Nubia is expanding its Red Magic 6 line of gaming phones with a new model that’s a little smaller and a little cheaper, but still a high-performance phone that offers a lot of bang for the buck.

The new Red Magic 6R is launching first in China, where it sells for ¥2,999 ($470) and up, but the phone should be available globally starting June 24 with prices starting at $499/€499/£429.

For that price, you get a phone with a 144 Hz AMOLED display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 processor, and quad cameras. Designed for gaming, the phone also has capacitive shoulder “air trigger” buttons, and the company says the display has a touch sampling rate of 360 Hz.

Those specs don’t quite match those of the Red Magic 6 and Red Magic 6 Pro that launched earlier this year, but they come pretty close without a price tag that will break the bank.

Nubia’s $499 (or €499/£429) starting price for the phone will get you a model with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, but folks who want more of each can pay $599 (€599/£519) for a 12GB/256GB version.

The newest member of the Red Magic 6 family also has a higher-res selfie camera  and one more rear camera than the other models, a slightly smaller (thus more pixel-dense) display, and… a smaller battery, slower charging, and no headphone jack that I can see.

It also seems like the Red Magic 6R may be missing one of the most unusual features found in other recent Red Magic phones. This model does not have an active cooling fan, which means it should run silently, but may not offer quite the same level of sustained performance during mobile gaming sessions.

Here are key specs for the complete Red Magic 6 family:

Red Magic 6RRed Magic 6Red Magic 6 Pro
Display6.67 inch
2400 x 1080
AMOLED
144 Hz refresh rate
360 Hz touch sampling rate
6.8 inch
2400 x 1080
AMOLED
165 Hz refresh rate
Up to 500 Mhz touch sampling rate
Up to 360 Hz multi-finger touch sampling
6.8 inch
2400 x 1080
AMOLED
165 Hz refresh rate
Up to 500 Mhz touch sampling rate
Up to 360 Hz multi-finger touch sampling
ProcessorQualcomm Snapdragon 888Qualcomm Snapdragon 888Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
RAM8GB or 12GB  LPDDR58GB or 12GB LPDDR512GB or 16GB LPDDR5
Storage128GB or 256GB UFS 3.1128GB or 256GB UFS 3.1128GB or 256GB UFS 3.1
Cameras64MP primary (IMX682)
8MP ultra-wide
5MP macro
2MP depth
16MP selfie
64MP primary
8MP ultra-wide
2MP Macro
8MP selfie
64MP primary
8MP ultra-wide
2MP Macro
8MP selfie
Battery4,200 mAh5,050 mAh4,500 mAh
Charging30W fast charging
(55W for Chinese models)
66W (wired)120W (wired)
PortsUSB-CUSB-C
3.5mm audio
USB-C
3.5mm audio
AudioStereo speakersStereo speakers
3 microphones
Headphone jack
Stereo speakers
3 microphones
Headphone jack
Wireless5G NR
WiFi 6
Bluetooth 5.2
5G NR
WiFi 6
Bluetooth 5.1
5G NR
WiFi 6
Bluetooth 5.1
SecurityUnder-display fingerprint readerUnder-display fingerprint readerUnder-display fingerprint reader
Other400 Hz shoulder triggers
Vapor chamber and liquid cooling
Capacitive air trigger buttons
Active cooling fan
Capacitive air trigger buttons
Active cooling fan
SoftwareAndroid 11 with RedMagic OS 4.0Android 11 with RedMagic OS 4.0Android 11 with RedMagic OS 4.0
Dimensions7.8mm169 x 77.1 x 9.7mm169 x 77.1 x 9.7mm
Weight186 grams220 grams220 grams
Starting Price¥2,999/$499/€499/£429¥3,799/$599/€599/£509¥4,399/$699/€699/£599

This article was originally published May 27, 2021 and last updated June 7, 2021 with global pricing and availability details.

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