The Black Shark 5 Pro is the top model, powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. The chip is kept cool by two vapor chambers, one on each side (4,323 mm² + 997 mm²). The Snapdragon is paired with up to 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB storage, but there’s more to it than that. The storage is split equally between an NVMe SSD and the usual UFS 3.1 (i.e. 256+256 GB in the 512 GB model). Using the so-called DM Cache technology, Black Shark has managed to significantly improve random read and write performance. Also, the fast LPDDR5 (6,400 Mbps) RAM can be used to create a RAM disk for the occasions even faster storage is required.
The phone has a high performance battery
as well. It has 4,650 mAh capacity and supports 120W fast charging. 0-100%
charge can be achieved in just 15 minutes, but there’s is a temperature control
mode that goes easier on the battery and slows down to 24 minutes. Also, the
phone features battery bypass for gaming while external power is plugged in. The
Black Shark 5 Pro is equipped a 6.67” AMOLED display. This 10-bit panel
supports HDR10+ the DCI-P3 color gamut. There are two ambient light sensors
(one on the front and one on the back) so the brightness can be adjusted to
match conditions perfectly.
The display boasts 144 Hz refresh rate and
720 Hz touch sampling rate while tracking multiple fingers. Additionally, there
is a magnetic shoulder button that pops up on the side of the phone and uses a
gaming-grade micro switch. The phone has two symmetrical speakers with 1.5 cc
cavities. The 5 Pro is currently the top phone in DxOMark’s audio chart with 86
points (beating its predecessors by 5 points). There is also an X-axis linear
motor for better haptic feedback. Four microphones are arranged on each of the
four sides of the phone, so it can always pick up your voice clearly.
On the back is a 108 MP main camera with a
1/1.52” sensor, plus a 13 MP ultra wide-angle camera (120°) and a 5 MP
telephoto macro lens (it focuses at 3-7 cm distance). The Black Shark 5 Pro
will be available form April 2 starting at CNY 4,200 (US$ 660/€ 595/₹ 50,000). This
is for China, a global rollout should be announced at a later date. You can
leave a CNY 100 deposit to get in line, here’s the official online store.
