[Smartphones] | Xiaomi's new gaming phone | The Xiaomi Black Shark

New beast in town!

Gaming smartphones seem to be all the rage nowadays, starting with the Razer phone, all the way to the latest Nubia Red magicsmartphone. Another major player has joined into this segment, and it's none other than our favorite budget phone maker, Xiaomi!

Xiaomi has released its gaming oriented smartphone known as the Black Shark. Sounds dope, doesn't it? That's exactly why it landed in my blog in the first place!

Iconic!

Black Shark was actually a crowd funded start up idea which majorly got its funding because of Xiaomi's support. Now the phones in the market, and it is absolutely gorgeous.

Without a doubt, the Black Shark is one of the craziest flagship smartphones out there in terms of aesthetics. There is absolutely no other phone in the world that looks the way the Black Shark does. There's even a cool looking case included in the packaging which makes it look even dope. That reminds me of the insanely rad case that was given with the OnePlus 5t Star Wars edition, if you remember that one.

Specs wise, as you would expect, the Black Shark is an absolute beast.

• It's powered by a 2.8 GHz Snapdragon 845 processor, which already give it an upper hand over the other gaming smartphone in China, that is the red magic.
• 6/8 gigs of RAM
• 64/128 GB storage with micro SD expansion
• Adreno 630 for graphics
• A massive 4000 mAh battery with Qualcomm quick charge 3.0 support
• A 6 inch 2160x1080 IPS LCD display
• 12 + 20 mp rear cameras with f/1.75 aperture
• 20 mp front camera at f/2.2 aperture capable of 1080p video at 30 fps
• Android 8.1 Oreo along with JoyUI 1.0 on top (pretty much like MiUI)

The green "Shark space" button!

There is also a dedicated slider button on the left side which launches you into "shark space". It's not similar to Samsung game mode where you can disable notifications, and control a few other things that might disturb your gaming sessions. All these options are hidden away and can be brought down by a swipe down action on the fingerprint sensor. It is located on the front and is insanely fast by the way.

The add-on game controller

There is also a dedicated controller that you need to buy separately that pairs with this phone. But you should know that you need to put on that bumper case provided in the box in order to attach the controller to it. The controller pairs with your phone via Bluetooth and does not attached to the USB port as I initially thought. That means that you need to charge the controller separately, for which it has a dedicated USB type C port on it.

Though the black and green aesthetic of the phone reminders quite a lot of Razer, it does not have that amazing 120 Hz refresh rate on its display that the Razer phone had with its IGZO LCD panel. Oh, well!

The shark space mode

You can get the Black Shark in China for about 2999 CNY or about $480. That's an insanely aggressive price tag and can give companies like OnePlus around for their money. But that's the sign of healthy market, companies basically chopping each other’s' feet in order earn their place in the customer's pocket in exchange of their hard earned cash. It's how innovative things get affordable and great tech reaches everyone.

What do you think about Xiaomi's new dope gaming phone? Drop me a comment down below or hit me up on my social media links: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Consider subscribing to my newsletter to get alerted every time I post something new here. It only takes your email id, and is 100% free.

Cheers!