Xiaomi Black Shark 2 smartphone - advantages and disadvantages

Xiaomi released its first gaming smartphone in 2018 - Black shark... Positive customer reviews indicate that the manufacturers have managed to create a truly worthwhile product.

Some of the best smartphone manufacturers, despite the high popularity of the model, decided not to stop at the high results achieved.On March 18, 2019, the 2nd model of the line for active games was presented - Black Shark 2. This improved top model of smartphones will certainly take its place in the rating of high-quality devices.

From this article you will learn about the advantages and disadvantages of the new item, as well as read a detailed description of the Black Shark 2.

Smartphone overview

Device complete set

In addition to the smartphone, the box contains:

• a paper clip to open the tray;
• a silicone case that completely repeats the shape of the back panel of the phone, which eliminates the possibility of discomfort during games;
• cover for a gamepad;
• adapter, which is necessary due to the lack of a 3.5 mm jack;
• charger, with support for fast charging.

Table with the main characteristics of a smartphone

Smartphone design

The novelty can be purchased in blue, black or gray. The body is made of metal and glass. On the back there are lines and edges that are highlighted in green, as well as the “S” logo.

There are LED strips on the sides, the color of which can be selected in the settings.

During the game, fingers will fall into special grooves, creating a comfortable "grip" of the hand and the phone.

The dimensions of the device are 16.36x7.5x0.88 cm, and the weight is 205 g.

Gamepad

To use the game console, you need a special case, which is included in the kit.

To assemble the GamePad 3.0, you need to connect the left and right side of the joysticks by inserting them into the slots.
The right side is the x, y, a, b buttons, the touchpad and the 2 buttons at the top. The left side is the joystick and arrow buttons.

Each side of the joystick has its own battery, usb connectors and ports. The connection with the phone is via Bluetooth. Moreover, each side is connected separately.

The controls are comfortable, and the settings can always be changed by pressing the triangle-shaped button on the left side of the game console.

Screen

The Black Shark 2 uses an AMOLED display that is energy efficient, thin glass and full viewing angles.

The 6.39-inch screen has a thin metal frame. The 100.2 cm2 display has an 81.7% body-to-body ratio and a 19.5: 9 aspect ratio. The resolution is 1080x2340 pixels, and the number of pixels per inch is 403.

For viewing high-quality videos and photos, as well as for gaming, the manufacturers used the DCI-P3 color space, which covers 100% of natural light.

The gaming smartphone will delight you with the absence of flickering at low screen brightness and a fairly quick response to finger touch in 43.5 ms.

A useful addition is the Magic Press system. Its presence will allow you to choose personal settings depending on 1 of 6 selected levels of touch strength, for each half of the screen.
During the game, swipe down to bring up the "Game doc" panel. With its help, it is easy to set up notifications, turn off or turn on the necessary functions, and also adjust the touchscreen.

Unlocking the device

The smartphone has a Qualcomm 3D Sonic Senso fingerprint sensor built into the display of the device. The sensor has a high level of recognition, even in the case of dirt or moisture, and a high level of protection, since the recognition takes place using a sound wave.

Performance

A reliable, nimble and high-performance Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor is what's inside the device. This is an incredibly powerful processor that opens up a lot of possibilities for smartphones, especially gaming ones.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 performs 45% better than its predecessor, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845.
A high percentage of performance is possible thanks to a three-cluster architecture consisting of 8 cores:

• 1 main core with a clock speed of 2.84 GHz;
• 3 cores with a frequency of 2.42 GHz, which have high performance;
• 4 cores with a clock speed of 1.7 GHz, with rational use of energy.

The mobile platform supports 5G networks with a connection speed of about 5 Gbps.
The neural computation units with the 4th generation AI Engine, Hexagon 690 processor and GPU, show the high speed of artificial intelligence performance, namely, 7 trillion operations per second.

The system resource monitor and process manager will inform you about the processor load and programs running in the background.

Software

Black Shark 2 runs on Android 9.0 Pie operating system with JOY UI, which is optimized for gamers.

Game space Shark Space will help to free up the maximum smartphone resources for games. Quitting one game and launching another, considering that 1 game will be unloaded from the phone's memory, is easy. To do this, just click on the "Shark Space" button, which is located on the side of the panel.

Autonomy and charging

The device has a 4000 mAh Li-ion battery. This capacity is capable of providing 3-4 hours of continuous play with high demands. Of course, with normal use, the charge will last longer.

The device supports a fast 27W charge. This means that by spending only 5 minutes on a charge, you can provide half an hour of play.

Cooling system

The new 3.0 liquid cooling system is responsible for overheating protection.

The system works in 2 directions:

1. Protection of the controller by removing heat from it;
2. Protection of chips and chipsets by dissipating heat over the surface using a cold plate filled with cold liquid.

Thanks to the cooling system, you can charge your smartphone while playing, eliminating the possibility of overheating.

Game smartphone memory

The Black Shark 2 lacks an additional memory card slot. But this is not critical, since depending on the version of the smartphone, the RAM will be 6, 8 or 12 GB, and the internal memory will be 128 or 256 GB.
The volume provided will be sufficient to store a large amount of information.

There is also support for the HEIF format, which compresses content in high resolution, while providing about 50% space savings.

Sound

Surround sound, high-quality sound reproduction and good noise reduction are provided by the Qualcomm Aqstic DAC.

And TrueWireless Stereo Plus and Qualcomm AptX technology will provide high-quality sound with minimal signal delay between channels, as well as significantly reduce power consumption while using Bluetooth headphones.

Camera and its features

The main camera includes 2 modules:

• 48 megapixel lens, f 1,8,1 / 2 aperture and built-in phase detection autofocus. The pixel size is 0.8 μm;
• 12MP lens, f 2.2 telephoto, 2x optical zoom, LED flash, panorama, phase detection autofocus and HDR. Pixel size 1.0 μm.

The front camera has 20 megapixels, a pixel size of 0.9 microns and an aperture of f 2.0.

HDR + is supported for viewing and recording video.

The video is available for editing even when it is created.

The gadget takes high-quality photographs both at night and in the sun, thanks to the Computer Vision processor and the Night Shift function.

Wireless connections and communications

The gadget supports version 5 of Bluetooth, with aptX HD, A2DP and LE codecs. There is also WiFi Direct and dual-band Wi-Fi, with support for 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac. Built-in GPS navigation includes GLONASS, BDS and A-GPS programs.
If you need to connect your smartphone to other devices, there is a USB 2.0, Type-C 1.0 connector.
Another smartphone can be used as an Internet access point for other equipment.
Black Shark 2 supports dual sim + nano sim, dual standby.

How much does Black Shark 2 cost?

The gadget will differ in price, due to the different amount of memory:

1. If you are considering inexpensive options, then the Black Shark 2 with 6GB of RAM and built-in 128GB is suitable for $ 477.
2. The average price of $ 521 will be for a device with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. And for $ 566 you can buy a smartphone with 256 GB of internal memory and 12 GB of RAM.
3. The model with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal storage will have the highest price.

• unusual and beautiful design;
• the presence of LED strips and a glowing logo;
• the back panel has recesses for comfortable gaming;
• the presence of a convenient gamepad;
• high-quality display;
• availability of the Magic Press system;
• a high-level fingerprint sensor built into the display;
• a new processor that provides many possibilities;
• JOY UI optimized for games;
• availability of Shark Space play space;
• fast charge support;
• the presence of a cooling system;
• high quality and clear sound;
• high quality videos and photos, with additional features;
• support dual sim + nano sim, with dual mode.

• small battery capacity.

Conclusion

When choosing which company the device is better to buy, be sure to pay attention to the convenient and functional Xiaomi Black Shark 2. After all, this model impresses not only with its original design, but also with high-quality "stuffing", which provides a high level of performance and comfort during games and normal use.