The Black Shark 5 series has apparently been taken off shelves in the Chinese market. Netizens have recently noticed that the company’s gaming smartphones have been sold out on various platforms. So here are all the details.

The gaming smartphone lineup from the Chinese brand includes the base model along with the Pro variant, and the higher end RS version. However, all three models in the Black Shark 5 series has been removed from JD.com and even the company’s official website as well. Although the Black Shark 5 RS variant is still in stock in the Black Shark section of the JD.com website. This makes it the only model that is currently available for purchase.

This has led many to believe that the series has been shelved by the company. In other words, the phones have possibly been discontinued and had its production ceased. This would seem odd considering the Black Shark 5 was released less than a year ago, back in 30 March 2022. The smartphone officially went on sale on April 2, so it means that the device is already unavailable a mere nine months after launch.

As of right now, finer details are still unclear and we have no way of confirming why the company’s latest existing model is out of stock. On the other hand, there have also been rumors going around that Black Shark has been slashing jobs in China. These rates of lay offs were reportedly quite high with rates nearly hitting 50 percent. This is all the information we have at the moment, so stick around for more updates regarding this matter.

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Xiaomi just launched its new gaming phone lineup: the Black Shark 5 series. This year, the new lineup is composed of three phones: Black Shark 5, Black Shark 5 Pro, and Black Shark 5 RS. The only gaming smartphone manufacturer which launched three variants in the same series is ASUS in 2021 and these phones are giving more choices in 2022 if compared to other gaming phone manufacturers such as Nubia and Lenovo. This comparison will show you the difference between the specifications of these three variants.

Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro vs Xiaomi Black Shark 5 vs Xiaomi Black Shark 5 RS

Design

With the exception of the color options, the Black Shark 5 and the Black Shark 5 Pro come with the same design. And it is a more elegant design if compared to the RS variant, more suitable for those who want a more sober phone. On the other hand, the Black Shark 5 RS is more unique with its horizontal camera module, especially in that yellow color variant. All of these phones are pretty thick and heavy, so they are not your deal if you are looking for a good phone to use with one hand or to keep in a pocket. All of them come with physical pop-up gaming triggers, very useful during gaming sessions in the most competitive games.

Display

The Black Shark 5 Pro comes with a superior display: it is an AMOLED panel with one billion colors, a diagonal of 6.67 inches, a 144 Hz refresh rate, the HDR10+ certification, and a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels. The other two phones have the same specifications with the exception of the number of colors they are able to show: up to 16 million. Despite sporting AMOLED panels, all of these models come with side-mounted fingerprint readers instead of in-display sensors. They also pack good stereo speakers, but they lack the 3.5 mm audio jack for earphones.

Specs & Software

The Black Shark 5 Pro is the most powerful variant of the trio because it is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 mobile platform by Qualcomm. The Qualcomm flagship SoC is paired with up to 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of internal storage composed of UFS 3.1 storage and an additional NVMe SSD. You get the SSD on the Black Shark 5 RS as well, but it comes with weaker mobile platforms: either the Snapdragon 888 or the Snapdragon 888 Plus, paired with up to 12 GB of RAM. The vanilla Black Shark 5 is even less powerful with its Snapdragon 870 and a maximum of 12 GB of RAM; it does not come with an SSD. All of these phones run Android 12 customized by Joy UI 13.

Camera

If you are looking for a high-end camera phone, then you should not opt for these gaming devices. The best of the trio remains a midrange camera phone, nothing more. The Black Shark 5 Pro wins thanks to its 108 MP main camera, while the vanilla version and the RS variants come with an inferior 64 MP camera. The vanilla version beats the RS variant thanks to a better 13 MP ultrawide sensor.

• Read More: Redmi K50G Gaming Flagship Unboxing and Hands-on: Believe it or not, it’s a Gaming Phone!

Battery

The Black Shark 5 Pro and the Black Shark 5 are equipped with a bigger 4650 mAh battery, so their battery life will be higher. The whole trio comes with 120W fast charging filling the battery in 15 minutes or less.

Price

Xiaomi Black Shark 5 RS starts from €470/$512, the vanilla version begins at €500/$544, and the Pro retails for €600/$653 in its base variant. Which one would you pick?

Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro vs Xiaomi Black Shark 5 vs Xiaomi Black Shark 5 RS: PRO and CONS

Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro

PRO

• One billion colors display
• Better chipset
• 108 MP camera
• Big battery
• SSD

CONS

• Price

Xiaomi Black Shark 5

PRO

• Big battery
• Good price
• Same design as the Pro

CONS

• Inferior chipset

Xiaomi Black Shark 5 RS

PRO

• Unique design
• Better chipset than the vanilla version
• SSD

CONS

• Smaller battery
• Inferior ultrawide camera

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Last week was not the busiest in the consumer technology world. However, we did witness multiple product launches in different markets though some of them had already gone official earlier.

The most notable events were hosted by OnePlus and Black Shark for the OnePlus 10 series and the Black Shark 5 series respectively. Then, there was also a Xiaomi conference at which the company introduced two more Redmi Note 11s.

Finally, as far as non-launches are concerned, we have selected two articles to complete our list. These are regarding Samsung’s self-repair program and Chrome v100.

With that out of the day, let’s take a look at the aforementioned stories one by one.

Top Stories from Last Week

OnePlus 10 Pro debuts globally

The OnePlus 10 Pro finally made its global debut on March 31. The smartphone was also accompanied by the OnePlus Bullets wireless Z2 neckband-style wireless earphones.

The handset has the exact same set of features as the original Chinese model, except for a couple of changes. The North American version is limited to 65W fast wired charging. Further, the T-Mobile variant has an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance.

Interestingly, the device comes in a single 8GB + 128GB memory configuration in North America. While the rest of the world gets the handset in 8GB + 128GB as well as 12GB + 256GB memory versions.

The phone starts at $899/₹66,999/€899/£799, while the earphones are priced at ₹1,999.

Black Shark 5 series goes official offering 4 chipset options

The Black Shark 5 series was unveiled last week consisting of three models. Customers can select from four different chipset options and slightly varying specs.

The vanilla model is powered by Snapdragon 870, whereas the Pro model houses the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. Then, there’s an RS model, which comes in Snapdragon 888 and Snapdragon 888+ variants.

The RS version looks identical to the Black Shark 4/4S series. On the other hand, the other two models sport a new design. Apart from the cameras, the rest of the specs are more or less the same on all three.

As far as pricing is concerned, the Black Shark 5, 5 Pro, 5 RS start at ¥2,799 ($440), ¥4,199 ($660), and ¥3,299 ($518) respectively in China.

Two new Redmi Note 11s and Redmi 10s

Xiaomi launched two new Redmi Note 11s called Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G and Redmi Note 11S for select international markets. The former is the same as the model sold in China, whereas the latter is a rebranded Redmi Note 11 5G from China and it also goes by the name of POCO M4 Pro 5G in some regions. Additionally, the vanilla Redmi Note 11 got a Xiaomi Fan Festival Special Edition.

The company also unveiled a device called Redmi 10 5G for global markets. This phone is called Redmi Note 11E 5G in China. 

Last but not least, Xiaomi also took wraps off the Redmi 10A in China. It is nothing but a refreshed Redmi 9A with a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and a different rear design.

Samsung partners with iFixit for a self-repair program

In November 2021, Apple announced a self-repair program for its iPhones. Following the trendsetter, last week, Samsung launched its version of the self-repair program in collaboration with iFixit.

The South Korean electronics giant’s initiative is currently limited to the Galaxy S20 series, Galaxy S21 series, and Galaxy Tab S7+. The program provides authentic parts, repair tools, and repair guides to the customers.

We expect more companies to introduce their self-repair program as part of the ‘right to repair.’

Chrome v100 is here

Last week, the world’s popular internet browser, Google Chrome, hit version 100 on all the platforms — Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and Linux, At the same time, Chrome OS also got updated to version 100 since it is based on Chrome browser.

Talking about changes, the latest version of the browser arrives with new iconography,  multi-screen window placement API, and no more ‘Lite Mode’ on Android as well as iOS.

On the other hand, Chrome OS gets a new launcher, search improvements, ability to edit text using voice, option to make GIFs using camera, and granular options for screenshots and screen recordings.

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Black Shark 5 RS is the third device in the series and stands in between the Black Shark 5 and 5 Pro that launched today. Unlike the other two devices, the 5 RS retains the old Black Shark 4S design and brings some improvements.

The Black Shark 5 RS costs CNY 3,299(~$520) for the 8GB + 256GB variant and CNY 3799(~$599) for the 12GB + 256GB variant. It has a Black and Green shade. It will go on sale in online and offline markets from April 2.

Black Shark 5 RS Specifications 

The Black Shark 5 RS sports a 6.67-inch punch-hole with a Full-HD+(2400 x 1080 pixels) resolution and 144Hz refresh rate. It is an E4 AMOLED panel with a 720Hz touch sampling rate, 1300 nits peak brightness, and a DCI-P3 color gamut.

Powering the device is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 paired with 8GB LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 + SSD storage. There’s another variant with Snapdragon 888+ SoC that has 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 + SSD internal storage. It features magnetic shoulder buttons for gaming.

The phone has a triple camera system with a 64MP main lens, a 13MP ultra-wide sensor, and a 5MP telephoto unit. On the front, it has a single selfie snapper. It packs a 4,500mAh battery with support for 120W fast charging technology. The smartphone has a 3.5mm headphone jack for audio and a USB Type-C port for charging. It boots on Android 12 OS and has Joy UI 13 on top.

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There are going to be 7 smartphone launch events next week. But only 2 of them will be for new devices. Whereas, the remaining conferences will be for handsets making their way to new markets. Interestingly, all the events will be from different brands, namely Samsung, POCO, Redmi, Black Shark, realme, Infinix, and OnePlus. With that out of the way, let’s take a look at all the phones that are scheduled to debut next week one by one.

Upcoming Smartphones Next Week

Samsung Galaxy M53 5G

Samsung has confirmed to launch a new mid-ranger called Galaxy M53 5G in Vietnam on March 27 (Sunday). The device will be the successor of the Galaxy M52 5G. Per multiple reports, It will come with an interesting set of features.

The handset will reportedly arrive with a 6.7-inch FHD+ 120Hz Super AMOLED display, MediaTek Dimensity 900 SoC, 8GB RAM, 128GB/256GB storage, 108MP (wide) + 8MP (ultra-wide) + 2MP (macro) + 2MP (depth) quad-camera system, 32MP selfie camera, One UI 4.1 based on Android 12, 5,000mAh battery, 25W fast charging (no in-box charger).

POCO X4 Pro 5G

After making its debut in multiple international markets, the POCO X4 Pro 5G is making its way to India on March 28 (Monday). The phone will be announced for the country in a live stream, which is scheduled to start at 12:00 PM on the brand’s official YouTube channel.

According to reports, the POCO X4 Pro 5G heading to India will sport a 64MP primary camera instead of a 108MP sensor and will lack NFC. Other than these two differences, the remaining specs will be the same.

Hence, the device will come with a 6.67-inch FHD+ 120Hz AMOLED display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 SoC, LPDDR4x RAM, UFS 2.2 storage, 8MP ultra-wide camera, 2MP macro camera, 16MP selfie camera, dual stereo speakers, side-mounted fingerprint sensor, MIUI 13 based on Android 11, 5,000mAh battery, and 67W fast charging.

Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G

Xiaomi has scheduled a global launch event for March 29 (Tuesday). The conference will be live-streamed on the company’s official YouTube channel from 8 PM GMT+8. It is expected to announce the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G.

Going by multiple reports, the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G set to release in international markets will be the same as the one sold in China. The handset also goes by the name of Xiaomi 11i HyperCharge.

Hence, the phone will sport features like a 6.67-inch FHD+ 120Hz AMOLED display, MediaTek Dimensity 920 SoC, LPDDR4x RAM, UFS 2.2 storage, 108MP (wide) + 8MP (ultra-wide) + 2MP (macro) triple camera system, 16MP selfie camera, dual stereo speakers, side-mounted fingerprint sensor, MIUI 12.5 based on Android 11, 4,500mAh battery, and 120W fast charging.

Black Shark 5 Series

Black Shark has revealed to unveil the Black Shark 5 series on March 30 (Wednesday). The event will begin at 7 PM CST. It will be live-streamed on Weibo and other popular Chinese video platforms.

The brand is expected to announce three models, namely Black Shark 5, Black Shark 5 Pro, and Black Shark 5 RS. They are said to be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipsets.

Unfortunately, not much is known about these gaming smartphones, except that they will be retaining the magnetic shoulder keys. We are looking forward to learning more about them via official teasers in the coming days.

realme C31

The realme C31 is set to go official in India on March 31 (Thursday). It will be unveiled in live steam, which is planned to begin at 12:30 PM IST. The device was first announced in Indonesia on March 24.

The budget smartphone offers features like a 6.5-inch HD+ display (LCD), UNISOC T612 chipset, LPDDR4x RAM, UFS 2.2 storage, 13MP (wide) + 2MP (macro) + 2MP (monocrhome) triple camera septup, 5MP selfie camera, realme UI 2.0 based on Android 11, 5,000mAh battery, and 10W charging.

Infinix HOT 11 2022

Infinix HOT 11 2022 is rumored to launch in India on March 31 (Thursday). It is said to be priced between ₹10,999 and ₹11,999 in the country.

The handset will reportedly have features like a 6.8-inch FHD+ 90Hz display (LCD), UNISOC T700 chip, 4GB RAM, 128GB storage, 48MP dual-camera system, 8MP selfie camera, Android 11, 5,000mAh battery, and 18W fast charging.

OnePlus 10 Pro

The OnePlus 10 Pro will be finally unveiled for the international markets on March 31 (Thursday). The conference will begin at 7:30 PM IST and can be live-streamed on the brand’s official YouTube channel.

Since the phone is already official in China, we know everything about it. Its highlights include a 6.7-inch 120Hz LTPO AMOLED display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, LPDDR5 RAM, UFS 3.1 storage, 48MP (wide) + 50MP (ultra-wide) + 8MP (3.3x telephoto) triple camera system, 32MP selfie camera, OxygenOS 12.1 based on Android 12, 5,000mAh battery, 80W fast wired charging, 50W fast wireless charging, and reverse wireless charging.

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Black Shark 5 series of smartphones has been rumored for several weeks. Today, the company took to Weibo to confirm that it will be holding a launch event at 7 pm (local time) on March 30 to announce the Black Shark 5 lineup. The Black Shark series will probably include two models such as Black Shark RS and Black Shark 5 Pro.

In February, two Black Shark models were spotted in the database of TENAA certification. The KTUS-A0 model was spotted with a 6.67-inch AMOLED FHD+ display, an in-screen fingerprint scanner, up to 16 GB of RAM, up to 512 GB of storage, a 3 GHz octa-core processor, and a 4,650mAh (rated value) battery. It may feature a 13-megapixel front camera and a 108-megapixel triple camera unit. The 3C certification of the device suggests that it may carry support for 120W fast charging.

The PAR-A0 model was seen with a 3.2GHz octa-core processor, up to 12 GB of RAM, up to 256 GB of storage, and a 64-megapixel triple camera unit. The rest of the specifications of the PAR-A0 were found to be identical to the KTUS-A0 model. Previous rumors suggested that the KTUS-A0 and PAR-A0 models would be released as the Black Shark 5 Pro and Black Shark 5, respectively.

Today, tipster WHY LAB shared a screenshot to claim that the Realme GT Neo3, Black Shark 5 Pro, and Black Shark 5 RS smartphones are compatible with the ultra-high frame rate modes of the “Hone of Kings” game. The Black Shark 5 RS is a model that hasn’t been spotted before. Both the Black Shark 5 Pro and RS models will feature Qualcomm’s flagship chips.

The Black Shark 5 Pro is likely to feature the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset. The other model could be equipped with any of the recent Snapdragon 8-series SoC.

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