The Nubia Red Magic 3 Review: A 90Hz Gaming Phone With Active Cooling

Camera - Daylight Evaluation

The cameras on the Red Magic 3 are quite straightforward: there’s just one rear module. I’ve heard plenty of times now from some people that they don’t care too much about the cameras on a gaming smartphone, but on the other hand I still think the vast silent majority of users will still put a lot of value to at least have a “good” camera in their phones, even if it doesn’t pretend to be quite as versatile as that of other vendors.

[ Red Magic 3 ] -  [ S10+ (E) ] - [ S10+ (S) ]
[ Xperia 1 ] - [ P30 Pro ] - [ Mi9 ] - [ G8 ]
[ Reno 10x ] - [BlackShark 2 ] - [Pixel 3 ] - [iPhone XS ]

In the first scene, the Red Magic 3 is off to a good start in terms of the amount of detail in the scene. The best comparison here is the Xiaomi Mi9 as well as the OPPO Reno 10x, as both phones use the same IMX586 camera sensor. The RM3 beats both of these competitors in the amount of detail captures as it avoids any unnecessary noise reduction that would blur the scene – especially visible in the leaves on the ground in this scene.

While detail is good, there’s a bit of a lack of contrast which is accentuated by the ever so slightly too bright overall exposure of the photo.

[ Red Magic 3 ] -  [ S10+ (E) ] - [ S10+ (S) ]
[ Xperia 1 ] - [ P30 Pro ] - [ Mi9 ] - [ G8 ]
[ Reno 10x ] [ BlackShark 2 ] - [ Pixel 3 ] - [ iPhone XS ]

In the next shot, the RM3 again does well in terms of detail and is the best amongst the IMX586 phones in this comparison.

The shot is slightly underexposed and there’s a definitive lack of definition in the shadows, something essentially all the phones with this sensor are suffering from.

[ Red Magic 3 ] [ S10+ (E) ] - [ S10+ (S) ]
[ Xperia 1 ] - [ P30 Pro ] - [ Mi9 ] - [G8 ]
[ Reno 10x ] - [ BlackShark 2 ] -  [ BlackShark 2 ] - 
[ Pixel 3 ]

Here we see another excellent showcase of detail, quite above what many phones are able to achieve.

[ Red Magic 3 ] - [ S10+ (E) ] - [ S10+ (S) ]
[ Xperia 1 ] - [ P30 Pro ] - [ Mi9 ] - [G8 ]
[ Reno 10x ] - [ BlackShark 2 ] - [ Pixel 3 ]
[ iPhone XS ]

This shot showcases some of the different HDR algorithms between the phones. There’s visible halos around the power lines on the Red Magic 3 which would be the result of the local tone-mapping of the darker elements against the brighter sky. The foreground was actually overcast by clouds so it shouldn’t be too bright, however I still feel the RM3 is slightly underexposed in this regard.

[ Red Magic 3 ] -  [ S10+ (E) ] - [ S10+ (S) ] - [ Xperia 1 ] - [ P30 Pro ]
[ Mi9 ] - [ G8 ] - [ Reno 10x ] - [ BlackShark 2 ] - [ Pixel 3 ] - [ iPhone XS ]

Indoors again I feel the RM3 is slightly underexposed as it’s lacking any levels above 85%. The image also appears quite contrasty and that’s because of the lack of definition in the shadows, it’s just lacking a more natural dynamic range, and it’s also a bit undersaturated. Details are good, although here in medium light we’re seeing quite a lot more noise compared to the brighter outdoor shots.

Daylight Camera Conclusion

I didn’t have too high expectations for the Red Magic 3’s camera, but it still managed to showcase relatively competitive results. The camera’s handling of details is distinctly different of that of other phones with the same sensor and it ends up most of the time ahead of the competition in this regard.

HDR and exposure were adequate – it certainly wasn’t the best in any regard but it still managed to be competitive. I think here the sensor’s hardware limitations are hard to overcome as I’ve seen similar results in dynamic range by essentially all the IMX586 based phones this year.

Overall, I think the Red Magic 3 is a quite good daylight camera, as long as you’re not having overly too high expectations.