I had the opportunity to borrow the REDMAGIC Astra gaming tablet, so here is my review.
The First Small Tablet with an OLED Display
The REDMAGIC Astra gaming tablet is a small tablet equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Elite.
While previous small tablets have exclusively featured LCD displays, the REDMAGIC Astra surprisingly adopts a 9.06-inch 2400 x 1504 resolution OLED screen.
Color representation and brightness have also been improved, and the back is almost completely flat, so it doesn’t wobble when placed on a desk.
Overall, its specs surpass the Lenovo Legion Y700 Gen 4, and it looks to be the number one small tablet of the year.
This review is based on the 12GB+256GB version running REDMAGICOS10.5.7MR1_NP05J_GB.
- High performance with Snapdragon 8 Elite
- Vibrant OLED display
- Nearly flat back with no wobbling
- 8,200mAh battery with bypass charging support
- Video output support via USB 3.2 Gen 2 port
- IP54 water and dust resistance
- Slightly high power consumption
- Speakers lack bass impact
| REDMAGIC Astra Gaming Tablet | Lenovo Legion Y700 Gen 4 (TB-322FC) | |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Android 15 | Android 15 |
| RAM | 12GB / 16GB / 24GB LPDDR5T | 12GB / 16GB LPDDR5X Ultra |
| Storage | 256GB / 512GB / 1TB UFS 4.1 Pro | 256GB / 512GB UFS 4.1 |
| SoC | Snapdragon 8 Elite | Snapdragon 8 Elite |
| Display | 9.06-inch 2400 x 1504 Aspect Ratio 16:10 165Hz Refresh Rate OLED |
8.8-inch 3040 x 1904 Aspect Ratio 16:10.02 165Hz Refresh Rate LCD |
| Size | 207 x 134.2 x 6.9mm | 207.58 x 128.5 x 6.99mm |
| Weight | Measured 369.8g | Measured 346.7g |
| Rear Camera | 13MP | 50MP |
| Front Camera | 9MP | 8MP |
| Battery | 8,200mAh | 7,600mAh |
| USB Port | USB Type-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2) | USB Type-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2 + USB 2.0) |
Index
A charging cable and stickers are included.
No protective film is applied.
Display: A Beautiful 165Hz OLED Screen
The REDMAGIC Astra features a 9.06-inch 2400 x 1504 resolution OLED display.
…You might feel it looks a bit different from the renders, but when I actually measured the bezel width, it was 4.9mm, so it is indeed thin.
The colors are vivid and well-rendered, allowing you to enjoy videos and games with a more beautiful display than LCD tablets.
The pixel arrangement is a type similar to Shift BRBG (Shift S-Stripe RGB).
A similar arrangement is used in Galaxy tablets and the Nintendo Switch (OLED model).
The Chinese version, the REDMAGIC Gaming Tablet 3 Pro, was initially advertised with terms like “Real RGB arrangement,” but those posts have since been deleted.
When I measured the brightness with an LX-1336B while displaying a full white image at maximum brightness, it reached a peak of 988 nits.
It’s perfectly visible even outdoors in daylight.
It’s a unit that indicates the level of brightness; the higher the number, the brighter it is.
It’s generally said that 400-500 nits are needed for indoor viewing, and 800-1000 nits for outdoor viewing to be comfortable.
Incidentally, many devices limit the maximum brightness unless auto-brightness is turned on.
It supports a 165Hz refresh rate.
It also supports 120Hz and 144Hz, but these cannot be selected in the display settings.
When I measured the touch sampling rate with the Touch Sample Rate Tester, the Movement Rate was around 240Hz on average for both single-touch and multi-touch.
It’s related to the sensitivity of the screen when you touch it.
A higher number generally means it responds more quickly to touches.
However, the final touch latency is not determined by this alone; other factors can influence it, sometimes resulting in greater overall touch delay.
As a rule of thumb, a Movement Rate that is about twice the screen’s refresh rate is average. If it’s over three times, it’s high, and for gaming phones, it’s often around 5 to 6 times.
The total touch latency measured with the WALT Latency Timer was 36.1ms.
It’s the time it takes for the screen to respond after you touch it.
The smaller this number, the faster the response.
Gaming phones typically have around 25ms, while standard smartphones are generally in the 30-40ms range.
With Widevine L1, you can enjoy high-quality streaming playback on services like Amazon Prime Video.
It supports gesture controls like double-tap to turn the screen on/off and three-finger gestures for split-screen or screenshots.
The three-finger gesture can interfere with multi-touch, so it’s a good idea to disable it for games using the blacklist feature.
Back: Flat and Doesn’t Wobble
The back has a matte finish, which makes fingerprints and smudges less noticeable.
The area around the camera is made of glass and features logos like the Snapdragon emblem.
Only the flash protrudes slightly to protect the glass from scratches, but the rest is flat, so it doesn’t wobble when placed on a desk.
Next to the flash, there is a cooling fan that turns on during gaming or charging to dissipate heat efficiently.
The weight is 369.8g.
Compared to the Lenovo Legion Y700 Gen 4, which weighs a measured 346.7g, it is heavier. However, considering the REDMAGIC Astra has a larger battery capacity and a cooling fan, the 23.1g difference seems acceptable.
Speakers: Symmetrical
The REDMAGIC Astra is equipped with stereo speakers that are symmetrical.
While the volume is sufficient, only the mid-lows and vocals stand out, making it difficult to hear deep bass and high-hats, resulting in a lack of impact.
DTS sound is available, so switching to music mode and boosting the bass helps a little.
Checking the supported codecs with Bluetooth Codec Changer revealed support for AAC / aptX / aptX HD / aptX Adaptive / LDAC / LHDC.
LHDC V5 compatible earphones are not restricted by manufacturer and can be used with other brands.
The audio latency is 32.2ms, and it remained unchanged even with DTS sound turned off.
Ports: Positioned Higher to Be Less Obtrusive
The REDMAGIC Astra is IP54 water and dust resistant, so it will continue to function without issue even if it gets a little wet.
The USB Type-C port, which supports USB 3.2 Gen 2, is positioned slightly above the center, making it less obtrusive when charging in landscape mode.
However, this makes it difficult to attach clamp-style controllers that grip the tablet.
Video output to a monitor via DisplayPort Alt Mode is also possible, allowing you to enjoy games on a larger screen.
It supports 80W fast charging, with options to stop charging at 80% or to disable fast charging.
It also supports charge separation (bypass charging), allowing for long gaming sessions while reducing battery heat and strain.
It supports Wi-Fi 7 and 6GHz, and I was able to connect at a link speed of 5187Mbps.
The power and volume buttons are located on the top left, and the power button also houses a fingerprint sensor.
The red switch is for launching game mode, but it can be reassigned to other functions in the settings.
Performance: Slightly High Power Consumption During Gaming
The REDMAGIC Astra is equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Elite, and thanks to its cooling fan, it delivers top-tier performance among small tablets.
It also supports frame interpolation in games like Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail.
In Geekbench 6, the package name spoofed version (= not affected by the manufacturer’s unfair boosting) scored 899 in single-core and 5022 in multi-core, while the regular version scored 2629 in single-core and 8048 in multi-core.
The significant difference suggests that it is using package name detection to control performance.
A succession of manufacturers have been caught cheating by identifying popular benchmark apps like AnTuTu by their package names and then loosening thermal controls or locking high clock speeds to make scores look better during the benchmark.
This behavior is different from normal app usage, which can lead to situations where “benchmarks are good, but other apps don’t run that well.”
Since each manufacturer’s boosting behavior is different, comparing boosted results is meaningless.
Therefore, it’s important to change the package name to disguise it as a general app to get a correct, non-boosted score.
It’s a benchmark that quantifies the CPU’s processing performance, used in tasks like background blurring and text processing.
Single-core performance is important for light, everyday tasks, while multi-core performance is crucial for heavy games.
A single-core score of 1200 and a multi-core score of 3000 or more should be comfortable for most uses.
In the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme Stress Test with a spoofed package name, the score went from 5970 to 3475.
This indicates a tuning that aims to suppress power consumption outside of gaming.
Wild Life Extreme uses the Vulkan API and quantifies GPU performance with graphics at a 3840×2160 resolution.
A higher score means smoother 3D rendering in games, and high Stability means the device can maintain high performance for extended periods.
It’s just a general, simplified indicator for Vulkan API usage. Considering that popular games rarely use the Vulkan API, the score isn’t very useful, and its main purpose is to check the heat generation during GPU usage.
It only allows for inferences like, “If it performs well in Vulkan, it will likely perform well in OpenGL,” or “If it tends to heat up, it will be difficult to maintain FPS in actual games.”
In PCMark Work 3.0 (spoofed package name version), which measures performance in everyday tasks like document editing, the score was 15203.
It’s a benchmark that quantifies processing performance in tasks like web browsing and image/video editing.
A higher score means faster processing, but the balance with battery consumption is also important, so a lower score isn’t necessarily bad.
A score of 8000 or more is sufficient.
It is equipped with UFS 4.1 Pro storage and LPDDR5T memory.
Sequential and memory copy speeds were somehow slow, so when I ran CPDT Benchmark after setting it as a game app, the read/write speeds changed significantly.
It seems to unleash its full potential only during gaming, without worrying about power consumption.
Sequential read/write speeds affect the read/write speed for large file copies and video encoding/decoding.
Random read/write speeds are for small file read/write operations, and this speed is important when using apps and games.
When playing the CPU-intensive game Genshin Impact for 30 minutes in performance mode, highest graphics, 60FPS setting, in Natlan (moving along a path while using skills in combat), and measured with Scene 8, it averaged 59.7 FPS with a power consumption of 117.25mW per FPS.
The battery temperature rose to a maximum of about 37.9°C.
The Lenovo Legion Y700 Gen 4 averaged 59.9 FPS with a power consumption of 146.08mW per FPS and a battery temperature of 43.1°C, so compared to that, it has lower heat generation and better power efficiency.
This is likely influenced not only by tuning but also by the screen resolution being slightly lower than the Y700 Gen 4.
Lower power consumption per FPS indicates better power efficiency.
Good power efficiency means less battery drain, while poor efficiency leads to rapid consumption.
Phones with poor power efficiency in games tend to have high battery consumption in other apps as well, often making the battery feel like it drains quickly.
Average FPS (frames per second) indicates how smoothly the display can be maintained, with higher being better.
(To be more precise, a high average FPS with fewer “junks” or stutters results in a better perceived smoothness.)
In Genshin Impact, frame interpolation and upscaling are possible.
Frame interpolation can also be used in other games besides Genshin Impact, such as Honkai: Star Rail, Zenless Zone Zero, Call of Duty: Mobile, and PUBG Mobile.
When playing the GPU-intensive game Honkai: Star Rail for 30 minutes in performance mode, highest graphics, in Penacony’s “Golden Hour” while repeatedly using Acheron’s technique, it averaged 57.1 FPS.
The battery temperature rose to 46.3°C, and the power consumption was a bit high at 9W.
Compared to the Lenovo Legion Y700 Gen 4, it maintains a higher average FPS while keeping heat and power consumption lower.
Summary
- High performance with Snapdragon 8 Elite
- Vibrant OLED display
- Nearly flat back with no wobbling
- 8,200mAh battery with bypass charging support
- Video output support via USB 3.2 Gen 2 port
- IP54 water and dust resistance
- Slightly high power consumption
- Speakers lack bass impact
The REDMAGIC Astra features a flat design on both sides, a 9.06-inch OLED display, and boasts top-level specs among small tablets.
In addition to a cooling system that can unleash the full power of the Snapdragon 8 Elite, it is also equipped with a graphics chip capable of frame interpolation and upscaling, and its support for bypass charging enables long gaming sessions.