Xiaomi-backed, Black Shark, has just unveiled two gaming smartphones powered by the latest Qualcomm processor with 5G. The Black Shark 3 Pro boasts a massive 7.1″ screen which is the biggest for a gaming smartphone. On top of that, the device finally gets a higher refresh rate and Black Shark has finally included a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Black Shark 3 Pro
The top of the line device is the Black Shark 3 Pro that has a 7.1″ Quad HD+ AMOLED panel that pushes a 90Hz refresh rate and it also supports HDR10+. On top of that, it also boasts greater responsiveness with a high 270Hz touch-sampling rate.
Under the hood, it runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset and it offers both 5G connectivity (SA and NSA) as well as WiFi 6 support. It can be configured with up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 3.0 storage. For better gaming controls, there are also trigger buttons which you can customise according to your game.
For imaging, the device gets a triple-camera setup at the rear with a 64MP f/1.8 main camera, a 13MP ultra-wide-angle camera and a 5MP depth sensor. For selfies, it comes with a 20MP front camera.
For the Pro model, the device gets a huge 5,000mAh battery that supports an insane 65W fast charging via USB-C. Unlike typical phones, the device uses a dual-battery design. This means there are two 2,500mAh batteries that are separated by the phone’s board.
If you need to charge while gaming, there’s also a magnetic charging cable accessory that you can attach to the rear of the phone. However, this charging method can only support up to 18W, which is still faster than your typical 10W charging.
As usual, it still comes with stereo speakers and if you prefer to plug in your own pair of headphones, you can do so without dongles via its 3.5mm port.
Black Shark 3
For a more compact and affordable alternative, Black Shark has also introduced a smaller Black Shark 3. The non-Pro variant has a 6.67″ 90Hz AMOLED screen that pushes a Full HD+ resolution.
Under the hood, it still runs on a Snapdragon 865 processor with up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 3.0 storage. The lower 8GB RAM version uses LPDDR4x RAM. The Black Shark 3 also loses out on the trigger buttons that are offered on the Pro model.
The rest of the specs including the cameras are the same as Pro version, however, the battery is slightly smaller at 4,720mAh. It also supports 65W fast charging but the entry-level 8GB RAM + 128GB storage version can only support up to 30W.
Pricing
Below is the official pricing for both the Black Shark 3 and Black Shark 3 Pro in China:
Black Shark 3
8GB RAM + 128GB storage – CNY 3,499 (about RM2,100)
12GB RAM + 128GB storage – CNY 3,799 (about RM2,280)
12GB RAM + 256GB storage – CNY 3,999 (about RM2,400)Black Shark 3 Pro
8GB RAM + 256GB storage – CNY 4,699 (about RM2,821)
12GB RAM + 256GB storage – CNY 4,999 (about RM3,001)
The Black Shark 3 and Black Shark 3 Pro are currently sold in China, but we reckon that it should be coming to Malaysia soon. The older Black Shark 2 was introduced in Malaysia sometime in April 2019 and it was the first Snapdragon 855 powered smartphone to be released locally.
