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RedMagic Astra 2: Two-minute review
Having conquered the gaming phone space by outlasting the competition, RedMagic has decided to take its RGB-lit fight to the tablet market.
The RedMagic Astra 2 is the company’s third globally available gaming tablet, and the second in a row to adopt a more compact iPad Mini-like form factor.
Like its immediate predecessor (and indeed its phones), the RedMagic Astra 2 offers flagship performance at a mid-market price. Thanks to the combination of a top-end Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor and a new liquid cooling system — the first of its kind in a tablet — it offers range-topping sustained performance.
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The Astra 2’s 9.06-inch OLED display doesn’t offer the most expansive gaming canvas, but it still covers an awful lot of bases. It’s sufficiently portable, nice and punchy, plenty sharp enough, and it gets to a scorching 185Hz in the few games that support it.
Other gamer-friendly improvements include a slightly lighter body and a fractionally larger battery, together with zippy 75W wired charging. The provision of a second USB-C port is another benefit for those looking to indulge in extended gaming sessions.
RedMagic’s software offering is as unlovable as ever, though its Game Space UI offers a unique window onto the mobile gaming world. It’s ideal for those who like to tweak and optimize their games to the nth degree.
The main trouble here is a decidedly 2026 one. The Astra 2’s price has increased dramatically, so much so that it’s now within range of Apple’s mighty iPad Air (2026) and several classy Android tablets.
For all-round gaming chops, however, there’s no other tablet that can quite match it.
RedMagic Astra 2 review: price and availability
- Global availability from August 2026
- From £599 / $749
- Much more expensive than before
The RedMagic Astra 2 goes on sale in late August, with availability confirmed for the US, UK, Australia, and much of Europe, among other territories.
You can pre-order it now from the official RedMagic website.
While it isn’t among the more expensive tablets on the market, the RedMagic Astra 2 has received a rather alarming price increase. Doubtless prompted by the current AI-driven RAM shortage, the new tablet starts from £599 / $749 for a model with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage.
That’s a price bump of £160 / $200, or around 36%, over last year’s RedMagic Astra, which is a little hard to stomach given that the Astra 2 only really offers the expected level of annual spec upgrades. You can also opt to double your storage and increase the RAM to 16GB at a cost of £679 / $849.
Still, while price hikes are never welcome, they are understandable at this point in 2026. Besides, the RedMagic Astra 2 remains a unique value proposition. You won’t find another tablet with this level of performance combined with a super-fluid OLED display for this sort of money.
RedMagic Astra 2 review: specs
| Header Cell – Column 0 | Header Cell – Column 1 |
|---|---|
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Dimensions: |
207.1 x 134.2 x 6.9mm |
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Weight: |
363g |
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Display: |
9.06-inch 2.4K (2,400 x 1,504) up to 185Hz OLED |
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Chipset: |
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 |
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RAM: |
12GB / 16GB |
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Storage: |
256GB / 512GB |
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OS: |
Android 16 with RedMagic OS 11.5 |
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Primary camera: |
13MP |
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Front Camera: |
9MP |
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Battery: |
8,300mAh |
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Charging: |
75W wired |
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Colors: |
Eclipse, Starfrost |
RedMagic Astra 2 review: design
- Solid metal construction with IP54
- Visible liquid cooling system
- 207.1 x 134.2 x 6.9mm
- Weighs 363g
RedMagic has been far more reserved with its tablet design than it has with its gaudy gaming smartphones.
This is a neat, relatively trim mini-tablet with a solid aluminium body in Eclipse (black) or Starfrost (white). It measures just 6.9mm thick, and weighs a reasonable 363g — so it’s a tad lighter than its predecessor. It still feels substantial, but proves quite manageable.
The brand’s gaming aesthetic can be glimpsed through the strip of glass on the rear of the tablet. It’s here that you’ll find a faux transparent section purporting to show some of the tablet’s innards, together with Snapdragon chip branding and an exhortation to “Win More Games”. Thanks — I’m trying.
Out, on this occasion, goes the visible cooling fan of the RedMagic Astra. In its place is a visible manifestation of the brand’s new liquid cooling system. Like the RedMagic 11S Pro, this presents as a bunch of white globules snaking along a path that’s illuminated (in a color of your choosing) by RGB lighting.
While the effect isn’t quite as effective here as it is in the company’s latest flagship phone, it remains pretty cool (no pun intended) without looking too tacky.
Another new inclusion this year is a second USB-C port on the longer edge of the tablet. This makes for a much more comfortable experience when playing while charging, as dedicated gamers are wont to do.
I continue to find it a bit of an odd omission that there’s no Nintendo Switch 2-style kickstand here — especially as the lack of capacitive air triggers (as found on RedMagic’s phones) indicates that this device is intended to be used with a Bluetooth controller.
The drop in size from the original RedMagic Nova tablet has seen that device’s quad speakers jettisoned in favor of a dual set, though the output is perfectly loud and clear, and there’s DTS:X Ultra support. I have an issue with the placement of these speakers, however, as they’re too easy to block when playing landscape gaming content — which is surely the whole point of the exercise.
I’m not hugely fond of the tablet’s haptic motor either, which feels flabby and rattly rather than the tight, controlled pulses of more expensive devices.
RedMagic Astra 2 review: display
- 9.06-inch OLED with 2.4K resolution
- Speedy 185Hz refresh rate
- 1,600-nit peak brightness
The RedMagic Astra 2 uses the same 9.06-inch display size as its predecessor, which makes it more of a mini-tablet than the 10.9-inch RedMagic Nova Tablet.
Forget about the size difference, though, because this is a much better screen than the Nova’s. It’s an OLED display, which brings the benefits of proper HDR implementation, vibrant colors, and perfect black reproduction.
There’s a sharp 2,400 x 1,504 (2.4K) resolution, and RedMagic has bumped the maximum refresh rate even higher from 165Hz to 185Hz. True, this is something of a gimmick given that the vast majority of games won’t make the most of it, but if ever there’s an excuse to ramp things up, it’s with a gaming tablet.
Thankfully, if there is a game that runs at such elevated frame rates, the RedMagic Astra 2 is potent enough to capitalize. More on that in a moment.
Brightness levels are good, with a maximum full-screen brightness of 1,100 nits in high brightness mode and 1,800 nits of peak brightness in HDR situations.
Hardcore competitive gamers might grumble about the 16:10 aspect ratio that RedMagic has selected, as it’s arguably not optimal for landscape action games.
Those with more rounded tastes will appreciate that it still looks good with traditional landscape games — especially those of a more tactical nature — and also works nicely when scrolling through web content in portrait view; Android tablets with wider screens don’t give you the same versatility.
Interestingly, the Astra 2’s display is coated in Gorilla Glass 3, which is a pretty old material at this point, having launched all the way back in 2013.
RedMagic Astra 2 review: Performance & camera
- Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset
- 12GB or 16GB RAM
- 256GB or 512GB storage
- 13MP rear camera and 9MP front-facing
RedMagic has equipped its new gaming tablet with exactly the same Snapdragon Elite Gen 5 chip as its latest gaming phone, the RedMagic 11S Pro.
This remains the fastest chip on the market for any Android device. Combined with either 12 or 16GB of RAM (there’s no 24GB option this year), it makes for extremely strong performance.
This is aided by an all-new cooling system, which is the first of its kind in a widely available tablet. As we’ve already discussed in the Design section, RedMagic has replaced its usual physical cooling fan with a liquid system.
Much like the previous fan-driven approach, this liquid system serves to enable the RedMagic Astra 2 to run demanding games smoothly for longer. When normal tablets run hot — as they invariably do after a short while playing games — they throttle back, reducing clock speeds and thus diminishing performance. That effect is mitigated here.
Running 3DMark’s demanding Solar Bar Extreme Stress Test, which conducts 20 consecutive minute-long GPU workouts, the Astra 2 scored an impressive 99%. This means that the best GPU loop test was nigh-on identical to the worst, indicating that it was running flat-out throughout.
As for the level of performance itself, it’s right near the top of the tablet pack. There aren’t all that many top-end tablets running on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, so the Astra 2 is just about the fastest tablet this side of an iPad Air or Pro.
It positively obliterates the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra and the Honor MagicPad 4, scoring 3725 in Geekbench single-core and 11,678 in multi-core.
Practically speaking, the Astra 2 will run Destiny: Rising smoothly at either High Rendering Quality and Ultra Frame Rate (120fps) or Ultra RQ/High FR (60fps).
There’s just a solitary 13MP camera on the rear and a 9MP camera on the front. It should surprise and dismay no one to learn that neither is very good, though the main camera will grab you a passable shot in good lighting.
(Image credit: Future)
RedMagic Astra 2 review: software
- RedMagic OS 11.5 on Android 16
- Cluttered yet speedy UI
- Dedicated Game Space UI for gaming optimization
RedMagic OS 11.5 runs atop Android 16 on the Astra 2, and it’s precisely as charmless as I found it to be on the RedMagic 11S Pro smartphone.
RedMagic isn’t the only Android manufacturer that finds tinkering with Google’s powerful yet concise Android OS irresistible. They’re all at it.
I’ll even give the company credit for the progress it has made. No more is this UI filled to the brim with superfluous widgets, glitches, and examples of untranslated Chinese text. It’s reasonably well put together, with smooth-enough animations and logical menu layouts, and Google’s Feed is mercifully included to the left of the main home screen.
It’s far from a looker, however, and there’s plenty of bloatware. Booking.com, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, AliExpress, and several ropey games come preinstalled, whether you like it or not. RedMagic itself includes its own duplicate web browser, and there are dedicated app icons leading to yet more iffy app installations.
The highlight of RedMagic OS has always been the company’s Game Space UI. Flip the tactile red switch on the top edge of the tablet, and you’ll jump into a dedicated gaming UI.
Here you can add games, optimize performance levels on a game-by-game basis, block notifications, and even initiate plugins for selected titles. The latter include an AI coach that gives you tactical suggestions based on the live scenario, a resolution booster, visual audio indicators, and much more.
For the average user, none of this will be of any consequence whatsoever — it’s fiddly, technical, downright nerdy stuff. But this isn’t a tablet that’s been built for such average users. It’s for gamers seeking an edge in successive rounds of PUBG Mobile or Mobile Legends: Bang Bang.
RedMagic Astra 2 review: battery
- 8,300mAh battery
- 75W wired charging
RedMagic has equipped its tablet with an 8,300mAh battery, which is fractionally larger than the cell inside the original Astra, though much smaller than the one powering the RedMagic Nova Tablet.
For a tablet of this size, 8,300mAh is plenty. For regular non-gaming use, you’ll be able to get through a full working day of constant use, or several days of more normal (i.e., infrequent) use before you need to charge.
Games will obviously sap that time more quickly, but you can still expect to play multiple hours of the most demanding games before the Astra 2 finally gives up the ghost.
When it comes time to recharge, the Astra 2 supports 75W wired charging. You won’t get such a provision in the box, but using a compatible Nubia charger, I was able to secure 65% charge in just 30 minutes, and a full charge in less than an hour.
The provision of that second USB-C port on the bottom edge of the device makes it comfortable to charge while you’re gaming or otherwise using the tablet in landscape orientation, too.
Should you buy the RedMagic Astra 2?
|
Attributes |
Notes |
Rating |
|---|---|---|
|
Design |
It’s not subtle, but the Astra 2 feels solid in the hand, and its visible liquid cooling system is a fun flourish. |
3.5 / 5 |
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Display |
It’s not the most expansive screen out there, but it’s bright, sharp, and extremely responsive, with an aspect ratio that covers all bases. |
4 / 5 |
|
Performance |
As fast as Android tablets get, especially with its unique liquid cooling system. |
5 / 5 |
|
Battery |
Decent capacity and fast charging, with the added bonus of a second USB-C port. |
4 / 5 |
|
Software |
Not a particularly slick or inviting UI, with too much bloatware, but it optimizes Gaming content. |
3 / 5 |
|
Value |
Not as cheap as before, but you’ll still struggle to get this performance for similar money. |
4 / 5 |
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
RedMagic Astra 2 review: also consider
Want a reasonably priced yet powerful tablet? Check out these alternatives:
How I tested the RedMagic Astra 2
- Review test period = 3 weeks
- Testing included = Everyday usage, including web browsing, photography, gaming, streaming video, music playback
- Tools used = Geekbench 6, 3DMark, native Android stats, Nubia 80W power adapter
First reviewed: July 2026
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