China-based Xiaomi’s sub-brand Black Shark announced its very first gaming smartphone – the Black Shark – back in April this year. And now, the company has announced yet another gaming smartphone which is called Black Shark Helo.
The Black Shark Helo looks a bit different than its predecessor, the Black Shark. The Black Shark was a bit curvy on the front, but, the Black Shark Helo is less rounded around the corners and hence looks a bit wider than the Black Shark.
Furthermore, the Black Shark had a fingerprint scanner on the front below the display, but that has been moved on to the back now on the Black Shark Helo. It is located in the center below the dual cameras. Speaking of dual cameras, the Black Shark had them placed in the top-left in horizontal orientation, but the Black Shark Helo has them in the center in vertical orientation. The dual cameras on the Black Shark Helo sit between the LED flash and the fingerprint scanner.
The Black Shark Helo also comes with an ‘S’ logo on its back, and, like its predecessor, the logo on the Black Shark Helo glows, which is cool. This is an RGB LED logo that supports 16.8 Million colors. The logo exhibits different lighting effects during different scenes while gaming. That said, this logo is further complemented by RGB strips that are placed on the left and right side of the phone’s frame.
The Black Shark Helo sports a 6.01-inch AMOLED display that has aspect ratio of 18:9 and a resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels. The display comes with DCI-P3 wide color gamut, in addition to HDR support that should enhance the gaming experience.
The bezels on the Black Shark Helo are smaller than the Black Shark, and the company has thrown in dual front-facing stereo speakers. One is located above the display, and the other below it.
Having said that, talking about the innards, the Black Shark Helo comes with Qualcomm’s latest and greatest Snapdragon 845 SoC. The same chip that powers the Black Shark. However, while the Black Shark was offered in 6 and 8 GB RAM options. the Black Shark Helo is offered in 6, 8, and 10 GB RAM options. Yes, this makes the Black Shark Helo world’s first smartphone to come with 10 GB RAM.
The 6 GB and 8 GB RAM variants come with 128 GB of internal storage, whereas the 10 GB RAM variant comes with 256 GB of internal storage.
The Black Shark Helo also comes with dual-pipe liquid cooling system that helps maintain the performance of the smartphone at peak loads. Black Shark says that this cooling system helps decrease the CPU temperature by 12-degrees, increases CPU cooling efficiency by 20 times, and, increases running time of the CPU at maximum frequency by 6 times.
The smartphone also comes with features like Shark Space and Gamer Studio. The former lets you boost gaming performance by limiting background usage of other apps using the Shark Key, whereas the latter lets you control parameters of CPU, display, network and more for a professional gaming experience.
For photography, the Black Shark Helo comes with dual cameras at the back that we already told you about. This dual camera setup is a combination of one 12 MP and one 20 MP camera. And, on the front, you get a 20 MP single camera.
Lastly, the smartphone comes packed with a 4000 mAh battery that supports 18W Fast Charging, and draws power from a USB Type-C port. The smartphone, however, doesn’t come with a 3.5 mm headphone jack.
Black Shark also unveiled a Gamepad for the Black Shark Helo that makes gaming easier for the users. Furthermore, playing games on Black Shark Helo with this Gamepad also ensures that the audio coming out of the dual front-facing speakers isn’t blocked by your hands while holding it in landscape mode. The Gamepad is available for both left and right side of the phone. The 6 and 8 GB RAM variants will come with Gamepad for left side, whereas the 10 GB RAM variant will come with Gamepads for both the left and right side.
Xiaomi Black Shark Helo Specifications
- CPU: Snapdragon 845 octa-core processor
- RAM: 6/8/10 GB LPDDR4X
- GPU: Adreno 630
- Operating System: Joy UI based on Android 8.1 Oreo
- Display: 6.01-inch Full-HD+ (2160 x 1080 pixels) AMOLED display with 18:9 aspect ratio, DCI-P3 color gamut, sRGB mode, 402 ppi pixel density, 430 nits brightness, and, support for HDR and MEMC Smart Motion Compensation Technology
- Rear Camera: 12 MP (1.25 μm, f/1.75 aperture, 6P lens) + 20 MP (1.0 μm, f/1.75 aperture, 6P lens) with PDAF, HDR, Portrait Mode, AI Scene Recongition and dual-tone LED flash
- Front Camera: 20 MP 1.0 μm with f/2.2 aperture, 5P lens, Smart Beauty Mode and Portrait Mode
- Internal Storage: 128 GB UFS 2.1 (with 6 and 8 GB RAM), 256 GB UFS 2.1 (with 10 GB RAM)
- SIM: Dual SIM (Nano + Nano)
- Connectivity: 4G VoLTE, GPS, Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi 2 x 2 MU MIMO, USB Type-C (no 3.5 mm headphone jack)
- Other: Fingerprint Scanner, Shark Key, Dual-Pipe Liquid Cooling, Shark Space, Gamer Studio, RGB LED Glowing Logo, Dual Front-Facing Stereo Speaker, aptX, aptX HD, Dedicated Gaming Mic, Dual Smart PA/Hi-Fi Music
- Battery: 4000 mAh with Quick Charge 3.0 and 18W Fast Charging
Xiaomi Black Shark Helo Price and Availability
- Price of 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage variant: ¥3199 (around $461/₹33,805)
- Price of 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage variant: ¥3499 (around $504/₹36,975)
- Price of 10 GB RAM + 256 GB storage variant: ¥4199 (around $605/₹44,372)
- Availability: Goes on sale from October 30 in China. No word on availability in other markets.
