Astra vs. Nova: How We’ve Improved Our Gaming Tablet

Innovation is a core value for success. We must be able to learn and improve over time to create better products and designs. User feedback and critique also play a pivotal role in that process, becoming essential for any company. This is why, at REDMAGIC, we never shy away from listening to our community and implementing changes where we can. Our latest gaming tablet, the Astra, is proof of this concept in action.

In this blog article, we take a look back at our previous Nova gaming tablet and see how we’ve improved features and specs to create the Astra, inspiring a new era to redefine gaming excellence at its core.

Stepping Out of the Shadow of Greatness

The Nova gaming tablet was released in 2024 and stood out in the industry for its unparalleled performance and immersive gameplay at the time. Lauded by several media outlets and customers alike, the Nova held a special place in the gaming industry – and still does.

However, innovation is an unstoppable force, and eventually, the time came for us to hit the drawing board once more and create a new gaming tablet. Hence, from the trailblazing wake of its predecessor, the Astra was born into existence.

Astra vs. Nova: How We’ve Improved Our Gaming Tablet

The Astra gaming tablet was set to redefine the game once again from a more compact and premium frame. Designed to deliver Compact Power and Cosmic Speeds, the Astra already had some big shoes to fill. Fortunately, the gaming tablet seemed to be more than willing to step up to the plate and make its mark. Now, let’s get into the details of how the Nova and Astra compare to one another.

Comparing the Greats

Now, the Astra gaming tablet was built to succeed the Nova in many ways; however, many design choices were also entirely new additions as well. This is to say that the Astra was never meant to replace the Nova, but simply to provide an advanced option for your gaming tablet needs. Let’s look at some of the main comparisons between the two models.

Display and Visuals

When it comes to display, the Nova gaming tablet features a 10.9-inch LCD screen with a 2.8K (2800x1800) high-resolution while boasting 550 nits of brightness. The tablet also offers a 144Hz refresh rate and 840Hz touch sampling rate.

In contrast, the Astra uses a high-quality OLED screen rather than an LCD like the Nova and achieves a 165Hz refresh rate for richer colors, stronger contrast, and smoother graphics. With 1,600 nits of peak brightness and a 2.4K(2,400 x 1,504) resolution, the Astra shines in terms of vibrant and immersive visuals.

Design

The Nova took the world by storm as the first transparent gaming tablet around, displaying its fan, processing chip, camera, and cooling components. The all-metal design also improved heat dissipation while custom RGB lights kept the standard gaming aesthetic alive.

On the other hand, the Astra was built to be more premium by design while still sporting the transparent overlay and RGB additions, only now neatly packaged in a more compact flat 9.06-inch body with comfortable rounded corners.

The Nova has the dimensions of 253.34 x 164.56 x 7.3mm and a weight of around 520g. However, the Astra is much smaller and lighter at just 207 x 134.2 x 6.9mm and 370g.

Performance

Perhaps one of the key differences between the two tablets is the engine underneath. While the Nova is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Leading Version, the Astra had the opportunity to sport the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. Nova also comes with UFS 4.0 and LPDDR5X, unlike Astra’s more advanced UFS 4.1 Pro CPU and LPDDR5T GPU power.

The Astra also has the advantage of using our latest AI-enabled RedCore R3 Pro chipset as well to ensure smoother gameplay, faster multitasking, and accelerated load times. In terms of memory and storage, the Astra also has more options available with 12 + 256 GB, 16 + 512 GB, and 24 GB + 1TB at play, while the Nova only has 12 + 256 GB and 16 + 512 GB configurations.

Cooling

This is another feature that separates both tablets drastically. In the Nova gaming tablet, a 9-layer cooling system ensures enhanced cooling, resulting in a 25°C core temperature drop. PC-level 3D heat pipes in the tablet further optimize thermal conduction for rapid heat dissipation and a longer lifespan. The Nova was also the world’s first gaming tablet to use an integrated 20,000 RPM turbo fan.

On the Astra’s side of cooling, a 13-layer enhanced ICE-X cooling system is used alongside the industry’s first dual-layer vapor chamber to ensure efficient heat dissipation simultaneously above and below the chipset. The Astra also strategically repositioned Liquid Metal 2.0 between the CPU and battery chip to channel heat away, boosting charging efficiency by 13%.

Battery

Now, the Nova actually uses a larger battery than its younger sister, the Astra. With a 10,100 mAh battery, the Nova provides an 18.7-hour battery life and uses 80W fast charging to keep you in the game for longer.

The Astra, on the other hand, features an 8,200mAh battery with fast charging to get you a full battery in just 71 minutes. However, this disparity is only to keep the Astra sleek and compact in size, and even then, the Astra still sports the largest battery of any tablet in the 9-inch class or smaller.

When compared to the Nova, the Astra gaming tablet might seem to pack more of a punch with newer features and upgrades. The Astra features a more powerful chipset, a higher-resolution OLED display, a larger storage option, and an upgraded cooling system — all in a more compact form factor. However, ultimately, both gaming tablets provide a unique and effective gaming experience in their own way.

Built Different Yet Both Brilliant

For many products in the tech market, new means better. This is why we clamor for the latest upgrades and specs each time a new device takes the stage. Naturally, we want to improve every design to give our fans the best, but we also want to preserve the path we’ve made with the products we’ve released along the way.

The Nova and Astra gaming tablets have both inspired and evolved our commitment to innovation and meeting the needs of our community more than halfway. We hope that you can see the value and need for both of these gaming tablet titans and leave space for future creations as well.

Please Note: The REDMAGIC 12GB + 256GB Starfrost Astra gaming tablet will only be available on September 10, 2025. Our fantastic Early Bird code offers have also been extended and will now only expire on September 17th, 2025!

Astra vs. Nova: How We’ve Improved Our Gaming Tablet

Stepping Out of the Shadow of Greatness