Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has now unveiled its latest gaming-centered phone, the Black Shark 2. It serves as the successor to last year's model, which, upon release, was an interesting rival to similar gaming-focused handsets from Asus and Razer. It did not make much of a splash, unfortunately for Xiaomi.
The Black Shark 2 hopes to change that with brand-new features, most of which can't be found on rivaling handsets. First is the screen: it's got a 6.39-inch OLED display with an in-display fingerprint sensor from Samsung. That's already a knockout feature on its own, but Xiaomi took things further by adding a pressure-sensitive system.
Pressure-Sensitive Screen
What does that mean? Well, a pressure-sensitive display will enable players to custom-map buttons just by pressing hard — kind of similar to 3D touch, but with an actual purpose.
It's not just touch, though. Sight matters just as much, which is why Xiaomi has optimized the display specifically for gaming by improving color accuracy, reducing screen flicker at low brightness, and decreasing touch latency down to 43.5 ms.
Underneath the Black Shark 2 are some serious specs one would expect a gaming handset has. For starters, it's got the Snapdragon 855 chip paired with up to 12 GB of memory. Keeping everything juiced up is a 4,000 mAh battery, which supports 27 W fast charging, to boot. There's a choice of a 128 GB and 6 GB combo, or a higher-end model with 256 GB of storage and 12 GB of memory.
On the back is a dual-camera system with 48-megapixel and 12-megapixel lenses. For selfies, there's a more-than-decent 20-megapixel shooter on the front.
Similar to last year's Razer Phone 2, the Black Shark 2 also has a vapor chamber cooling system that keeps the phone from overheating when playing intense games. Xiaomi is also offering number of peripherals, such as a handheld grip, to enhance overall gaming experience.
Black Shark 2 Pricing And Release Date
The Black Shark 2 is available now for CNY 3,200 — about $480 — for the base model. The higher-tier variant is a bit costlier at CNY 4,200 — about $625 — but, really, that's a runaway price tag considering the specs. Unfortunately, as with nearly all Xiaomi phones, the Black Shark 2 likely doesn't and won't have a U.S. release.
