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It's time for Nubia's annual refresh of its flagship, and this year's is... a little underwhelming. That's not to say the RedMagic 11S Pro is in any way a bad device, its base Pro model still tops our list of the best gaming phones on the market after all. The problem is there's very little actually different about this S device, apart from the price tag.

Sure, you're going to get a small bump in performance thanks to that Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 'Leading Version' (the same SM8850-1-AD we saw in the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra ), but for $100 more than the RedMagic 11 Pro launched last year, some mathematical gymnastics aren't quite sticking the landing.

The RedMagic 11S Pro looks, weighs, feels, and (for all intents and purposes) plays the same as the original version. This is the same boxy, industrial aesthetic, the same dimensions, the same liquid cooling window. We've got the same 6.85-inch 144Hz OLED display, the same 50MP camera setup to the rear, and the same 7,500mAh battery under the hood. The 11 Pro's top features; wireless charging, IPX8 water resistance, easy monitor and peripheral connection, and 520Hz touch triggers all still remain in place, without any new flashy toys to join them. In fact, it swaps SK Hynix's LPDDR5T RAM of the original, replacing it with LPDDR5X Ultra.

This is still the best dedicated phone for gaming on the market, but the competition it faces from within its own factory proves too strong in 2026.

Key Specs Price

$849 - $949

Display

6.85-inch AMOLED (2688 x 1216) at 144Hz

Processor

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Leading Version

RAM

12GB | 16GB | LPDDR5X Ultra

Storage

256GB | 512GB UFS4.1 Pro

OS

RedMagic OS 11.5 (Android 16)

Cameras

50MP Wide, 50MP Ultrawide (rear) | 16MP under-display selfie

Battery

7,500mAh

Water resistance

IPX8

Dimensions

163.82 x 76.54 x 8.9mm

Weight

230g

What I loved about the RedMagic 11S Pro

(Image credit: Future) Much of what I came to love about the RedMagic 11S Pro can actually be said for the previous model as well. Such is the similarity between these devices, you'll find little in this section that isn't also true of the cheaper device. Still, if you're looking for the slightly boosted processor, you'll be glad to hear that blistering performance, sturdy durability, high-end panel, and unique extra capabilities are all still present.

High-end performance

It's no secret that Nubia produces some of the most powerful gaming phones on the market, that much is evident from in-game performance. These things just don't stutter, running more demanding titles like Genshin Impact and PUBG Mobile in 144Hz refresh rates (where compatible) without breaking a sweat. Every time I come back to the RedMagic 11S Pro I'm treated to incredibly smooth gameplay, excellent motion handling, and immediately responsive controls.

I say all that because Nubia came under fire earlier in the year for boosting its gaming phones' power rates to allegedly unsafe levels when running UL Benchmarks' 3D Mark software. The benchmark brand posited that the RedMagic 11 Pro was caught running in a 'Diablo' power preset when it recognized its software performing tests, a power setting that wasn't automatically toggled when the brand used an off-market version of its program.

The brand stated that, due to the inability to turn this high performance mode off, "3DMark cannot produce results for these models that reflect normal, real-world gaming behavior."

When I took the issue direct to RedMagic earlier this year, the brand provided the following statement:

" REDMAGIC devices support multiple performance modes that can significantly impact output depending on how the device is configured. Our devices are designed to dynamically allocate resources under high-load scenarios, whether in benchmarking environments or real-world use cases such as gaming. These performance capabilities are not limited to specific testing tools; they are part of the overall user experience and can be accessed depending on user settings."

(Their emphasis)

3DMark results are generally used in our reviews to cross-compare devices in a like-for-like performance scenario. While that comparison may not be entirely level here, the RedMagic 11S Pro's performance in-game, when it matters most, speaks for itself.

While I'm hesitant, therefore, to use 3DMark scores to compare the 11S Pro against other competitors' models (thankfully, the gaming phone market is remarkably small these days), it can still serve us when looking between the new release and the original 11 Pro. After all, the scores were still achieved - just not under scenarios that would make them comparable with their competitors'.

With that said, let's take a look at the numbers.

What's clear is the RedMagic 11S Pro extends the 11 Pro's scores by 3.5% (Wild Life Extreme) and 3.8% (Solar Bay). When we're already talking about performance that can take on pretty much anything you throw at it without tanking battery life, that 3-4% performance upgrade isn't going to be worth $100. It's impressive that Nubia managed to take a high-performing gaming phone and inject even more juice into it, but whether or not it's necessary for the vast (vast) majority of gamers is perhaps a more potent question these days.

That's performance that will comfortably take you into emulation territory, extending beyond anything Google Play Store needs from you and locking into more demanding retro experiences. If that's your primary use-case, gathering all the juice you can is going to be a top priority.

The 11S Pro runs my PS2 collection via PPSS22 just fine, it'll only be newer systems that need the extra turbo.

Sturdy design

As you'll no doubt have noticed by now, the RedMagic 11S Pro design is identical to that of the 11 Pro. Some of Nubia's more impressive feats in this engineering, however, deserve another shout with the new release. This is an IPX8-rated gaming phone, able to survive in water for up to 30 minutes at up to 1.5m - that's incredibly rare in this space, especially with all these vents.

(Image credit: Future) The actual chassis can take its knocks as well. A heavy industrial aesthetic is matched with an aviation-grade aluminum mid-frame and the 11-Series has also been upgraded with a Corning Gorilla Glass 7i display sheet.

Aside from all those fancy durability features, though, the 11S Pro just feels dense in the hands. It's no lightweight, matching the main release's 230g form factor, and could prove troublesome in smaller hands or pockets. It is rock solid, though, impossible to feel anything other than premium in the hands.

Excellent display

Again, it's the same as the last release, but the 1,216 x 2,688 OLED display is one of the 11S Pro's best features. In fact, these panels are often some of my favorite parts of any RedMagic device - phone or tablet. It's seriously bright, aggressively punchy, and accommodates high-speed motion (whether it's in-game or on TV) without a single fragmentation.

It keeps its colors, saturation, and detailing in bright sunlight without draining battery life (at least, not to an extent that would be noticeable in a day's use).

In short, whether I'm browsing the web, playing a game, or watching some YouTube, pictures appear bright, bold, colorful, and sharp.

Easy to connect to monitors and peripherals

The RedMagic 11 Pro introduced new streaming and connection features that opened it up to new playstyles for mobile titles, outside of traditional small-screen touch controls. Gravity X is a relatively recent addition to the GameSpace software that allows for easy mapping of a mouse and keyboard (or an additional controller) to onscreen controls in any given game. But it also works both ways.

(Image credit: Future) That's because the 11 Pro and RedMagic 11S Pro can also run on an external monitor with a USB-C dongle and HDMI or DisplayPort connection (or via the RedMagic Studio, if you want a slower wireless casting solution). In this scenario, keyboard and mouse are still open to you, but the phone itself can be configured as a separate controller for maximum versatility.

The whole system just works (something I didn't expect to be the case), with an easy setup, reliable connection, and snappy controls. It takes your gaming phone and turns it into a portable console filled with all your day to day titles, ready and waiting for big-screen play.

Hefty battery life

That 7,500mAh battery certainly pulls its weight. Easily lasting me three days when used in a more casual setting (your regular messages, emails, UberEats, YouTube, and a few thumb-twiddlers every now an then), it's one of the more sophisticated systems straight out the box. Of course, heavier gaming sessions will cut that time down, but I never found myself nervously checking power during sessions.

Charging is also on the RedMagic 11S Pro's side. Wireless juicing is difficult to find on a dedicated gaming device, but the newer release keeps the surprising feature from the original. Meanwhile, an 80W wired connection takes around 50 minutes to get you back up to 100%.

What to consider about the RedMagic 11S Pro

These aren't flagship cameras

It's no surprise that a gaming phone doesn't have the best camera system in the world. The RedMagic 11S Pro doesn't improve on the previous model's setup, this is still the same 50MP Main / 50MP Ultrawide / 16MP selfie array.

(Image credit: Future) Again, the detail, tones, and post-processing aren't going to be as skillful as you'll find on a mainstream flagship. There's a lot of vibrancy enhancement in final shots, details appear smudgy when zooming, and greens in particular have a slightly unnatural hue to them. Shots are still clean and sharp in high lighting with the main camera, though, even if ultra-wide and low-light shots suffer in noise and dynamic coloring.

I'll say it again

Perhaps the biggest consideration for those shopping for a new gaming phone is still going to be the similarity between the RedMagic 11 Pro and the RedMagic 11S Pro. That wouldn't normally be a massive point of contention, but this time the price is a pretty significant factor.

After all, many 'S' models are simply new versions of the same phone with a slightly refreshed chipset. That's all fine and dandy as long as the price reflects such a small change. It looks like ongoing component shortages have hit the RedMagic 11S Pro here, though. The only difference I can see between the two devices is that 3-4% uplift in high-demand performance thanks to the 'Leading Version' Snapdragon chipset.

Should you buy the RedMagic 11S Pro?

(Image credit: Future) The RedMagic 11S Pro is, technically, on paper, a better gaming phone than the RedMagic 11 Pro before it. Only because it does everything the original does, in the same form factor, with (pretty much) the same software, with a slight edge in its performance. If the price was right, that would still be enough for me to nudge it into the top spot among our tested devices.

Unfortunately with a $100 price difference between the two (I say it again) pretty much identical devices, the 11S Pro can't quite hold its own on the market. If you're looking to run a particularly modern ROM collection and you want all the juice you can get, it might make sense. In all other scenarios, I'd recommend sticking with the main flagship.

How I tested the RedMagic 11S Pro

I used the RedMagic 11S Pro as my daily device for two weeks, sandwiched in between a month of testing across games, streaming, and web browsing. I primarily tested across MTG Arena, PUBG Mobile, and Genshin Impact, while also loading my PS2 ROM collection (and playing SSX Tricky, Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, and Jak 3). Synthetic performance was measured across 3DMark Wild Life Extreme and Solar Bay. For more information on how we make our recommendations, check out the full GamesRadar+ Hardware Policy .

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2026 has been a huge year for Harlan Coben fans, who have been treated to a few great crime shows from the renowned author. The first of the Coben-inspired shows to take the world by storm was Run Away , which began streaming on Netflix at the start of the year. Despite going up against the final season of Stranger Things , which aired its series finale on New Year’s Day, Run Away performed well on streaming charts, pulling over 40 million views during its time in the spotlight. Netflix further strengthened its partnership with Harlan Coben just a few weeks ago with the launch of his latest crime thriller, I Will Find You . The Sam Worthington and Britt Lower -led crime drama is still the biggest show in the world , even rising above House of the Dragon Season 3.

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For the first time, a physicist has experimentally watched time emerge from within an isolated quantum system — by creating a “mini-universe.” This bizarre experiment raises an intriguing question: If the universe has nothing outside it, where does time come from?

In a new study published June 11 in the journal Physical Review Research , Giovanni Barontini , an experimental physicist at the University of Birmingham in the U.K., used a cloud of ultracold atoms to build his mini-universe. The system was so well isolated from its surroundings that, like the universe itself, it had nothing external to use as a clock. He split that system in two and ignored one half — what he called the "dark sector" — to show that time could arise entirely from within the system.

The result offers the first experimental look on why the universe has time at all. "When you put everything together, things really start to make sense," Barontini told Live Science. "How time inside the system was speeding up or slowing down, or even stopping — this was quite surprising, how well everything came together. Very neatly, in a way. Which is something that doesn't happen that often in experiments."

The work is an experimental verification of ideas that have been floating around in quantum cosmology and thermodynamics for decades. This is not a bombshell claim that time is an illusion , but it is the first time anyone has put those ideas to a direct, quantitative test in the lab.

A universe with nothing outside

Barontini set out to look at a problem that physicists have puzzled over for nearly 60 years. The Wheeler-DeWitt equation — a central equation in quantum gravity, the field that seeks to unify Einstein’s theory of gravity with quantum mechanics — describes the universe as a whole system with no external time parameter. There is no cosmic clock ticking away outside the universe. So where does our experience of time come from?

One influential idea, called relational time, says that time doesn't exist as a fundamental ingredient of reality. Instead, it emerges from relationships inside the universe, with one part of the system acting as a clock for another. But this idea had never been tested directly in the lab.

Barontini's inspiration came from watching his son play with building toys. "I thought that it's something very similar to what we do in our labs," he told Live Science. "We play with very expensive toys. We create our own small samples of reality."

In his lab, that sample is a Bose-Einstein condensate — a state of matter that forms only at near absolute zero. In a Bose-Einstein condensate, thousands of atoms slow to a near standstill and blur together into a single quantum object, behaving as one.

The University of Birmingham experiment to trap and cool rubidium atoms close to absolute zero — the first step in assembling the mini-universe. (Image credit: University of Birmingham) The dark side of time

To mimic a universe with nothing outside it, Barontini placed the condensate in a trap and divided it down the middle with a thin sheet of laser light. He watched one half, the "bright sector," closely and deliberately ignored the other half, which he called the "dark sector."

The atoms in the bright sector sloshed back and forth in the trap, periodically spilling over the barrier and back again. Barontini called the moments when atoms flooded into the bright sector the "Big Bang" and the times when they drained out the "Big Crunch" (the nickname for one theory of how the universe will end , with the universe collapsing in on itself). Then, he tracked how entropy — a measure of disorder, or how spread out energy is within a system — was exchanged between the two halves as atoms crossed the barrier.

Instead of using laboratory time to order events, he built an "entropic time" — a clock defined entirely by how much entropy was flowing between the two halves of the system. If entropy was flowing, time was ticking. If no entropy was exchanged, time stopped. "The entropy exchange between the two systems could be transformed into an internal time variable," Barontini said.

Time speeds up, slows down and stops

What surprised Barontini most was how cleanly everything fit together. The internal, entropic time reliably ordered events in the bright sector. It matched the sequence seen in laboratory time, but it flowed at a different rate.

When entropy was flooding between the sectors, entropic time ran fast. When the exchange slowed, so did the clock. And when the two halves reached equilibrium (no more entropy flowing), the internal clock stopped altogether.

Both time and the arrow of time — maybe they just are born from ignorance.

Giovanni Barontini, experimental physicist at the University of Birmingham

"Time was speeding up or slowing down, or even stopping, depending on what the system was doing," Barontini said.

He then went a step further: Using this internal time, he derived a version of the Schrödinger equation and showed it accurately reproduced what he saw in the experiment. "This was quite surprising, how well everything came together," he said — "very neatly, in a way, which is something that doesn't happen that often in experiments."

Both time itself and the arrow of time — why time flows in one direction rather than the other — may arise from the same source: an observer giving up information. When Barontini chose not to look at the dark sector, he gave up knowledge of that half of the system. That act of ignorance, encoded in entropy, is what gave rise to time in the other half.

"Both time and the arrow of time — maybe they just are born from ignorance," Barontini said. "To have time and to observe, you have to give up some degrees of freedom."

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Barontini sees this as just the beginning. The same cold-atom tool kit that generated a miniature Big Bang and Big Crunch in his trap could, in principle, be engineered to simulate far more exotic phenomena, such as black hole analogues, the conditions of the early universe, and what will happen at the moment of the Big Crunch itself.

"These are things we can do very simply, using the tools we already have to engineer our systems," he said.

The study is a proof of concept ‪—‬ a first demonstration that controlled quantum systems can serve as a test bed for some unanswered questions in physics . For now, those questions remain open.