Nubia Redmagic Nova Review: Big Screen, Big Performance

Price When Reviewed

$499

Best Prices Today: Nubia Redmagic Nova

Nubia’s Redmagic brand is synonymous with gaming smartphones. The company’s line of handsets has been featured many times on this site, most of them gaining strong reviews for their blend of performance and price.

Now, the Redmagic brand is appearing on a larger display with the release of the new Nova gaming tablet. So, does the magic scale up? Here’s the full Tech Advisor review.

Design & Build

• Compact design
• Aluminium chassis
• Fingerprint sensor on the power button

Rather than going for an oversized construction that could prove unwieldy when playing games, the Nova is a pleasantly compact 253.3 x 164.6 x 7.3 mm (9.97 x 6.48 x 0.29 in) and weighs in at a manageable 530g / 1.17lbs.

The frame itself is an aerospace-grade aluminium shell, with controls around the edge for volume and power. The latter is also home to the integrated fingerprint sensor to unlock the device. Each of the shorter edges has twin speakers, plus there’s a USB-C port for charging.

Turning the device around reveals a rather unusual plate along the top edge of the panel. This is where you’ll find a transparent cover that lets you see the fan (along with its multi-colour LEDs that you can select in the software), the camera module, parts of the internal cooling system, plus the Redmagic name which also can be illuminated by the colour LEDs.

This is similar to what you’ll find on the Redmagic 9S Pro and its forebears, and while it is admittedly cool, the same holds here as it does there in that you’ll never really be able to see the lights, as they are always facing away from you. Still, they are cool.

The bottom edge has the five metal pins that make up the magnetic connector with which you can attach the optional Redmagic Nova Magnetic Keyboard, although that is sold separately, as are all of the other accessories. These include a standard folio case, a dedicated stylus, and a Redmagic gamepad to transform the device into a sort of mini console. You do at least get a cable and 80W charger in the box, which is better than some other manufacturers.

Along the top edge of the Nova, you’ll notice a small rounded rectangular area. This is the magnetic attachment for the stylus which also uses NFC. Nubia says a quick 1-minute charge for the stylus will get you two hours of writing time, which seems pretty decent to me.

Martyn Casserly

The aforementioned ICE 2.0 cooling system is a comprehensive design, comprising 9-layers which include an under-screen aluminium panel, a superconducting copper foil area on the mainboard, a 3D heat pipe like you’d find on a PC, an internal circulation duct, plus the 20,000RPM fan to push the air about.

There’s no IP waterproof rating mentioned by Nubia, which is probably due to the fan and air expulsion required to cool the circuitry, so don’t get the device wet.

Following the tradition of Henry Ford, you can get the Nova in a range of colours, so long as they’re black (or Midnight).

Screen & Speakers

• 10.9-inch IPS display
• 144Hz refresh rate
• Quad speakers

The compact nature of the Nova tablet is due in large part to the 10.9-inch IPS LCD panel. This is a perfect size for both playing games handheld or with the device propped up on a table and a Bluetooth controller connected.

It’s a decent display too, with a 2880 x 1800 resolution (16:10, 312ppi) keeping things clear and well defined. The ultra-fast 144Hz refresh rate also ensures everything is smooth and detailed even when there are rapid changes happening on the screen – perfect for gaming.

Response times are rapid as well, with up to 840Hz touch sampling rates. This made it easy to feel in control of things in frantic gaming sessions, as the Nova executed my commands swiftly and without error (the failures in the games were sadly all on me).

Martyn Casserly

There are slim bezels around the edge of the screen, but this helps with accidental touches as you have somewhere for your fingers to go when gripping the tablet. It also means you don’t have any notches or punch holes in the display as the front-facing camera is neatly ensconced in the upper bezel.

Colours are warm and well balanced, with the Nova delivering a maximum brightness, according to Nubia, of 550 nits. In my own tests, the screen managed just over 500 nits, which is great indoors but does struggle a bit outside. The reflective screen also doesn’t help matters, so you might not find the Nova a fully mobile gaming platform if you spend a lot of time in strongly lit areas.

You can’t plug in headphones either, as there’s no 3.5mm headphone jack on the tablet. This seems a weird omission, as the small Redmagic phones still have the feature included and it’s a must if you want to use many gaming headsets. There is Bluetooth 5.4 though, which is a fast and stable method of wireless connection, so you’re not without options.

Of course, you can rely on the built-in quad-speakers which are surprisingly good. They can get quite loud before beginning to distort, and the sound is balanced across the frequency range. They support DTS-X Ultra Sound with 3D audio, and it does make a difference to the quality of the tones the Nova kicks out.

The only downside is that the speakers are positioned on the shorter sides of the tablet, which is also where your hands need to be if you’re holding the tablet. So I did find that the audio could lose some of its quality if I held too tight and covered them up.

Specs & Performance

• 3.2GHz Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Leading Version
• 12/16GB LDDR5X memory
• 256/512GB UFS 4.0 storage

The Redmagic line has always been about performance over pretty much everything else, and the Nova isn’t about to start upsetting any applecarts. It comes with a 3.4Ghz Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Leading Edge processor (this is the tweaked, faster version of the standard Snapdragon 8 Gen 3), joined by either 256GB or 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage and 12GB/16GB of LDDR5X memory.

It’s a potent mix, as the Nova tablet flies through life without seemingly a care. Apps pop open instantly, and performance is generally smooth and quick across the board. This is also true during gaming sessions, as I didn’t find the Nova struggled with anything, even busy games of graphics-heavy titles like Genshin Impact.

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