Purple Magic three Overview: The Gaming Cellphone You’ve Been Ready For

The thought of a devoted gaming smartphone has at all times been enticing, nevertheless it’s solely within the final couple of years that the concept has actually taken off, due to manufacturers like Razer and Asus. With a bunch of recent releases this yr, it seems like gaming telephones are right here to remain, and if the Purple Magic three is something to go by, it’s time you took them significantly.

The Purple Magic three is lightning quick, boasts a stunning large show, has loud twin audio system, and packs an enormous battery. It even has a devoted gaming change on the aspect and an inner fan to maintain you gaming for longer. It boasts a really spectacular spec sheet packed into a tool that appears as if it simply fell out of an area marine’s pocket, however the actual magic trick right here is that Nubia is providing the Purple Magic three for simply $479.

Large, angular telephone with LED lighting

The Purple Magic three is large. No, I imply actually large. It makes the OnePlus 7 Professional and the Samsung Galaxy Notice 9 look small. It’s tall, it’s extensive, and it’s actually heavy at 215 grams. The metallic development offers it a stable, sturdy really feel. As a result of it’s so large it may be difficult to deal with. It actually requires two arms, however I discovered it most comfy to make use of when gaming, which appears becoming.

Chinese language producer Nubia, which began out as a subsidiary of ZTE, has refined the design right here, however the Purple Magic three nonetheless seems quite a bit like the unique Purple Magic. There’s the identical angled, metallic again with that LED strip down the center and pink highlights within the corners. There’s a hexagonal lozenge for the fingerprint sensor, however the digital camera lens above it’s pentagonal this time round.

I don’t know precisely when RGB lighting strips and angular metallic turned an integral a part of gaming, however the Purple Magic three ticks all of the packing containers. My nine-year-old son thinks it’s the best telephone he’s ever seen. The highlights aren’t simply concerning the look both, most of them function vents for the inner fan and assist to maintain the temperature down.

Fortunately, Nubia has improved the end, which we discovered chipped very simply within the authentic. The Purple Magic three appears to be a lot tougher sporting and the black paint job on my overview unit nonetheless seems good after per week, although that anodized metallic end continues to be on the slippery aspect.

The Purple Magic three has a whopping 6.65-inch AMOLED display screen with a 90Hz refresh charge.

There’s a USB-C port on the underside edge and a three.5mm audio jack up high. The left aspect is residence to a pink, textured button that turns the devoted gaming mode on or off, and there’s a row of pogo pins for equipment, together with a dock which I didn’t get to attempt.

The proper edge, which can also be the highest edge if you maintain the Purple Magic three in panorama to play video games, has programmable contact delicate shoulder buttons, the vent for the fan, the quantity rocker, and the facility button. Entrance-facing audio system are carved out of the skinny bezels left and proper of the big display screen.

Silky easy display screen

The unique Purple Magic telephone made do with a 6-inch LCD display screen with a typical refresh charge, however within the face of telephones just like the Razer Cellphone 2 which boasts a show with a 120Hz refresh charge, or the Asus ROG Cellphone with its 90Hz OLED panel, Nubia has made some enhancements. The Purple Magic three has a whopping 6.65-inch AMOLED display screen with a 90Hz refresh charge.

Not solely is it the largest display screen we’ve seen in a gaming telephone, it’s additionally actually shiny. The decision is 2,340 x 1,080 pixels and it has a contemporary 19.5:9 side ratio. Motion is easy, whether or not you’re swiping by way of residence screens, blowing away some alien scum in Shadowgun: Legends, or watching Infantile Gambino dance by way of a YouTube video.

The Purple Magic three and Apple iPhone X. Simon Hill/Digital Tendencies

You’ll be able to see how shiny this display screen goes within the photograph above. Each the Purple Magic three on the left and the iPhone X on the fitting are cranked as much as full brightness right here. This implies, even in the event you’re gaming outside, you’ll be able to typically make out the motion.

To kick issues up one other notch, there are twin front-facing audio system with DTS:X assist. They’re impressively loud and wealthy for a smartphone, although you’ll clearly be higher served by plugging some respectable headphones into the audio jack.

Severely speedy and devoted gaming mode

The Purple Magic three is without doubt one of the quickest telephones I’ve ever used. Efficiency is silky easy. Video games load shortly and run on the highest settings with out criticism.

Simon Hill/Digital Tendencies

I didn’t undergo any display screen tearing or lag throughout my time with the Purple Magic three, the truth is, there wasn’t a lot as a single dropped body. That’s largely as a result of it has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor inside with 8GB of RAM.

Listed below are some benchmark scores:

AnTuTu 3DBench: 320,507
Geekbench four CPU: three,546 single-core; 11,278 multi-core
3DMark Sling Shot Excessive: four,977 (Vulkan)

Speedy and responsive, I loved utilizing the Purple Magic three generally. Leaping out and in of Slack and Twitter, studying on Chrome, and, after all, gaming — it supplied impeccably easy service.

In comparison with telephones just like the Asus ROG Cellphone with final yr’s Snapdragon 845 inside, the Purple Magic three is way sooner. It even feels sooner than the Samsung Galaxy S10, which additionally has the Snapdragon 855 in it, and that’s mirrored within the benchmark scores.

These outcomes are with recreation mode off. By the way, Nubia describes the Purple Magic three as a inventory Android telephone working Android 9.zero Pie. Whereas it’s mercifully freed from bloatware, there are some unfamiliar entries within the settings and Nubia has clearly made tweaks for the gaming mode and lighting, in addition to using its personal digital camera app. Its software program lacks polish and I often encountered Chinese language or poorly translated English.

Get your gaming mode on

Should you slide that pink change on the aspect, then you definitely’ll see a particular recreation launcher, which is a simplified menu containing your video games. You can too slide a menu panel in from the fitting. It reveals how closely your CPU and GPU are being taxed and the present temperature inside your telephone.

You’ll be able to select to spice up efficiency, giving CPU, GPU, or each a shot within the arm, although the Tremendous Efficiency mode generates warmth and eats battery shortly. There’s additionally a 4D Shock mode, which provides vibration suggestions, although it solely works with sure video games like PUBG Cell. You can too map the capacitive contact shoulder buttons and select to dam apps and calls routinely when gaming.

I attempted out a number of totally different video games with the Purple Magic three and saved the efficiency mode in auto. The fan comes on by default and it does make some sound, which might be annoying relying on what recreation you’re enjoying and whether or not you utilize headphones. I performed Asphalt eight, Galaxy Reavers, Injustice 2, PUBG Cell, and others. All the things ran fantastically.

I additionally performed Shadowgun: Legends and cranked the graphics as much as Extremely Excessive to see if I may problem the Purple Magic three. I performed for an hour and 13 minutes and not using a single situation. The fan undoubtedly made a distinction, however the Purple Magic three was noticeably heat to the contact by the point I laid down my gun.

Spectacular battery life

Throughout that very same Shadowgun session the battery within the Purple Magic three went from 92% all the way down to 66%. That’s not dangerous, contemplating I used to be enjoying on-line with brightness cranked up and the audio system blaring.

Simon Hill/Digital Tendencies

The Purple Magic three has a 5,000mAh battery. I discovered it typically lasted a day between prices, however I used to be gaming on it quite a bit, so it may definitely last more.

In our battery take a look at it managed a powerful 12 hours and 49 minutes streaming a Full HD video from YouTube with the brightness turned as much as most.

One other gaming telephone we’re at present placing by way of its paces did barely higher – the Black Shark 2 from Xiaomi managed 13 hours and seven minutes. However these are wonderful scores. To provide a pair extra comparability factors, the OnePlus 7 Professional managed 11 hours and 50 minutes, whereas the Google Pixel three solely made it to 7 hours and 21 minutes.

The Purple Magic three prices by way of USB-C and comes with an 18W charger within the field. There’s no assist for wi-fi charging.

A stable, single-lens digital camera

With a sub-$500 worth, the Purple Magic three has to compromise someplace, and I used to be bracing for a horrible digital camera expertise, however truly, the digital camera isn’t too dangerous. Overlook about triple and even twin lenses, there’s only one within the Purple Magic three, however there’s nothing mistaken with that, as Google’s Pixels show.

There’s only one lens, nevertheless it’s the identical 48-megapixel Sony IMX586 that you simply’ll discover within the Honor View 20, and it’s little bit of . Now, Nubia lacks Huawei’s synthetic intelligence, which Honor can borrow, so it doesn’t fairly match up, particularly in low mild, nevertheless it’s nonetheless fairly good.

The Purple Magic three digital camera captures loads of element and vibrant colours. A lot of the pictures I took wandering round on a sunny day turned out effectively. It struggles with distinction at occasions, blowing out mild areas a bit too regularly, however on the entire, I used to be happy with the pictures it took.

There’s no devoted portrait mode and the Purple Magic three lacks a second lens for depth sensing, however portraits had been one other nice shock. The shutter pace is quick, so there was no blur, even with transferring topics. It additionally achieves a satisfying bokeh impact freed from muddiness or areas which were mistakenly blurred, even with tough fly-away hairs.

The 16-megapixel front-facing digital camera serves effectively, although it applies a smoothing impact labelled as “Fairly” within the digital camera app. Talking of which, the digital camera app is a bit unusual. The photograph, video, and professional choices are easy sufficient, however the oddly named “Digital camera-Household” accommodates an odd assortment of modes.

Naturally there’s a weak spot right here and it’s the same old villain of the piece: Low mild efficiency. When the sunshine drops graininess creeps in. Right here it’s aspect by aspect with the Pixel three in a TV-lit room. That is the Pixel three with out Evening Sight turned on, by the way in which.

The digital camera also can file video at as much as 8K, which looks as if overkill proper now – who has an 8K display screen to look at it on? The 4K at 60 frames per second shall be sufficient for most individuals, however the high quality on playback is nothing to jot down residence about.

Worth, Availability, and Guarantee Info

The Purple Magic three prices $479 (479 euros, 419 British kilos) for the pink or black variations with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. There’s additionally a camo mannequin with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for $599 (599 euros, 529 British kilos).

It’s out there now within the U.S. and Canada, most of Europe, and a handful of different nations together with Australia and Japan. You should purchase it direct from the Purple Magic web site.

You get a typical two-year guarantee on the telephone.

Our Take

This monumental gaming beast proves that it’s third time fortunate for Nubia. The producer has addressed each factor you want in a gaming telephone with lightning quick efficiency, an enormous display screen, good sound, and a devoted gaming mode for personalization. The actual magic trick right here is that Nubia is providing the Purple Magic three for simply $479.

Is there a greater various?

Sure. Final yr’s Asus ROG Cellphone and Razer Cellphone 2 are the large title alternate options, however they’re each costly and underpowered in comparison with the Purple Magic three. The obvious direct competitor proper now could be Xiaomi’s very equally specced and priced Black Shark 2, nevertheless it’s a bit costlier and isn’t getting an official U.S. launch. The Asus ZenFone 6 can also be a worthy competitor, sharing lots of the similar specs.

Should you’re not offered on the gaming angle, then the Pixel 3a XL is the very best telephone at this worth, nevertheless it’s a really totally different prospect. Should you may stretch your funds a bit additional, the OnePlus 6T at $550 can also be a fantastic telephone, but when gaming is your primary precedence the Purple Magic three could also be the very best gadget you may get proper now.

How lengthy will it final?

The Purple Magic three feels sturdy, although there’s no water resistance right here, so that you’ll must hold it dry. The processing energy ought to be sufficient to see you thru the subsequent two or three years, however I’m unsure about how fast Nubia shall be to replace the software program. In idea, as a inventory or close to inventory gadget, it ought to be straightforward to replace, however I’ve considerations. Trying on the Android safety degree, my Purple Magic three overview unit has a patch from March 5, whereas my Pixel three has a Could 5 patch.

Must you purchase it?

Sure. Should you’re searching for a strong gaming telephone that received’t break the financial institution, the Purple Magic three will tick all of your packing containers.