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Black Shark 5 now available globally, including in the United States
- The Black Shark 5 and 5 Pro are now available globally, including in the US.
- The new model features top-end processors, liquid cooling, and built-in controllers.
- Its starting price is just $549 and goes as high as $999 for the most tricked-out Pro version.
Xiaomi gaming subsidiary Black Shark has released its latest gaming flagship phone to the global market, including the United States.
The Black Shark series is a line of phones targeting gamers, offering high-end performance, advanced cooling, dedicated magnetic triggers, and improved audio to deliver a gaming experience few phones can rival. The latest Black Shark 5 and 5 Pro build on those features, offering improvements that could make the phone a must-buy for the right gamer.
Black Shark 5: What’s new?
The Black Shark 5 series is powered by two different chipsets depending on the model. The baseline variant is powered by the early 2021 Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 while the Pro model features the 2022 Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip. In addition, the phone sports up to 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
One of the biggest issues mobile gamers face is throttling performance once the processor begins to heat up. Black Shark phones have always been known for their cooling systems, but the Black Shark 5 adds some significant improvements, using dual VC liquid cooling plates. The company says the plates have a new “anti-gravity” feature designed to improve the circulation of the cooling liquid. What’s more, the processor, battery, and 5G antenna are directly connected to the cooling plate via a copper alloy design. This should help provide superior heat dissipation and keep the phone cool enough to run at peak performance.
Read more: The best phones for gaming
The phone includes magnetic triggers, giving gamers a tactile controller feel rather than relying solely on on-screen controls. The Black Shark 5 includes the company’s second-generation triggers with a more fine-tuned response and can be mapped to different gaming functions. They can also be mapped to other non-gaming functions, such as turning on the flashlight. Thanks to their popup nature, they stay tucked away until they’re needed, with a flick of the side-mounted button revealing them.
The new phone also includes a 4,650mAh battery, paired with blazingly fast 120W wired charging. The company says the phone can be fully charged in 15 minutes. What’s more, the Black Shark 5 supports bypass charging, allowing it to be powered during gameplay without charging the battery. This cuts down on heat and preserves the battery’s lifespan.
Elsewhere, both phones sport a 6.67-inch OLED display with a 144Hz refresh rate at Full HD+ resolution. The back features a triple-lens system with wide-angle, ultrawide-angle, and macro lenses. Both phones support NFC and have side-mounted capacitive fingerprint scanners.
Price and availability
The Black Shark 5 and 5 Pro are officially available as of June 9, 2022. The phone will be released in the United States, Canada, Australia, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. More countries could see it soon as well.
Here are the prices:
Ready to grab one for yourself? Visit the Black Shark website for all the details.