ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S23
84 out of 100
VS
79 out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.8-inch ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3) that was released on November 23, 2023, against the Samsung Galaxy S23, which is powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy and came out 10 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro
- Comes with 2600 mAh larger battery capacity: 6500 vs 3900 mAh
- Has a 0.7 inch larger screen size
- Has 2x more RAM: 16GB versus 8GB
- Shows 34% longer battery life (29:26 vs 22:02 hours)
- 40% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (2128K versus 1522K)
- Supports higher wattage charging (80W versus 25W)
- Compatible with the latest Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- Has a built-in infrared port
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S23
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
- Handles wireless charging up to 10W
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- Delivers 18% higher peak brightness (1203 against 1018 nits)
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
- Ready for eSIM technology
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
Choose the importance of each parameter to more accurately identify the smartphone that best meets your particular needs.
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | AMOLED | Dynamic AMOLED |
| Size | 6.8 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1116 x 2480 pixels | 1080 x 2340 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 400 ppi | 425 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | Yes (24-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 1600 nits | 800 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | - | 1750 nits |
| HDR support | No | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 | Gorilla Glass Victus 2 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 89.1% | 88% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 99.5% | 98.9% |
| PWM | 60 Hz | 240 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 1 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 164 mm (6.46 inches) | 146.3 mm (5.76 inches) |
| Width | 76.4 mm (3.01 inches) | 70.9 mm (2.79 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) | 7.6 mm (0.3 inches) |
| Weight | 229 g (8.08 oz) | 168 g (5.93 oz) |
| Waterproof | No | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Active fan | Vapor chamber |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Silver | White, Black, Gray, Green, Purple, Yellow |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy |
| Max clock | 3300 MHz | 3360 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 2 + 2) | 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) |
| Architecture | - 2 cores at 2.27 GHz: Cortex-A520 - 2 cores at 2.96 GHz: Cortex-A720 - 3 cores at 3.15 GHz: Cortex-A720 - 1 core at 3.3 GHz: Cortex-X4 | - 3 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A510 - 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A710 - 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A715 - 1 core at 3.2 GHz: Cortex-X3 |
| L3 cache | 12 MB | 8 MB |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 4 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | Hexagon |
| Graphics | Adreno 750 | Adreno 740 |
| GPU shading units | 1536 | 1536 |
| GPU clock | 903 MHz | 719 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~2774 GFLOPS | ~2089 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 475525 | 380535 |
| GPU | 896088 | 598896 |
| Memory | 416633 | 273271 |
| UX | 340573 | 270109 |
| Total score | 2128819 | 1522811 |
| Samples | [9 tests] | [41 tests] |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 58.7 °C | 34.3 °C |
| Stability | - | 60% |
| Graphics test | - | 72 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 12038 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | - | 14216 |
| Video editing | - | 7839 |
| Photo editing | - | 33785 |
| Data manipulation | - | 12689 |
| Writing score | - | 19369 |
Memory
| RAM size | 12, 16 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5X |
| Memory clock | 4200 MHz | - |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 256, 512 GB | 128, 256, 512 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 4.0 | UFS 4.0 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 14 | Android 13 (Can be upgraded to Android 14) |
| ROM | Redmagic OS 9 | One UI 6.1 |
| OS size | 25 GB | 29.7 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 6500 mAh | 3900 mAh |
| Max charge power | 80 W | 25 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | Yes (10 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | Yes, (wireless) |
| Fast charging | Yes (84% in 30 min) | Yes (57% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 0:42 hr | 1:16 hr |
| Web browsing | 09:54 hr | 08:12 hr |
| Watching video | 21:54 hr | 13:41 hr |
| Gaming | 08:25 hr | 05:20 hr |
| Standby | 134 hr | 109 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 50 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8160 x 6120 | 8160 x 6120 |
| Zoom | Digital | Optical, 3x |
| Flash | LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 30FPS |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 120FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 960 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 122° | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Ultrawide: 50 MP 3) Macro: 2 MP | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Telephoto: 10 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 50 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/1.8 |
| Focal length | - | 23 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung GN5 | Samsung S5KGN3 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.57" | 1/1.57" |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | - | 10 MP |
| Aperture | - | f/2.4 |
| Focal length | - | 70 mm |
| Sensor | - | Samsung S5K3K1 |
| Sensor size | - | 1/3.94" |
| Pixel size | - | 1 micron |
| Stabilization | - | Optical |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | - | 13 mm |
| Sensor | - | Sony IMX564 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.76" | 1/2.55" |
| Pixel size | 0.64 micron | 1.4 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Image resolution | 2 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | - |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | - | 70 |
| Preview | - | 72 |
| Zoom | - | 126 |
| Samples | - | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 16 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4608 x 3456 | 4000 x 3000 |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | - | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Omnivision OV16E1Q | Samsung S5K3LU |
| Sensor size | 1/2.8" | 1/3.24" |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Autofocus | No | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.3 | 5.3 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 3.2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | Yes, DP 1.2 | Yes, DP 1.2 |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | Yes | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | No | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 20 | 20 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | Yes | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | No | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | November 2023 | February 2023 |
| Release date | November 2023 | February 2023 |
| Launch price | $649 | $799 |
| SAR (head) | - | 0.96 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 1.3 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint | - Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | Yes, 80 W | Not included |
Further details
Notes on Galaxy S23:
- The 128GB version uses slower UFS 3.1 memory, while the 256GB and 512GB models have UFS 4.0.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
