3DMark Delists REDMAGIC 11 Pro and Pro+ Following Benchmark Manipulation Discovery
In a move that underscores the ongoing tension between raw performance marketing and benchmark integrity, UL Solutions has officially removed the REDMAGIC 11 Pro and REDMAGIC 11 Pro+ from the 3DMark leaderboard. The decision comes after it was discovered that these gaming-centric smartphones were employing tactics to artificially inflate their performance scores.
The investigation was triggered after Saityo, a YouTube content creator, flagged the benchmark results for the REDMAGIC 11 Pro as suspicious. Following this lead, UL Solutions acquired the devices and conducted a series of tests that confirmed the manipulation.
According to the criteria set by 3DMark, a device is considered to be “cheating” when it deliberately bypasses thermal and power restrictions to achieve higher scores. In the case of the REDMAGIC 11 Pro series, the devices allowed the processor—the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5—to operate at maximum power regardless of the internal temperature. While REDMAGIC utilizes advanced cooling hardware, including active fans, vapor chambers, and liquid cooling solutions to sustain high performance, 3DMark maintains that ignoring safety limits does not reflect the normal or safe operation of a device for the average consumer.
This incident highlights a recurring pattern in the mobile industry, where manufacturers attempt to manipulate synthetic benchmarks to appear more competitive. REDMAGIC joins a list of other major players, including Samsung, Huawei, Honor, and OnePlus, who have faced similar accusations of benchmark manipulation in the past. This trend suggests a growing pressure on brands to deliver “market-leading” numbers, even if those figures do not align with real-world usage.
Further concerns have been raised regarding the consistency of these devices. There are suspicions that units provided to influencers and press outlets may have been configured to run at even higher parameters than the versions available to retail customers in stores.
Despite the delisting on April 9, 2026, industry observers suggest This proves unlikely that REDMAGIC will pivot away from its aggressive performance strategy. However, the move by UL Solutions serves as a reminder that while benchmarks provide a useful snapshot of 3D performance, they are not a comprehensive measure of a smartphone’s actual utility or longevity.
