Heads-up, gamers: The RedMagic 8S Pro and RedMagic 8S Pro Plus are now official for the Chinese market, debuting as the first non-Samsung smartphones powered by a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 2 5G chipset, a faster variant of Qualcomm’s flagship chip.

(Update, September 8: Here’s how much the RedMagic 8S Pro is in the Philippines!)

Compared to the regular version, the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 2 bumps the prime core to 3.36GHz from 3.2GHz and increases the GPU clock speed to 719MHz. On paper, this would translate to about a 5% improvement in performance, so it’s not exactly groundbreaking by any means.

What’s more impressive to us, however, is that the RedMagic 8S Pro Plus also arrives as the first phone to have a 24GB RAM version, coupled with 1TB of UFS 4.0 storage.

RedMagic says the 8S Pro series will also launch in international markets (including the Philippines probably) and will be available globally starting July 27. Preorders are now live in China, with the domestic release slated for July 11.

In China, the RedMagic 8S series is priced as follows:

• RedMagic 8S Pro
  • 8GB/256GB: ¥4,399 (around P33,654 or $607)
  • 12GB/256GB: ¥4,799 (P36,714 or $663)/¥4,999 (P38,244 or $690) for Aurora color
  • 12GB/512GB: ¥5,499 (P42,069 or $759)/¥5,699 (P43,599 or $787) for Aurora color
• RedMagic 8S Pro Plus
  • 16GB/256GB: ¥5,499 (P42,069 or $759)/¥5,699 (P43,599 or $787) for Aurora color
  • 16GB/512GB: ¥5,799 (P44,364 or $801) /¥5,999 (P45,894 or $828) for Aurora color/¥6,499 (P49,719 or $897) for Bumblebee Edition (available from August 2023)
  • 16GB/1TB: ¥6,999 (P53,544 or $966) for Aurora color
  • 24GB/1TB: ¥7,499 (P57,369 or $1,035) for Aurora color

In terms of design, the S-model upgrade brings few changes over its predecessor and features the same aluminum frame with two shoulder triggers and 6.8-inch AMOLED display with 2,480 x 1,116 resolution and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on top. The panel offers a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, 960Hz touch sampling, 1,300 nits of brightness as well as DC dimming.

For pictures, you get a 50-megapixel Samsung GN5 main image sensor and a 16-megapixel under-display camera for selfies, same as the previous model. The RedMagic 8S Pro packs a 6,000mAh battery alongside fast wired charging up to 80 watts out of the box.

Meanwhile, the Plus variant is equipped with a smaller 5,000mAh cell, but allows for faster charging at 165 watts using the bundled charger. RedMagic says the 165-watt power brick can fully recharge the phone in just 14 minutes.

Finally, RedMagic is also releasing the limited-edition Bumblebee Edition of the RedMagic 8S Pro Plus, which sports a unique yellow-and-black rear design and comes with a number of color-matched accessories, including an external cooler in bright yellow and a clear case with the Autobots insignia.

RedMagic 8S Pro specs

• 6.8-inch AMOLED display with 2,480 x 1,116 resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, 960Hz touch sampling rate, Gorilla Glass 5
• 4nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 2 5G chipset
• Adreno 740 GPU
• 8GB/12GB LPDDR5X RAM
• 256GB/512GB UFS 4.0 storage
• 50-megapixel main, 8-megapixel ultrawide, and 2-megapixel macro cameras
• 16-megapixel under-display front camera
• Under-display fingerprint reader
• 6,000mAh battery
• 80-watt wired charging
• ICE 12.0 cooling system with built-in cooling fan
• Two shoulder triggers
• RedMagic OS 8 based on Android 13
• Colors: Midnight, Platinum, Aurora

RedMagic 8S Pro Plus specs

• 6.8-inch AMOLED display with 2,480 x 1,116 resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, 960Hz touch sampling rate, Gorilla Glass 5
• 4nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 2 5G chipset
• Adreno 740 GPU
• 12GB/16GB/24GB LPDDR5X RAM
• 256GB/512GB/1TB UFS 4.0 storage
• 50-megapixel main, 8-megapixel ultrawide, and 2-megapixel macro cameras
• 16-megapixel under-display front camera
• Under-display fingerprint reader
• 5,000mAh battery
• 165-watt wired charging
• ICE 12.0 cooling system with built-in cooling fan
• Two shoulder triggers
• RedMagic OS 8 based on Android 13
• Colors: Midnight, Platinum, Aurora, Bumblebee Edition

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