The Black Shark Helo is official! The Helo is the phone we thought would launch as the Black Shark 2. Black Shark doesn’t want to call this a direct successor to the Black Shark Gaming Phone probably because they have the same processor. This is understandable but that doesn’t mean the Helo isn’t worthy of the title. There are a bunch of significant upgrades, some which are appearing in a phone for the first time ever.
Design
The Helo has a completely different design from its predecessor. It still has an 18:9 display with a bit of bezel but it now has symmetrically designed front-facing cameras. The Black Shark Helo also has a green thin line that goes around the front and rear of the phone.
A large area of the back is covered in glass with the pattern from the original underneath. The area covered in glass is where you have the dual cameras which are now vertically arranged in a straight line with the LED flash and fingerprint scanner.
There is also the Black Shark logo which now glows thanks to the RGB LED underneath. That isn’t the only RGB LED on the device. There is one on each side of the frame that can change between 16.8 million colors with different effects based on the games you are playing.
Black Shark Helo Specs
The Black Shark Helo has a 6.01-inch 18:9 display. It is not just a tad bigger than the original but it is an AMOLED screen and not LCD. It also has a dedicated image processing chip that works with the AMOLED display for superior HDR quality. It also has support for DCI-P3 and SRGB for a wider color gamut.
The Helo might have the same Snapdragon 845 processor found in a lot of phones released this year but it is the first commercially available phone to have 10GB of RAM. It beats the Mi MIX 3, which is scheduled to launch on Thursday, to the title. The 10GB RAM version has 256GB of storage. There is a 6GB RAM version with 128GB of storage and an 8GB RAM version, also with 128GB of storage.
The original Black Shark gaming phone has liquid cooling to keep the phone’s temperature down while gaming. For the Helo, there are two liquid cooling pipes with a combined area of 10000mm². The cooling pipes can reduce the CPU’s temperature by up to 12°C and increases thermal efficiency by up to 20 times.
The Black Shark Helo has dual rear AI cameras – a 12MP primary sensor and a 20MP secondary sensor. The cameras can recognize up to 206 different scenes and take bokeh images. The front camera is a 20MP sensor that can also take portrait mode selfies. Sitting below the rear cameras is a fingerprint scanner.
[envira-gallery id=”218519″]The Helo has front-facing stereo speakers. The audio should be significantly better now, thanks to the larger cut-out for the top speaker (symmetrical with the bottom speaker). There is a Smart PA amplifier and Black Shark’s own Biso audio technology. It also has 3 microphones for clear calls during gaming. Black Shark says the Helo has improved signal reception thanks to its X+1 antennas.
[envira-gallery id=”218525″]There are a bunch of new features on the software side too such as Gamer Studio – a dedicated app where users can tweak CPU settings, notifications, sounds, and more. There is also Shark Time – an AI-based feature that automatically records highlights while you are playing games and allows you to share them. The Shark Key is also still there for one-key push performance boost and DND activation.
[envira-gallery id=”218518″]Black Shark also announced a new gamepad for the Helo. This has a circular touchpad and XYAB action buttons. They also announced a clip-on cooling case with two cooling fans and ports for charging and audio and a 3D protective case.
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Black Shark Helo Price and Availability
The Black Shark Helo is priced at ¥3199 (~$460) for the 6GB RAM version, ¥3499 (~$504) for the 8GB RAM version and ¥4199 (~$605) for the 10GB RAM version. The 6GB RAM and 8GB RAM models are already available for purchase on the Youpin site and will come with a free Black Wings left-hand gamepad.
You can also pre-order all three models on the official Black Shark site, JD.com, and Mi.com today before they go on sale on October 30. The 10GB RAM variant will come with a Black Wing left-hand gamepad and the new Black Wing right-hand touchpad controller.
