I used the Redmagic Astra 2: the best gaming tablet just got even better

Redmagic's Astra gaming tablet was a revelation last year; OLED-toting Android tablets are vanishingly rare, and it was great to see a sensibly-sized tablet with a gorgeous OLED panel, high-end hardware, and great battery life. I used the Astra more than any other Android tablet over the course of the last 12 months, so when Redmagic said it was coming out with a new model, I was obviously interested.

What you need to know is that the Astra 2 isn't a wholesale refresh; it instead makes a few tweaks to the original design, and introduces liquid cooling. There's also a slightly bigger battery and Qualcomm's latest silicon, and outside of that, it is fundamentally unchanged — and that is a good thing.

The Astra 2 starts at $749/€699/£599 for the 12GB/256GB model, which is a modest $50 increase from last year. There's also a 16GB/512GB model that costs $849/€799/£679, and there's no 1TB variant this year. As always, Redmagic is incentivizing the launch with deals, and these will go live starting mid-August, with general sale slated for the end of August. If you're eyeing this tablet, my suggestion would be to get it at launch — Redmagic sold the Astra for as low as $499 last year, and you can get a decent deal if you buy as soon as it's available.

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This OLED panel is a sheer delight to use

The OLED panel is the clear star of the show; the 9.06-inch panel has a resolution of 2,400 x 1,504, and it has exquisite colors and contrast levels. Overall brightness is unchanged from last year, but it didn't prove to be a problem at all — I was able to use the tablet outdoors without any issues. There's 185Hz refresh as well, but you don't see that in gaming; that said, most games go up to 120Hz, which is great to see.

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The size of the Astra 2 makes it particularly well-suited to read comics or books, and that's what I did. It's just the right size to comfortably hold while sitting in the couch, and there's a dedicated reading mode that switches the panel to monochrome — if you want to read e-books on the device. Of course, this is a gaming tablet, and it excels in that regard. The smaller size makes it ideal to slot into a mobile controller like the GameSir G8 Plus, and that's predominantly how I played games on the tablet.

The Astra 2 retains a bold design - and you get LED lighting

Like last year, Redmagic went with an all-metal design, and it looks great. It just feels good to hold and use, and the sizing is just right; it isn't as huge as my iPad Pro M4, but it still has a decent-sized panel. The rounded edges make it comfortable, and while it has chunky bezels, they are uniform. The front camera is nestled into the bezel, so you get a panel that doesn't need any cutouts — which is a welcome change.

One of my favorite things about the Astra 2 is the flat design; the camera sits entirely flush with the body of the tablet — just like the Pixel 10a — and it feels wonderful. Thankfully, it doesn't slide off a table like the Redmagic 11 Pro, and that's down to the matte texture at the rear. It is on the heavier side at 363g, but it never gets uncomfortable to hold. The tablet retains IP54 ingress protection, and while it isn't good enough for a dunk in the pool, it withstands splashes of water.

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Redmagic prides itself on bold designs, and the Astra 2 delivers in this area. It has a rectangular insert that houses LED lighting, and it immediately shows off the tablet's gaming credentials. This section houses the biggest upgrade this year: a liquid cooling system similar to that of the Redmagic 11 Pro. You can see the coolant moving through the connectors, and it isn't just for aesthetics — it makes a genuine difference while gaming.

The tablet gets stereo sound, and it's decent enough if you're just playing casual games. I like that there are two USB-C ports; one is located at the bottom, and the other is mounted on the left side, making it convenient to charge the tablet when you're gaming.

This is a seriously cool tablet

On that note, Redmagic went with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, which is the fastest mobile silicon you can get at the moment. It's evident that Redmagic tuned the tablet to deliver reliable framerates, and it excels at sustained gaming — no other Android tablet comes close. It held up particularly well in thermal stress tests, and while there was some heating, the liquid cooling system did an admirable job.

So if you're looking to play marathon gaming sessions on a tablet, this is the one to get. I'm using the 16GB/512GB edition of the tablet, and I'd suggest getting this model over the base 256GB variant; it's easy to run out of storage these days, and you need the additional headroom if you're planning on using it as a gaming tablet. The only feature missing is cellular connectivity; that was the case last year as well, and it's evident this isn't a priority.

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Alongside the hardware, you get plenty of software tools to optimize your games. Game Space is an overlay that includes an fps counter, and it has a ton of settings that allow you to make the most out of any game. I also like the side-mounted USB-C port as it lets me connect video glasses — like the Rokid Max 2 — to the tablet. The Astra 2 gets USB-C Alt Mode, so you can easily connect it to an external monitor, TV, or smart glasses.

The software itself is pretty clean, and you get Android 16 out of the box. There isn't much in the way of overt styling (which is good to see), and the interface itself is fluid and optimized to take full advantage of the high-end internals. You get a decent amount of customizability as well, and there's the obligatory AI features, which are easy to ignore. There is a lot of bloatware, but it can be uninstalled with relative ease. Redmagic is doing a better job with updates, and while it guarantees five years of updates, it's unclear if that includes platform updates.

Battery life is reliable; the 8,300mAh battery is good enough for marathon gaming sessions or watching an entire TV series. And when you need to plug it in, the Astra 2 uses 75W charging and takes just over 50 minutes to charge fully. You don't get a charger in the box, so you will need to buy a USB PD charger if you don't have one.

The best part about the Astra 2 is the OLED panel, and Redmagic thankfully didn't change it this year. The smaller size of the tablet combined with the caliber of the hardware makes it a delightful choice for everyday use and intensive gaming, and if you need a new Android tablet, you'll love what the Astra 2 has to offer.