Xiaomi may no longer be top OEM in China. It was recently overtaken by OPPO but it’s not giving up. It continues to be one of the more prolific brands. Its sub-brand Black Shark has just announced two new gaming phones: the Black Shark 4 and the Black Shark 4 Pro. The two are basically the same but their processors and cameras are different. You can say the Pro will be more powerful but both phones offer impressive gaming performance.
Both variants come with a 6.67-inch E4 Samsung AMOLED screen that can reach up to 144Hz screen refresh rate and 720Hz touch sampling rate. The display even works with a special e-sports finger gloves by Black Shark for the hard core mobile gamers.
The main difference between the two is the processor. The Black Shark 4 Pro runs on Snapdragon 888 while the Black Shark 4 is powered by the Snapdragon 870. Both are flagship-level SoCs by Qualcomm. The Pro model also features a two-layer liquid cooling system to handle the heat.
The Black Shark 4 Pro also boasts the Xiaomi RAMDISK. This feature uses RAM as disk storage which actually boosts performance of an app. It also features a 64MP primary camera with 8MP ultra wide and another 5MP shooter. The non-Pro only has a 48MP main camera with two more sensors and a 20MP selfie camera.
The Black Shark 4 Series smartphones are equipped with pressure-sensitive shoulder keys, two mode switch keys on the right, and a fingerprint scanner embedded on the home button. On the left, you will find the volume rocker.
The Black Shark 4 and the Black Shark 4 Pro are powered by 4500mAh battery with 120W fast charging. This means charging to full capacity in under 15 minutes.
The phones run on JOYUI 12.5. It’s already based on Android 11. It allows the devices to be more gaming-centric as most of the resources are allocated to gaming. When playing games, the notifications won’t show for an uninterrupted gaming experience.
Here are some important details on the specs and pricing:
Black Shark 4 6GB RAM, 128 GB – CNY 2,499 ($383)
Black Shark 4 8GB RAM, 128 GB – CNY 2,699 ($414)
Black Shark 4 12GB RAM, 128 GB – CNY 2,999 ($460)
Black Shark 4 12GB RAM, 256 GB – CNY 3,299 ($506)
Black Shark 4 Pro 8GB RAM, 256 GB – CNY 3,999 ($613)
Black Shark 4 Pro 12GB RAM, 256 GB – CNY 4,499 ($690)
Black Shark 4 Pro 16GB RAM, 512GB – CNY5,299 ($813)
Pre-orders are now open except for the Black Shark 4 Pro 16GB RAM on Black Shark’s web store. Color options are Silver, Plain Black, and Magic Black.