The Black Shark 3S has joined the game and
it has picked up a few upgrades compared to the Black Shark 3. The biggest
change is that the 6.67” AMOLED display now has a 120Hz mode in addition to the
90 Hz mode of its predecessor. The new panel is capable of 270Hz touch sampling
rate (same as before).
The display has two pressure-sensitive
zones, which can be mapped to different actions. Also, the gyroscope is used to
detect flicking motions. You can create game macros too, which trigger several
actions in sequence. Voice commands are available as well, so you can start the
screen recorder without taking your hands off the controls. The AMOLED panel
has 1080p+ resolution (20:9), offers 500 nits of brightness, 105% DCI-P3
coverage and a 3rd generation MEMC.
The 3S is still powered by the Snapdragon
865 chipset (not its plus version). It comes with LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1
storage. The base 12/128 GB configuration costs CNY 4,000 (US$ 575/€ 485) while the
upgrade to 256 GB is just CNY 300 more. Note that there’s a 512 GB model on the
way for CNY 4,800, but that one isn’t available for pre-order just yet. The
other two are ready to ship out on August 4 (next Tuesday).
For comparison, the Black Shark 3 uses UFS
3.0 storage and the base model comes with 8GB of LPDDR4. The 12GB models do
switch up to LPDDR5 and you can have one for CNY 3,600 (with 128 GB storage).
The latest JOYUI12 software comes with screen mirroring. It sends a video of
the screen over USB-C to a computer, so you can play your games with a keyboard
and mouse. This mode will run at 60 fps and has a 40 ms latency.
The rest is unchanged – the 4,729 mAh
battery charges at 65 W over the USB-C connector. It needs 12 minutes for a 50%
charge, 38 minutes for a full charge. Alternatively, there’s a magnetic adapter
that attaches to the back (keeping out of the way of your hands) so you can
play and charge at 18W simultaneously. This attaches to the “triangle” opposite
the cameras.
Speaking of cameras, they have not changed
either. The main module has a 64 MP sensor (0.8 µm pixels, 1.6 µm with binning)
and an f/1.8 aperture. It’s joined by a 120° ultra wide camera (13 MP, 1.0 µm,
f/2.25) and a 5 MP depth sensor. A 20 MP selfie camera completes the picture.
It’s embedded in the top bezel and not the screen, believe it or not. Once
again the Black Shark team has prepared a fan add-on that provides external
cooling to the phone. The chipset relies on a heat pipe to wick the heat away
from it, fan or no fan.
