What you need to know
- Black Shark has launched 2 monster gaming phones, the Black Shark 3 and the Black Shark 3 Pro.
- Both feature 90Hz OLED displays with a claimed low-latency of 24 milliseconds and a 270Hz touch sampling rate.
- The Black Shark 3 family starts from 3,599 yuan ($500) and will launch in China from March 3.
Gaming phones are still a niche compared to camera-focused phones, but they're growing, both in number and in quality. In this niche, Xiaomi-sub brand Black Shark has debuted two new phones (via Android Authority), successors to its Black Shark 2 and Black Shark 2 Pro line of phones.
Specs-wise, they're what you'd expect. They ship with Qualcomm's flagship SOC, the Snapdragon 865 (5G included), with either 8GB of RAM or 12GB of RAM. They have huge batteries, with the Black Shark 3 shipping with a 4,720mAh battery and the Black Shark 3 Pro jumping right up to a 5,000mAh battery, both with fast charging included. There's liquid cooling as well, just so your phone can perform at max for a sustained period without frying the battery.
The screen is an eye-catcher. Black Shark's new OLED panel reportedly has a 270Hz touch sampling rate and low latency of 24 milliseconds, a record for smartphones. On paper, that's kinda impressive. Of course, the display isn't for small hands. The Black Shark 3 has a 6.67-inch FHD+ OLED screen while the Pro has a 7.1-inch 3,120 x 1,440 display. Both are equipped with headphone jacks, front-facing speakers, and a 90Hz refresh rate.
It's a lot of phone, and Black Shark is making use of the size. There are four pressure-sensitive spots on the screen and shoulder buttons, which Black Shark calls Master buttons. Both provide additional controls for in-game use.
The Black Shark 3 family will be relatively affordable. Black Shark will be selling each phone in a variety of configurations. The Black Shark 3 will be sold with 8GB/128GB, 12GB/128GB, and 12GB/256GB priced at 3,499 yuan ($500), 3,799 yuan ($540), and 3,999 yuan ($570) for each RAM/Storage package respectively. The Pro 3 will only ship with 8GB/256GB and 12GB/256GB models priced at 4,699 yuan ($670) and 4,999 yuan ($710) respectively.
Both devices will launch in Xiaomi's home market, China on March 3, 2020, with an international release in the "near future".
