Built for the Brave: The Durability of REDMAGIC Devices

We’ve all been there: a fateful slip of the hand or nudge too far off the countertop, and your phone is now lying face down on the floor while you find the courage to check the damage. Those dreaded seconds that feel like hours as you hold your breath waiting for the screen to light up again and your world to resume as normal. Perhaps you get a little too heated in the game, press the screen a bit too hard, or just drop your phone in frustration after failing to one-man for your team. Maybe you just forgot that your keys and phone shouldn’t go in the same pocket one day.

The risk of damage to a device is almost unavoidable in your day-to-day life. Despite your caution, every device you own is filled with several intricate components that probably won’t take kindly to being violently dropped, chipped, or shattered. However, as manufacturers, it is our job to predict and prevent as much damage as we can from our end of the process.

In this blog article, we look at what durability for devices means and why it’s so important. We also look specifically at our REDMAGIC range and the durability tests and reviews that have been metered out to our devices in the past to prove their substance. For now, let’s get a better understanding of durability when it comes to devices as a whole.

What Is Device Durability?

At its core, device durability is a product’s capacity to maintain its intended functionality and performance over an extended period and under typical usage. This is achieved through the use of robust materials, innovative designs, and controlled testing. The durability of a device will often dictate how long it can be used and how likely it is to be purchased due to that fact. 

A device with poor durability is more susceptible to irreparable damage and a poor user experience, especially in the gaming industry, where longevity is an imperative trait. Durable devices often use specific reinforced materials to ensure resilience. This can include aluminum alloys that are both strong and light, or stainless steel that’s less likely to bend. The glass screens on devices have also evolved to be more scratch- and stain-resistant. 

Why Is Durability Important for Gaming Devices?

Generally, having a durable device is a good thing; however, it’s markedly more important in the gaming sector. While you encounter enough wear and tear in a regular day, gaming devices are often subjected to long hours of gameplay, rough handling, and the occasional gamer rage crashout. Your gaming device’s buttons and screen are also at the receiving end of a lot of rapid and intense physical pressure for longer periods.

This all means that your gaming device needs to be tough enough to handle a long grinding session without falling apart. You might still be thinking, “I’m just lying in my bed and gaming, I probably don’t need a very durable device to survive”, but all it takes is one small drop or a slip of the hand to turn an evening of gaming into an unexpected repair.. So, let’s look at a few reasons why device durability is so important at all.

Device Longevity: Maintaining a longer lifespan is generally the main reason to invest in a durable device. Statistics show that 55% of people will replace their phones between 2-3 years due to screen damage, which is often linked to cracks or scratches that can appear already in the first year of use. A durable device will help minimize lasting damage and extend longevity. 

Enhanced Gaming Experience: Gaming will require intense and split-second actions and inputs that may put a lot of pressure on your device’s screen and buttons. Stronger materials and a reinforced structure ensure that your inputs won’t degrade the buttons or screen over time, leading to more efficient gameplay that you can rely on.

Reduced Repair Costs: Phone repairs can be tedious and costly for most people. Investing in a device built to resist everyday damage helps reduce the likelihood of those repairs, saving time, money, and frustration down the line.

Enhanced Ergonomics: Durability often goes hand-in-hand with comfort in the design process. Most durable devices are easier to hold, carry, and wear without too much strain, making them less likely to fall out of your grasp. 

Internal Safeguards: Durability ensures that the smaller and crucial components of your device are protected against any damage. This involves the use of shock-absorbing materials and frames.  

Environmental Impact: Manufacturing and using smartphones often come with several environmental consequences, like consuming raw materials, carbon emissions, and more. However, studies have shown that extending the lifetimes of products by focusing on durability, maintenance, repair, and the reuse of products can improve product efficiency while reducing material consumption, waste production, and environmental impacts.

Improved Portability: A durable device is more likely to be taken out of the safety of your home and into the big blue world. This means that a more durable device is more convenient, travel-friendly, and easier to move around with.

Now, while we cannot prevent any accidents or damage from our position as the manufacturer, we can do our utmost to ensure that our devices are reinforced enough to pass the harshest durability tests. Now, let’s look at some durability testing techniques and how REDMAGIC has fared so far.

How Do You Measure Device Durability?

Durability testing can be done in several different ways and always relies on the same principle: how long before this device gives in? Now, we’re not building devices that can withstand nuclear attacks, which means that most durability tests or reviews you see online will involve a fair amount of destruction.

Zack Nelson is a prominent name for many when it comes to durability testing with his YouTube channel, JerryRigEverything, where he reviews the latest tech and devices. Zach has covered substantial ground in the smartphone industry and has been directly linked to how manufacturers improve designs, offering valuable insights and honest reviews of each reinforcing component. Quite a few of our REDMAGIC devices have already passed through Zach’s hands – and knives – and we’re proud to report that no REDMAGIC device has ever failed a JerryRigEverything durability test. 

Last year, Zach actually named our REDMAGIC 10 Pro the Most Innovative Smartphone in his Smartphone Durability Awards 2024 video, stating that the device featured a very well-hidden, while still useful, front-facing, under-screen camera and the highest screen-to-body ratio of any phone he had ever seen. He also commended the phone’s RGB turbo fan and liquid metal cooling system that made it feel more “like a gaming laptop in your pocket than a smartphone.”  

Sourced from JerryRigEverything

Now, let’s take a look at some of the REDMAGIC durability tests that we’ve seen done before and how our devices have knocked each one out of the park. 

Putting the Pro in Protection 

When reviewing our REDMAGIC 10 Pro, Zach called the phone a smartphone from 2040, citing that the built-in 23,000rpm turbo fan, under-screen camera, and liquid metal cooling system make him excited for the smartphones of the future. He was also very impressed by the phone’s secure aluminum body and then decided to light things up with a burn test by placing an open flame against the device’s fan and screen.

Sourced from JerryRigEverything

Zach maintains that REDMAGIC phones are still the only devices that have “fought back” during this testing, with the fan easily blowing out the flame like a birthday candle. However, the AMOLED screen only began to take a toll after 15 seconds of direct contact. The phone’s optical under-screen fingerprint scanner also continued to work like normal even after suffering level seven deep grooves being cut into the screen. 

The 10 Pro even went on to survive Zach’s usual bending test with no flex when bent from the front and zero movement when bent from the back,  ensuring no kinks, creeks, or damage whatsoever. In conclusion, Zach states that the 10 Pro is essentially a “keyboard-less gaming laptop packed into a smartphone form factor, with specs that iPhone users will hopefully get to enjoy themselves 10 years from now.” 

An Astra-nomical Design

However, it isn’t only our smartphones that get the Zach approval. A few months ago, Zach reviewed our REDMAGIC Astra Gaming Tablet and called it a gaming pad with specs from the future, but a price point from the past. In the review, he found that the Astra’s 2.4K OLED screen sports more pixels per inch than an M4 iPad Pro and that the bezels are more than 2 mm thinner. He also appreciated that there was no camera bump on the tablet, which made the Mohs hardness test significantly easier to perform. 

The results of the Mohs hardness test, which measures the resistance of a smooth surface to scratching or abrasion, showed damage at an impressive level 7, the same as quartz. Zach then tried a bending test on the Astra and found that the aluminum frame remained surprisingly solidly intact, even with a compromised and cracked screen after the hardness test. He noted that the Astra bends even less than our Nova Gaming Tablet from last year, which is a nice improvement.

Sourced from JerryRigEverything

Upon opening up the device, Zach realized that the Astra has a whole built-in plastic substructure with ridges, which is most likely what kept the tablet intact during the bend test. 

A Golden Experience

Naturally, we can’t discuss REDMAGIC durability without mentioning the REDMAGIC Golden Saga 10 Pro. This unique model uses sapphire (α-Al2O3), a material favored by top watchmakers like Patek Philippe and Rolex, to enhance endurance. With a Mohs hardness of 9, sapphire is highly resistant to corrosion, which means that the Golden Saga’s precision-cut, laser-engraved, and color-coated sapphire back cover provides impeccable scratch-resistance and durability. 

In his review, Unbox Therapy noted that 95.3% of the phone’s entire back panel is legitimately a “huge piece of lab-grown Sapphire” to ensure that the device remains extremely scratch-resistant. Zach also took apart a Golden Saga 10 Pro in a review to ascertain if the phone did actually contain any precious metals. Unsurprisingly, X-ray fluorescence revealed that the design used actual gold-plating, real sapphire on its rear glass cover, and real silver inside. 

Sourced from JerryRigEverything

Zach also noted that gold inside a gaming smartphone has a much larger role than just aesthetics, pointing out that aside from being non-oxidizing, gold plating can also enhance thermal efficiency. The 99.9% real gold-plated vapor chamber improves heat dissipation and keeps the phone cooler for longer. This drastically improves durability in the long run.

REDMAGIC: Built to Last

At REDMAGIC, we pride ourselves on constantly evolving and innovating designs to keep up with growing demands. This includes pushing our devices to withstand any circumstance or environment our fans might find themselves in. Every REDMAGIC device is built tough enough to withstand the day-to-day wear and tear you might encounter while still being rugged enough to likely survive a random zombie apocalypse someday. REDMAGIC designs are built for the long haul, and you can always count on us for reinforcements in the heat of battle, whether it’s inside or on your screen.