RedMagic Astra 2 gaming tablet has a built-in PC emulator and starts at $549

By: Anton Kratiuk | today, 13:41

RedMagic's new Astra 2 gaming tablet starts at $549 and does something no iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab can: run Steam games on Android through a built-in x86 PC emulator. The tablet launched in China on June 30 under the name Gaming Tablet 5 Pro, and RedMagic has confirmed a global rollout with an Early Bird pre-order window running July 10–16 via its online store.

The hardware

The Astra 2 packs a 9.06-inch 2.4K OLED display with a 185Hz refresh rate and 1,600 nits peak brightness — numbers that beat most tablets at any price. Inside sits Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, backed by RedMagic's own Red Core R4 co-processor and a liquid cooling system you can actually see: the transparent rear panel shows the coolant loop, RGB lighting, and air bubbles drifting through the fluid. It's not subtle.


RedMagic Astra 2 gaming tablet — transparent rear panel with liquid cooling and RGB lighting.

Storage goes up to 24GB RAM and 1TB, and the 8,300mAh battery charges at 80W. Two USB-C ports, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, and stereo speakers round out the feature list. The 13MP main camera is embedded in the transparent strip on the back; an 8MP front camera sits hidden in the display bezel.


The Astra 2's 9.06-inch 2.4K OLED display runs at 185Hz with 1,600 nits peak brightness.

The PC emulator angle

The headline differentiator is the Game Space app's x86 translation layer, which lets you install and play Steam titles at 2K resolution and up to 144Hz. RedMagic claims compatibility with over 200 game titles. That's a claim that needs real-world validation — PC emulation on ARM hardware involves trade-offs in compatibility and performance — but if it holds up, it fills a gap that Apple and Samsung have left wide open.

Price and availability

The $549 base model (12GB RAM / 256GB storage) positions the Astra 2 below the iPad Air M4, which starts at $599, and roughly level with the Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 5. Higher configurations reach $899 outside China; Chinese pricing converts to roughly $780–$1,030 depending on storage tier. Early Bird orders open July 10 through RedMagic's global store at Notebookcheck. UK and EU retail availability — and whether import duties will affect street price — has not been confirmed yet.

The Steam emulator feature, detailed by GSMArena, is the strongest reason to watch this one. Whether it performs as advertised in practice will be the real test once review units ship.