Black Shark 5 Pro review

introduction

Xiaomi’s Black Shark game series has been around for quite some time now and has earned a good reputation. The latest addition to the proud family is the Black Shark 5 range, presented in March with a total of three models so far. What we have for review today is the top-tier Black Shark 5 Pro with all the bells and whistles, and there are a few.

Its siblings are the vanilla Black Shark 5 and the Black Shark 5 RS. These two are a little tricky to place in the lineup, but both include downgrades in the chipset, display, and camera departments, compared to the Black Shark 5 Pro.

The Black Shark 5 Pro is a flagship device through and through. A Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 sits in the middle, which at least until the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 starts appearing in real retail devices is currently dominating the smartphone performance charts. Xiaomi cooled it down with the help of not one but a couple of vapor chambers, one on each side (4,323mm + 997mm). Nor is it the only interior piece that has been “doubled”.

The Black Shark 5 Pro comes with a total of 512GB of storage, but is split between 256GB UFS 3.1 and 256GB of NVMe SSD storage. Using the so-called DM Cache technology, Black Shark would be able to significantly improve random read and write performance. Additionally, fast LPDDR5 RAM (6,400 Mbps) can be used to create a RAM disk for those occasions when even faster storage is required.

Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro specifications at a glance:

• Body: 163.9×76.5×9.5mm, 220g; metal structure, glass back; Physical pop-up game triggers.
• Screen: 6.67 “OLED, 1B colors, 144Hz, HDR10 +, resolution 1080x2400px, format 20: 9, 395ppi; Always-on display.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8450 Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (4 nm): Octa-core (1×3.00 GHz Cortex-X2 and 3×2.40 GHz Cortex-A710 and 4×1.70 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 730.
• Memory: 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 16GB RAM; UFS 3.1 / NVMe SSD.
• Operating system / software: Android 12, Joy UI 13.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 108 MP, f / 1.8, 1 / 1.52 “, 0.7µm, PDAF; Ultra wide angle: 13 MP, f / 2.4, 120 degrees; Macro telephoto lens: 5 MP, f / 2.4, AF.
• Front Camera: 16 MP, (wide).
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K at 30/60 fps, 1080p at 30/60/240 fps, 1080p at 960 fps; HDR10 +; Front camera: 1080p @ 30fps.
• Battery: 4650 mAh; Fast charging 120W, 100% in 15 min (advertised).
• Various: Fingerprint reader (side mounted); NFC.

The internal battery also boasts robust specs, such as a decent 4,650mAh capacity and support for 120W fast charging. At full speed, this can get the battery from zero to full in just 15 minutes, but a temperature control mode more economical, it slows the charge up to about 24 minutes. Additionally, the phone has a battery bypass mode for gaming while external power is connected. These are the little features that improve the user experience, especially on a gaming device.

As for the hardware in pairs, the Black Shark 5 Pro has symmetrical speakers with 1.5cc cavities. The 5 Pro is currently the best phone in DxOMark’s audio ranking with 86 points (beating its predecessors by 5 points). There are also four microphones on the device and two ambient light sensors, one on the front and one on the back to perfectly control the brightness of the display.

The display is also top-of-the-range hardware. The 6.67-inch AMOLED panel has a 144Hz refresh rate and 720Hz touch sampling. It is also a 10-bit panel with support for HDR10 + and promises excellent DCI-P3 color coverage and accuracy.

Skimping on camera setup has been a pretty typical practice on gaming phones in the past, but on paper at least, it seems like that’s not the case with the Black Shark 5 Pro. 1 / 1.52 “, plus a 13MP (120 degree) ultra wide-angle camera and 5MP macro telephoto lens. It focuses from a distance of 3-7cm for some close-up action.

All this starting from a reasonable domestic MSRP of CNY 4,200 ($ 660 / € 595). A global release is also planned for a later date.

Unpacking

The Black Shark 5 Pro ships inside a sturdy two-piece box with lots of green color accents and aggressive geometric shapes throughout. Everything is safe and there is also a plastic holder for the phone inside, so we are happy with it.

The accessory package is actually plentiful by modern standards. First, get a 120W charger. It is a proprietary Xiaomi brick that is a little heavier than your average wall but not that big, making it look “dense”. It uses GaN technology.

The model is formally known as MDY-13-EE and is rated for the following outputs: 5V @ 3A (15W), 9V @ 3A (27W), 11V @ 6A (66W), 20V @ 5A (120W).

A couple of interesting details here. First, this particular brick can only deliver 120W with an electrical network of around 220 volts, as in Europe. If 110V is what you have, the total maximum output would be 20V @ 4.8A (96W). Secondly, the brick still relies on a USB Type A to Type C cable. One rated for 6A, which is proprietary, so best to hold tight.

In addition to the charger and cable, our Black Shark 5 Pro also comes with a sturdy, high-quality plastic case in the box. Also, some “gamer” stickers.

Unfortunately, there is no Type-C to 3.5mm dongle, which would have been appreciated in the absence of a 3.5mm jack on the phone.

This seems like the right place to mention that there are several optional additional accessories on offer for the Black Shark 5 Pro. Things like a new version of the Black Shark active external cooler, plus a special case to optimize its efficiency. Also, some sturdier button accessories for the retractable side trigger pair on the Black Shark 5.

However, we haven’t received any of these toys in our overhaul kit, so we haven’t been able to test them yet.