Gamers and pros alike have been waiting for this day, Xiaomi is at it again and is once again dominating the gamer phone market. The Black Shark phones launched today have a lot of new features, and without being exhaustive, let's see what they are.

Black shark 4

Full specification

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 870, Adreno™ 650 graphics processor
• 6/8/12 GB LPDDR5 5500MHz memory
• 128/256 GB UFS3.1 storage
• 4.500 mAh battery
• 120 W ultra-fast charging (charger in the box)
• USB Type-C
• 6.67″ Samsung E4 AMOLED, Peak brightness: 1300 nit, 1080 * 2400 resolution, DCI-P3 111% -os TYP, Eye protection mode, SGS eye protection certification, MEMC motion compensation technology, 144Hz refresh rate, 720Hz touch sampling rate
• Main camera: 48 MP, 0.8 µm (48MP 4in1, effective output 12M or 48M), f/1.79 large aperture, 6 element lens, LED flash, PDAF phase focus, dark light enhancement technology, HDR high dynamic range adjustment technology, Document mode, Portrait mode, Dynamic mode, Panorama mode, AI camera, Super night view
• Single lens 1-8 MP, 1.12 µm, FF (fixed focus), f/2.2 aperture, 5-piece lens, 120° wide angle lens
• Secondary camera 2-5 MP, 1.12 µm, AF super macro (2cm-10cm), f/2.4 aperture, 3 element lens
• Front-facing camera 20 MP, 0.8 µm 4in1, FF (fixed focus), f/2.0 aperture, 5 element lens, Intelligent Beauty, selfie real-time beauty, countdown selfie, vlog video recording, portrait mode
  4K video recording, 60 frames / second
  1080p video recording, 60 frames / second
  Slow motion: 1080P @ 120fps, 1080P @ 240fps, 1080P @ 960fps
• Dual Nano-SIM card slot, 5G NR SA and NSA/TD LTE/FDD LTE/WCDMA/CDMA/GSM support (Primary and secondary card cannot be CDMA at the same time and does not support 5G at the same time)
• 5G (N1 / N3 / N8 / N28 / N41 / N77 / N78)
  FDD LTE (B1 / B2 / B3 / B4 / B5 / B7 / B8 / B18 / B19 / B20 / B26 / B28)
  TDD LTE (B34 / B38 / B39 / B40 / B41)
  WCDMA (B1 / 2/4/5/6/8/9/19)
  GSM (B2, B3, B5, B8)
  CDMA / EVDO (BC0 frequency band)
• WiFi 802.11a / b / g / n / ac / ax dual-band wireless network, 4 X 4 MIMO technology, 2 X 2 MIMO function, WIFI display, WIFI Direct, WIFI hotspot
• Bluetooth 5.2, supports aptX, aptX HD and aptX adaptive, LDAC and LHDC high-definition music transmission
• GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, Beidou, QZSS, A-GPS
• Gyroscope, geomagnetic sensor, gravity sensor, distance sensor, ambient light sensor, side fingerprint, pressure sensor
• Multifunction NFC
• 3.5 mm Jack headphone jack
• Stereo Speaker, Hi-Res Audio, dtsX Ultra
• Height: 163,83 mm
  Width: 76,35 mm
  Thickness: 9,9 mm
• Weight: 210g
• JoyUI 12.5 Android 11

The first thing I would mention as a new feature is the battery! True, it has a capacity of "only" 4.500 mAh but it can be charged at a very fast pace with the split cells. You can charge it from zero to 100% in 17 minutes, just enough for a break while you're hacking!

The other is the brutal display, which is the Samsung E4 AMOLED display, but with 144 Hz refresh rate and 720 Hz sample rate, HDR10+, MEMC, DCI-P3 and a few other goodies!

Of course, the long-heralded integrated shoulder buttons are not missing either, as they are included in both models. They can be used while playing, but press them all at once and you're in the Shark space, where you can choose from a selection of games.

The colours have quite interesting fancy names, a bit difficult to translate from Chinese... Magic mirror black, lingguang grey, ink sea black

Prices (in China)

• Black Shark 4 6/128 GB - 2.499 Yuan ~ 118.195 Ft
• Black Shark 4 8/128 GB - 2.699 Yuan ~ 127.630 Ft
• Black Shark 4 12/128 GB - 2.999 Yuan ~ 141.945 Ft
• Black shark 4 12/256 GB - 3.299 Yuan ~ 156.145 Ft

Contact

• From 25 March 2021 (in China)

Black Shark 4 Pro

Full specification

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 888, Adreno™ 660 graphics processor
• 8/12 GB LPDDR5 6400MHz memory
• 256 GB Enhanced UFS3.1 + SSD disk array system
• 4.500 mAh battery
• 120 W ultra-fast charging (charger in the box)
• USB Type-C
• 6.67″ Samsung E4 AMOLED, Peak brightness: 1300 nit, 1080 * 2400 resolution, DCI-P3 111% -os TYP, Eye protection mode, SGS eye protection certification, MEMC motion compensation technology, 144Hz refresh rate, 720Hz touch sampling rate
• Main camera 64 MP, 0.7 µm (64MP 4in1, effective output 16M or 64M), f/1.79 large aperture, 6 element lens, LED flash, PDAF phase focus, dark light enhancement technology, HDR high dynamic range adjustment technology, Document mode, Portrait mode, Dynamic photo, Panorama mode, AI camera, Super night view
• Single lens 1-8 MP, 1.12 µm, FF (fixed focus), f/2.2 aperture, 5-piece lens, 120° wide angle lens
• Secondary camera 2-5 MP, 1.12 µm, AF super macro (2cm-10cm), f/2.4 aperture, 3 element lens
• Front-facing camera 20 MP, 0.8 µm 4in1, FF (fixed focus), f/2.0 aperture, 5 element lens, Intelligent Beauty, selfie real-time beauty, countdown selfie, vlog video recording, portrait mode
  4K video recording, 60 frames / second
  1080p video recording, 60 frames / second
  Slow motion: 1080P @ 120fps, 1080P @ 240fps, 1080P @ 960fps
• Dual Nano-SIM card slot, 5G NR SA and NSA/TD LTE/FDD LTE/WCDMA/CDMA/GSM support (Primary and secondary card cannot be CDMA at the same time and does not support 5G at the same time)
• 5G (N1 / N3 / N8 / N28 / N41 / N77 / N78 / N79)
  FDD LTE (B1 / B2 / B3 / B4 / B5 / B7 / B8 / B18 / B19 / B20 / B26 / B28)
  TDD LTE (B34 / B38 / B39 / B40 / B41)
  WCDMA (B1 / 2/4/5/6/8/9/19)
  GSM (B2, B3, B5, B8)
  CDMA / EVDO (BC0 frequency band)
• WiFi 802.11a / b / g / n / ac / ax dual-band wireless network, 4 X 4 MIMO technology, 2 X 2 MIMO function, WIFI display, WIFI Direct, WIFI hotspot
• Bluetooth 5.2, supports aptX, aptX HD and aptX adaptive, LDAC and LHDC high-definition music transmission
• GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, Beidou, QZSS, A-GPS
• Gyroscope, geomagnetic sensor, gravity sensor, distance sensor, ambient light sensor, side fingerprint, pressure sensor
• Back Shark eye lighting
• Multifunction NFC
• 3.5 mm Jack headphone jack
• Stereo Speaker, Hi-Res Audio, dtsX Ultra, DxoMark 81
• Height: 163,83 mm
  Width: 76,35 mm
  Thickness: 9,9 mm
• Weight: 220g
• JoyUI 12.5 Android 11

The Pro version has all the goodness of its little brother, but with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor and the best sound system in the world (DxoMark 81 points).

A new feature never before seen in a Xiaomi phone is the RAMDISK function, which can store important apps (including games) that you use often and open 20% faster. In addition, another new feature, in addition to the UFS3.1 storage, is the built-in SSD drive, so the two form a Raid system. This gives the storage 55% faster read performance and 69% faster write performance.

I've written about the sound of the Black Shark 4 Pro before, which you can read here. The Pro's stereo speaker is the best in the world at the moment, beating even the Xiaomi Mi 10S, which ruled the roost 2 weeks ago. And you can read the full test here.

Prices (in China)

• Black Shark 4 Pro 8/256 GB - 3.999 Yuan ~ 189.340 Ft
• Black Shark 4 Pro 12/256 GB - 4.499 Yuan ~ 213.010 Ft

Contact

• from 25 March 2021

No word yet on a European release, but if you want to be notified of its availability, you can subscribe on the Black Shark website to their newsletter and get first-hand information! The prices are still a secret, what multiplier it will come with in Europe, in China it was released 1.000 Yuan (47.000 Ft) cheaper than the predecessor, so the BS4 family will come cheaper here too! Waiting for more news!