The ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Plus is the higher variant of the Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro launched in 2023. It is a powerful yet beautiful gaming smartphone with improved features over its predecessor. The Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro+ is equipped with a flat back design, an impressive AMOLED display, a dual 50MP Samsung GN5 ISOCELL sensor with the macro lens on the rear, and an under-display fingerprint. This Android device is also equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset with the ICE 13 Magic Cooling system and a 5500 mAh battery with support for 165W fast charging feature.

Design

Basically, the ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Plus and Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro share a similar design with just some slight changes here and there. The smartphone maintains its boxy design from its predecessor the Nubia Red Magic 8 series. It is flat, solid with sharp edges.

It continues the signature boxy design of its predecessor, the Red Magic 8S series, with a few subtle refinements. Maintaining its flat and solid structure with sharp edges, this model showcases Nubia’s commitment to a distinct, gaming-oriented aesthetic.

Constructed with a glass front, aviation-grade aluminum middle frame, and a glass back, the ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Plus incorporates a transparent element to the rear design. However, considering the size, this design might not be ideal for single-handed use but it prioritizes stability and long gaming sessions. It measures 164 x 76.4 x 8.9 mm (6.46 x 3.01 x 0.35 in) and weighs 229g—making it less suitable for single-handed use.

Furthermore, this device features a 6.8-inch full-screen display with minimal bezels, complemented by an under-display front camera for a seamless look.

The rear design is sleek and flat, with the camera module integrated behind the glass panel, creating a smooth and uninterrupted surface. Notably, below the first two flush cameras, there is a cooling fan with an LED strip, cleverly designed to resemble a third camera sensor.  The ICE 13 Magic Cooling system features 10 layers of precision cooling, with an active cooling fan and a large VC heat spreading plate.

This active cooling system, while enhancing performance, likely contributes to the phone’s lack of an IP rating for water and dust resistance. There is also air vents flanking the cooling fan to ensure efficient heat dissipation during intense gaming sessions.

Adding to its distinctive design, the Red Magic 9 Pro Plus features an ’09’ decal with RGB lighting, enhancing its futuristic look. The device is equipped with shoulder trigger buttons integrated into the frame for superior gaming control, positioned for easy access during landscape mode gaming. Meanwhile, the glass back, though visually appealing, can attract fingerprints and scratches.

Similarly to the RedMagic 9 Pro, the Pro Plus version has a volume rocker and a circular power button on the right side. This side also houses the switch for the Gaming Space Center, providing quick access to gaming tools. Furthermore, there are two vent openings for the cooling fan and three microphones on both sides frame.

The bottom of the 5G phone includes the SIM card tray, USB-C connector, and loudspeaker grille. The top features a 3.5mm audio jack, a second speaker grille, and an IR blaster, adding versatility to the device.

Display

The front of the ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro+ is dominated by a 6.8-inch AMOLED screen that incorporates an under-display front camera, achieving a remarkable 93.7% screen-to-body ratio.

This display utilizes BOE’s advanced Q9+ light-emitting material, enhancing brightness to an impressive 1600 nits. This material also optimizes visual effects, such as reducing color shift and improving dark light performance. It also offers 100% sRGB and DCI-P3 color gamut, ensuring vibrant and accurate color reproduction.

Furthermore, the display specifications include a resolution of 1116 x 2480 pixels, which ensures that text, images, and videos appear clear and crisp resulting in sharper and more detailed images. It also sports a 20:9 aspect ratio, and a pixel density of approximately 400 ppi.

The display supports a high refresh rate of 120Hz, making the gaming experience exceptionally smooth and clear. Users can choose from four refresh rate modes: 60Hz, 90Hz, 120Hz, and Auto, allowing for tailored performance based on different usage scenarios, all protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 for durability.

Overall, the ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Plus offers a cutting-edge screen that excels in brightness, color accuracy, and smoothness, making it ideal for gaming and multimedia consumption.

Camera

The Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro+ features a robust camera system is designed to deliver high-quality images and videos across various scenarios. The combination of high-resolution sensors, advanced autofocus, and stabilization technologies ensures that users can capture detailed, vibrant, and stable photos and videos.

Although, it has the same triple rear and single front camera setup as the original Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro version it still features some minor upgrades here and there.

The primary camera is equipped with a 50 MP Samsung GN1 sensor, which features an aperture of f/1.88. This lens uses a large 1/1.31″ sensor with 1-micron pixel size, ensuring high image quality and excellent light capture, particularly in low-light conditions. It features Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF) enhancing stability and focus accuracy, making it ideal for capturing detailed and sharp images.

Furthermore, the ultra-wide camera also boasts a 50 MP resolution using the Samsung S5KJN1 sensor. It has an aperture of f/2.2 and a sensor size of 1/2.76″, with pixels measuring 1.12 microns. This lens allows for wider field-of-view shots, perfect for landscape photography and large group photos.  It also features a digital stabilization which helps reduce motion blur, although it might not be as effective as OIS in extreme conditions, hence the company refers to both the main and ultrawide as optical anti-shake cameras.

Additionally, for close-up photography, the Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Plus has a 2 MP macro lens with an f/2.4 aperture that uses a GalaxyCore GC02M1 sensor. This lens features a 1/5″ sensor size and 1.75-micron pixels, making it suitable for capturing fine details of small objects. However, with only digital stabilization, it might require steady hands or a tripod for the best results.

The front-facing camera is a 16 MP shooter using the Omnivision OV16A1Q sensor. It features an f/2.0 aperture and a 1/3.06″ sensor size with 1.12-micron pixels. Although it lacks autofocus, the selfie camera supports digital stabilization, ensuring smooth video capture. It can record videos in 1080p at 60 FPS, offering clear and high-resolution selfies and video calls.

For video capabilities, the ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Plus also excels in video recording. The main camera can shoot 8K videos at 30fps, 4K videos at 30/60fps, and 1080p videos at varying frame rates up to 240fps, providing flexibility for different video recording needs. The ultra-wide and macro lenses contribute to versatile shooting options, although their primary strength lies in still photography. Meanwhile, the front camera only shoots a 1080p video at 30/60fps.

Hardware and Software

The ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro+ is powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, a formidable piece of hardware designed to deliver top-tier performance. This octa-core processor is arranged in a 1+3+2+2 configuration, featuring one Cortex-X4 core clocked at 3.3 GHz for the most demanding tasks, three Cortex-A720 cores running at 3.15 GHz for high performance, two Cortex-A720 cores at 2.96 GHz for balanced efficiency and lastly two Cortex-A520 cores at 2.27 GHz for power-saving operations.

Furthermore, this 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset integrates a Hexagon neural processor (NPU), enhancing AI capabilities across the device. This 6th generation AI engine accelerates AI-powered features in games and applications, such as image recognition, game optimization, and voice assistant performance. These enhancements are particularly beneficial for gaming, as they can improve frame rates, reduce latency, and enhance the overall gaming experience.

For graphics, the ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Plus features the Adreno 750 GPU with 3072 shading units running at a clock speed of 770 MHz. This GPU delivers approximately 4435.2 GFLOPS, ensuring exceptional graphical performance for gaming and multimedia applications. It also supports Unreal Engine 5.2 and Frame Motion Engine 2.0 further optimizes gaming performance, providing smoother and more immersive gameplay experiences.

Meanwhile, the Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro+ comes equipped with up to 24GB of LPDDR5 RAM, making it one of the most powerful smartphones on the market for multitasking and app performance. The storage options range from 256GB to a massive 1TB, utilizing UFS 4.0 technology. This provides ample space and fast read/write speeds for storing games, apps, and media.

To handle the heat generated by the powerful hardware, Nubia has incorporated an upgraded ten-layer ICE 13.0 Cooling System. This includes a physical fan that activates during gaming sessions, ensuring the device remains cool under heavy load and maintains optimal performance.

Battery and Charging

The device is powered by a substantial 5500 mAh non-removable battery. Furthermore, this gaming smartphone has 165W wired charging support, compared to the 80W on the Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro. This means the device can charge to 100% in just 16 minutes as advertised by the company. This ensures that users can quickly get back to their activities without prolonged downtime.

Connectivity

For connectivity options, the Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro Plus supports the latest connectivity standards, including WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, and NFC, ensuring fast and reliable connections across a variety of devices and networks.