RedMagic 11S Pro review

Underdisplay selfie camera, 2x50MP sensors on the back

The RedMagic 11S Pro carries over the camera system from the 11 Pro, which wasn't exactly the first time these same bits have been fitted to a RedMagic. It's a reasonable setup with two 50MP modules on the back, joined by what's a long-standing staple of the lineup - an under-display selfie camera.

The main camera uses a relatively common 1/1.55" OmniVision sensor that's quite fitting for the class. It's paired with a wide 23mm-equivalent lens that's stabilized - pretty standard stuff.

The ultrawide relies on a smaller OmniVision sensor, the 1/2.88" optical format still not too shabby for a phone that's not at all about the cameras.

The selfie camera has a 16MP sensor that's really meant to capture 4MP shots, and its pixels need to peek through the display's pixels, so you'd be wise not to expect amazing photos from it.

• Wide (main): 50MP OmniVision OV50E (1/1.55", 1.0µm-2.0µm); 23mm, f/1.9, OIS, multi-directional PDAF (9cm - ∞); 8K30/4K60 video recording.
• Ultrawide: 50MP OmniVision OV50D (1/2.88", 0.61µm-1.22µm); 14mm, f/2.2; 8K30/4K60.
• Macro: 2MP OmniVision OV02F; f/2.4, fixed focus.
• Front camera: 16MP OmniVision OV16A (1/3.06", 1.0µm-2.0µm); 26mm, f/2.0, fixed focus; 1080p30.

The ZTE family of phones has plenty of additional hardware controls that in the case of the RedMagic are geared towards gaming, but you can also set the red slider key to launch the camera instead of the gaming utility. The lower/right shoulder trigger can also act as a shutter release, with a provision for burst shooting if you hold your finger on it (which can be a little too trigger-happy.

Daylight photo quality

Main camera

The RedMagic's main camera takes pretty good photos in bright daylight. They have great dynamic range and reliable auto white balance with likeable levels of saturation. Detail is generally very good, though grass and foliage could be rendered somewhat digitally in some instances.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x)

People shots are alright, with pleasing skin tones, but somewhat coarse facial detail rendition. The Portrait mode images trade dynamic range for bokeh, so you'll likely end up with blown highlights in more contrasty scenes. The Portrait mode has a shortcut to a 32mm focal length in addition to the native 23mm - those are pretty decent too.

Human subjects, main camera: Photo mode • Portrait mode, 23mm • Portrait mode, 32mm

The full-res images don't bring any real detail improvement, but they do come with a dynamic range penalty.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x), 50MP

There's no 2x shortcut in the Photo mode viewfinder, but we figured we'd go the extra length and pinch to zoom to check if the RedMagic is any good at zooming in. Well... it's not not very good, no - it's essentially little more than just a center crop from the 50MP files and pixel-level detail isn't great.

Daylight samples, main camera (2x)

Ultrawide camera

The ultrawide's photo quality isn't too exciting, but it'll do. Dynamic range is a bit limited and colors are somewhat muted, while detail shows pretty liberal sharpening. None of it is properly bad, but it's not great either.

Daylight samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x)

With that in mind, don't go expecting much from the 50MP versions of these images.

Daylight samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x), 50MP

Close-ups

The RedMagic's 2MP macro camera is about as good as you can expect from such a module - limited dynamic range, plenty of noise, poor detail, not much color.

Close-up samples, macro camera

You'd be a lot better off taking close-ups with the main camera at 2x, and that's even after taking into account that it's really very good at 2x to begin with.

Close-up samples, main camera (2x)

Low-light photo quality

Main camera

The low-light results are certainly not industry-leading, but they're perfectly fine for the RedMagic's caliber. Detail is very good for the class, the dynamic range is quite wide, the auto white balance is on point, and colors are looking good overall (save for that red 'neon' sign, which is one of the most bleached renditions we've seen).

Low-light samples, main camera (1x)

Detail is predictably not great at 2x, but global properties remain solid and if you're going to be sharing these at 2MP anyway, they just might be good enough.

Low-light samples, main camera (2x)

Ultrawide camera

The ultrawide's low-light photos follow a similar pattern - examining them at 1:1 will reveal meh detail and sharpness, but if you look at them from afar, you'll enjoy the good exposures and likable colors.

Low-light samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x)

Selfies

You should know by now not to expect much from the underdisplay camera's photos, and with the bar set low, the selfies are alright. At fit-to-screen magnification or on the phone's display, they're decently sharp-looking, but pixel-level detail isn't good. Colors are a bit cartoonish, the dynamic range is limited, and the low-light performance is pretty bad. That said, you do get an uninterrupted rectangle of a display in return, so there's that.

Selfie samples

Video quality

Both of the RedMagic 11S Pro's rear cameras can record video up to 8K30 or 4K60, while the underdisplay selfie camera maxes out at 1080p30. There's no 24fps option, not even in the Pro video mode.

There's no HDR recording capability, but you can still choose which codec to use - the more efficient H.265 (HEVC) or the more widely compatible H.264.

You can hit '> play' below and use the '>| next' button to advance through the playlist of all video samples, or you can watch the full playlist on YouTube.

The 4K videos from the main camera are actually quite good - they're reasonably sharp and have a very natural detail rendition. Contrast is a touch too high, but not offensively so, and colors are very likable too. 2x is usable too. The ultrawide's footage is even heavier on the contrast, and here it's way too much. Detail is good though.

Video screengrabs, daylight: 0.6x • 1x • 2x

The low-light video results from the main camera are remarkably sharp and detailed, if a little grainy. The high contrast means some harshly blown highlights, but even so, these clips are among the better ones we've seen. The ultrawide is also in a similar position - footage is pretty sharp as ultrawides go, but grainy and with limited highlight dynamic range - not half bad, all things considered.

Video screengrabs, low light: 0.6x • 1x • 2x

Stabilization is generally very good on the RedMagic 11S Pro. Sure, there can be a bit of a wobble in footage taken while walking, but it's not the worst. Shooting from a stationary position, on the other hand, will get you nicely stable clips with pretty smooth pans too.