Xiaomi Black Shark - gaming smartphone with water cooling

Xiaomi "Black Shark"

The Xiaomi Gaming product line is growing rapidly. Was it just a few weeks ago, the new  Xiaomi gaming notebook , it is already the Xiaomi gaming smartphone today. The Xiaomi Black Shark promises interesting approaches, among other things, with its efficient liquid cooling, the modular plug-on controller and the gaming-optimized user interface. The official start of sales is April 20, 2018. The smartphone will be available in two versions with different memory sizes. The (Chinese) sales price is the equivalent of 387 € (6GB + 64GB) or 452 € (8GB + 128GB). 

Design and display

The design alone makes it clear that this is no ordinary mobile device. The Xiaomi Black Shark is primarily reminiscent of an outdoor smartphone thanks to its striking and at the same time solid exterior. This is also shown by the dimensions, which are comparatively massive at 161.62 x 75.4 x 9.25 mm and a weight of 190g. Thanks to the trapezoidal tapered back and the antenna arrangement placed in the X, Xiaomi promises improved grip and improved reception performance at the same time. A visual highlight is the Black Shark logo in the middle, which lights up bright green depending on the activity. In addition to the usual control buttons, there is also a "SHARK button" that can be used to start a separate game management system, the so-called "Shark Space". A fingerprint scanner is integrated into the front home button.

The display has a diagonal of 5.99 inches with a resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels. The DCI-P3 color space is covered by 97%. The luminance of the panel reaches an above-average 550 cd/m², so nothing stands in the way of readability in sunshine. A proprietary image processing chip from “Pixelworks” ensures a high-contrast, colorful and particularly fluid display. Among other things, the Xiaomi Black Shark uses MEMC (Motion Estimation Motion Compensation) technology, which is an intermediate image calculation (FI). Algorithms are used to add frames or images so that an (artificially) higher refresh rate is achieved. Xiaomi does not provide any information about the actual refresh rate of the display. In comparison, the Razer Phone's panel has a refresh rate of 120 Hz.

Processor and memory

The current high-end system-on-chip “Snapdragon 845” from Qualcomm works under the hood, which is also available in the  Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S  is used. The processor is made up of 8 Kyro 385 processor cores, which work in the big.LITTLE network and achieve a maximum clock speed of 2.8 GHz. In order to prevent a drop in performance due to so-called "thermal throttling", the smartphone is equipped with a new type of liquid cooling. Compared to the standard heat pipe, this works 20 times more efficiently and keeps the core temperature of the CPU below 8°C.

The memory equipment is also generous. The smartphone is available as a basic model with 6GB + 64GB and in a more powerful version with 8GB + 128GB. The main memory is of the type LPDDR4X Dual Channel. The built-in flash memory of type UFS 2.1. A memory expansion using a microSD memory card is not provided. The Adreno 630 GPU ensures decent gaming performance. The latest mobile games such as the recently released PUBG Mobile can thus be played without any image breakdowns.

Camera

A much lesser focus is on the camera equipment, which even became a minor matter when the Black Shark was presented. A dual main camera with a 12 megapixel and a 20 megapixel image sensor is installed. Xiaomi does not disclose the exact name of the sensors. Based on the specifications, however, it can be assumed that a Sony IMX386 or IMX486 was installed in combination with a Sony IMX376 or IMX350. Both sensors use an f / 1.75 aperture and a 6-layer lens. A dual-tone LED flash ensures better lighting conditions. A phase detection autofocus (PDAF) is used to focus.

The front camera has a resolution of 20 megapixels and most likely also uses a Sony IMX376 or IMX350 image sensor. Xiaomi specifies the aperture as f / 2.2. In addition to various beauty filters, the front camera supports high-resolution video recordings in 4K.

Gaming features

Special gaming features are essential for every gaming smartphone. In addition to the already mentioned image processing chip and the Shark Space game management, the smartphone is equipped with a “Game Dock”. The Game Dock gives the user quick access to the system administration in the form of a drop-down menu. Among other things, you get access to an eye-friendly display mode, a performance mode to increase processor performance, and you also get an overview of system utilization. The user interface is based on Android 8.1 and visually differs from the conventional Xiaomi MIUI.

A HiFi DAC chip, two powerful stereo speakers and a total of 3 microphones ensure better sound and improved communication. The microphones are arranged in such a way that their own game sound is not captured and interference-free communication is possible. A lossless sound reproduction via Bluetooth is realized with the help of the aptX HD audio codec.

As an optional accessory, Xiaomi also provides the Black Shark with the so-called Hammerhead Game Controller (around € 25). This controller, equipped with a thumbstick and several trigger buttons, is plugged into the smartphone and connected via Bluetooth. The operation takes place in combination with the virtual control buttons of the respective mobile game. Thanks to the rechargeable 340 mAh battery, the controller can be operated for more than 30 hours at a time. Updates can be uploaded to the controller via USB-C OTG.

Connectivity and others

Like most Xiaomi smartphones, the Black Shark does not have full LTE support. LTE bands 3 and 7 are supported, but LTE band 20, which is often found in this country, is missing. The two 4G LTE-capable SIM slots can be equipped with two nano SIM cards. The wireless connection leaves nothing to be desired. In addition to dual-band AC WiFi with MU-MIMO compatibility, the smartphone also supports Bluetooth 5.0. When wired, the smartphone only has one USB-C socket. A 3.5 mm jack audio output is missing. The battery capacity is 4000 mAh. Quick Charge 3.0 is available as a quick charge function. Contactless Qi charging is not possible.

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With the Xiaomi Black Shark you feel a little transported back to 2003, when Nokia presented the first gaming phone with the N-Gage. However, the difference between the Xiaomi gaming smartphone and conventional mobile devices is much smaller. The handheld still looks like a smartphone, offers the usual functions including additional gaming features and the modular gamepad also sounds well resolved. The question that arises, however, is: Do you even need something like that? After all, there are significantly more compact mobile devices with almost identical hardware equipment. However, if you consider that the gaming smartphone appears mainly on the Chinese market, it sounds quite plausible to bring out such a device. Mobile gaming is a leader in Asia in particular and is way ahead of conventional PC or console gaming.

 Once we have a test copy, the open questions will of course be investigated. What do you think of Xiaomi's new gaming smartphone? With it in the comments!