Black Shark 4 Pro
Black Shark took a little longer with this release. The Black Shark 2021 Pro, which incidentally comes from Xiaomi, was released in China in March 4. At that time, the smartphone was an excellently equipped handheld for gamers, which scored among other things with its fast Snapdragon 888 chip and a high-resolution Samsung E4 panel.
A year later a lot has happened. Many high-end smartphones now use the even faster Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and the improved Samsung E5 display. However, the price is sometimes well above the 489 euros that Black Shark is aiming for.
Designed for gamers
Gaming smartphones clearly serve a niche. Namely that of mobile gamers. Accordingly, the design is based on the preferences of gamers. The back is quite extravagant in the colors “Misty Gray” and “Shadow Black”, which create cool effects depending on the light. The color “Cosmos Black” is more subtle and without any light play.
The Black Shark 4 Pro in the colors Misty Grey, Shadow Black and Cosmos Black.
The Black Shark 4 Pro would certainly not be a real gaming smartphone without clichéd RGB lighting. That's why an RGB triangle accent has been placed on the back, which shows the charge level in red, yellow and green when charging and can also be individualized during operation. The Black Shark logo placed in the middle and the horizontally arranged camera hump round off the gamer look.
The frame of the Black Shark 163.83 Pro, which measures 76.35 x 9.9 x 220 mm and weighs 4 g, is made of metal. Shoulder buttons, which are certainly an advantage in one or the other mobile game, can be moved out at the touch of a button.
The Black Shark 4 Pro pop-up shoulder buttons.
144Hz Samsung E4 AMOLED
Just as important as the performance, which we'll get to in a moment, is the display. A large 6,67 inch Samsung E4 AMOLED display with a 144 Hz refresh rate and a maximum brightness of 1300 nits is used. Thanks to the 144 Hz, the smartphone is able to display apps and games particularly smoothly. However, it is also a prerequisite that the performance is sufficient to achieve 144 FPS in games.
The maximum brightness of 1300 nits is impressive. Even though there are already high-end smartphones with Samsung E5 display panels that reach 1500+ nits. However, nothing should stand in the way of a gaming session outdoors due to the high display brightness. The 20:9 aspect ratio, the 1080 x 2400 pixel resolution, the DCI-P3 color space, which is covered by 111%, and image enhancers such as MEMC would also be worth mentioning.
In addition to a high refresh rate, the Black Shark 4 Pro offers a high sampling rate of 720 Hz. This value indicates how many times the screen can recognize input in one second. It would be a shame if the touch inputs didn't arrive correctly when gaming.
Liquid-cooled Snapdragon 888
But now to the performance. Here, the Black Shark 4 Pro relies on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888, which was found in most high-end smartphones in 2021. This was replaced in 2022 by the even faster Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. Nevertheless, the Snapdragon 888 with its fast 8-core CPU and the Adreno 660 GPU is still part of the high-end class.
Playing demanding mobile games smoothly is no problem as long as the Snapdragon 888 is properly cooled. That's exactly why Black Shark opted for a "sandwich" liquid cooling system that cools the processor on both sides. As you can read in some Black Shark 4 Pro test reports, it works quite reliably. So-called thermal throttling, in which the processor slows down due to heat, does not occur.
The Snapdragon 888 is supported by fast 8GB / 12GB LPDDR5 RAM with a clock frequency of 6400Mhz. The fast UFS3.1 data storage, which is available with 128GB or 256GB storage space, offers enough space for apps and games. It is not possible to expand the memory with a microSD memory card.
WiFi 6E ensures a stable WiFi connection with high data throughput. The Snapdragon X60 5G modem ensures the best reception in mobile communications. Let's talk briefly about the software. The Black Shark 4 Pro relies on JOYUI 12.5, an operating system specially optimized for gaming, which is based on Xiaomi's MIUI 12.5 and is based on Android 11. It can be assumed that the Black Shark 4 Pro will receive an update to Android 12.
64 MP camera, stereo speakers and 120W fast charging
The camera equipment of the Black Shark 4 Pro plays a rather subordinate role. On the back is a 64 MP Samsung GW3 image sensor with f/1.79 aperture as the main camera. We would also have an 8 MP ultra wide-angle camera with a 120° wide angle and a 5 MP macro camera.
After viewing a few test recordings, one can say that the recording quality is on a good mid-range level. However, the cameras are far from high-end. A 20 MP front camera with f/2.45 aperture is responsible for selfies.
A good gaming smartphone should also sound good. A stereo speaker system with DTS Ultra X certification promises the best sound with precise localization. Alternatively, headphones can be connected via a 3.5 mm jack, USB-C or wirelessly via Bluetooth (5.2).
The 120 watt fast charging function of the Black Shark 4 Pro is definitely high-end. This charges the 4500 mAh battery to 15 percent in just 100 minutes! Unfortunately, wireless charging is not supported.
Source: Black Shark
Price and availability
The Black Shark 4 Pro is now available at an RRP of 579 euros (6+128GB) or 679 euros (8+256GB). The smartphone is available at Goboo for the offer price, where after deduction of all discounts you end up at 489 euros for the 6+128GB version or 589 euros for the larger 8+256GB model.
To do this, take advantage of the new customer discount, activate the discount on the product page and enter our exclusive discount code in the shopping cart.
5€ Goboo - Exclusive discount code
Alder
24. February 2022 12 to: 43
Hello techreviewer, the smartphone would be just right for my son. I would be interested to know how good the camera is. Do you have any experience with the device or is there another test coming up?