Pros & Cons
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- Competitive gaming performance
- Long battery life
- Responsive display
- Shoulder triggers and other gaming features
- Rapid wired charger in the box
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- Inconsistent cameras
- Limited software support
- No 5G mmWave support
RedMagic 10 Air Specs
| Battery Life (As Tested) | 14 hours, 57 minutes |
| Camera Resolution (Rear; Front-Facing) | 50MP, 50MP; 16MP |
| CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 |
| Dimensions | 6.47 by 3.02 by 0.31 inches |
| Operating System | Android 15 |
| Screen Resolution | 2,480 by 1,116 pixels |
| Screen Size | 6.8 |
Starting at $549, the RedMagic 10 Air is thinner and lighter than its sibling, the $649 RedMagic 10 Pro, while maintaining a similar level of performance. It offers a smooth display, responsive controls, and super-fast charging in an attractive, high-performance package. RedMagic makes a few compromises to keep the price reasonable, which means the Air lacks mmWave 5G, doesn't support wireless charging, and has only so-so cameras. We still heartily recommend it to anyone looking for an affordable gaming phone, but the $499 Google Pixel 9a remains our Editors' Choice and is a better buy for everyone else, thanks to its sharper cameras, powerful AI tools, and long-term software support.
Design: Thinner, But Still Big
The RedMagic 10 Air measures 6.47 by 3.02 by 0.31 inches (HWD) and weighs 7.23 ounces, making it thinner and lighter than the RedMagic 10 Pro (6.43 by 3.00 by 0.35 inches, 8.08 ounces), but bigger and heavier than the Pixel 9a (6.09 by 2.88 by 0.35 inches, 6.56 ounces). Despite the “Air” branding, it only feels thin and light when compared with other gaming phones and not something like the $1,099.99 Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, which measures 0.23 inches thick and weighs 5.75 ounces.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)The Air's boxy body distinguishes it from competitors. While its slightly curved corners feel OK, it's not as comfortable to hold as other phones with gentler curves. It features an aluminum frame and 2012-era Corning Gorilla Glass 5 to protect the large screen from scratches and breakage. A plastic screen protector is pre-applied, and it's hard to miss when swiping along the edges. For durability, the Air is rated IP54, like the 10 Pro. This means it is protected against larger dust particles and sweat or rain, but not full immersion in water. The Pixel 9a can withstand dust and water better, thanks to its more resilient IP68 rating.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)Two capacitive shoulder triggers, a volume rocker, and a circular power button are on the right rail. The volume rocker's location makes it difficult to reach when holding the phone in portrait orientation. An IR transmitter is located on the top edge, while a dual-SIM card tray, USB-C (v2.0) port, and speaker grille are on the bottom edge.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)On the left side, there is a red, circular assignable Magic Key. In the Settings app, there are six options for it: Redmagic AI, Open/Exit GameSpace, Open/Exit Camera, Open/Exit Flashlight, Quickly Switch Sound Mode, and None. I would have liked more options and customizability here, like what Apple allows with its Action Button.
The 10 Air doesn't have a 3.5mm headphone jack like the 10 Pro does. This means you're limited to Bluetooth for private listening, which introduces latency and battery strain that wired headphones would not.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)The 10 Air's back is covered in Panda Glass 2 and features an RGB light, two rear cameras, a RedMagic logo, and the RedMagic wordmark. It comes in three colors: Flame (red/orange), Hailstone (white), or Twilight (black). The Flame version includes stripes and a black bar that encompasses the rear cameras.
Display: Large and Responsive
The front panel is dominated by a 6.8-inch AMOLED display that has a resolution of 2,480 by 1,116 pixels, a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, and a maximum brightness of 1,600 nits. It supports a touch sampling rate of up to 2,000Hz with an average of 960Hz, which means touch input—vital for gaming—is registered near instantaneously.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)For comparison, the 10 Pro has a larger 6.85-inch AMOLED screen with a resolution of 2,688 by 1,216 pixels, a refresh rate up to 144Hz, and a peak brightness of 2,000 nits. Its touch sampling rate reaches 2,500Hz, though its average is also 960Hz.
The Pixel 9a has a smaller 6.3-inch OLED screen with a resolution of 2,424 by 1,080 pixels, a refresh rate of 60 to 120Hz, and a peak brightness of 2,700 nits.
The Air’s screen hides two features: an under-display camera and a fingerprint sensor. You can adjust the brightness of the pixels that hide the camera independently from the rest of the display, which helps reduce its visibility. Generally, it is quite difficult to see the front-facing camera, and the display appears virtually seamless. The fingerprint scanner sits at the bottom of the screen and works reliably in testing.
Performance: Fast Enough
The RedMagic 10 Air runs on a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, which isn't Qualcomm's latest chip, but it offers tremendous power nonetheless. The 10 Air is available in two configurations: 12GB of RAM with 256GB of storage ($549) or 16GB/512GB ($699). Redmagic sent me the latter for review. The black and white models are offered in both memory and storage configurations, while the Flame variant is available only with 16GB/512GB.
The phone employs RedMagic’s ICE-X cooling system, which includes nine layers of thermal materials and "liquid metal" to aid heat dissipation. In testing, it never got hot, even under the heaviest gaming loads.
( Credit: Geekbench/PCMark/GFXBench/PCMag)In Geekbench 6, which measures raw CPU power, the 10 Air scored 2,242 in the single-core test and 7,159 in the multi-core test. That puts it notably behind the 10 Pro (3,029 and 9,361), but ahead of the Pixel 9a (1,704 and 4,425).
On the PCMark Work 3.0 test, which gauges general mobile performance, the 10 Air earned 18,228, again trailing the 10 Pro (24,778) but placing well ahead of the Pixel 9a (12,857).
To assess graphics performance, we use the GFXBench Aztec Ruins test. The 10 Air reached 60fps, matching the 10 Pro while falling just behind the Pixel 9a’s 68fps.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)To measure real-world gaming performance, we test with the resource-intensive Genshin Impact. The 10 Air ran the game beautifully with fluid animations and detailed images, even at the highest graphics settings at 60fps. After a 20-minute gaming session, the back of the phone maintained a comfortable temperature.
The Air's two capacitive shoulder triggers are especially handy for fast-paced games. Each trigger supports a 520Hz touch sampling rate, so presses register quickly. You can configure them individually per game or choose not to use them at all.
Battery Life: Charge Fully in Less Than an Hour
RedMagic packs a 6,000mAh battery into the Air, which is about 1,000mAh more than those in most phones, but 1,000mAh less than the 10 Pro. It charges at up to 80W and comes with a fast charger in the box. The Air supports bypass charging (a staple of gaming phones), which means you can power the device directly without charging the battery. This reduces heat generation, which in turn improves the phone's performance and extends the battery's lifespan. On the other hand, the phone doesn't support wireless charging.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)In our battery test, in which we stream a 1080p video over Wi-Fi with the display at full brightness, the 10 Air lasted an impressive 14 hours and 57 minutes. The 10 Pro ran for a similar 14 hours and 25 minutes, while the Pixel 9a lasted 13 hours and 15 minutes.
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When used with its included charger, the 10 Air reached 40% in 15 minutes, 70% in 30 minutes, and 100% in 49 minutes. That time is excellent, though it's not as quick as the 10 Pro, which needed just 36 minutes to reach 100%. Meanwhile, the Pixel 9a (which does not come with a charger) took 1 hour and 35 minutes to reach a full charge in testing.
Connections: Modern Radios
For connectivity, the phone supports 5G (sub-6GHz and C-Band, but not mmWave), Bluetooth 5.4, NFC, and Wi-Fi 7. It can hold two physical SIM cards, but does not support eSIMs.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)On T-Mobile's 5G UC network in New York City, the 10 Air reached a maximum download speed of 445Mbps and an upload speed of 53.5Mbps. For comparison, a Pixel 9a tested in the same spot reached 384Mbps down and 67.1Mbps up.
Having mmWave 5G on board would help gamers most because it has lower latency and faster speeds than sub-6GHz and C-band can provide. Latency plays a significant role in some games.
When connected to a Wi-Fi 6 access point, the RedMagic reached peak speeds of 571Mbps down and 22.3Mbps up. The Pixel 9a hit 441Mbps down and 5.39Mbps up. When I took the phones to the limit of my Wi-Fi network, both performed well. The 10 Air reached 153Mbps down and 23.2Mbps up, while the Pixel 9a reached 244Mbps down and 11.2Mbps up.
Audio: Good for Calls and Media
Call quality is very good. In a test recording, my voice sounded clear and understandable despite a noisy background.
To measure earpiece volume, I placed a decibel meter right on top of the speaker and found it maxed out at 87.3dB. To measure speakerphone volume, I placed the decibel meter six inches below the down-firing speaker, where I recorded a maximum speakerphone volume of 79.2dB. I find volumes at or around 70dB easy to hear, so the phone fares well in all regards.
The Air plays media through the earpiece and down-firing speakers. Together, they are DTS-X certified with Qualcomm Snapdragon Sound. Music sounds full, though the lowest notes of The Knife's "Silent Shout" aren't audible without using a pair of Bluetooth headphones. The phone hits 96.5dB when playing music, which is plenty loud to fill a small room with sound.
Cameras: Inconsistent Colors
The phone's rear panel holds two 50MP cameras. The main shooter has an aperture of f/1.88 and optical image stabilization (OIS), and the ultra-wide has an aperture of f/2.05. The two cameras produce inconsistent colors: the main shooter pushes color saturation too far compared with the ultra-wide. The Air has no dedicated telephoto camera, so zooming relies entirely on digital crop. Apart from color inconsistencies, the cameras capture an impressive amount of detail.
By default, the main camera takes 12.5MP images using pixel binning, but you can get full-resolution pics by changing the settings in the camera app. The 12.5MP binned images are brighter than full-res 50MP pictures.
The ultra-wide camera captures more realistic color than the main camera, but details are on par with those of the main camera.
The 16MP selfie camera produces somewhat hazy photos indoors, with varying detail consistency and some false color. It takes better pictures with bright, outdoor lighting. It also takes photos slowly, so you must wait about a second before taking the next picture. Portrait mode does not blur backgrounds when using the front-facing camera (though it does work using the rear camera). I like that Redmagic keeps trying with the hidden under-display selfie camera, even though the results leave something to be desired.
The rear cameras can shoot up to 8K video at 30 fps, while the front-facing camera records either 720p or 1080p video at 30fps. The 8K sample footage I captured is not stable if you're moving, but its colors are realistic. Dropping down to 4K60 with the main camera yields smooth video, but the colors almost glow. The ultra-wide camera retains steadiness but produces video with more accurate colors. Videos shot with the selfie camera are hazy and soft with desaturated colors.
Software: Gaming Features at Your Command
The 10 Air ships with Android 15 and RedMagic OS 10, which includes various tools to improve the gaming experience. The phone will receive three years of OS and security updates, which is much shorter than Google's seven-year commitment to the Pixel 9a.
The phone organizes your downloaded games in the Game Lobby section of the Game Space app. Games are on the left, while features like Game Notes and your game screenshot library are on the right. When you launch a game, it automatically frees up memory to get the most out of the phone.
(Credit: Iyaz Akhtar)Dragging a finger from either the left or right edge of the screen during gameplay brings up a dashboard. Here, you can see your CPU and GPU clock speeds, choose between performance modes, activate and configure triggers, start a screen recording, and more. I like that you can make adjustments without leaving your game.
(Credit: RedMagic/PCMag)Game Lobby is also the home of Mora, RedMagic's virtual character (not an AI assistant) that can be placed on your home screen. Mora is a female anime character by default, though you can switch it to a cat. Tapping the screen or shaking the phone causes Mora to respond using animations and sound clips. I don't find this feature particularly useful, but it's there if you want it.
Beyond its gaming-focused apps, RedMagic AI adds a sidebar launcher, a real-time translation app, and a wireless connection monitor. The sidebar contains a list of apps and a secondary menu with shortcuts. Android 15 lets you tile two apps at a time, but Redmagic OS 10 lets you launch apps as floating windows.
RedMagic's additions to Android are generally beneficial for gamers, but fall way behind when it comes to AI.