REDMAGIC eliminated from benchmarks? The company’s official response

The REDMAGIC 11 Pro devices have recently been eliminated from the main benchmark rankings related to the benchmark.

UL Solutions, the company responsible for the well-known application 3DMark, has in fact decided to remove the smartphones from its public database.

Accompanying this drastic measure, the platform’s editors have inserted an explicit notice to underline that the manufacturer did not adhere to the strict rules established to guarantee the fairness of the tests.

This move follows a series of investigations and suspicions raised by the community in recent weeks.

REDMAGIC eliminated from 3DMark for having “cheated” on the scores

The first serious doubts about the anomalous software behavior were brought to light by the Japanese YouTube channel Saityo. During an in-depth analysis, the YouTubers found clear discrepancies in the results obtained by REDMAGIC devices.

Specifically, the smartphone was able to record unusually high scores when running the standard version of the benchmark app. Conversely, using a modified version of the app and made invisible to the operating system to avoid automatic recognition, the results dropped drastically.

Beyond the numbers, what worried was the hardware’s stability itself. During the standard tests, the smartphone failed to complete the stress procedures, reaching temperature peaks of 55°C, a value higher by as much as 15°C than was measured using the camouflaged app.

The fine line between optimization and manipulation

In the smartphone sector, it is absolutely normal practice for operating systems to recognize specific applications, such as the most demanding games, to regulate their performance.

Such management serves to ensure the right responsiveness, to maintain safe operating temperatures and to preserve battery life.

However, programming the software to recognize exclusively benchmark programs in order to deliver power beyond the normal thermal constraints is a practice considered wrong. End users, in fact, will never be able to experience that level of performance in everyday use of other applications, unless they resort to complex stratagems.

The most surprising aspect of this story is the intrinsic nature of the REDMAGIC series. We are talking about devices explicitly designed for intensive gaming, equipped with active cooling fans and a complex liquid cooling system.

Despite this sophisticated apparatus, Nubia apparently allowed the hardware to push beyond safety thresholds, leading the system to forcefully stop the tests to prevent permanent damage.

Nubia’s Position

Following the uproar caused by the removal from the 3DMark rankings, the manufacturer has stepped in to clarify its position. Questioned directly by Android Authority journalists, Nubia provided its version of the facts regarding the performance management of its devices:

“The REDMAGIC devices are designed to offer high-performance experiences, especially for intensive gaming and advanced usage scenarios. To this end, our devices offer several performance modes that allow users to adjust CPU, GPU and thermal management settings according to their needs. For example, the “Diablo Mode” is designed to maximize performance in conditions of high load.”

The balance between performance, energy consumption and thermal management is a key element of our system design. The device dynamically evaluates the workload of applications in real time and allocates resources accordingly. When running high-demand applications, such as 3D games with intensive graphics, the system applies a higher performance scheduling to ensure a smooth and stable experience.

Regarding benchmarks, we consider them an indicator of a device’s performance potential under controlled conditions and high load. Therefore, performance results can vary depending on system settings, usage scenarios and environmental factors.

We remain committed to delivering transparent and high-performance products that meet the expectations of both gamers and advanced users