Redmagic 12 Pro: RGB liquid cooling, 185Hz screen and $949 starting price

Redmagic's gaming phones already had real liquid cooling. The new Redmagic 12 Pro now puts RGB lights inside the transparent cooling loop, according to a hands-on by The Verge. The lights can run patterns, react to specific apps or flash for calls and notifications.

Lights versus blue coolant

There is a catch: the coolant is still fluorescent blue, so the colours fight it. Blue and white just look bluer, green turns turquoise, and red or orange mostly show up as coloured bubbles. Other lights — a ring under the camera, a side glow and strips on the shoulder triggers — show their real colour, so the phone rarely looks uniform.

Cooling and performance

Under the lights, Redmagic says the pump's output pressure is 130 kPa, 85% higher than the previous generation. It again works with a built-in fan and a vapour chamber to keep the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 in check. Memory options are 12GB or 16GB of RAM and 256GB, 512GB or 1TB of storage; a 24GB version is not listed this time.

Display, battery and cameras

• 185Hz display — the top rate applies only in compatible games — with a 16MP under-display selfie camera. The Verge found it hard to spot but weak for selfies, with AI beautification it could not switch off.
• 8,400mAh battery with 80W wired charging.
• IP69 for most of the body, but the area around the fan is only IPX8, with no dust rating.
• Two 50MP rear cameras (main and ultrawide), flush under the back glass.
• The 3.5mm headphone jack is gone.

If you want to know when a high refresh rate actually matters, see our explainer on 144Hz vs 240Hz.

Price and release

The 12 Pro starts at $949 — $200 more than the 11 Pro and $100 more than May's 11S Pro — and goes up to $1,199 for the top configuration. Every version has both liquid cooling and RGB. Preorders start 12 November, with shipping from 18 November. Regional prices were not given. A phone with a fan and big battery also runs hot under load — our guide on why phones overheat explains what is normal.