With ASUS now not making telephones, Redmagic is the one gaming telephone model left, and to its credit score, it’s doing all the appropriate issues. I used the Redmagic 11 Professional when it debuted, and the addition of liquid cooling gave the machine that little additional that gaming telephones at all times want, and it was a gaming powerhouse.
There’s now the Redmagic 11 Air; I nonetheless assume it is hilarious that the model selected an Air moniker for a telephone that weighs 207g and has a 6.85-inch panel and an enormous 7,000mAh battery, however hey, at the least it’s lighter than the 230g 11 Professional. As you’d think about from Redmagic, the 11 Air has high-end internals and a complete load of extras designed to take advantage of out of cellular gaming. After utilizing the telephone for 2 weeks, I am satisfied that it is a nice gaming telephone, and if something, I choose it to the 11 Professional — I am specializing in 4 areas the place the Redmagic 11 Air stands out.
A giant AMOLED panel with no seen cutout
Redmagic went with the identical 6.85-inch OLED panel because the 11 Professional, and that is completely the appropriate name. Though it’s greater than most screens you see in the present day, Redmagic did a terrific job guaranteeing the bezels are skinny, so the machine itself is not that a lot greater or wider than different flagships. If something, it’s in step with the Galaxy S25 Extremely, and whereas it nonetheless resembles a brick, the lighter design makes a distinction in day-to-day usability.
What I like the most effective in regards to the OLED panel is that there is no cutout, so that you get a display screen that is not marred by a entrance digicam or some other obstruction. This makes enjoying video games or watching multimedia on the 11 Air that rather more pleasurable, and I do not get why different manufacturers do not go the identical route.
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The colour vibrancy of the OLED panel is on par with the most effective Android telephones, and you do not miss out on any of the extras — you even get a good quantity of customizability in the case of adjusting the colours to your preferences. Redmagic has a watch consolation mode as effectively, and there is even a devoted Learn Mode that turns the panel monochrome, making it a terrific option to learn books.
Nevertheless it’s whereas gaming the place the panel on the 11 Air actually shines; due to 144fps in choose video games alongside the shortage of a visual cutout, the telephone is objectively higher for gaming than most different gadgets.
Internals you may depend on — and a battery that does not give up
I get that Redmagic went with the Snapdragon 8 Elite as an alternative of the 8 Elite Gen 5, and you understand what? I did not discover any distinction by any means. Final yr’s Snapdragon 8 Elite continues to be a unbelievable chipset, and it holds up simply as effectively in demanding video games — I did not run into any lag or slowdown within the dozen or so video games I examined on the Redmagic 11 Air.
If something, going with final yr’s platform means Redmagic was in a position to keep away from the overheating points to an extent. The telephone nonetheless will get scorching, but it surely is not fairly as a lot as gadgets powered by the 8 Elite Gen 5. Additionally, there’s some throttling with prolonged gaming, and once more, it’s in step with what I see on different telephones utilizing the identical silicon.
The remainder of the {hardware} is nice in its personal proper; the machine will get 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM as customary, and comes with 256GB of UFS 4.1 storage. Snapdragon Sound is unbroken, and also you get a 7,000mAh battery that lasts a day even with heavy use.
All of the gaming extras you need
Like the remainder of its gaming telephones, the Redmagic 11 Air will get a devoted Sport House that allows you to customise the {hardware} and settings in particular person video games. It positively makes a distinction, and the power to tune settings on a game-by-game foundation is nice.
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Additionally, whereas the record of titles that permit 144fps gaming continues to be fairly restricted, it is good to see that there are just a few video games that allow you to take full benefit of the OLED panel, and there are dozens of titles out there at 120fps. Whereas it does not technically make a distinction with gaming basically, it is fairly cool to see RGB lighting on the rear of the machine.
Though Redmagic makes a giant deal out of the built-in cooling fan, I do not see it making a tangible distinction whereas gaming. Look, it is positively novel to have energetic cooling, but it surely does not do a lot to stop throttling.
A gaming telephone that does not break the financial institution
Coming in at $499, the Redmagic 11 Air prices $200 lower than its sibling, and I do not actually see a cause why can buy some other gaming telephone in 2026. The affordability makes it a better option than absolutely anything on this class, and even in case you’re not a gamer, the caliber of {hardware} you are getting makes this a terrific deal.
Positive, the telephone has middling cameras, and whereas you’re going to get first rate images more often than not, it does not maintain a candle to the Pixel 10a or some other mid-ranger on this space. Outdoors of that although, there is not a lot lacking with the telephone; you get highly effective internals, a stunning AMOLED panel, and distinctive gaming extras that make a distinction.
Actually, that is what I needed ASUS to do with its gaming telephones, and I am glad that Redmagic is carrying that baton ahead.
It could not have the newest silicon, however that does not actually matter — the Redmagic 11 Air excels the place it counts, and it my go-to advice in case you want a gaming telephone in 2026.
