We’ve kept following the evolution of gaming phones for years. Recently, Black Shark launched the global version of their latest gaming phone, the Black Shark 5. Compared to previous flagship gaming phones, the Black Shark 5 is more of a budget gaming model that carries fair performance with good high-end power solution and cooling system. It looks like it wants to continue the success of its predecessor, the Black Shark 4. 

Black Shark 5 Gaming Phone – DESIGN

Continuing the design philosophy that began with its predecessor, the Black Shark 5 looks more mainstream in appearance. Apart from the remaining camera module with a futuristic design, the edge-curved back cover might make you think that it’s one of those new flagship models. However, it still looks more interesting than most new flagships.

The Black Shark 5 still applies a similar structure to the Black shark 4 series. It comes with a metal frame with a glass back cover, but I have to say that the new mech-style pattern on the rear looks much better. Along with the camera module, there’s an RGB LED flash, asserting its dignity as a gaming phone. The camera bump is acceptable and even fit the design well. But at the same time, please note that like the other gaming phones, the Black Shark 5 is a bit bulkier than most regular phones. But when holding it in your hands, its great built quality might make you ignore its compromise on weight. 

Thankfully, the Black shark 5 retains the brand’s iconic pop-up shoulder buttons, which is my favorite design of this series. The physical feedback on the fingers makes it the closest phone to a handheld gaming console. Every time I toggle the magnetic switch back and forth, in addition to the mechanical trigger sounds, the phone would also simulate the sound of a gun loading. Further, the triggers and switches can be separately customized into shortcuts for opening apps or triggering functions. For example, I enjoy using one of them as the camera shutter button. 

And if you’re still not satisfied with just two shoulder buttons for gaming, the Black Shark 5 also reserved the Magic Press operation, including two pressure-sensitive areas for gaming operation, which allow you to map two virtual buttons by pressing the screen. And the Magic Press also works for shortcut uses outside the game space, which now has included 15 shortcuts for customization. But some of them like scanning Alipay, WeChat, and health code is only widely used in China. Anyway, we have to say that the thoughtful features of the Magic Press and shoulder triggers actually make it even more convenient for daily use than regular models.    

Black Shark 5 Gaming Phone – DISPLAY

Well speaking of the display, actually, we don’t see many upgrades on the Black Shark 5. However, the display is still one of the best among gaming phones. The 6.67-inch AMOLED display features up to 144Hz refresh rate with HDR10+ support, and around 1300 nits peak brightness. Even compared with other regular phones at similar pricing, this display is still at the top-notch level. 

The upgraded dual-speaker system is the biggest surprise of the Black Shark 5. It’s even able to hit the top 3 among all the phones we reviewed.

Black Shark 5 Review – Performance & Gaming

The Black Shark 5 doesn’t get upgraded with its processor. It’s still powered by the Snapdragon 870 chipset. Actually, as a highly cost-effective model, it seems the 870 chipset is still the best option in the market. Just blame it on Qualcomm. Indeed, we’ve learned much about how well-performed the 870 chipset is over power efficiency and heating. So about its performance and gaming, you can just check out the results here. 

So, from the results, it’s quite clear that the Black Shark 5 is still good enough to do its job as a gaming phone. Especially the phone’s heating management and power consumption are still impressive. And if you’re looking for a gaming model that runs games stably without serious heating issue and high-power drain, the Black Shark 5 could be a good option and save you a lot of money. 

1 of 3

Black Shark 5 Review – Camera Performance

Although the Black Shark 5 is a gaming phone, it still has a small upgrade in terms of the camera system. The main camera has been upgraded from 48MP to 64MP. Even though there’s still a gap if you compare its imaging capacity with those camera phones. But it’s still good to learn that the series got improved beyond gaming-related features. 

1 of 10

Anyway, let’s look at some samples shot on the Black Shark 5. The samples have relatively natural color reproduction and better image detail with the 64MP sensor. And the white balance performance is also more stable. On the other hand, the 13MP wide-angle camera is also not bad. Although the 13MP resolution is not as good as the main lens’ 64MP, we still could have rich detail and consistent colors with the main lens. 

And the last camera is a macro one, which is nothing different from the ones we reviewed before. It can shoot close enough but don’t expect too much on the imaging department. 

The main camera also has improved dynamic range in low light conditions, which looks much better than what we saw on the Black Shark 4. 

Black Shark 5 Review – Battery & Charging

As for the power solution, the Black Shark 5 has not shrunk compared to the Pro version. It also comes with a 4650 mAh battery with 120W wired fast charge. It only took us 16 mins to finish the charging test, which is also one of the fastest charging solutions on the market right now. 

And its battery also looks good. In our battery test, even though it features a 144Hz display, the battery life didn’t get much affected. 

So that’s all for the Black Shark 5. This phone has made us feel that it’s no longer just designed for gamers, but more like a highly cost-effective model for wider general users. Given that most Android games do not really require high performance, we still consider the Black Shark 5 one of the best options for mobile gamers in the first half of 2022.