Late last month, Chinese smartphone brand Xiaomi launched its very first gaming laptop, called the Mi Gaming laptop. And now today, Xiaomi-backed Black Shark has unveiled its first gaming smartphone, called the Black Shark gaming smartphone. Something that we have been hearing of since the past few weeks.
The Black Shark gaming smartphone looks pretty cool. Exactly what a gaming smartphone should look like. And exactly what a gamer would like his smartphone to look. The smartphone has a 5.99-inch display on the front with an aspect ratio of 18:9 and a resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels. But, even this modern aspect ratio, the Black Shark does have relatively large bezels by today’s standards. However, do keep in mind that is a gaming smartphone, and those large bezels will actually be helpful when gaming in landscape mode. So one shouldn’t be complaining about those “large bezels”.
Having said that, below the display is a home button housing the fingerprint scanner, and above it is the 20 MP camera with 5P lens and f/2.2 aperture. Moving on to the back, you get a dual camera setup that’s a combination of one 12 MP and one 20 MP camera – both of which have f/1.75 aperture.
That said, the back of the Black Shark gaming smartphone also flaunts a Black Shark ‘S’ logo which is green in color. And you know what’s cool? It glows. Yes, you read that right. This Black Shark logo glows. Now that’s something worth drooling over. Ain’t it?
Well, speaking about the innards, the Black Shark gaming smartphone comes with Qualcomm’s latest and greatest Snapdragon 845 SoC under the hood which is paired with 6 or 8 GB RAM. Well, what else do you expect a smartphone meant for gaming to come with? The 6 GB RAM variant has 64 GB of storage on board, whereas the 8 GB RAM variant comes with 128 GB of storage.
Having said that, the Black Shark gaming smartphone also features liquid cooling to dissipate the heat that would be generated by long sessions of gaming. Moreover, this smartphone also comes with a dedicated ‘Shark Key’ (translated from Chinese) on its left side which turns on performance mode for better gaming experience.
Furthermore, the Black Shark gaming smartphone also comes with a feature that blocks all calls, messages and other notifications while you are gaming, and, it also comes with a dedicated microphone along with support for surround sound – because clear, uninterrupted communication with your faction during battles is of paramount importance. Isn’t it?
Lastly, the Black Shark gaming smartphone packs in a huge 4000 mAh battery that draws power from a USB Type-C port and supports Quick Charge 3.0. However, the phone doesn’t have a 3.5 mm headphone jack.
Well, apart from unveiling the Black Shark gaming smartphone, the company also unveiled Black Shark Gamepad, which is a gaming controller. It can be attached to the Black Shark gaming smartphone if you get bored of tapping on the touchscreen while playing games. This controller features a joystick and a button and connects via Bluetooth.
Xiaomi Black Shark Gaming Smartphone Specifications
- CPU: 2.8 GHz Snapdragon 845 octa-core processor
- RAM: 6/8 GB LPDDR4X
- GPU: Adreno 630
- Operating System: Joy UI based on Android 8.0 Oreo
- Display: 5.99-inch Full-HD+ (2160 x 1080 pixels) 18:9 display with DCI-P3 color gamut, 403 ppi pixel density, 550 nits brightness, and, support for 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 and dual-tone LED flash
- Front Camera: 20 MP 1.0 μm with f/2.2 aperture, 5P lens and Smart Beauty Mode
- Internal Storage: 64 GB UFS 2.1 (with 6 GB RAM), 128 GB UFS 2.1 (with 8 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
- Other: Fingerprint Scanner, Shark Key, Liquid Cooling, aptX, aptX HD, Dedicated Gaming Mic, Dual Smart PA/Hi-Fi Music
- Colors: Polar Night, Sky Gray
- Battery: 4000 mAh with Quick Charge 3.0
Xiaomi Black Shark Gaming Smartphone Price and Availability
- Price of 6 GB RAM + 64 GB storage variant: ¥2999 (around $477/₹31,138)
- Price of 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage variant: ¥3499 (around $557/₹36,330)
- Price of Black Shark Gamepad: ¥179 (around $28/₹1858)
- Availability: Goes on sale from April 20 in China. No word on availability in other markets, but we wish it is launched soon in India
