Check out the Black Shark website (opens in new tab) for accessories, including a cooling fan, earphones, and more gaming triggers. I used to think gaming phones were more of a gimmick without any noticeable benefits compared to their non-gaming variants. As smooth as the Black Shark 4 Pro looks and feels, the biggest test for a gaming phone is its performance. While I’m typically against comparing devices through benchmarks — nothing is more accurate than real-world use — here’s a snapshot of how the Black Shark 4 Pro fares in a sea of similarly priced handsets.
- The buttons and their switches wind up taking up a significant amount of space on a phone that really isn’t the largest.
- Xiaomi Black Shark 4 official / unofficial price in Afghanistan.
- The 6.67″ display is sleek and tall, plenty of screen real estate for all my gaming.
- For the players, instead of touch sensitive shoulder areas, you can flick the two switches on the right side and pop out physical shoulder buttons, which are so much better to use.
- The Xiaomi Black Shark 4 Pro USB Driver is a free software primarily used to install the Xiaomi Drivers on the Windows Computer with a few clicks.
Black Shark also claims it has HDR 10+ support, a 111% DCI-P3 calibration and a 1,300 nit peak brightness. For the players, instead of touch sensitive shoulder areas, you can flick the two switches on the right side and pop out physical shoulder buttons, which are so much better to use. The frame has been sculpted for decent comfort and the holographic finish on the back does look pretty cool. The device have build fingerprint sensors (side mounted) as the primary security with face unlock features support. Xiaomi tried to sweeten the pot by throwing in the fancy-schmancy 120W HyperCharge support.
If you’re more focused on the core gaming experience than the specs, the Black Shark 4 Pro stock firmware ROM is still a tempting option. It also allows for game macros – something not found on most gaming phones – that allow you to trigger repetitive actions with a single tap of a button, further aligning the PC and mobile gaming experiences. The Black Shark 4 Pro is an exceptionally well-built gaming phone, with all the nuts and bolts that we’ve come to expect from one. Better yet, its $579 starting price undercuts most of the competition, without compromising on processing power and functionality. Just be prepared for the device’s heavy skin over Android, a slower cadence of software updates, and middling battery life. If you can get over those shortcomings, the Black Shark 4 Pro may be the gaming phone for you.
In just two days, we quickly ranked up in games like Call of Duty Mobile, where we reached the master tier. We weren’t just playing better, we were outperforming everyone else. Coming from someone who doesn’t generally do all that well at shooters, that’s saying something. I used to be pretty skeptical about gaming phones, and for the most part, still am. It’s not the most impressive gaming-focused feature though; that award goes to the magnetic pop-up triggers, found on the right-side of the smartphone (or the top left and right when gaming horizontally). Hidden when not in use, the triggers simply pop out by flipping the switches that sit next to each, providing a more console-esque gaming experience without the need to carry around accessories.
The saving grace is that the charging experience is incomprehensibly fast, with support for Xiaomi’s 120W HyperCharge technology – and unlike many rivals, the full speed charger comes as standard in the box. It really is impressively fast too, with our tests showing a 0-90% charge in 15 minutes, and it reached 100% charge within 30 minutes. The display is also pressure-sensitive using Black Shark’s ‘Magic Press’ tech, with the aim of being able to press down onto the display to trigger specific game functions like reloading or using a melee weapon.
