Xiaomi Black Shark 2 Pro Review

• Overview
• Design and Build Quality
• Display
• Performance
• Software and User Interface
• Camera
• Battery Life
• Connectivity and Networking
• Additional Features
• Comparison with Other Related Phones
• Pros and Cons
• Conclusion

Overview

The Xiaomi Black Shark 2 Pro is a gaming smartphone that delivers impressive performance and a stunning display. Powered by the Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset and equipped with 12GB of RAM, this device can handle even the most demanding games with ease. The 6.39-inch Super AMOLED display offers vibrant colors and sharp visuals, perfect for immersive gaming experiences. With its sleek design and RGB lighting on the back, the Black Shark 2 Pro stands out from the crowd. It also features a 48MP primary camera, a 4000mAh battery, and various gaming-focused features. With its competitive pricing, the Xiaomi Black Shark 2 Pro is a great choice for gamers looking for a powerful and stylish smartphone.

Design and Build Quality

The Xiaomi Black Shark 2 Pro boasts a sleek and stylish design that is sure to catch the eye of gamers and tech enthusiasts. The phone has a premium look and feel, thanks to its combination of metal and glass materials. The back panel features a unique gaming-oriented design, with a customizable RGB logo that adds a touch of aesthetics. The device is well-built and feels robust and sturdy in hand, making it suitable for intense gaming sessions. The frame and bezels are minimal, allowing for a more immersive viewing experience. The phone's dimensions and weight are well-balanced, providing a comfortable grip and one-handed usability. The buttons and controls are well-positioned and offer a satisfying tactile feedback. The phone also incorporates a liquid cooling system, which helps to keep the device cool during extended gaming sessions. Overall, the design and build of the Xiaomi Black Shark 2 Pro are impressive, combining aesthetics, ergonomics, and durability to deliver a premium gaming smartphone experience.

Display

The Xiaomi Black Shark 2 Pro boasts a 6.39-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels. This screen size is ideal for an immersive gaming and multimedia experience. The display offers vibrant colors and excellent color accuracy, making visuals pop with vividness and realism. With its OLED technology, the Black Shark 2 Pro delivers deep blacks and high contrast ratios, enhancing the overall visual quality. The brightness levels are impressive, ensuring good visibility even under direct sunlight. The touch responsiveness is smooth and precise, providing a seamless gaming and navigation experience. The display is protected by Gorilla Glass, which adds durability and scratch resistance. The pixel density is also noteworthy, ensuring sharp and detailed visuals. The Black Shark 2 Pro offers a high refresh rate, which contributes to smooth and fluid animations, reducing motion blur during gameplay. Additionally, the device supports HDR and wide color gamut, resulting in enhanced contrast and a broader range of colors. The viewing angles are wide, allowing for comfortable viewing from different perspectives. The display also features an anti-reflective coating, minimizing glare and reflections. Overall, the Xiaomi Black Shark 2 Pro offers an impressive display that caters to the needs of gamers and multimedia enthusiasts alike.

Performance

The Xiaomi Black Shark 2 Pro boasts impressive performance capabilities, thanks to its powerful chipset and GPU. Equipped with the Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset and Adreno 640 GPU, this device delivers exceptional gaming performance and smooth multitasking abilities. The chipset's high CPU and GPU benchmarks showcase its processing power and efficiency, ensuring lag-free performance and an immersive gaming experience.

In terms of gaming benchmarks, the Black Shark 2 Pro excels in graphics scores, providing stunning visuals and smooth gameplay. The device's system optimization and thermal management further contribute to its impressive performance metrics. It maintains stable performance even during extended gaming sessions, thanks to its efficient thermal management.

In addition to its gaming prowess, the Black Shark 2 Pro also excels in overall performance. It showcases excellent CPU benchmarks, offering fast app loading speeds and seamless multitasking capabilities. Users can expect a smooth user experience with minimal lag and fast response times.

The device's performance is further enhanced by its optimized software and operating system. The system runs on Android 9.0 with Xiaomi's custom user interface, which adds additional optimizations for gaming and overall performance. These optimizations ensure that the device maximizes the capabilities of its powerful chipset and GPU, providing users with a seamless and enjoyable experience.

Overall, the Xiaomi Black Shark 2 Pro is a powerhouse in terms of performance. Its chipset and GPU deliver exceptional gaming capabilities, with impressive benchmark scores and smooth gameplay. Its overall performance is top-notch, with fast app loading speeds, smooth multitasking, and a lag-free user experience. Whether it's gaming or general usage, this device offers a seamless and efficient performance that will satisfy even the most demanding users.

Software and User Interface

The Xiaomi Black Shark 2 Pro runs on the Android 9.0 operating system with Xiaomi's custom MIUI interface. This combination offers a smooth and responsive user experience. The interface is clean and user-friendly, with minimal bloatware and unnecessary pre-installed apps. Users have the freedom to customize their device according to their preferences, thanks to the various customization options available. The MIUI interface also provides additional gaming-oriented features and optimizations, enhancing the overall gaming experience on the device.

The operating system is up-to-date at the time of the review, but it's worth noting that newer versions of Android may have been released since then. The Black Shark 2 Pro offers a clean and intuitive interface, making it easy to navigate and use. The software is optimized for gaming, with features like a dedicated gaming mode and enhanced touch response. Overall, the software on the Black Shark 2 Pro provides a user-friendly and customizable experience, catering to both gaming enthusiasts and regular users.

Camera

The Xiaomi Black Shark 2 Pro boasts a powerful camera setup that is capable of capturing stunning images in various lighting conditions. The device features a 48MP primary camera, which ensures high-resolution photos with excellent detail. The aperture and focal length of the camera allow for a wide range of shooting options, from capturing landscapes to close-up shots with a pleasing depth of field. The sensor size contributes to better low-light performance, enabling users to capture clear and detailed photos even in challenging lighting situations.

The camera of the Black Shark 2 Pro excels in daylight photography, producing images with natural colors, sharpness, and a wide dynamic range. The device also offers impressive low-light performance, thanks to its low-light sensitivity and noise reduction capabilities. Users can take stunning night shots with the help of the dedicated night mode, which enhances the brightness and reduces noise in low-light conditions.

The camera features a portrait mode, which allows users to capture professional-looking portraits with a blurred background, making the subject stand out. HDR mode ensures well-exposed photos in high-contrast scenes, preserving details in both bright and dark areas. The device also offers panorama mode for capturing wide-angle shots and a pro mode for manual control over settings.

In terms of video recording, the Black Shark 2 Pro supports 4K video recording, delivering high-quality videos with crisp details. Video stabilization helps in reducing camera shake and ensures smooth footage, while slow-motion video and time-lapse features allow for creative video capturing. The device supports multiple video formats, providing flexibility in sharing and editing videos.

Battery Life

The Xiaomi Black Shark 2 Pro is equipped with a 4000mAh battery, which provides decent battery life for moderate usage. The actual battery life may vary depending on usage patterns and settings. The device supports fast charging technology, allowing for quick charging times. However, it does not support wireless charging options. The battery performance is optimized through software features and optimizations, ensuring efficient power usage. The device also includes a battery saver mode, which helps extend battery life during low power situations. Overall, the battery of the Black Shark 2 Pro offers satisfactory performance, but heavy gaming sessions may drain the battery faster. Users can expect a decent battery backup and capacity, but it is always recommended to manage battery usage and optimize settings for better battery longevity and endurance.

Connectivity and Networking

The Xiaomi Black Shark 2 Pro offers a wide range of connectivity options to ensure a seamless user experience. It supports 4G LTE connectivity, allowing users to enjoy fast data speeds and network compatibility across various carriers. The device also comes with dual SIM capabilities, enabling users to easily manage their personal and work numbers.

In terms of wireless connectivity, the Black Shark 2 Pro supports Wi-Fi 802.11 standards, ensuring fast and stable internet connectivity. It also features Bluetooth, allowing users to connect wireless headphones, speakers, and other devices. The device is equipped with an NFC chip, enabling quick and convenient contactless payments and data transfer.

For charging and data transfer, the Black Shark 2 Pro utilizes a USB Type-C port. This port offers faster data transfer speeds and allows for quick charging of the device. However, it does not support wireless charging.

In terms of location services, the device features GPS and navigation capabilities, allowing users to easily navigate through maps and find their way. The device also supports mobile hotspot functionality, allowing users to share their internet connection with other devices.

Overall, the Xiaomi Black Shark 2 Pro offers a comprehensive range of connectivity options, ensuring that users can stay connected and enjoy fast data speeds and network compatibility. Whether it's browsing the internet, streaming media, or staying connected with others, the Black Shark 2 Pro has you covered.

Additional Features

Comparison with Other Related Phones

When compared to other gaming smartphones in the market, such as the ASUS ROG Phone II and the Razer Phone 2, the Xiaomi Black Shark 2 Pro offers strong competition in terms of performance, display, and gaming features.

In terms of performance, all three devices are equipped with powerful processors - the Black Shark 2 Pro with the Snapdragon 855 Plus, the ROG Phone II with the Snapdragon 855 Plus, and the Razer Phone 2 with the Snapdragon 845. However, the Black Shark 2 Pro edges ahead with its higher clock speed and better GPU performance, making it the top choice for gamers.

When it comes to the display, the ROG Phone II and the Black Shark 2 Pro both feature AMOLED displays with similar resolutions, while the Razer Phone 2 sports an LCD display. However, the ROG Phone II stands out with its 120Hz refresh rate, providing smoother visuals during gaming.

In terms of gaming features, all three devices offer dedicated gaming modes and cooling systems to prevent overheating. The Black Shark 2 Pro takes it a step further with its physical gamepad attachments, offering a more immersive gaming experience.

In terms of pricing, the Black Shark 2 Pro is priced competitively compared to the ROG Phone II, making it a more cost-effective option for gamers looking for high-performance gaming smartphones.

Overall, the Xiaomi Black Shark 2 Pro holds its ground against its competitors in terms of performance, display, and gaming features. It offers great value for money and is a strong contender in the gaming smartphone market.

Pros and Cons

Conclusion

Conclusion: The Xiaomi Black Shark 2 Pro is a high-performance gaming smartphone that delivers impressive power and features for avid gamers. With its Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset, 12GB of RAM, and liquid cooling system, it offers smooth and lag-free gaming experiences. The vibrant Super AMOLED display and dedicated gaming features further enhance the gaming experience. While the camera performance is decent, it may not compete with other flagship devices. The device's sleek design, ample storage options, and competitive pricing make it a great choice for gamers looking for a powerful and immersive gaming smartphone. Overall, the Xiaomi Black Shark 2 Pro is a solid option for gamers seeking top-notch performance and a great gaming experience.