nubia Red Magic Nova review

Camera

The Red Magic Nova houses a 50MP camera on the back with f/1.8 aperture. That's a fairly decent piece of hardware for a tablet these days. The front unit is 20MP with f/2.0 aperture. The back camera can record 4K videos, but the front is limited to 1080p.

The camera app is pretty straightforward and offers most of the features you'd normally find on a smartphone, including time-lapse, slo-mo and, of course, a dedicated mode for documents.

Main camera samples

The actual camera capabilities of the tablet aren't bad, to say the least. The photos look pretty good for a tablet, with plenty of dynamic range, color and a decent amount of sharpness. There's also a 2x zoom toggle, but this zoom mode just asks too much from the camera hardware.

2x crop zoom camera samples

The front camera quality isn't bad either. Colors are slightly muted and the skin tone often turns out a bit pale, but it's alright for a tablet.

Selfies

Here are some screenshots from the front camera's video, so you can get a grasp of what quality you can expect during video calls, for example. And aside from the slightly muted colors, it's pretty good for a 1080p video.

Screenshots from 1080p videos with the main camera

We also recorded a 4K video with the main camera.

Verdict

One could argue that the Red Magic Nova is a multi-purpose device. Sure, it's labeled as a gaming tablet and has all the features to prove it - high-refresh-rate display, a premium and comfortable build, plenty of gaming-oriented software features, it's compatible with plenty of gaming accessories and plenty of horsepower under the hood. Not to mention, it's very good at sustaining high performance over long periods of time, and it's one of the fastest-charging tablets on the market.

However, it could be argued that it could also be a nice productivity tool. It supports stylus and keyboard input and houses a powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. It's also priced competitively and has got some nice speakers, so it will make a lot of sense as a general-purpose tablet - for studying, note taking or media consumption.

Pros

• Excellent build and egonomics.
• Fingerprint reader for biometric security.
• High refresh rate, good contrast for an LCD.
• Dependable battery life, fast charging (charger is bundled).
• Flagship-grade performance, the built-in cooling fan provides great thermal stability.
• Plenty of gaming-oriented software features.
• Optional stylus and keyboard with touchpad available.

Cons

• Screen does not get very bright and doesn't offer a boost in Auto mode.
• Redmagic OS is still plagued with awkward English translations.
• No proper HDR video support.