What you need to knowThe RedMagic 11 Air Trace Edition swaps subtle colors for a white design with bold orange accents and a semi-transparent aesthetic.It keeps the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, up to 16GB RAM, 512GB storage, and the RedCore R4 gaming chip.Priced at $599 / €599, the Trace Edition is essentially the same phone launched earlier this year.
RedMagic is back with another variant of its sleek gaming phone, the 11 Air. The Trace Edition is now available worldwide, trading the original’s subtle colors for a bright white finish with bold orange accents.
This special edition is based on the RedMagic 11 Air, a gaming phone that came out earlier this year. It adds a new design that shows off the phone’s internals and gives fans something more collectible. The hardware inside is still just as powerful as before.
The RedMagic 11 Air Trace Edition keeps the same slim body as the regular model. It’s about 7.85mm thick and weighs around 207g, making it thinner and lighter than many other gaming phones, which are often bulky.
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Android Central’s Take
A slimmer phone with high-end specs is great for people who want strong performance without a bulky, flashy device. Still, the transparent “Trace” design seems like it’s trying a bit too hard to look like a gaming phone. It makes me wonder if RedMagic is really moving away from flashy designs or just giving the same formula a new look.
Despite its slim design, the phone still features a 6.85-inch AMOLED display with a 1.5K resolution (2688 × 1216) and a 144Hz refresh rate. The screen also offers a 960Hz touch sampling rate and high-frequency PWM dimming to help reduce flicker.
Inside, the phone uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.1 storage. RedMagic also adds its own RedCore R4 gaming chip, which handles tasks like audio and haptics so the main processor can focus on demanding games.
Cooling, triggers, and gaming extras
(Image credit: RedMagic)
Managing heat is crucial for gaming phones, and RedMagic addresses this with its ICE Cooling System. This system uses vapor chambers, graphene layers, and active cooling parts to keep the phone cool during long gaming sessions.
The phone also offers several features for gamers, like 520Hz shoulder trigger buttons for console-style controls, bypass charging, and software tools to boost performance and manage resources while you play.
Powering everything is a 7,000mAh battery, which supports fast wired charging to get you back into the game quickly.
Android Central’s Take
This is basically the same phone RedMagic introduced in January, just with a flashier design. Part of me thinks this is simply a mid-cycle update meant to use up extra parts and get some attention. Still, the 11 Air was already a strong choice for people who care more about battery life and performance than cameras. The Trace Edition doesn’t really change much, but it doesn’t need to. It just needs to stand out on the shelf, and with its white-and-orange look, it does.
RedMagic phones have never been camera-first devices, and that doesn’t really change here. The rear camera setup includes a 50MP primary sensor paired with an ultra-wide camera, while the front uses a 16MP selfie camera. It’s perfectly fine for everyday shots and video calls, but gaming clearly remains the priority.
On the software side, the phone uses RedMagic OS 11, which is based on Android 16. It comes with performance tools, customizable gaming modes, and user interface tweaks made for gamers.
The RedMagic 11 Air Trace Edition starts at $599 or €599, and it comes in just one configuration.