Just a few months after unveiling its first smartphone, Xiaomi' sister brand, Black Shark today launched its second smartphone, namely, the Black Shark Helo. Black Shark is Xiaomi's subsidiary brand which launches smartphones aimed at gamers, but the company's first device, Black Shark turned out to be a mere disappointment as it did not feature any groundbreaking features. The Black Shark Helo is gaining improvements in every aspect- right from the design to new hardware features. To appeal all the gamers out there, the Black Shark Helo comes with LED strip on the sides along with a glowing LED logo on the rear side. Yes, Black Shark has taken several design cues from Razer Phone and Asus ROG phone.
Black Shark Helo: Specifications and Features
Aforesaid, the Black Shark Helo is a flagship smartphone with Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset, coupled with 10GB of RAM. It can also be picked up in a 6GB RAM variant. The phone comes in three variants- one has 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage; the other has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage while the third one features 10GB of RAM and 256GB of onboard storage. The phone lacks a microSD card slot for storage expansion. The Black Shark Helo comes with refreshed design compared to the first generation model. There's an RGB glowing light on the rear side, and an LED strip runs around the sides of the phone. These lights make up for an excellent gaming experience.
Black Shark has added a dual heat pipe cooling system to the Helo which keeps the device cool even with longer gaming sessions. The phone has a 6-inch Full HD+ display on the front which carries a resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels and 18:9 aspect ratio. It's a Super AMOLED panel. Black Shark has added stereo speakers on the front, same as the Razer Phone 2.
The fingerprint scanner is moved to the rear side this time around, and on the back, there are dual cameras as well. Speaking about the cameras, the Black Shark Helo rocks a primary 12MP shooter which works in tandem with a 20MP secondary sensor. On the front, it has a 20MP shooter.
The phone runs Android 8.1 Oreo-based Joy UI out of the box and it's backed by a 4000mAh battery which can be charged via the 18W charger that comes bundled inside the retail box. Connectivity options on the handset include Dual 4G, VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS and a USB Type-C port.
The phone has a dedicated hardware key for Black Shark Space, which when activated, kills all the apps in the background and optimises the phone to deliver better gameplay. The phone lacks wireless charging though despite sporting glass back. The Black Shark Helo measures 160×75.25x 8.7mm and weighs 190 grams. The company is shipping a free gaming console inside the retail box, which is a good thing.
Black Shark Helo: Pricing and Availability
Lastly, we have the pricing of the new Black Shark Helo. The base variant with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage is priced at 3199 Yuan (approx. Rs 33,900), whereas the premium variant with 10GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage can be purchased for 4199 Yuan (approx. Rs 44,500). There's another variant with 8GB of RAM and 128GB storage that costs 3499 Yuan (approx. Rs 37,100).
Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 to Come in a 10GB RAM Option
Interestingly, Xiaomi will be launching the Mi Mix 3 on October 25 with the same 10GB of RAM in China. But the Mi Mix 3's 10GB RAM variant could be a limited edition one while the Black Shark Helo will be available for masses.
