The Black Shark 3 gaming smartphone has been officially launched in China and we’ll be getting two variants right off the bat – the Black Shark 3 and the Black Shark 3 Pro.
Image credit: Black Shark China
Contrary to previous reports (and hopes), both variants will come with a 90Hz display, not the 120Hz panel people were expecting. Despite that, the phones are still pretty beastly – the regular variant packs a large 6.67-inch FHD+ display, while the Black Shark 3 Pro comes with an even larger 7.1-inch QHD+ OLED panel. It has a bezel at the top to house the selfie lens – so no punch-hole shenanigans here. Plus, the panel supports a touch sampling rate of 270Hz – which is ludicrous.
Image credit: Black Shark China
Under the hood, both devices come equipped with a Snapdragon 865 chipset with 5G connectivity, along with up to 12GB RAM and 256GB internal storage – this is no less than what’s expected of a gaming smartphone. The 12GB variant will come with LPDDR5 RAM, while the 8GB versions will stick with LPDDR4.
Image credit: Black Shark China
What’s different this time is that the Pro variant employs a pair of mechanical, physical shoulder triggers that pop up when engaged. This should provide FPS players with more control thanks to the tactile response they’re getting. The regular variant doesn’t have any shoulder buttons, but does have the same Master Touch feature as seen in its predecessor.
Image credit: Black Shark China
Powering the Black Shark 3 is 4,720mAh battery; while the larger model gets a bigger 5,000mAh pack. The latter also supports up to 65W fast charge which they claim can charge the phone in 38 minutes. This is via USB C of course – there’s also a magnetic port at the back of the phone that’s supposed to be unobtrusive when you’re gaming; this one charges at a decent 18W.
Image credit: Black Shark China
Despite being a gaming smartphone, the camera setup doesn’t slouch either – a triple lens setup is present here comprising of a 64MP main, a 13MP ultrawide angle shooter and a 5MP depth sensor. The front shooter is a simple 20MP lens.
The Black Shark 3 Pro is available in these colours – Phantom Black and Armor Gray; while the regular Black Shark 3 gets Lighting Black, Armor Gray and Star Silver. The phones are available in China only for now and is priced from 3,499 Yuan (RM2,104) for the Black Shark 3; the Black Shark 3 Pro starts at 4,699 Yuan (RM2,826).