RedMagic’s new gaming tablet upgrades to OLED and the Snapdragon 8 Elite

RedMagic is back with another gaming tablet, having officially announced the RedMagic Astra. This is the company’s second tablet, but it’s the company’s first venture into the smaller tablet segment. As mobile gaming continues to grow ever more popular, the demand for more capable devices to play those games on grows as well. In the world of Android tablets, there aren’t many devices available compared to several years ago, let alone a large selection of gaming-specific options. There are several options for gaming on phones, especially since there are more than a few devices in the phone category that come with flagship specs. Such as the Snapdragon 8 Elite mobile platform. Tablets are a different story. RedMagic is helping to change that, though.

The RedMagic Astra follows in the footsteps of smaller mobile gaming devices like the Legion Tab Gen 3 we reviewed earlier this year. It’s bigger than a phone, but not so big that it feels unwieldy after trying to play games for more than a couple of hours. The RedMagic Astra carries a 9.06-inch display. That’s just a tiny bit larger than the Legion Tab Gen 3, but still relatively the same size. Making this is a (sort of) pocketable device that you could more easily tuck into an inside jacket pocket. It also has a sizeable 8,200 mAh-capacity battery, up to 24GB of RAM, and up to 1TB of storage.

RedMagic has announced the Astra launch date for US consumers

RedMagic officially launched this Tablet in China back on June 12, but now it’s releasing the international version. That will include availability for the US, Mexico, Canada, the UK, Europe, and several countries in both the Middle East and the Asia Pacific. If you’re seeking to get your hands on this device in the States, you’ll need to wait just a bit. Not too long, though. RedMagic has confirmed the launch date for US consumers as July 15 for early bird access, with general availability starting on July 16. Early bird vouchers go live on July 10.

Pricing starts at $549 for the 12GB/256GB model, and it goes up to $699 for the 16GB/512GB model. There will also be the 24GB/1TB model for $899. There are two colors available as well: Eclipse Black and Starfrost Silver. The $899 model only comes in Eclipse Black, though.

The new OLED display should make your games look even better

In addition to upgrading the chipset, RedMagic has also upgraded the display. Its previous tablet uses an IPS panel, whereas the Astra now uses an OLED panel. This new display will give your games those more vivid colors and inky blacks that only OLED usually delivers. The display also has a 165Hz refresh rate and a 2.4K resolution. In other words, expect super-smooth gaming visuals that look crisp.

The Astra is sticking to RedMagic’s enhanced Ice Cooling System to manage device temperature during heavy loads, too. That doesn’t mean it won’t get warm. However, it should easily keep temperatures lower so your gameplay performance doesn’t suffer.