Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro Review: specs and features, camera quality test, gaming benchmark, user opinions and photos

Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro - expected metamorphoses

Gaming smartphones from the Chinese company Xiaomi can hardly be called truly popular. In many ways, the reason for this was a mediocre advertising campaign, not the most outstanding software optimization for users from the CIS countries and Europe, as well as average cameras for the price segment. But every year the developer only improves the technical characteristics of the new products of the line, not paying attention to the mentioned shortcomings. The hero of the review was no exception.

The appearance of the novelty has retained most of the features of its predecessor. The gaming orientation of the gadget can be seen only by small bright color inserts, and retractable trigger keys on the side of the metal. The narrow bezels of the screen, the fingerprint scanner on the side, the 16-megapixel selfie camera lens at the top of the display and the relatively compact dimensions of the glass body look relevant and will appeal to most of the audience. The 6.67-inch AMOLED screen has slightly increased in the maximum brightness setting at FullHD + resolution. The increased refresh rate of 144Hz and the effective oleophobic layer make the picture smooth and give gamers a lot of fun.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen1 processor is known for both crazy performance and excessive heat. A well-developed passive cooling system tries to moderate the ardor of the chipset, but it is not possible to completely get rid of throttling. As a result, after an hour session in the resource-intensive Genshin Impact or Fortnite, there are not very noticeable, but still unpleasant gameplay jams. Of course, the applied CPU, 8GB/12GB/16GB of RAM and the Adreno 730 video adapter are more than enough for less demanding applications that start instantly. The autonomy of an Android smartphone is not surprising, but it does not upset either. A 4650mAh battery provides a stable 7-8 hours of active screen time, and a 120W fast charge process takes about 15-20 minutes. Of course, the phablet could not do without a smart internal storage of 256/512GB , made in UFS 3.1 format.

108-, 13- and 5-megapixel photomodules without optical stabilization create photo opportunities that are satisfactory for the value category. If daytime shooting rarely causes difficulties and gives mostly detailed shots without artifacts, then evening photos will upset you with both noise and an abundance of blurry objects. But the stereo sound is striking in volume, the presence of bass and the absence of wheezing at high volumes. NFC contactless payments, support for 5G networks are other reasons to take a closer look at the device, however, the persistence of the shortcomings familiar to the series and the impressive price tag again take away the title of a potential bestseller from the device.