Black Shark 5 Pro Review

Price When Reviewed

From $799 | Model reviewed: $899

Best Prices Today: Black Shark 5 Pro

Xiaomi-owned Black Shark is without doubt one of the key producers of gaming telephones lately, with distinctive inventions like magnetic pop-up triggers providing authentic innovation for willing cellular players – and that development is ready to proceed with the Black Shark 5 Pro.

However, the spectacular design and function of the Black Shark 5 Pro imply it’s dearer than ever sooner than, and dearer than key rival Red Magic too. Has Black Shark achieved sufficient to justify a value that’s etching ever nearer to flagship smartphones?

Well…

Design & construct

• Gamer aesthetic, however reasonably toned down
• New digicam bump at the rear
• Customisable LED lighting fixtures at the rear

The Black Shark 5 Pro, like the remainder of the gathering, is a gaming phone through-and-through, and that’s very a lot mirrored in its design – even though it’s arguably toned down a bit of this time round.

While the phone nonetheless has all of the quirks of a normal ‘gamer’ aesthetic, together with daring traces and icons donned throughout its rear, it’s totally gentle to touch with a pleasant matte end that feels excellent within the hand and gives additional grip.

That’s a stark distinction to angular choices just like the Asus ROG Phone and its aluminium rear, however I just like the extra refined gamer really feel this time round.

The digicam housing has additionally been redesigned, ditching the horizontal digicam bar for a extra oblong digicam bump, with bevelled edges serving to cover simply how raised the bump is from the remainder of the frame. It’s no longer large, nevertheless it’s indubitably there.

And, in fact, what sort of gaming phone wouldn’t it be with out LED lighting fixtures? That’s provide at the rear within the type of a small LED window to the proper of the digicam bump, which adjustments colors and pulsates in numerous patterns to mirror other states – incoming calls, charging, gaming and so forth.

It does glance cool at a look, however making an allowance for it’s at the rear of the phone, it’s extra one thing that the ones round you’re going to respect greater than you.

Elsewhere, it’s very a lot industry as standard, with quantity rockers and an influence button (with embedded fingerprint reader) embedded into the perimeters, a USB-C port at the backside in addition to two further switches at the appropriate aspect of the phone – however extra on the ones a bit of later.

The Black Shark 5 Pro is to be had in new color choices, Stellar Black and Nebula White, with the previous (equipped for evaluate) boasting a blue-y pink tint within the gentle for extra intensity.

Display

• Fast and responsive 144Hz 6.67in show
• Downgrade from AMOLED to OLED era
• Bright sufficient for outside use

The Black Shark 5 Pro’s 6.67in show is designed for gaming, with a excessive refresh fee and an excellent upper contact reaction fee designed for low-lag, buttery-smooth gaming.

The 144Hz refresh fee will not be the quickest round – that crown is going to the 165Hz Red Magic 7 – however the refresh fee is a standard candy spot for PC players, arguably who the phone is advertised to maximum.

It’s a identical tale with the 720Hz contact enter – it’s instant, however no longer somewhat the quickest in the marketplace, even though in the future it turns into a lot of a muchness that doesn’t have a noticeable get advantages to cellular gaming.

What’s maximum fascinating concerning the Black Shark 5 Pro’s show is the era; whilst the Black Shark 4S Pro featured a Super AMOLED show, the most recent type sports activities an OLED show.

There aren’t many variations between the 2, however AMOLED is alleged to supply higher energy potency than OLED, so it’s unexpected to peer Black Shark make the transfer – particularly when its battery is already of a decrease capability than competing gaming telephones from Asus and Red Magic.

Display era apart, the Full HD+ (1080 x 2400) solution 6.67in show supplies a crisp, colourful enjoy whether or not you’re gaming or simply scrolling via TikTook, being able to tweak the show’s color palette within the Settings menu if it’s to not your style.

It’s masses vibrant too, with the utmost 496cd/m2 by means of guide brightness adjustment greater than sufficient for outside use.

Performance & gaming

• Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 gives top-level sport efficiency
• Magnetic triggers hugely beef up the cellular gaming enjoy
• New magnetic cooler is poorly designed

Being a top-end gaming phone, it must come as no wonder that the Black Shark 5 Pro has top-end internals to check.

That comes within the type of Qualcomm’s top-end Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, coupled with both 8GB, 12GB of 16GB of rapid LPDDR5 6400MHz RAM and both 256GB or 512GB of garage relying at the possibility you opt for.

That’s a large spice up in efficiency in comparison to the common Black Shark 5 with its Snapdragon 870, and is in step with different gaming telephones just like the Red Magic 7 Pro.

As you could be expecting, the ones specifications ship an impressively instant and responsive smartphone enjoy – particularly when coupled with the 144Hz/720Hz contact pattern fee of the show. There’s no noticeable lag or stuttering when scrolling via media-heavy social media apps, the digicam is responsive and the animations are buttery gentle.

That’s simply as true when gaming. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and Adreno 730 make gentle paintings of even high-end Android video games like Genshin Impact, Call of Duty Mobile and PUBG: New State. You can run titles with detailed graphics and nonetheless be expecting a forged 60fps gaming enjoy (or as much as 144Hz, if the sport helps it).

That’s typically subsidized up via our benchmark effects, with spectacular CPU and GPU efficiency that beat same old flagships that value virtually double the associated fee, and will compete with maximum high-end gaming choices in 2022.

When it involves gaming, the Black Shark 5 Pro has a trick up its sleeve within the type of magnetic triggers embedded into the aspect of the phone. Accessible via flipping a transfer at both finish of the phone, triggers come out from its frame, offering a extra console-esque gaming enjoy with out further equipment.

There is just a little of setup, with the triggers requiring guide remapping for many Android titles, nevertheless it’s a easy procedure that solely takes a couple of seconds – and it additionally method you’ll use them on titles that don’t formally improve controllers.

Besides triggers, the Black Shark 5 Pro too can use different inputs – like shaking the phone – to accomplish different movements, making for a flexible gaming enjoy that will give you the brink in on-line aggressive gameplay.  

Despite stepped forward cooling on be offering from the most recent type, the Black Shark 5 Pro can nonetheless get noticeably scorching over extended classes of gameplay, and that may have a unfavorable impact on efficiency.

To get round this, Black Shark has launched the not obligatory Black Shark Magnetic Cooler that magnetically attaches to the rear of the phone to stay it cool. The downside is that the phone doesn’t have integrated magnets just like the iPhone’s MagSafe device – as a substitute, it’s a must to connect a magnetic decal to the rear of the phone.

It’s an overly inelegant answer for one of these high-end bit of equipment, and it’s no longer one thing I will be able to see maximum players the usage of, particularly when choices – like Black Shark’s personal A laughCooler 2 Pro – clip onto your phone without a stickers wanted. But, it’s there in the event you in point of fact need it, in conjunction with a collection of different gaming equipment just like the low-latency Black Shark JoyBuds Pro wi-fi earbuds.  

Elsewhere, you’ll be expecting flagship-level connectivity with Wi-Fi 6, 5G connectivity and Bluetooth 5.2, even though it’s missing a three.5mm headphone jack for headset improve.

Camera

• Meaningful upgrades to 108Mp primary rear digicam
• Fixed concentration 120-degree ultra-wide is exasperating
• Macro digicam boasts has auto-focus (as a substitute of the ultra-wide)

Cameras aren’t most often an enormous concentration in terms of gaming telephones (players don’t care about cameras, in keeping with producers), however the Black Shark 5 Pro has noticed the primary digicam spec bump prior to now few generations. While the ultra-wide stays just like its predecessor, each the principle and, unusually, macro lenses have had first rate upgrades.

The famous person of the display is the 108Mp primary snapper, up from 64Mp of its predecessor. There’s additionally an stepped forward aperture at f/1.75, which is helping select up extra element in low gentle stipulations, and parts like PDAF autofocus, AI processing and HDR improve all lend a hand the phone seize unusually detailed and colourful pictures for a gaming phone.

That extends fairly to nighttime pictures with a devoted Super Nightscape mode, however don’t be expecting the rest close to what corporations like Samsung, Oppo and Apple can be offering. Still, it’s a flexible snapper that captures nice pictures a lot of the time.  

In a transfer that no one noticed coming, Black Shark has determined to improve the macro lens instead of the (extra common) ultra-wide lens, which no longer solely boasts an stepped forward megapixel rely at 5Mp, however autofocus era.

The latter is in truth a gamechanger for the lens, with maximum choices providing a set concentration that makes it tough to get a wonderfully targeted macro shot, however that’s no longer a subject matter this time round. It’s nonetheless simply as area of interest, however a minimum of it really works a bit of higher this time round.

Of path, the turn aspect is that the phone options the similar 13Mp, 120-degree ultra-wide digicam as its predecessor. While that’s a satisfactory spec for an ultra-wide digicam, the dealbreaker is that it’s fastened concentration, that means pictures generally tend to come back out comfortable if the space between the phone and the topic isn’t simply appropriate – and that took place various instances all through trying out.

I will be able to’t fathom why Black Shark has put autofocus features within the infrequently used macro lens whilst leaving the extra common ultra-wide with fastened concentration, as it necessarily method the ultra-wide is unusable in maximum situations. A really peculiar choice certainly.  

On the entrance of the phone, you’ll in finding any other fastened concentration lens, this time a 16Mp f/2.45 snapper with beautifying results and the power to report at 4K@60fps – even though, with out autofocus, the footage and movies can pop out comfortable.

4K@60fps video recording may be to be had at the rear cameras, in conjunction with a devoted HDR10+ video recording mode and 960fps slow-mo features for the ones .

Charging & battery existence

• 120W rate pace is likely one of the quickest round
• 100% rate in not up to half-hour
• Smaller battery capability than competitors

Though it stays unchanged in comparison to its predecessor, the Black Shark 5 Pro boasts probably the most quickest charging speeds round with improve for as much as 120W – and in contrast to competitors, the 120W charger comes within the field.

That’s double the rate pace of the ROG Phone 5S Pro, and in our trying out, it controlled to succeed in an improbable 91% rate in quarter-hour, with a complete 100% in just below half-hour.

That will give you the liberty not to need to rate your phone each night time, as with many 2022 choices. Instead, you’ll merely plug it in when you’re within the bathe or while you’ve were given a spare short while and get a complete, or with reference to complete rate.

There is a trade-off, on the other hand. The ultra-fast charging speeds are coupled with a smaller-than-average battery for a gaming phone, rated at 4650mAh. That’s nonetheless a tight capability, nevertheless it’s no longer somewhat the 6,000mAh battery of Asus’ top-end gaming phone, and that’s obvious in day by day use.

It’ll nonetheless with ease closing all day with common use, however throw in some hardcore gaming classes and the battery will start to dwindle. How a lot of a subject matter this is with such instant charging is controversial, nevertheless it’s nonetheless no longer supreme in the event you’re no longer at house to height it up.

That’s mirrored in our benchmark effects, with the Black Shark 5 Pro lasting 9 hours and six mins in trying out in comparison to simply over 13 hours from the competing ROG Phone 5S Pro. It’s nonetheless in step with flagships just like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and Honor Magic 4 Pro, however there are alternatives that’ll last more.

Software

• Android 12 with JoyUI 13
• Based on MIUI with all of the identical design quirks
• Xiaomi dedicated to multi-year upgrades typically, however no Black Shark-specific dedication

The Black Shark 5 Pro options Android 12 with a gaming-focused model of Xiaomi’s MIUI, dubbed JoyUI 13, carried out on height. It’s not at all the inventory Android enjoy, with a distinctly gamer-esque appear and feel and a devoted sport house known as Shark Space.

Elsewhere, you’ll in finding MIUI’s signature iOS-inspired design alternatives (like a keep watch over centre available by means of the top-right of the show, and all apps showing at the house display screen) that some will love, and others will hate, nevertheless it’s one thing I were given used to all through my time with the phone.

Black Shark guardian corporate Xiaomi has a basic replace dedication of 3 OS upgrades and 4 years of safety updates, nevertheless it’s no longer but transparent whether or not that expends to the Black Shark 5 Pro.

Price & availability

The Black Shark 5 Pro’s top rate specifications imply there’s a top rate price ticket to check, even though it’s no longer somewhat as pricy because the top-end flagships to be had in 2022, beginning at £639/$799 for an 8GB/128GB combo, with the most costly type coming in at £809/$999.

Here’s how the Black Shark 5 Pro prices in its more than a few configurations:

• 8GB + 128 GB: £639 / $799
• 12GB + 256 GB: £729 / $899
• 16GB + 256 GB: £809 / $999

Interestingly, it’s a bit of dearer than the Red Magic 7 Pro with identical specifications and 16GB of RAM as same old, even though options like magnetic triggers arguably give the Black Shark 5 Pro an edge over the contest.

The excellent information is that once a China-only release previous this 12 months, the Black Shark 5 Pro is available for purchase along the Black Shark 5 in the United Kingdom, US and different areas by means of the Black Shark website online, Amazon and Aliexpress.

Verdict

The Black Shark 5 Pro may no longer redesign the wheel, nevertheless it ticks all of the containers for players: it has a buttery gentle 144Hz refresh fee, top-level efficiency, gaming-specific options like magnetic triggers and gesture-activated shortcuts plus a lot more.

The 120W charging, whilst unchanged, supplies probably the most snappiest charging instances round attaining a complete 100% rate in beneath half-hour, even though the drawback is a smaller battery than choices.

Though no longer most often a focal point for gaming telephones, the Black Shark 5 Pro has an excellent 108Mp rear-facing digicam that’s able to taking first rate snaps, even though the verdict to incorporate autofocus features to the macro lens and no longer the extra common 120-degree ultra-wide is an peculiar choice that leaves some ultrawide pictures having a look a bit of comfortable.

It is dearer than the competing Red Magic 7 Pro, however the magnetic triggers, particularly, make the Black Shark 5 Pro a compelling gaming smartphone that negates the will for a controller in lots of video games.