Taking Android gaming phones to the next level – sleek, sexy and powered by SD 8 Elite Gen 5

Qualcomm announced its new hardware platform in September 2025 and there's no delay in the launch of phones that it'll power. We've had confirmation of OnePlus and Xiaomi phones, but now we have RedMagic confirming its latest gaming phone, too.

The RedMagic 11 Pro will officially launch on 17 October (a day after the announcement of the Oppo Find X9), but that hasn't stopped the company teasing its new flagship gaming phone a little earlier.

Shared via official channels on Weibo (and picked up by Android Authority), the tease focuses on a unique aspect of the device - a water cooling system. That should allow the phone to run intense games for longer periods of time, without heat destroying the performance.

All phones have some sort of cooling system in them, from graphene sheets to vapour chambers, but a mainstream phone with an active water cooling system is a little more interesting. It's not a world's first – the NEC Medias X 06E had a water cooling system back in 2013 – but it's a bit more consumer friendly this time.

It's also said that there's a cooling fan to boost the cooling effect.

What else do you get in the RedMagic 11 Pro?

Aside from the water cooling system, we don't know a lot else about the RedMagic 11 series. Images have been shared, however, where we get to see a futuristic-looking phone, littered with cameras on the rear and with the Snapdragon 8 Elite badge on it.

The water cooling system appears to make up part of the rear design, with black and white models shown off. It also appears to have squared edges and a flat front and back.

We've spied a red button on the side to launch into the phone's gaming mode. The phone is said to have an IPX8 rating.

It's also been previously rumoured that the phone could have an 8,000mAh battery, which would be absolutely colossal for a smartphone.

Currently, other details of the device remain unknown, but the RedMagic's early appearance will help it gain some traction before other gaming-specific models are launched. The launch is focused on China initially, but we expect a global launch early in 2026.

RedMagic is a sub-brand of Nubia, which is itself majority owned by Chinese phone manufacturer ZTE. It competes in the dedicated gaming phone space alongside the likes of ROG, which tends to sit in the premium space, while RedMagic offers a more affordable solution.