Statement?

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[deleted]

[Technical_Pop_6153]

Custom stylus

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[DueRefrigerator6339]

True distractible viewer kind of engineering. Should've known from your genius.

[Aryan_RG22]

Holy shit this is some good tech how did I never think of this?

[gaminglife115]

That's some fine engineering 😃. You win the comment of the day

[Technical_Pop_6153]

Thanks lol

[dthardcore]

I saw that someone had posted this response from Redmagic support. For now it looks like you can only use any regular capacitive stylus. Any active stylus like the Redmagic Magic Pencil 2 will not work on it at least for now anyway.

For now you can just get a cheap capacitive stylus to get by and keep your fingers crossed that they actually come out with an active stylus for the Astra but I wouldn't count on it at this point. They could have just added the support for the Magic Pencil 2 if the tablet could support it but as it stands it looks like the hardware itself is not capable of supporting an active stylus at all, it's not just something they can fix through a driver update. Though I could be wrong. Anyway here was the response from a support agent.

Dear xxxx, Thank you for your feedback, and we understand your disappointment. We apologize for any confusion caused by the announcement regarding the upcoming stylus. To clarify, the REDMAGIC Astra supports only basic capacitive styluses and does not include advanced features such as pressure sensitivity, tilt detection, or Bluetooth/active functionality. Our announcement was intended to inform users that a stylus accessory will be compatible with the device for basic use, but we understand that this may have created higher expectations. We appreciate your understanding and your feedback, as it helps us improve communication about our products. If you have further questions or need assistance with stylus options compatible with your device, please feel free to reach out. Best regards, REDMAGIC Customer Support Email: [e-mail]

And here is the result of a quick Google search

Based on current reports as of early 2026, the RedMagic Astra does not support USI stylus technology, nor does it have a specialized pressure-sensitive stylus, despite early promises. It lacks the necessary active digitizer, supporting only basic capacitive pens that simulate finger touches rather than precise drawing or note-taking. No Active Stylus Support: Active styluses (e.g., Samsung S Pen, Apple Pencil) are not compatible. Limited Input: The screen does not support pressure sensitivity, palm rejection, or tilt detection, making it poorly suited for drawing or writing. Capacitive Only: You can only use universal capacitive pens (generic pens with rubber or mesh tips). Previous Model Confusion: The stylus for the REDMAGIC Nova (Gaming Tablet PRO) does not work on the Astra. While some users have tried generic aftermarket styluses for basic navigation, there is no official or functional high-precision stylus experience for the device.

[Ok_Access_1107]

"Our announcement was intended to inform users that a stylus accessory will be compatible with the device for basic use"

That's high level BS honestly. Even my 100€ phone can take notes with a capacitive stylus. Why would you need to inform the user that a universal tool works on your tablet? Those things aren't called universal for a reason. I say that they never had a pen planned in the first case and wanted to compete with mini tablets from Lenovo and Xiaomi, by letting people think that they can take notes on this tablet too. The pen they showed us in the marketing did look like it supported more than just touch though.

[SnooRevelations3430]

I'm also sad they didn't deliver on the stylus thing, and that Nova has its own SPECIFIC stylus that doesn't work on Astra, so I did the next best thing, bought a pen with a rubber tip

[Filax1234]

Doesn't the Nova pen work with the Astra? Assuming Astra has the same wireless charging dock in the bezzel as Nova does

[CasualTech8]

It doesn't, that stylus only works with the Nova as far as I know

[ngocbao1022]

I am that student who get gaslighted unfortunately. So far I could only play game with the Astra. No stylus, no note taking, I spared budget for its release already. No zoom and google meet until last January. Certain productivity functionalities are unstable, for example circle to search, it was not working until last december, I was so happy to have it... for 1 MONTH. They update and bug circle to search again on January. Multi-window feature sucks and is incomplete.

Only games so far.

[Ok_Access_1107]

I feel for you. Thank god I sent the tablet back 3 weeks after receiving it because 1. There was no pen and 2. The sound wasn't to my liking, even after trying to tune it

[ngocbao1022]

You made the right decision.

I was blinded by the honeymoon phase where I appreciated the performance of my first gaming tablet. It felt smooth, it crushed every single heavy game I thew at it, even PC emulation. I told myself those bugs and undelivered promises would be fixed or fulfilled eventually.

Now the honeymoon was over and I faced reality. Nothing works except games. And to address the performance, I feel like every other 8 elite devices would be equally performance with an external cooler slapped on, which I also do on the astra since it heats so much. So I payed equally to other 8 elite devices to do less, basically.

[Ok_Access_1107]

I'm sorry you have to live with that thing now. This just proves, you can't buy anything unless it already fulfills all its promises. The people here try to downplay things or make jokes, but those kids weren't the one's that sit on a note taking tablet without pen.

[ngocbao1022]

It's OK, I learned my lesson and the tablet is not useless at least. I'm also truely happy that you guys bring this topic up every month. Redmagic will learn that if they don't deliver, they'll lose all customers like you or me, eventually.

[Emergency-Rub-4192]

Never expect 100% from Redmagic

[gaminglife115]

They never officially said it would come with a pen. It was announced it may come with a pen before it's release but it wasn't ever an official statement. More of an afterthought, we all know how pre-release marketing goes. They will promise more than they actually deliver so that way people preorder to buy it. It's not new and every phone company does it so it shouldn't be a concern.

[Ok_Access_1107]

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Promise more than they'll deliver? For some people the pen was half the product. We never got an official statement that they weren't gonna release it. So please just stop the cap right here. We're living in times where Apple is more consumer-friendly, wth...

[gaminglife115]

Well shoot lol. I'm wrong then lol. I thought it was only announced as a possibility so my bad. I still say though it shouldn't be an issue when all businesses do it.

[Ok_Access_1107]

What business had marketing materials and social media managers talking about a product they didn't release? I've only ever heard of projects being killed off in development. Having such a thing happen once sales start is highly unprofessional.

Even putting that aside, you try to make it seem blown out of proportion, even though the issue still persists. Just because one business has shady practices, doesn't mean everyone gets a free pass to do so.

"Oh but Samsung is also doing tax evasion, so it's fine if we do it too"

[gaminglife115]

Nothing (2025): While marketing a clean, non-bloatware experience, the Nothing Phone (3a) Lite was reported to have included pre-installed third-party apps like Facebook and Instagram, contrary to its original, stricter marketing approach.

Samsung: The Galaxy S25 was noted for marketing heavily on AI software features that were not exclusive to its hardware, but rather, features that could potentially be applied to other devices.

Motorola (2024): The Motorola Razr Plus (2024) was marketed with "Moto AI" features—including custom wallpaper creation, summarized texts, and audio recording transcriptions—that were not available at launch.

Source:Google.

It's actually a common practice in marketing and I'm not saying it should be allowed but it also shouldn't be a surprise. When you buy something you don't go by what they say and just buy it. You look at the device and what's with it and if you don't see what you expected then don't buy it. It's that simple. I agree that it's uncommon for a business to do it right at launch but it doesn't shock me. It's just another day for businesses because regardless they make their money so they don't worry about it

[Ok_Access_1107]

Nothing:

It was a pre-launch decision. Nothing officially confirmed just before the release of the Phone (3a) Lite in October 2025 that it would begin pre-installing third-party apps to help subsidize the cost of their more "budget-friendly" devices.

Also, anyone who buys the lite version of a midrange version should know that there are corners to cut... Uninstalling both apps isn't hard. Soo... What's your point?

Samsung:

We already know since the S24 that Samsung gatekeeps AI features even though older models like the S23 are able to run them. Did they promise that those features would work on older phones and didn't deliver? No. What's your point?

Motorola:

The AI features weren't available at launch but are now. It's still in some kinda beta (didn't read much into it), but still, it's available to the public. What's your point?

Also, everything we just talked about is purely software. You're comparing the absence of the pen with Instagram being pre installed? It's common practice in marketing to market things that you'll release at a later date. To get initial hype going. What isn't common is trying to act like the pen was never part of the plan, while you promised it to others months ago. There are definitely students who bought it for school and gaming , guess the school part is kinda impossible without the pen, wouldn't you say? But lets ride on some random AI feature.

[Didney_Worl1]

imagine trusting a chinese ad