We put these two strange-looking Android gaming phones head-to-head

From a design point of view, OnePlus 15 and Red Magic 11 Pro They are almost complete opposites. OnePlus aims to evoke a premium design and sleek aesthetics, while the angular, futuristic-looking RedMagic 11 Pro looks like something out of a sci-fi movie.

However, they share almost identical internal specifications and are both heavily focused on gaming. The OnePlus 15 aims to be a flagship phone that also delivers a solid gaming experience, while the RedMagic 11 Pro is, first and foremost, a gaming phone that also handles everyday smartphone tasks.

They’re both incredibly powerful, and each makes different trade-offs to deliver a distinct and unique experience.

an offer

The big, beautiful, fast displays are front and center here and are technically and visually impressive. The RedMagic 11 Pro has a 6.85-inch fully rectangular AMOLED display with a 144Hz refresh rate. OnePlus went with a 6.78-inch OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate that can go up to 165Hz during supported games.

The AMOLED panel on the RedMagic 11 Pro displays better colors, and the higher refresh rate gives it the advantage here. Additionally, RedMagic has been hiding its selfie cameras under the display for a few years now, so the screen is truly edge-to-edge, with no camera interruption. It’s a little more angular than most other phones, but it’s uncomfortable, and the huge, sleek screen is nice to look at.

performance

The RedMagic 11 Pro and OnePlus 15 have almost identical spec sheets. Both have the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 with similar storage configurations of 12GB or 16GB of RAM and 256GB or 512GB of storage. RedMagic has the advantage here, offering a maxed-out version with 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, but most people won’t need that much power. However, given that this version is the same price as the 16GB/512GB version of the OnePlus 15, it’s a value-oriented point for RedMagic.

RedMagic and OnePlus have designed proprietary processors to accompany Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 to help boost gaming performance, and the result is two phones that simply fly. I have never experienced any slowdowns or stutters anywhere throughout the software. No matter what I did, neither phone seemed to slow down.

Battery and charging

Both phones have huge batteries, with the OnePlus 15 coming with a 7,300 mAh capacity, and the RedMagic 11 Pro extracting more power with a 7,500 mAh capacity. Both will make it easy to get through a couple of days – as long as you keep playing to a minimum.

Fortunately, both devices support fast charging, which is one of the fastest in the industry, especially in the US. Both can quickly charge at up to 80W via wired charging, and both come with an 80W charger in the box, which is a frustrating rarity these days. OnePlus charges via the proprietary SuperVooc standard, which means you’ll need to use the included power adapter to achieve the phone’s fastest speed. Meanwhile, RedMagic uses the more universal USB-PD standard, so its charging brick can also quickly charge other devices.

Wireless charging is available on both devices – a first for RedMagic. What’s even more impressive is how quickly they can charge wirelessly. OnePlus was the first (and still the only) company to bring 50W wireless charging to the US a few years ago. RedMagic claims that the 11 Pro can charge wirelessly at up to 80W. This is a very ridiculous claim and I unfortunately cannot test it, as the only 80W wireless charger I can find is made by Xiaomi and therefore not available here in the US. OnePlus achieves that higher speed using the AirVooc standard — so again, you’ll need the wireless charger OnePlus makes to get the faster 50W speed. Although we can’t test the 80W wireless charging claim, we do know that the phone runs on the more universal Qi wireless charging standard.

Games

RedMagic has built its entire ethos around mobile gaming, and the 11 Pro is the epitome of that. The lack of a camera bump means it’s completely flat, so it feels better in your hand and fits better on handheld controllers. There are touch-sensitive shoulder triggers on the right side which can act as a touch point on the screen. For example, setting left to aim and right to fire in Call of Duty: Mobile easily makes the phone look like a gaming console. There is also a dedicated cooling fan built into the side to keep the phone cool during long gaming sessions.

Topping it all off is a feature that’s still rare on all but high-end gaming PCs: a self-contained liquid cooling system. On the Nightfreeze and Subzero models, you can actually see the electric blue coolant inside the phone. Turn it on, and liquid will literally flow through the internals to help maintain peak gaming performance for longer than ever before.

This may all seem a bit extreme (and that’s true of almost everyone), but it really sets RedMagic apart.

OnePlus takes a different approach, aiming to be a more traditional smartphone that still excels at gaming. In the OnePlus 15, custom touch sampling and Wi-Fi processors, along with a proprietary internal cooling system, are specially designed to maximize gaming performance.

And it works. Highly demanding games like Call of Duty: Mobile, Genshin Impact, PUBG, and Wuthering Heights – among others – ran flawlessly on the OnePlus 15. In Call of Duty, the frame rate rarely dropped below 165 FPS, which is much higher than what a regular gaming PC can handle.

Both companies are also adding software features to improve the gaming experience. OnePlus offers a pre-installed app called Game Assistant which lets you tweak settings for each game. RedMagic goes so far as to give you a hardware button that launches Game Space. This is basically a separate launcher that almost turns your phone into a mini controller. It also lets you tweak settings, but offers more options for tweaking, including an in-game overlay where you can install plugins and macros for very fine-grained customization.

programming

Aside from the completely different aesthetics, the software experiences are also very different. OnePlus has taken more than a few cues from Apple’s Liquid Glass design language for OxygenOS 16, but the overall experience remains very fast, very smooth, and fairly close to Google’s intended version of Android. It’s still one of my favorites in the OS.

The RedMagic 11 Pro knows it’s a gaming phone through and through. Fortunately, RedMagic has toned down the gaming-focused design elements significantly over the years, but they’re still evident throughout the software. The company also preloads the phone with an unacceptable amount of bloatware and useless apps, some of which cannot be uninstalled.

CNET Senior Editor Mike Sorrentino He left feeling somewhat disappointed I tried the program on the RedMagic 11 Pro while testing it, but I personally didn’t find it unbearable. Almost all of the problems he and I have with the software are the same problems I’ve had with Samsung software for years — and in the end, most of them are easy enough to avoid.

But without a doubt, this goes to OnePlus.

Price and availability

The prices of both the RedMagic and OnePlus phones have risen steadily over the years to the point where they both fall squarely in the flagship territory. The OnePlus 15 starts at $899 for the 12GB RAM and 256GB storage variant, and jumps to $999 for the 16GB and 512GB version. The base model only comes in black, but OnePlus usually offers top-tier models at a lower price during launch.

The price of the RedMagic 11 Pro starts at $749 for the 12GB RAM and 256GB model, and also rises from $100 to $849 for the 16GB and 512GB model. The high-end configuration with 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage costs $999 – the same price as the lower-spec OnePlus 15.

Both devices will be available in most regions. The OnePlus 15 will go on sale at Best Buy, Amazon, and OnePlus websiteAlthough, the Ultra Violet color option will only be available in limited quantities on Amazon and OnePlus. the Red Magic 11 Pro It will be available on the RedMagic website and Amazon.

OnePlus 15 vs RedMagic 11 Pro

OnePlus 15	Red Magic 11 Pro
6.78 inches OLED, 2772 x 1272 pixels; Adaptive refresh rate 1-120Hz (up to 165Hz for gaming)	6.85 inch AMOLED; 2688 x 1216 pixels; 144 Hz refresh rate
450 dpi	430 dpi
6.36 x 3.02 x 0.32 inches	6.44 x 3.01 x 0.35 inches
161 x 77 x 8.2 mm	164 x 77 x 8.9 mm
215 g (7.58 oz)	230 grams (8.1 ounces)
Android 16	Android 16
50 MP (wide), 50 MP (ultra-wide), 50 MP (3.5x telephoto)	50 MP (wide), 50 MP (ultra-wide), 2 MP
32 megapixel	16 megapixel
8 k	8 k
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 fifth generation	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 fifth generation
12GB + 256GB, 16GB + 512GB	12GB + 256GB, 16GB + 512GB, 24GB + 1TB
no one	no one
7300 mAh	7500 mAh
Under the offer	Under the offer
USB C	USB C
no one	Yes
4 years of OS updates; 6 years of security updates; Bluetooth 6.0; It comes with an 80W wall charger	3 years of OS and security updates, AquaCore liquid cooling, cooling fan, gaming space, 80W wired charging (charger included), 80W wireless charging
$900 (256GB)	$749 (256GB)