The developers of the AnTuTu benchmark have released their January ranking of the highest-performing smartphones on the Chinese market. The top ten is made up entirely of 2025–2026 flagship devices powered by either the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 or the MediaTek Dimensity 9500. The absolute leader is the gaming-focused Red Magic 11 Pro+.

Red Magic 11 Pro+ — the new record holder

With a score of 4,104,271 points, the Red Magic 11 Pro+ confidently takes first place. The smartphone features an active cooling system (fan plus liquid cooling), allowing the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip to operate at maximum clock speeds without throttling. This makes it an ideal choice for the most demanding games and emulators.

Top 3: Vivo X300 Pro and Realme GT8 Pro

Second place goes to the Vivo X300 Pro with a score of 4.09 million points, powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 9500 — the only non-Snapdragon device in the top three. Third place is held by the Realme GT8 Pro (4.07 million), also running on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.

Full Top 10

The rest of the ranking includes:

  • iQOO 15 (3.94 million) — Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5;
  • Honor Magic 8 Pro and Honor Win (3.93 million each) — both on Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5;
  • Honor Magic 8 (3.91 million) — Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5;
  • OnePlus 15 (3.87 million) — Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5;
  • Redmi K90 Pro Max (3.83 million) — Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5;
  • Vivo X300 (3.73 million) — MediaTek Dimensity 9500.

Nearly the entire top 10 is built around the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, reinforcing Qualcomm’s dominance in the flagship segment at the start of 2026.

Why these models are leading

The impressive scores are driven by two main factors: ultra-powerful chipsets (Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 or Dimensity 9500) and advanced cooling systems. Gaming phones such as Red Magic, iQOO, and Realme GT gain an edge thanks to active cooling, which helps sustain peak performance for longer periods. Traditional flagships from Vivo, Honor, and OnePlus also deliver excellent numbers but tend to fall slightly behind gaming models in extended stress tests.

In brief

In January 2026, the AnTuTu ranking was topped by the Red Magic 11 Pro+ with 4.1 million points. Second and third places went to the Vivo X300 Pro (4.09 million) and Realme GT8 Pro (4.07 million). Almost every device in the top 10 runs on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, with Vivo models on the Dimensity 9500 as the exception. While the ranking reflects the Chinese market, many of these smartphones are available globally. If maximum performance is your priority, gaming flagships with active cooling are the ones to watch.