RedMagic Astra review: This is the best gaming tablet you can buy

Earlier this year, I took the test Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 3 8-inch gaming tablet Let’s see how it holds up as a small gaming tablet versus the iPad Mini. Spoiler alert: He did well. But shortly after testing this tablet, gaming phone maker RedMagic reached out to ask if I’d like to test its new 9-inch Astra gaming tablet.

After a few weeks of testing, I can safely say that while Lenovo’s small tablet is still excellent, the Astra outperforms it in some key areas. The most important of which is performance: it is much faster than the Legion Tab. On the other hand, the Lenovo is a better option as a small general-purpose Android tablet, and is also great for gaming (and it’s regularly less expensive than the Astra, too). However, if gaming features and performance, plus premium design, are what matter most to you, the RedMagic Astra is worth paying extra for and that’s why it’s an Editors’ Choice award winner.

Leading devices

I thoroughly enjoyed the Legion Tab’s design, and it convinced me of the benefits of the entire form factor. Even as someone who enjoys mobile gaming, I really don’t like carrying a huge phone everywhere I go, so having something big enough to play on without being as big as an iPad or Galaxy Tab, especially a laptop, is pretty nice.

Even though it’s a little larger, the Astra still fits perfectly in that in-between space for me. It has a 9-inch screen, but RedMagic has packed it into a neat little tablet that fits in my back pocket. The design is reminiscent of the iPad Mini with its rounded edges and flat sides, but the edges are symmetrical and at just 4.9mm wide, it’s thinner than the iPad Mini, making Apple’s smallest tablet look dated.

There’s also a fingerprint sensor in the power button, which is quite welcome, especially considering other, more premium tablets like the OnePlus Pad 3 (or even the Legion Tab) don’t have one. The front camera supports face unlock (only for the tablet itself), and at 9MP, it’s well suited for streaming or video chatting.

The single 13-megapixel rear camera is acceptable, but not much more. That’s fine if you need to use it, but RedMagic has never been known for its great cameras, and that certainly applies here as well.

RedMagic is known for packing its devices with the latest specs you could want, and the Astra continues that trend. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, up to 24GB of LPDDR5x RAM, and up to 1TB of UFS 4.1 storage. The base model with 12GB of memory and 256GB of storage is $549 and is similar to what you’ll get in the $550 Legion Tab Gen 3 (although Legion regularly It goes on sale for about $100 less). I tested a $699 version of the Astra with 16GB of memory and 512GB of storage. The top-end Astra with 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage is priced at a hefty $899.

The Qualcomm processor complements RedMagic’s own gaming chip, the RedCore R3 Pro. The idea is that the R3 Pro hands off some gaming tasks from the flagship chipset to help maintain peak performance and keep the Snapdragon 8 Elite from throttling sooner.

The 9.1-inch OLED display displays all your favorite games at a resolution of 2400 x 1504 pixels (331 ppi) and a beautifully smooth 165Hz refresh rate. It also gets a brightness of up to 1,600 nits, which is more than enough brightness if you find yourself stuck in the sun. I’d say it’s one of the best screens I’ve seen on tablets and is great for any game. (For comparison, the iPad Mini’s display has a pixel density of 326 ppi.)

All this is powered by an 8,200 mAh battery with support for up to 80W fast charging. I easily had several days of use with this tablet, which included an hour or two of gaming and another hour or two of basic use. In CNET’s YouTube streaming test, it averaged 10 hours and 32 minutes, which is good, but you won’t get that just while gaming. The only downside is that there’s no charger in the box, although you should be able to get a fast charge with most 80W chargers.

Audio-wise, the dual DTS:X Ultra speakers sound pretty good for a small tablet. Of course, you won’t get room-filling sound from the iPad Pro’s four speakers, but it’s also a much larger and much more expensive device. The Astra’s speakers are good for gaming or streaming, but for FPS games or ones where every noise counts, you’ll need some good gaming headphones.

Choose one strange design

RedMagic made a very strange design choice with the Astra by offsetting the USB-C port towards the top of the tablet. This means that the power button is now directly on the other side of the USB-C port, so if you try to use a USB-C controller, you’ll likely have to press the power button when you turn the controller on and off. I tried this in my tests, and although it was annoying, I can’t say it’s enough to stop me from buying it. This didn’t happen once the controller was turned on, and Bluetooth controllers obviously won’t have this problem. (RedMagic would probably appreciate your drop An additional $129 for its Bluetooth gamepad anyway.)

Also, when using the controller, the tablet now sits farther back and becomes a bit unbalanced. Again, this wasn’t a deal breaker for me as I ended up putting the tablet on the table or in my lap, and it felt almost better for me so I didn’t have to hold it as much. Your mileage may vary here, and I understand how uncomfortable it may be for some, but I would say don’t knock it until you try it.

I asked RedMagic why this design was used, and a company representative said that the top-mounted USB-C prevents the charging cable from getting into your hands while charging, so you can still game while plugged in without any issues. This makes sense to me and was one of the issues I encountered while playing on other phones or tablets. Additionally, the side-mounted power button is configured to work with many third-party gaming consoles that have buffer zones to avoid accidental activation. I’d also be willing to bet that even though this tablet is gamer-focused, the customer data shown by RedMagic shows that the number of people playing without a controller is far greater than the number of people playing with a controller.

All the performance you could want

As you might expect from the spec sheet, this thing flies through anything you throw at it. Aside from gaming, I used it as a regular tablet as well, which included browsing, researching new cars (I got the back one, so that was fun), some YouTube clips, and emails. As expected, everything I did was smooth and quick. No issues.

Obviously, being able to play the best games smoothly is an important part of performance, but RedMagic is all about giving you the best gaming experience possible on a mobile device.

All of the most popular games I tried ran great at the highest frame rates possible. It consistently hit 120fps on Call of Duty: Mobile, and RedMagic has promised high refresh support for other popular games, including PUBG, Delta Force, and League of Legends.

RedMagic’s Game Center software allows you to boost frame rates in supported games like Genshin Impact. On mobile, Genshin currently only supports 60fps, but Astra can boost the frame rate to 120fps through the Game Center software.

Plus, thanks to the high-speed wireless connection, streaming games through Game Pass or PlayStation Remote Play work well, making the Astra an all-round mobile gaming powerhouse.

Is it a complete exaggeration for most people? definitely. Is it still ridiculously fun? Heck yes.

	Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 3	Red Magic Astra
Unlimited wildlife	17,320	23,187
CPU Geekbench 6 (single core)	2228	2641
Geekbench 6 CPU (Multi-Core)	6600	7990
Geekbench 6 GPU	16624	19223
Octane 2.0	75924	158865

The software is fast, but don’t expect updates

I was pleasantly surprised by the out-of-the-box Astra experience. Even just a few years ago, RedMagic was still very damaged and looked like something out of a bad sci-fi movie. Recently, the company has toned down its software experience significantly, and it is now completely usable.

However, there is a fair amount of bloatware, but most of it can be easily removed, and the rest is a very clean version of Android. Aside from the gaming space, it’s not much different from what you find on most other Android tablets these days. There are some localization errors scattered around, but it’s certainly more usable than it was just a couple of years ago. RedMagic deserves some credit for how much progress it has made.

But what’s still woefully lagging behind are updates. The Astra runs on Android 15, and frankly, I don’t expect any major updates to the platform. From my past experience with RedMagic devices, you’ll get some security updates over the next 2-3 years, and there’s a chance you could be surprised by a platform update, but the company doesn’t offer a guarantee on that, so don’t hold your breath.

This isn’t a deal breaker for me, as it’s primarily intended as a gaming and entertainment device and not something I’d use for banking or anything personal. As long as the major new games coming out in the next few years work on it – and they certainly will – I’m not too bothered by the lack of updates. The company definitely needs to do a better job of it, but I wouldn’t let that stop you from buying it.

Also, if you are looking for a full set of accessories in the box, you will be disappointed. As I mentioned earlier, there is no charger, however RedMagic will sell you one for $29.90. The screen protector and folio are also available for $24.90 and $39 respectively, but they seem to sell out quickly. And while the Astra has active stylus support, RedMagic doesn’t currently have a stylus as an accessory, although one is expected to be available. This is where the Lenovo Legion Tab has an advantage because there’s a charger, screen protector, and flip case included with the tablet, and you can get a stylus from Lenovo for around $40. It may not have the performance of the Astra, but it’s a better deal in that sense.

The best way to play on the go

So far, I haven’t tested any other small tablet that’s better for gaming than the RedMagic Astra. The Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 3 has last year’s specs, an outdated design, and only one configuration. If you can find it on sale, it’s worth it, but at $549, the Astra is the better option.

The iPad Mini has huge bezels and isn’t anywhere near as powerful as the Astra, plus it’s more expensive. And you’re stuck in Apple’s ecosystem, which has its own set of problems. The higher configurations of the Astra, including the ones I tested, are expensive, and you’ll still have to pay extra for any accessories if you want them. But if you’re a fan of mobile gaming, there’s no better device for it now than the Astra.