Xiaomi Black Shark 4 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 4 is a gaming smartphone that delivers an exceptional gaming experience without breaking the bank. Powered by the Snapdragon 870 chipset and featuring a 144Hz OLED display, this phone offers powerful performance and stunning visuals. It comes with physical shoulder triggers for precise control and supports 120W fast charging for quick power-ups. The device boasts a 48MP main camera, a 4,500mAh battery, and up to 12GB of RAM. With its competitive pricing starting at €500, the Black Shark 4 offers excellent value for money in the gaming phone market. There are multiple variants available, allowing users to choose the one that suits their needs best.

Design and Build Quality

The Xiaomi Black Shark 4 sports a sleek design that exudes a premium look and feel. Its aesthetics are further enhanced by the use of high-quality materials and finishing touches. The phone has a robust construction and a sturdy build quality, ensuring its durability for long-term use. With dimensions of 76.4mm x 163.8mm x 9.9mm and weighing 210g, the Black Shark 4 strikes a good balance between portability and a substantial form factor.

The ergonomic design of the Black Shark 4 makes it comfortable to hold, enabling users to enjoy extended gaming sessions without strain. The textured back panel enhances grip, preventing accidental slips during intense gameplay. The placement of buttons and controls is well thought out, offering easy access and smooth operation. The bezels surrounding the display are minimal, providing an immersive gaming experience. The frame of the device is sturdy, adding to its overall durability.

The Black Shark 4 also offers one-handed usability, allowing users to navigate and operate the phone with ease. Whether it's gaming or everyday tasks, the design of the Black Shark 4 ensures a seamless and enjoyable user experience. Overall, the Xiaomi Black Shark 4 delivers on both aesthetics and functionality, making it an attractive choice for gamers and tech enthusiasts alike.

Display

The Xiaomi Black Shark 4 features a 6.67-inch Super AMOLED display that offers an immersive viewing experience. With a resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels, the display delivers sharp and detailed visuals. The aspect ratio of the screen is 20:9, providing an elongated display that is perfect for gaming and multimedia consumption.

The OLED technology used in the display ensures vibrant and accurate colors, making images and videos pop. The color accuracy and vibrancy are impressive, creating a visually pleasing experience. The display also has excellent brightness levels, reaching up to 1300 nits, making it easily visible even in bright outdoor conditions.

The touch responsiveness of the Black Shark 4's display is highly precise and smooth, allowing for seamless navigation and swift gaming controls. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass, which adds durability and scratch resistance.

With a pixel density of approximately 395 pixels per inch, the display offers good clarity and sharpness. The high refresh rate of 144Hz ensures smooth scrolling and fluid animations, enhancing the overall user experience. HDR support brings out the details in darker and brighter areas of images and videos, providing a more dynamic and lifelike visual experience. The display also has a wide color gamut, offering a broader range of colors for more vivid and realistic visuals.

The viewing angles are wide, allowing for comfortable viewing even when not directly facing the screen. The anti-reflective coating helps reduce glare and reflections, making it easier to use the device in different lighting conditions. The Black Shark 4 also features an always-on display option, allowing users to quickly check the time and notifications without unlocking the phone.

Additionally, the display offers features like a blue light filter to reduce eye strain, adaptive brightness for automatic adjustment based on ambient lighting, and screen calibration options for personalized color settings. Overall, the display of the Xiaomi Black Shark 4 provides an excellent visual experience with its vibrant colors, smooth responsiveness, and immersive qualities.

Performance

The Xiaomi Black Shark 4 is a gaming smartphone that delivers impressive performance and gaming capabilities. Powered by the Snapdragon 870 chipset, it offers exceptional CPU and GPU performance for smooth and lag-free gaming experiences. The GPU benchmarks indicate that the Adreno 650 GPU handles graphics-intensive games with ease, providing a high level of detail and smooth frame rates. The gaming performance of the Black Shark 4 is further enhanced by its 144Hz OLED panel, which ensures fluid animations and responsive touch controls.

In terms of overall performance, the Black Shark 4 excels in CPU benchmarks, showcasing its processor efficiency and multitasking capabilities. The device exhibits fast app loading speeds and offers a smooth user experience, thanks to its system optimization. Thermal management is also well-handled, as the phone remains cool during extended gaming sessions, avoiding performance throttling.

The Black Shark 4 has undergone benchmark tests to evaluate its performance metrics. Synthetic benchmarks show impressive scores, highlighting its processing power and GPU efficiency. Gaming benchmarks also demonstrate the phone's ability to handle demanding games at high settings, providing an immersive gaming experience.

Overall, the performance of the Xiaomi Black Shark 4 is commendable, with its powerful chipset, GPU capabilities, and smooth user experience. It excels in gaming performance, delivering high graphics scores and smooth gameplay. The device also performs well in CPU benchmarks, showcasing its multitasking and processor efficiency. With its impressive performance analysis and benchmark scores, the Black Shark 4 proves to be a solid choice for gamers and power users alike.

Software and User Interface

The Xiaomi Black Shark 4 runs on the Android 11 operating system with the Black Shark UI on top. The software provides a gaming-centric experience with various customization options. The interface is clean and user-friendly, making it easy for gamers to navigate and access their favorite games and apps.

The Black Shark 4 comes with pre-installed apps that cater to the gaming community, such as Game Space and Shark Space. Game Space is a dedicated hub where users can access all their games, adjust gaming settings, and customize their gaming experience. Shark Space, on the other hand, is a feature that optimizes the phone's performance for gaming, allocating resources and minimizing distractions.

One aspect that may be a concern for some users is the presence of bloatware. Bloatware refers to pre-installed apps that may not be necessary or useful for everyone. While the Xiaomi Black Shark 4 does come with some pre-installed apps, they are relatively minimal compared to some other smartphones in the market.

Overall, the software experience on the Xiaomi Black Shark 4 is smooth and efficient, focusing on delivering a seamless gaming experience. The clean interface, gaming-centric features, and customization options make it a user-friendly device for gamers.

Camera

The Xiaomi Black Shark 4 is equipped with a versatile camera setup that caters to various photography needs. The main camera boasts a 48-megapixel resolution, promising detailed and high-resolution images. Combined with a wide aperture and focal length, it allows for good depth of field and background blur in portrait mode. The sensor size ensures better light capture, resulting in improved low-light sensitivity and reduced noise in night photography. The Black Shark 4 also offers image stabilization to minimize blurring caused by shaky hands or movement.

In terms of image quality, the Black Shark 4 produces sharp and vibrant photos with natural colors, making it suitable for capturing outdoor scenes and daylight photography. The phone's dynamic range is commendable, allowing for well-balanced exposures in both bright and dark areas. It also features AI scene recognition, which automatically adjusts settings to optimize image quality based on the subject.

For videography enthusiasts, the Black Shark 4 supports 4K video recording, providing high-resolution footage. Video stabilization ensures steady and smooth video footage, while slow-motion and time-lapse features add creative options to capture unique moments. The phone supports various video formats, giving users flexibility in choosing their preferred format for sharing and editing.

Overall, the camera capabilities of the Xiaomi Black Shark 4 offer a well-rounded photography and videography experience, delivering good image quality, low-light performance, and a range of features to capture and create memorable moments.

Battery Life

The Xiaomi Black Shark 4 is equipped with a 4,500mAh battery, which offers decent battery life for a gaming phone. With its power-efficient Snapdragon 870 chipset and optimized software, the device manages to provide a good balance between performance and battery consumption. The phone also supports 120W fast charging, allowing users to quickly recharge their device and get back to gaming. The fast charging technology ensures that the battery can be fully charged in just 17 minutes, minimizing downtime. Unfortunately, the Black Shark 4 does not support wireless charging, which may be a downside for some users. Overall, the battery performance of the Black Shark 4 is reliable, providing enough power to sustain long gaming sessions without frequent recharging.

Connectivity and Networking

The Xiaomi Black Shark 4 offers a wide range of connectivity options to ensure seamless communication and data transfer. It supports 5G connectivity, allowing users to experience faster download and upload speeds, low latency, and a more reliable connection. The phone also supports dual SIM functionality, which is convenient for users who need to manage multiple phone numbers or have separate personal and work lines. In terms of wireless connectivity, the Black Shark 4 features Wi-Fi standards such as Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 5, ensuring fast and stable internet connectivity. Bluetooth version 5.2 is also supported, providing efficient and reliable wireless communication with compatible devices. For NFC (Near Field Communication), the Black Shark 4 allows users to make contactless payments and easily share files with other NFC-enabled devices. The phone is equipped with a USB-C port, which offers fast data transfer speeds and supports charging the device. Additionally, the Black Shark 4 has GPS capabilities, enabling accurate navigation and location tracking. Overall, the Xiaomi Black Shark 4 provides a comprehensive range of connectivity options to meet the needs of modern smartphone users.

Additional Features

Comparison with Other Related Phones

When comparing the Xiaomi Black Shark 4 with related gadgets in the market, it becomes evident that it offers a competitive gaming experience at an affordable price. Let's take a look at how it stacks up against other gaming phones and its competitors.

In terms of performance, the Black Shark 4 holds its ground with the Snapdragon 870 chipset, which ensures smooth and lag-free gaming. When compared to similar devices like the ASUS ROG Phone 5 or the Nubia Red Magic 6, the Black Shark 4 offers similar performance capabilities at a lower price point, making it a more cost-effective option.

The display of the Black Shark 4 also stands out with its 144Hz refresh rate and OLED panel. This puts it on par with other gaming phones like the ASUS ROG Phone 5 and the Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2, which offer similar high refresh rate displays for a more immersive gaming experience.

When it comes to unique features, the Black Shark 4 sets itself apart with its physical shoulder triggers. This feature provides a more tactile gaming experience compared to touch-sensitive triggers found on other gaming phones like the Nubia Red Magic 6 or the Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2.

In terms of pricing, the Black Shark 4 offers great value for money, especially when compared to its competitors. While the ASUS ROG Phone 5 and the Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 may have more advanced features and higher price tags, the Black Shark 4 provides similar gaming capabilities at a more affordable price.

In the competitive landscape of gaming smartphones, the Black Shark 4 holds a respectable position. While it may not have the same brand recognition as ASUS or Lenovo, it compensates with its competitive pricing strategy and cost-effectiveness. Xiaomi aims to capture a larger market share by offering a compelling gaming phone with a strong competitive advantage.

In benchmark comparisons, the Black Shark 4 performs admirably, scoring well in tests like 3DMark and PCMark. This puts it in the same league as its competitors, proving its capabilities as a gaming device.

Overall, the Xiaomi Black Shark 4 is a strong contender in the gaming smartphone market. With its powerful performance, impressive display, unique features, and competitive pricing, it offers great value for money and holds its ground against other related gadgets in the market.

Pros and Cons

Conclusion

Conclusion:

The Xiaomi Black Shark 4 impresses with its powerful performance, gaming-centric features, and competitive pricing. It delivers a smooth and immersive gaming experience, thanks to its Snapdragon 870 chipset, high refresh rate display, and physical shoulder triggers. The phone's impressive battery life and fast charging capabilities ensure extended gaming sessions without interruptions. While the camera performance may not be the main highlight of the device, it covers the basics adequately. Overall, the Black Shark 4 offers excellent value for money in the gaming smartphone segment, making it a compelling choice for gamers seeking a high-performance device at an affordable price.