Xiaomi has unveiled its first-ever 5G gaming phone, the Black Shark 3, by launching the product in mainland China. And if you've got a bit more cash to play with, a high-end version called the Black Shark 3 Pro was revealed in the same announcement via BusinessWire.
The Black Shark 3 and the Black Shark 3 Pro were created in collaboration with Tencent Games (owners of the League Of Legends developers at Riot Games), so there's some strong gaming pedigree at work here.
It shouldn't come as a surprise that phones geared specifically towards gaming are being produced: as major companies keep launching game-streaming platforms, with Google's Stadia and Microsoft's xCloud both being in the public realm now, it's only natural that new handsets will be made to offer the best possible experiences to mobile-based gamers.
Both Stadia and xCloud require a decent internet connection in order to link players up with games on their phones, and the emerging 5G data network seems like an ideal component to integrate into this new era of on-the-go gaming.
Black Shark 3 Specs
As well as being connected to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Mobile Platform and boasting that 5G connectivity, the Black Shark 3 also has some impressive specs: it also has an innovative "sandwich" system for liquid cooling, UFS 3.0 RAM and LPDDR 5 ROM, dual batteries with 65W hypercharge, and dual "X" antenna.
Black Shark 3 Features
The Black Shark 3 also has front-facing stereo speakers, magnetic charging contacts and a triple-camera set-up, so it's obviously an impressive piece of kit. It also has a 270Hz touch reporting rate, which means a very sensitive screen with minimal latency. The Pro version also has a 'Master Button' feature that allows you to customise the buttons on the side as hotkeys.
Black Shark 3 Price
When it launched in China, there were three different versions of the Black Shark 3, each with a different amount of storage and a different price:
- The 8+128G version cost CNY 3499 (which is roughly £383)
- The 12+128G version cost CNY 3799 (which is £416)
- The 12+256G version cost CNY 3999 (which is £438)
There are also two different versions of the Black Shark 3 Pro:
- The 8+256G version cost CNY 4699 (which is £515)
- The 12+256G version cost CNY 4999 (which is 548)
Black Shark 3 Release Date
The Black Shark 3 launched in China on 3rd March 2020, and the Black Shark Pro followed on 10th March 2020. The press release promises that other countries will receive the Black Shark 3 series "in the near future." We'll be sure to let you know when we hear a UK release date.