Today is a big day for Xiaomi. Earlier, its new independent brand, Redmi, launched two new smartphones, a pair of wireless earbuds, and a washing machine. Hours later, Black Shark, the gaming phone company it has a stake in announced its third gaming phone – the Black Shark 2.
Black Shark 2 Design
The Black Shark 2 takes on a different design from the original and the Black Shark Helo. It also has the largest display of all the three phones. The phone doesn’t have super thin bezels which isn’t surprising but they are smaller than those of its predecessors.
On the rear, the overall design is different too. The cameras are arranged vertically and positioned on the left. They aren’t flush with the body though. The now recognizable Black Shark logo sits at the center and there is an LED underneath it. There are also LEDs on the sides and a Black Shark Key switch on top of the power button.
Specs and features
The Black Shark 2 is the first gaming phone released this year and it tries to make a big statement. The display is a 6.39-inch AMOLED panel with a 2340 x 1080 resolution and a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. Black Shark calls it a Trueview Display which restores true color to the screen. With a dedicated image processing chip, the phone automatically adjusts the display parameters for the best color output. There are also features like Full DC dimming, MEMC intelligent motion, Super HDR, and an eye protection mode.
The Black Shark 2 is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 processor and comes in four variants – 6GB RAM + 128GB, 8GB RAM + 128GB, 8GB RAM + 256GB, and 12GB RAM + 256GB.
The Black Shark 2 is a gaming phone but that doesn’t mean it has to slack in the camera department. On the front above the display is a 20MP 0.9μm f/2.0 sensor covered with a 5P lens. On the rear is a 48MP f/1.75 0.8μm primary camera paired with a 12MP f/2.2 telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom. The camera can record in 4K at 30fps, record slow-motion videos in 720p at 240fps and in 1080p at 120fps.
The Black Shark 2 has an in-display fingerprint scanner, Bluetooth 5.0, and a USB type-C port. Under its hood is a 4000mAh battery with support for 27W fast charging. It has stereo speakers, triple-microphones for stereo recording, and uses AI to reduce background noise.
In terms of gaming, the phone comes with a feature called Magic Press which lets you customize the touch controls on the screen. Magic Press also lets you customize the pressure sensitivity of the two sides of the screen. Black Shark say they have also reduced the touch response time to 43.5ms for a smoother gaming experience.
Don’t worry about your device heating up as Liquid Cooling 3.0 with its tower-style cooling design which is a combination of a liquid-cooling pipe and liquid-cooling plate, efficiently covers the heat-generating components of the phone. Liquid Cooling 3.0 is 20 times more efficient in heat dissipation. There is also a cooling fan attachment for the phone that helps bring the temperature down by an extra 5 degrees. This comes in handy if you will be playing for long hours.
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Price and Availability
The Black Shark 2 comes in three color variants – Shadow Black, Frozen Silver, and Mirage Blue. The configuration varies on the color you want. The price starts at ¥3199 (~$477) for the 6G + 128GB version, jumps to ¥3499 (~$521) for the 8GB RAM + 128GB version, ¥3799 (~$566) for the 8GB RAM + 256GB variant, and ¥4199 (~$625) for the 12GB RAM + 256GB version. It is already available for pre-order here on the official website and on JD.com ahead of its March 22 first sale date.
The Black Shark 2 will get an international launch and India is one of the markets it is destined to arrive in. There is no info yet on when this will be.
