Nubia is all about frequent release cycles, apparently beating even OnePlus with how often it pushes out incremental improvements to its ostensibly gaming-focused Red Magic series. The latest Red magic 3S, announced earlier today, continues that trend. As the name may imply, it's basically Red Magic 3 but with a bit more "S" — in this case, "speed" from a slightly faster Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset.

SPECS

Display

6.65" Full HD 90Hz AMOLED

Chipset

Snapdragon 855 Plus + Adreno 640

Rear Camera

48MP Sony IMX586

Battery

5,000mAh, 18W quick charge

Software

"Stock" Android, unknown version

Storage

Up to 256GB UFS 3.0

RAM

up to 12GB

Misc

Mappable capacitive shoulder triggers, stereo front-facing speakers, "active liquid cooling" with internal fan

Colors

Red/blue gradient, Black, Silver

A few details aren't known, like precisely which version of Android the phone might ship with, or details regarding the camera, but I'd put money that any unknown details match the existing Red Magic 3.

In addition to that faster Snapdragon 855 Plus, the Nubia Red Magic 3S gets the same 90Hz display as the previous version, the same big battery, up to 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM, and extra little gaming-oriented features like capacitive shoulder buttons you can assign to functions.

Yeah, the Red Magic 3S still has that whole "xtreme" gamer ostentation going on, and I can't personally stand the look. That's also excluding the fact that "gaming" phones are a gimmick for folks that just don't know better hoping to gain an edge in Fortnite. When you get right down to it, the best gaming phone you can buy is an iPhone: it gets all the games. Still, my friend Myriam Joire was particularly impressed with the Red Magic 3, so there must be something to like about it, and that could extend to this new version, too.

Availability is set for September 9th in China at ¥2999 - ¥3799 depending on storage/RAM. A global release follow later this year in October, though price is other markets isn't set yet.

UPDATE: 2019/10/10 12:56am PDT BY RITA EL KHOURY

The Red Magic 3S will launch globally on October 16. It'll be available on redmagic.gg and will ship to the US, Canada, Europe, the UK, Australia, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Macao.

The 8GB + 128GB version comes in Eclipse Black or Mecha Silver and costs $479 in the US, €479 in Europe, and £419 in the UK. The 12GB + 512GB version only comes in the Cyber Shade color and costs $599 in the US, €599 in Europe, and £529 in the UK.

PRESS RELEASE