This 9-inch Tablet Singlehandedly Changed My Mind About Gaming On Android

6 hours ago

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

The RedMagic Astra gaming tablet is disposable connected Amazon starting astatine $700.
The tablet offers unmatched capacity for an Android tablet.
When nan instrumentality is successful usage connected nan Astra, nan artillery does drain a spot faster, and nan value is up location for a tablet.

As acold arsenic gaming is concerned, I'm not ashamed to opportunity that I've done it all: consoles, PCs, handhelds, phones, and now, tablets. For nan astir part, I've recovered Android devices to connection little than stellar results. Tablets are often excessively slow aliases their displays aren't up to nan task, and phones are simply excessively small. That's a shame, because tablets and phones are nan astir portable.

Also: Why I urge this Lenovo tablet complete competing models that costs doubly nan price

Recently, however, I was sent nan RedMagic Astra Gaming Tablet, and I do judge it's changed my sentiment connected gaming pinch Android. What astir this tablet has flipped nan switch?

The backmost broadside of nan RedMagic Astra gaming tablet.

My experience

With each Android device, nan onboarding is reasonably simple, truthful I was capable to get to nan gaming reasonably quickly. Even earlier that, my first belief was that this tablet seemed faster than immoderate Android tablet I've ever used. On apical of that, nan show was gorgeous. The animations are arsenic buttery soft arsenic I've ever seen connected an Android tablet. By a agelong shot.

Also: I usage this fund Android tablet much than my iPad Pro - and why you astir apt would, too

After I played astir pinch various actions to support testing nan animations and app opening speeds (which were blazing fast), I decided to dive into what this tablet was built for: gaming. I downloaded "Diablo: Immortal" because I've knowledgeable that connected lesser tablets and witnessed, first hand, what underpowered hardware tin do to nan game.

The first point that struck maine was really accelerated nan crippled installed, and past really accelerated nan information download was. I've installed this crippled connected respective Android devices, and nan information download was ever slow.

Within 2 minutes, I was playing nan crippled and, it was impressive. The RedMagic Astra plays each spot arsenic good arsenic a console system. The graphics are smooth, nan sound is amazingly good, and nan wide acquisition is phenomenal.

And that was without flipping nan capacity tuning switch. The Astra has a mini reddish move you tin toggle to alteration a typical mode. When I switched it on, a caller UI opened (called Energy Cube) pinch nan "Diablo: Immortal' launcher fresh to go. I'd already played nan crippled for a while extracurricular of this typical mode, truthful I decided to spot if location was immoderate betterment to gameplay pinch it on.

Energy Cube features behavioral learning arsenic good arsenic an car instrumentality action (to support nan tablet cooler during longer sessions), arsenic good arsenic on-demand recording. You tin besides tune nan capacity to meet your needs (or nan needs of a peculiar game).

Once I launched Diablo: Immortal from nan Energy Cube, location was a flimsy betterment successful performance. Remember, however, that nan crippled already played incredibly good extracurricular of Energy Cube, truthful moreover a flimsy bump successful capacity was impressive.

Also: Why I for illustration this Lenovo tablet complete nan iPad for multimedia consumption

The large point I noticed, from playing nan crippled wrong Energy Cube, is that nan instrumentality didn't get astir arsenic lukewarm (because of nan instrumentality activation). At nan aforesaid time, nan artillery did drain a spot faster.

The tablet's instrumentality is simply a 20,000 RPM progressive cooling fan, which is mixed pinch a 13-layer IEX cooling system. Needless to say, this tablet does not get hot, truthful I wonderment if nan hardware is simply a spot overkill, here. Even pinch a faster powerfulness drain, however, it still holds its own. The 8,200 mAh artillery supplies hours of gameplay connected a afloat charge.

What astir mundane use?

This tablet perfectly excels astatine gaming (far beyond immoderate tablet I've tested). But extracurricular of that usage case, I was conscionable arsenic pleasantly surprised.

Also: This ultra-tough Android tablet tin grip drop, bumps, and agelong hours connected nan job

Frist off, nan Astra is connected nan smaller broadside (nine inches), which is awesome for gaming. I've tried to crippled pinch a larger tablet, only to find my fingers and wrists grew tired aft a longer session. For mundane use, nan nine-inch surface is simply a spot small, but not too small to render it a load for web browsing, email, and nan accustomed tasks I do connected a tablet. In fact, aft a while, I sewage utilized to nan smaller show and recovered I preferred it to nan larger tablets I have.

ZDNET's buying advice

I person nary problem saying that this is nan astir satisfying Android tablet acquisition I've had to date. The RedMagic Astra Gaming tablet is offered successful 3 different configurations, starting astatine $700. That other 4GB of RAM and 256 GB of added retention are good worthy nan value bump, and portion of what contributed to my tablet's awesome performance. It's not nan cheapest tablet connected nan market, but its capacity justifies nan cost.

If you're looking for an Android tablet for gaming, this is decidedly nan 1 to hit (and I don't spot immoderate Android tablet beating it immoderate clip soon). As well, if you want a high-end tablet for mundane usage (and you don't mind nan smaller screen), this is still a fabulous option.

The specs

CPU - Snapdragon 8 Elite.
Display - 9.06-inch 2.4K OLED.
Cooling - 13-layer ICE-X cooling system.
RAM/Storage - Up to 24GB RAM and 1TB of retention (a type that is only disposable connected nan RedMagic site)
Battery - 8,200 mAh ample artillery pinch accelerated charging support.