REDMAGIC 11 Air review - an Android gaming powerhouse with a couple of drawbacks

Verdict

As far as gaming-specific phones go, the REDMAGIC 11 Air is another more than capable offering from the Chinese brand. With top-of-the-line hardware and great software support, it beats out plenty of flagships for the gaming experience. However, the selfie camera isn’t nearly as high-quality as other options at the same price point, and I have a couple of issues with the design, considering the price point.

Pros

• Great performance
• Slimline form factor
• Lovely display
• Long-lasting battery

Cons

• Transparent back feels cheap
• Only IP54 rated
• Poor selfie camera

Months after the launch of its latest flagship, REDMAGIC is once again following up with a slim-line model, the new REDMAGIC 11 Air. This Android doesn't just weigh less than its premium counterpart, but more importantly, it costs less, launching as a rival to fellow mid-rangers such as the Poco F8 Pro or the Xiaomi 15T, but with an emphasis on top-tier gaming performance. So, does it deliver?

To find out whether the REDMAGIC 11 Air is worthy of a spot in our guide to the best gaming phones, I've spent the last couple of weeks putting it through its paces, from using it to play my favorite mobile games to seeing how it deals with the day-to-day of streaming, scrolling, and a bit of photography. As I'll get into, it's not perfect, but as I've found with the last few REDMAGIC devices I've put to the test, the positives outweigh the negatives if you're looking for gaming greatness.

Price and availability

Following the big reveal, REDMAGIC 11 Air sales begin on February 11. If you're particularly eager, though, you can pick up Early Bird vouchers from February 5, with Early Bird access on February 10. In terms of pricing, we've listed all the models in the table below.

For this review, I received the 12+512GB in the Phantom colorway.

Specs

Here are the REDMAGIC 11 Air's specs:

Performance and gaming

Unlike the REDMAGIC 11 Pro, the 11 Air doesn't use Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 flagship chip. Instead, it uses its predecessor, the Snapdragon 8 Elite, partnered with the brand's own RedCore R4 chip. I appreciate that, for some of you, that rather technical sentence might as well have been in French - providing you don't speak French - but what I'm essentially saying is that this phone doesn't use the latest and greatest Snapdragon chip to power performance, but rather the one that came before.

While it might not be the newest processor, the Snapdragon 8 Elite is the chip behind some of the best gaming phones of 2025, including the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro, so it's no slouch. Nor is the R4 for that matter,  which impressed me when I was testing the 11 Pro last year. That means I went into this review expecting snappy performance capable of more than just taking the day-to-day tasks, such as scrolling and recording video, in its stride. Fortunately, that's exactly what I got, and then some.

Still, the 11 Air is a gaming phone, so it lives or dies by its gaming performance. As usual, I booted up Honkai Star Rail, one of the more demanding Android games, and toyed with the settings to see just how much I could push the performance envelope. The game loaded with default 'high' graphics settings and 30 FPS, running with no issues at all, so I upped the tempo and adjusted to 'very high' settings and 60 FPS.

I thought this might be a little too far for the 11 Air, given that it's technically a mid-ranger, but to my surprise, the gameplay experience was just as smooth as before, perhaps smoother even. It didn't even stutter after boosting the battle speed in an in-game showdown, with HSR's magnificent animations playing out in all their glory without a noticeable frame drop the whole time. That's a seriously big win, considering the price point.

Moving on to thermals, and I have to give REDMAGIC credit where it's due; this is one area where the brand is beating out the competitors. Despite the slimline form factor, the 11 Air packs a heat dissipation system comprised of a high-speed fan, graphene thermal layers, and a vapor cooling chamber. All of this combined keeps the phone nice and cool, even during long periods of intensive gaming with the performance settings dialed up as far as they'll go, exactly as intended.

Features and software

The REDMAGIC 11 Air runs on the latest REDMAGIC OS 11.0 skin of Android 16. There are a few bells and whistles, mainly gaming-specific features, but outside of that, it's pretty standard Android fare and shouldn't take much getting used to. Like most versions of Android, it's still not quite as user-friendly as Apple's iOS, but I don't have any complaints.

Unlike Samsung's Galaxy AI or Apple's Apple Intelligence, the REDMAGIC 11 Air doesn't have a massive suite of AI tools. You've got Google Gemini, which pretty much comes as standard with most Android phones these days, and you've got Mora, the AI-powered virtual assistant. I've been pretty vocal before in terms of how I'm not a big fan of the very much Genshin Impact-coded Mora, but that's a preference thing, and if you're a fan of gacha-style personal assistants, I can imagine she's a decent selling point.

In terms of gaming-specific software, the REDMAGIC 11 Air has Game Space, the brand's dedicated launcher and plug-in suite to enhance the gaming experience. You can bring up Game Space by clicking the red button on the side of the phone, and from there, you'll find all your games. If you're already in a game, you can simply slide the right-hand side of the screen to bring up the Game Space overlay, and from there you can alter the performance settings, activate the phone's shoulder triggers, and more.

A new feature for Game Space is REDMAGIC's Tactical Coach plug-in, which is meant to offer real-time strategy advice and tips while you're playing either PUBG Mobile, Free Fire, or Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. I'll be honest, none of those games are really my jam, but it's my job to test, so I loaded up PUBG and gave it a whirl.

Now, I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong here, though I tried multiple times, but the only advice I got was the voice of Mora, the AI assistant, telling me to go to a certain location on the map, and I don't think that's the world's best advice considering that's the whole idea of the battle royale game. Still, it's relatively new technology, so I'd be interested to try it again after a few updates.

As for the rest of the Game Space plug-ins, there are some pretty useful bits, including the Mora Mouthpiece, which responds to in-game chat so you don't have to; Superior Pic Quality, boosting the resolution and frame rate; and High-Sensitivity Wheels, allowing for more intricate controls when using the touch screen. That's just a few of the features, and I imagine, if you're into the more esports-coded mobile games, that they could come in quite handy.

Design

While the REDMAGIC 11 Air lives up to its name in that it's nice and lightweight, I'm not fully sold on the design. My first issue is that the transparent back of the phone might look nice, much like the Nothing Phone (3)'s Glyph Matrix, but it feels plasticky and a bit cheap. If you give it a few taps ASMR-style, it sounds almost hollow inside, and considering this is essentially a premium device, that doesn't sit right with me. It looks nice, sure, but it doesn't feel as premium as some of the other REDMAGIC phones I've tested in the last couple of years.

My other sticking point with the design is that this phone is only IP54 rated for dust and waterproofing, not the gold-standard IP69. IP54 would be almost forgivable if this were a foldable phone, given the semi-exposed nature of that form factor, but it's not, so I can't let it slide. That rating suggests that the 11 Air is protected from water splashes, but anything more severe, such as water jets or an accidental submersion, could render your device unusable.

The design isn't all bad, though, as the 11 Air feels nice in the hands and also features REDMAGIC's patented shoulder triggers, which are a great touch for fans of racing and FPS games. It's also a little more understated than some other gaming phone designs I've seen, and I mean that in a good way. There are little accents, like the red Game Space button on the side of the phone and the gold-accented lettering on the back, but it's nothing garish.

Display

While I might not be fully sold on the REDMAGIC 11 Air's design, I can't pick any faults with its display. What you've got here is a 6.85-inch AMOLED screen with a 2,688 × 1,216 resolution and a 144Hz refresh rate. Those are the exact sort of specs you'd want from a gaming phone, as it means you're getting vivid colors, super smooth gameplay, and high-quality visuals. Honestly, I don't know what else you could ask for.

While I've got some complaints surrounding the design and its IP54 rating, the screen is made of Gorilla Glass, so at least there are no durability complaints there. Also, the bezels are nice and thin, so you're getting about as much display real estate as possible across the nicely sized screen.

Cameras

Given my experience testing out REDMAGIC devices, I didn't hold out too much hope for the 11 Air's cameras, but I was mildly surprised by this phone's main camera. As ever, I've used my sweet dog, Floyd, as a model, and the results are pretty impressive. There's a real sense of detail in his fur, which more expensive phones have struggled to recreate, and the bokeh effect that surrounds him is nice and subtle while avoiding blurring any of his body.

However, while the 11 Air can handle some portrait photography, it's not nearly as impressive when it comes to capturing a landscape. I took a few shots of my garden and the view from my house - I live way up on a hill - and the results look a little overprocessed. For me, it's not a big deal, as I'm not much of a landscape photographer, but if I were going on holiday or doing a bit of sightseeing, I'm not sure this is the phone I'd want to be using to grab a few snaps to show the folks back home.

While the REDMAGIC 11 Air's back cameras aren't offensively bad, the 16 MP front camera is another story. In every selfie I took, I looked washed out, with the image processing applying an unwanted watercolor-type aesthetic to the shot, even with the beautify option turned off. Honestly, this wasn't a big surprise, as I had the same issue with the REDMAGIC 11 Pro and its under-display lens, but it's still a bit disappointing. It's decent enough for video calling, but if you're a regular selfie snapper, you might be forced into relying on filters and editing tools to combat the mediocre lens and processing capabilities.

Battery

Considering the size and weight of the REDMAGIC 11 Air, it's a real feat of engineering that there's a 7,000 mAh battery inside. In real-world terms, that means you're getting at least two days of use out of this Android before having to reach for that charger, and that includes a few hours dedicated to gaming over the course of 48 hours. With sporadic use, it lasts even longer, retaining its charge for days at a time in standby mode.

Not only is the 11 Air a battery beast, but when it's time to charge, you can get the job done nice and quick. This phone supports 80W charging, and better still, you get both a USB-C lead and charging brick in the box, which is something of a rarity in 2026. In my testing, I managed to charge the phone from flat to full in just under an hour, which is pretty good going for a mid-range phone, beating out flagships such as the iPhone 17 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Should you buy the REDMAGIC 11 Air?

As far as mid-range phones go, the REDMAGIC 11 Air is a great option for gamers. Its Snapdragon chip offers top-tier performance, its cooling tech is second to none, and the gaming-oriented software goes beyond what any other Android brand, or even Apple, is currently offering. It's also pretty affordable at $529 for the cheapest option, and considering the industry concern around rising prices, that's a pretty generous price point as far as I'm concerned.

However, I have to admit, I'm not quite as keen on the 11 Air as I have been with the brand's previous phones. The transparent back doesn't feel high-quality, the IP54 rating is too low for my liking, and the selfie camera just doesn't cut the mustard when you compare it to what I've used on similarly priced or even cheaper phones. In simple terms, if you want an out-and-out gaming phone, this is a great option, but if you want something that's a more capable all-rounder, you might be better served looking elsewhere.

Alternatives

If you're not sold on the REDMAGIC 11 Air, we've got some suggestions for alternatives you can check out below.

iPhone 16e

For around the same price as the REDMAGIC 11 Air, you could pick up the iPhone 16e. This might be the better option if you're more of a casual mobile gamer, as you've got access to the massive library of Apple Arcade games as well as the best of the App Store. This Apple alternative also features a much more subtle design if, like me, the 11 Air looks a bit showy for your tastes.

Poco F8 Ultra

The Poco F8 Ultra might be a little bit more expensive than the REDMAGIC 11 Air, but if you're looking for more of an all-rounder with better cameras, it's a viable alternative. The REDMAGIC is still a better pick if you're an FPS gamer, mainly due to its shoulder triggers, but if you'd rather something less likely to attract attention, you might want to look at the Poco. For more about this pick, check out our Poco F8 Ultra review.