hz OLED show
High-end Qualcomm chip delivers high efficiency
Lots of gaming-specific options
Cons
No microSD slot for enlargement
No software program replace ensures
No included equipment
Mediocre gaming battery life
Earlier this 12 months, I examined Lenovo’s 8-inch Legion Tab Gen 3 gaming pill to see the way it held up as a small gaming pill in opposition to the iPad Mini. Spoiler alert: It did fairly effectively. But shortly after testing that pill, gaming phone-maker RedMagic reached out to ask if I needed to check its new gaming pill, the 9-inch Astra.After just a few weeks of testing, I can safely say that whereas Lenovo’s little pill continues to be glorious, the Astra beats it in a few key areas. The most essential of them is efficiency: It’s simply flat-out sooner than the Legion Tab. On the opposite hand, the Lenovo is a greater possibility as a small, general-purpose Android pill that is additionally nice for gaming (and it is often cheaper than the Astra, too). However, if gaming options and efficiency, in addition to a standout design, are what you care most about, the RedMagic Astra is price paying a premium for and is why it is an Editors’ Choice award winner.Flagship hardwareI completely loved the Legion Tab’s design, and it satisfied me of the advantages of your entire kind issue. Even as somebody who enjoys cellular gaming, I actually do not like carrying round an enormous telephone in all places I’m going, so having one thing that is large enough to recreation on with out being as large as an iPad or Galaxy Tab, and particularly a laptop computer, is fairly nice. The Astra has a fingerprint reader within the energy button, however its digicam additionally helps facial recognition. Jason Cockerham/CNETThough barely bigger, the Astra nonetheless completely suits that in-between house for me. It has a 9-inch display screen, however RedMagic packed it right into a small, modern pill that may actually slot in my again pocket. The design is harking back to the iPad Mini with its spherical edges and flat sides, however the bezels are symmetrical and solely 4.9mm extensive, slimmer than the iPad Mini’s, which makes Apple’s littlest pill look outdated.There’s additionally a fingerprint sensor within the energy button, which is sort of welcome, particularly contemplating different extra premium tablets just like the OnePlus Pad 3 (and even the Legion Tab) haven’t got one. The front-facing digicam helps face unlock (just for the pill itself) and, at 9 megapixels, is completely nice for streaming or video chatting.The single rear 13-megapixel digicam is appropriate, however not far more than that. It’s nice if it is advisable to use it, however RedMagic has by no means been recognized for its nice cameras, and that actually applies right here as effectively.RedMagic is understood for packing its gadgets with all the most recent top-of-the-line specs you may need, and the Astra continues that pattern. It’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, as much as 24GB of LPDDR5x RAM and as much as 1TB of UFS 4.1 storage. The base mannequin with 12GB of reminiscence and 256GB of storage is $549 and much like what you’d get within the $550 Legion Tab Gen 3 (although the Legion often goes on sale for round $100 much less). I examined a $699 model of the Astra with 16GB of reminiscence and 512GB of storage. The maxed-out Astra with 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage is a hefty $899.Complementing the Qualcomm processor is RedMagic’s personal gaming chip, the RedCore R3 Pro. The concept is that the R3 Pro arms a number of the gaming-specific duties from the primary chipset to assist preserve peak efficiency and hold the Snapdragon 8 Elite from throttling down sooner. The skinny bezel across the show imply extra display screen in a smaller physique. Jason Cockerham/CNETThe 9.1-inch OLED show reveals off all of your favourite video games with a 2,400×1,504-pixel decision (331 ppi) and a superbly easy 165Hz refresh fee. It additionally will get as much as 1,600 nits peak brightness, which is greater than vivid sufficient if you end up caught within the solar. I’d say it is probably the greatest screens I’ve seen on a pill and incredible for any recreation. (By comparability, the iPad Mini’s display screen has a pixel density of 326 ppi). The OLED show is attractive for gaming and all the things else. Jason Cockerham/CNETPowering all of that is an 8,200-milliampere-hour battery with assist for as much as 80-watt quick charging. I simply acquired by a number of days of use with this pill, which included an hour or two of gaming and one other hour or two of fundamental utilization. On CNET’s YouTube streaming take a look at, it averaged 10 hours, 32 minutes, which is sweet, however you will not get that whereas gaming solely. The solely draw back is that there is no such thing as a charger within the field, though you need to have the ability to get quick charging with most 80-watt chargers.Soundwise, the twin DTS:X Ultra audio system sound fairly good for a small pill. Of course, you do not get the room-filling sound from the 4 audio system on the iPad Pro, however that is additionally a a lot bigger and far more costly system. The Astra’s audio system are nice for gaming or streaming, however for FPS video games or these the place each noise issues, you may need some good gaming headphones.One odd design choiceRedMagic made a fairly odd design alternative with the Astra by offsetting the USB-C port towards the highest of the pill. This means the facility button is now located immediately throughout from the USB-C port, so if you happen to attempt to use a USB-C controller, you may doubtless hit the facility button when taking the controller on and off. I did expertise this in my testing, and whereas it was annoying, I would not say it is sufficient to maintain me from shopping for it. It did not occur as soon as I had the controller on, and Bluetooth controllers clearly will not have this challenge. (RedMagic would most likely recognize you dropping an extra $129 for its Bluetooth gamepad anyway.)Also, when utilizing a controller, the pill now sits farther down and turns into a bit unbalanced. Again, this wasn’t a deal-breaker for me as I ended up resting the pill on the desk or my lap, and it nearly grew to become even higher for me, so I did not have to carry it as a lot. Your mileage could differ right here, and I do perceive how uncomfortable it may be for some, however I’d say do not knock it until you attempt it.I requested RedMagic why it used this structure, and an organization consultant stated the top-mounted USB-C retains the charging cable from getting in the best way of your arms whereas it is charging, so you’ll be able to nonetheless play whereas plugged in with none points. That is smart to me and has been one of many points I’ve had whereas gaming on telephones or different tablets. Also, the side-mounted energy button is offset to work with many third-party gaming controllers which have buffer zones to keep away from unintentional activation. I’d even be prepared to guess that despite the fact that this can be a gamer-focused pill, the shopper information RedMagic has reveals that way more folks play with no controller than with one.All the efficiency you may needAs you may anticipate from the spec sheet, this factor simply flies by something you throw at it. Aside from gaming, I used it as a standard pill as effectively, which included looking, researching new automobiles (I acquired rear-ended, in order that’s been enjoyable), some YouTube and emails. As anticipated, all the things I did was easy and quick. No points. Jason Cockerham/CNETObviously, having the ability to play the most effective video games easily is a essential a part of efficiency, however RedMagic is all about providing you with the very best gaming expertise potential on a cellular system.All the most well-liked video games I attempted ran nice on the highest potential framerates. I persistently hit 120 frames per second on Call of Duty: Mobile, and RedMagic has promised excessive refresh assist for different widespread video games, together with PUBG, Delta Force and League of Legends.RedMagic’s Game Center software program even permits you to increase body charges in supported video games like Genshin Impact. On cellular, Genshin at the moment solely natively helps 60fps, however the Astra can increase the body fee to 120fps by the Game Center software program.Also, with its high-speed wi-fi, streaming video games by Game Pass or PlayStation Remote Play ran effectively, making the Astra a very all-around cellular gaming powerhouse. Jason Cockerham/CNETIs it full overkill for most individuals? Absolutely. Is it nonetheless ridiculously enjoyable? Heck sure. Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 3RedMagic AstraWild Life Limitless17,32023,187Geekbench 6 CPU (single core)22282641Geekbench 6 CPU (multicore)66007990Geekbench 6 GPU1662419223Octane 2.075924158865Quick software program, however do not anticipate updatesI was pleasantly stunned with the Astra’s out-of-the-box software program expertise. Even only a few years in the past, RedMagic’s software program was nonetheless very closely skinned and regarded like one thing out of a nasty sci-fi film. Recently, the corporate considerably toned down its software program expertise, and now, it is truly fairly usable.However, there’s a respectable quantity of bloatware, however most of it is simply eliminated, and the remainder of it’s a fairly clear construct of Android. Apart from the Game Space, it isn’t too completely different from what you’d discover on most another Android pill lately. There are just a few translation errors scattered round, nevertheless it’s actually far more usable than it was even only a couple years in the past. RedMagic deserves some credit score for the way a lot progress it is made. Jason Cockerham/CNETWhere it nonetheless falls woefully behind, nonetheless, is on updates. The Astra runs on Android 15, and to be trustworthy, I would not anticipate any main platform updates. From my previous expertise with RedMagic gadgets, you may get some safety updates over the following two or three years, and there is a probability you may get stunned with a platform replace, however the firm makes no assure of it, so do not maintain your breath.That’s not a deal breaker for me, as that is primarily meant to be a gaming and leisure system and never one thing I’d use for banking or something private. As lengthy as main new video games that come out within the subsequent few years run on it — they usually nearly actually will — I’m not too upset in regards to the lack of updates. The firm completely must do higher about it, however I would not let that cease you from shopping for it.Also, if you happen to’re in search of an entire package deal of equipment within the field, you may be disenchanted. As I discussed earlier, there is no charger included, however RedMagic will promote you one for $29.90. A display screen protector and folio case can be found, too, for $24.90 and $39, respectively, however they appear to promote out of them rapidly. And, whereas the Astra does have energetic pen assist, RedMagic would not at the moment have a pen as an adjunct, although one is predicted to be out there. This is the place the Lenovo Legion Tab has a bonus as a result of there’s a charger, display screen protector and folio case included with the pill, and you will get a pen from Lenovo for about $40. It may not have the Astra’s efficiency, however it’s a higher deal on this sense. Best approach to recreation on the goAs of proper now, I’ve not examined another small pill that is higher for gaming than the RedMagic Astra. The Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 3 has final 12 months’s specs, an outdated design and just one configuration. If you could find it on sale, it is price it, however at $549, the Astra is hands-down the higher possibility.The iPad Mini has enormous bezels and nowhere close to the facility of the Astra, plus it is costlier. And you are caught in Apple’s ecosystem, which has its personal set of issues. The increased configurations of the Astra, together with the one I examined, are costly, and you continue to must pay additional for any equipment if you’d like them. But if you happen to’re all in on cellular gaming, there is no such thing as a higher system for it proper now than the Astra.