After a lot of initiations, Xiaomi launched its first gaming smartphone, Black Shark, in April this year. And after a wait of more than six months, it is all set to launch a new device as the successor to Black Shark, named Black Shark Helo. Needless to say, the new device has improved on every aspect, with new designs and solid innards than its predecessors. Among the qualities retained from its predecessor, the new Black Shark Helo too comes with a dual-pipe liquid-cooling system for keeping the heat to a minimum while delivering extreme gaming performance.
The display undoubtedly witnesses the greatest upgrade, as Xiaomi dumps its LCD panel in favor of an AMOLED screen. It’s still a notchless, 6.01-inch full HD+ 2,160 x 1,080 display, but the switch to OLED tech means one can expect deep blacks and power savings when viewing dark content (or using black themes). Along with that, the fingerprint sensor has been shifted from the front to the base of the rear cameras. What remains unchanged is the black shark logo at the back of the device. The phone comes in a full metal frame with a patterned glass back. The Black Shark Helo uses an Iris mobile video processor from Pixelworks to deliver picture quality enhancements that will certainly improve the gaming experience.
As for the software, the Black Shark Helo is equipped with Snapdragon 845 chipset. The device boots Android 9.0 Pie-based MIUI ROM out of the box and uses Adrea 630 GPU to handle all graphics duties. The phone is available in 6GB and 8GB RAM coupled with 128GB and 256GB internal storage respectively. The makers, however, have confirmed that a 10GB RAM variant will be available in the Chinese market by the end of the year. The device will run on a battery of 4,000 mAh, sufficient for prolonged gaming.
Coming to the camera, Black Shark Helo has a dual camera set-up combining a 12MP with 20MP f/1.75 and a selfie shooter of 24MP f/2.2. The Black Shark Helo is equipped with front-firing stereo speakers with dual smart PAs to enhance the gaming audio experience. As far as connectivity is concerned, it features USB Type-C port and 3.5mm audio jack. The device has dual-SIM support but lacks microSD card support which means you won’t be able to expand the storage on this gaming beast, but given the amount of internal storage you’re getting there’s hardly any need for it.
The 6GB/128GB variant will come at the price of 3,199 yuan (approximately Rs 34,000) and the 8GB/128GB variant can be purchased at 3,499 yuan (approximately Rs 37,000). The 10GB variant, which is to be launched on 12th December, is supposed to be priced at 4199 yuan (nearly Rs 44,500). There’s been no news about Black Shark Helo’s launch in India, though.
