Introduction
Our favorite gaming tablet just got better. The Redmagic Astra 2, also known as the Gaming Tablet 5 Pro in China, is now official with the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, liquid-cooled, an even faster display, and some battery improvements.
The RedMagic Astra 2 is an all-metal tablet with a 9.06-inch OLED centerpiece. The resolution of the panel is the same as the OG Astra – 1,504 x 2,400 pixels – but it’s been upgraded with 185Hz refresh rate support and 300Hz touch sampling.
The tablet has the standard version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip. It has some of the most powerful CPUs and GPUs around, and we have high expectations for their performance with onboard liquid cooling.
The RedMagic Astra 2 packs an 8,300mAh battery that supports 80W fast wired charging and bypass charging for gaming.
The camera department remains the same as last year – a 13MP rear-facing and 9MP front-facing imager.
Some other notable features of the RedMagic Astra 2 include the proprietary RedCore R4 gaming chip, RGB lights at the back, and Android 16 with RedMagic OS 11.5.
ZTE RedMagic Astra 2 specifications at a glance:
- Body: 207.1×134.2×6.9mm, 363g; Gorilla Glass 3 front, aluminum frame, aluminum back; RGB light on the back, aviation-grade aluminum frame, IP54 splash resistant.
- Display: 9.06″ OLED, 1B color, 185Hz, PWM, HDR, 1000 nits (typ), 1600 nits (peak), 1504x2400px resolution, 14.36:9 aspect ratio, 313ppi.
- Chipset: Qualcomm SM8850-AC Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (3 nm).
- Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 16GB RAM, UFS 4.1 Pro.
- OS/Software: Android 16, RedMagic OS 11.5.
- rear camera: 13 MP, (wide).
- Front Camera: 9 MP, f/2.2, (wide), 0.7μm.
- video capture: rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps; front camera:1080p@30fps.
- Battery: 8300mAh; 75W wired, bypass charging.
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6; BT 6.0.
- various: fingerprint reader (side-mounted); Dual USB-C design: 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 + 1 x USB 2.0; stereo speakers; Dual X-axis linear vibration motors, accelerometer, gyroscope, geomagnetic sensor, ambient light sensor, Hall sensor, fingerprint sensor (power button).
As far as gaming is concerned, the second generation Astra tablet has it all. Let’s unbox this beast and see if it’s a steal.
Unboxing the Redmagic Astra 2
The Astra 2 comes inside a thin gray box with the Redmagic logo on it. Inside you’ll find the tablet, a red USB-C cable, and some paperwork.
That’s it. There is no charger inside the EU box, but you will get an 80W power adapter with the Chinese version. If you’re going with a third-party charger, any USB Power Delivery charger should do, but you’ll need at least 80W for the fastest charging speeds.