Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus VS ZTE Nubia Red Magic 11 Pro

The most immediate real-world difference between these two phones is size and weight. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus comes in at 190 g and 7.3 mm thick, while the ZTE Nubia Red Magic 11 Pro weighs a notably heavier 230 g and measures 8.9 mm thick. That 40 g gap is not trivial — it is roughly the weight of a large egg, and users holding the device for extended periods will feel it. The slimmer profile of the S25 Plus also makes it easier to pocket and handle one-handed, while the Red Magic 11 Pro's bulk is a direct consequence of the larger internal components typically found in gaming-focused hardware.

On water resistance, both phones carry an IPX8 rating at their core, meaning both can withstand submersion in fresh water. However, the S25 Plus holds a full IP68 certification, which adds a dust-ingress protection rating that the Red Magic 11 Pro's IPX8 designation lacks entirely. In practice, this means the S25 Plus offers a more comprehensively sealed device — relevant not just near water, but in dusty or sandy environments where the Red Magic 11 Pro provides no certified protection.

Neither phone is foldable or marketed as rugged, so those are non-factors here. Overall, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus holds a clear design advantage: it is significantly lighter, meaningfully thinner, and carries broader environmental protection. The Red Magic 11 Pro's larger volume is an inherent trade-off of its gaming hardware focus, but from a pure design and portability standpoint, it cannot match the S25 Plus.

Both screens are OLED/AMOLED panels, so the foundational display quality — deep blacks, vivid colors, strong contrast — is shared ground. Where they diverge sharply is sharpness: the S25 Plus packs a 513 ppi pixel density against the Red Magic 11 Pro's 431 ppi, despite the Red Magic's marginally larger 6.85″ screen. That 82 ppi gap is perceptible, particularly when reading small text, viewing detailed images, or using the device up close. The S25 Plus's 1440 x 3120 px resolution is simply a higher-grade panel specification, and it shows.

Flip the advantage, though, and the Red Magic 11 Pro counters with a 144Hz refresh rate versus the S25 Plus's 120Hz. For the gaming audience this device targets, those extra frames translate to marginally smoother motion and reduced perceived input lag — meaningful in fast-paced titles, though the difference is subtle in everyday scrolling. More consequential is the S25 Plus's exclusive support for HDR10 and HDR10+: the Red Magic 11 Pro supports neither, meaning it cannot render the expanded brightness and dynamic range metadata embedded in streaming content and HDR-enabled games. That is a notable omission for a device pitched at multimedia-heavy users.

On balance, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus takes the display edge. Its superior pixel density and full HDR ecosystem support deliver a higher-fidelity viewing experience across a broader range of use cases. The Red Magic 11 Pro's refresh rate lead is real but narrow, and it does not offset the deficit in sharpness and HDR capability.

At first glance, these two phones look nearly identical under the hood — both run on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite platform built on a 3 nm process, both use the Adreno 830 GPU at the same 1200 MHz clock, and they share identical memory bandwidth, cache configuration, and TDP. But the Red Magic 11 Pro runs a binned, higher-clocked variant of that chip: its prime cores reach 4.6 GHz versus the S25 Plus's 4.47 GHz, and the efficiency cores step up from 3.53 to 3.62 GHz. Those clock speed differences are modest in isolation, but they compound into a measurable real-world gap confirmed by benchmark data.

The Geekbench 6 scores tell the story plainly. The Red Magic 11 Pro posts a single-core result of 3234 against the S25 Plus's 2721 — an 18% lead — and extends that to a multi-core score of 10059 versus 9435. Single-core performance is particularly relevant for everyday responsiveness and latency-sensitive tasks like gaming, where individual thread speed matters more than parallelism. The Red Magic's lead here is not cosmetic. Backing that up, it also doubles the S25 Plus's RAM, with 24 GB compared to 12 GB, and ships with 1 TB of internal storage versus 512 GB — both meaningful advantages for users running demanding workloads or storing large game libraries.

The ZTE Nubia Red Magic 11 Pro wins the performance category clearly. Its chip runs faster, its benchmarks are higher, it carries twice the RAM, and it doubles the base storage. Users who prioritize raw computational headroom — particularly gamers and power users — will find it the more capable machine on every metric that matters here.

The rear camera systems take meaningfully different approaches. The S25 Plus pairs its 50 MP main sensor with a 12 MP ultrawide and a 10 MP telephoto, backed by a 3x optical zoom — a genuine optical zoom lens that preserves image quality when closing in on distant subjects. The Red Magic 11 Pro instead deploys a 50 MP main and a second 50 MP lens, but lists 0x optical zoom, meaning its telephoto equivalent relies entirely on digital processing. For users who regularly shoot at distance, that is a practical disadvantage. The S25 Plus also features a BSI sensor on its main camera, a design that improves light capture efficiency — particularly relevant in low-light conditions — which the Red Magic 11 Pro lacks.

Manual control parity is nearly complete between the two — both offer manual ISO, focus, exposure, and white balance — but the S25 Plus adds manual shutter speed control that the Red Magic omits, giving it a fuller set of tools for photographers who want granular control over exposure. The S25 Plus also supports HDR10 video recording, enabling higher dynamic range in captured footage, whereas the Red Magic 11 Pro does not. On the front, the Red Magic edges ahead with a 16 MP selfie camera versus the S25 Plus's 12 MP, and its wider f/2.0 aperture lets in more light than the S25 Plus's f/2.2 — a modest but real advantage for selfie quality in dimmer environments.

Taken as a whole, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus holds the stronger camera package. The optical zoom alone is a decisive differentiator for versatility, and advantages in BSI sensor design, manual shutter speed, and HDR video recording reinforce that lead. The Red Magic 11 Pro's front camera is a genuine bright spot, but it is not enough to close the gap on the rear system.

The software picture here is remarkably uniform — both phones run Android, share an identical privacy feature set, and support the same broad range of productivity and convenience capabilities. The one version difference is notable, however: the Red Magic 11 Pro ships with Android 16 while the S25 Plus launches on Android 15. A newer Android version means access to the latest platform security patches, behavioral improvements, and API support out of the box — a tangible if not dramatic advantage for the Red Magic at launch.

The only other meaningful divergence is the S25 Plus's ability to be used as a PC — a desktop mode or PC connectivity feature that the Red Magic 11 Pro does not support. For users who want to connect their phone to a monitor and use it as a light workstation, this is a genuine functional differentiator. Everything else — split screen, picture-in-picture, dynamic theming, on-device machine learning, offline voice recognition, and a comprehensive suite of privacy controls — is shared identically between the two devices.

This category is effectively a near-tie, with each phone holding one card. The Red Magic 11 Pro's Android 16 gives it a software freshness edge, while the S25 Plus's PC mode capability extends its utility beyond a typical smartphone. Which advantage matters more depends entirely on the user's workflow — neither constitutes a decisive overall win.

Raw capacity is where this category opens with a decisive statement: the Red Magic 11 Pro carries a 7500 mAh battery against the S25 Plus's 4900 mAh — a 53% larger cell. That is not a marginal difference; it represents a fundamentally different philosophy around endurance. All else being equal, a battery of that size is capable of sustaining significantly longer usage sessions before requiring a charge, which matters enormously for the gaming marathons and heavy workloads the Red Magic targets.

Charging speed compounds that advantage further. The Red Magic 11 Pro supports 80W wired fast charging — nearly double the S25 Plus's 45W — and crucially, extends that same 80W speed to wireless charging as well. The S25 Plus caps wireless at 15W, a pace that feels sluggish by comparison. In practice, the Red Magic can replenish its much larger battery at a rate that keeps pace with or exceeds what the S25 Plus can do over a wire. The S25 Plus does offer reverse wireless charging, allowing it to top up accessories like earbuds or a smartwatch — a convenience the Red Magic omits — but that is a secondary feature that does not shift the overall balance.

The ZTE Nubia Red Magic 11 Pro wins the battery category convincingly. A massively larger cell, substantially faster wired charging, and class-leading wireless charging speeds combine into a package that leaves the S25 Plus little room to compete on endurance or replenishment time.

Wired audio users will find an immediate differentiator: the Red Magic 11 Pro retains a 3.5 mm headphone jack, while the S25 Plus omits it entirely. For gamers and audiophiles who prefer wired headsets — whether for lower latency, no charging dependency, or sheer audio fidelity — this is a meaningful practical advantage that is easy to overlook until you need it.

Wireless audio tells the opposite story. The S25 Plus supports both aptX and aptX HD, Qualcomm's codecs for higher-quality Bluetooth audio transmission. aptX HD in particular enables near-lossless audio streaming to compatible headphones, delivering noticeably richer sound over Bluetooth compared to standard codecs. The Red Magic 11 Pro supports neither, which is a notable gap given that Bluetooth headphones are the dominant audio accessory today. Both phones feature stereo speakers and neither includes a radio, so speaker-based listening is evenly matched at a hardware level.

This category splits cleanly along use-case lines. The Red Magic 11 Pro is the better choice for wired headset users, while the S25 Plus serves wireless listeners more capably through its aptX HD support. Given that wireless is now the predominant mode for most users, the S25 Plus holds a slight overall edge in audio — but users who rely on a 3.5 mm connection will find the Red Magic 11 Pro the only option here.

Core connectivity is well-matched across the board — both phones support 5G, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC, USB-C 3.2, and identical peak download and upload speeds. Neither edges the other on raw wireless capability, and both pack the same suite of essential sensors including GPS, gyroscope, accelerometer, and Galileo support. Where differences emerge, they are specific rather than sweeping.

The S25 Plus pulls ahead on SIM flexibility, supporting 2 physical SIMs plus 2 eSIMs — a configuration that gives frequent travelers or dual-line users considerably more options than the Red Magic 11 Pro's 2 SIM setup with no eSIM support. The S25 Plus also includes a barometer for atmospheric pressure readings and ANT+ support for connecting fitness accessories like heart rate straps and cycling sensors — both absent on the Red Magic. In return, the Red Magic 11 Pro carries an infrared sensor, enabling it to function as a universal remote for TVs and appliances, a niche but genuinely useful feature the S25 Plus lacks entirely.

On balance, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus holds a modest connectivity advantage. The dual eSIM capability is the most practically impactful differentiator here, broadening carrier flexibility in ways that matter to a wide range of users. The Red Magic's infrared blaster is a handy bonus, but it does not offset the S25 Plus's broader feature set in this category.

The miscellaneous spec group offers no differentiation whatsoever between these two devices. Both include a video light, neither uses sapphire glass, neither has a curved or e-paper display — every data point is an exact match. This is a complete tie by the provided data, and no advantage can be assigned to either product.