Black Shark 3 Review: The Ultimate Gaming Smartphone
Are you looking for the best gaming smartphone? Black Shark 3 is a high-end gaming smartphone with great gaming performance. So, the new Black Shark 3 could be the best gaming smartphone ever for you, here’s the complete Black Shark 3 review.
Highlights:
- 5G compatible
- Latest Snapdragon 865 chipset
- Casual design for better gaming looks
- FunCooler for extra cooling system
Black Shark 3 gaming smartphone
The brand new Black Shark 3 is a powerful gaming smartphone, that supports many types of gaming accessories. The Black Shark 3 base variant starting from Rs. 36,690 in India ($465 USD).
Black Shark 3: Overview
Recently, Xiaomi has launched a new budget range Gaming smartphone, which is the Black Shark 3 smartphone. Before these, Xiaomi has already launched the Black Shark 2 series, which is a successor smartphone. The main highlight is, this phone is only for the “WORTH OF MONEY” tag.
This phone is, good for Pro Level Gaming on a budget smartphone. Black Shark 3 (Xioami) offers good performance and top not specifications on a low budget. The main target of this phone is, it’s made against the Asus ROG 3 smartphone. The Black Shark 3 starts with Rs.36,690 INR or $498 USD.
It is a very powerful gaming smartphone in which a variety of gaming accessories can be fitted for a better gaming experience. Black Shark 3 comes in black or chrome colors, with the rear S (Shark) alphabet logo on the rear panel, as well as LED lighting, which also supports manual RGB lighting.
This phone’s direct competition is with Nubia Red Magic 3 5G and Asus ROG Phone 3. Let’s see the complete details of this phone with our full Black Shark 3 Review.
Black Shark 3 smartphone specifications
| Display | |
|---|---|
| Screen Size | 6.67 inches Full HD+ |
| Type | AMOLED |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| Refresh Rate | 90Hz, |
| Screen-to-body-ratio | ~82.4%, 20:9 aspect ratio |
| Screen Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass v3, Always on Display |
| Body | |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 168.7 x 77.3 x 10.4 mm (6.64 x 3.04 x 0.41 in) |
| Weight | 222 g |
| Build | Glass front, aluminum back, aluminum frame |
| SIM | Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) |
| Software & Hardware | |
|---|---|
| Operating System | Android v10 |
| Processor | Qualcomm SM8250 Snapdragon 865 (7 nm+) |
| Clock Speed | Octa-core (1×2.84 GHz Kryo 585 & 3×2.42 GHz Kryo 585 & 4×1.80 GHz Kryo 585) |
| GPU | Adreno 650 |
| Memory | |
|---|---|
| Card Slot | No |
| Internal Storage | 128GB 8GB RAM, 128GB 12GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM |
| Memory Type | UFS 3.0, LPDDR5 |
| Rear Camera | |
|---|---|
| Camera setup | Triple, 64MP Wide, 13MP Ultrawide, 5MP Depth |
| Features | LED flash, HDR, panorama |
| Video | [email protected]/60fps, [email protected]/60/240fps, [email protected] |
| Front Camera | |
|---|---|
| Camera setup | Single, 20MP Wide |
| Features | HDR |
| Video | [email protected] |
| Connectivity | |
|---|---|
| WiFi | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, Wi-Fi Direct |
| Bluetooth | 5.0, A2DP |
| GPS Location | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS, BDS |
| NFC | Yes |
| Supported Networks | 5G, 4G, 3G, and 2G support |
| Features | |
|---|---|
| Fingerprint Scanner | Yes |
| Fingerprint Scanner Location | Under-Display, Optical |
| Accelerometer | Yes |
| Gyroscope Sensor | Yes |
| Compass & Proximity Sensor | Yes |
| Battery | |
|---|---|
| Size (in mAh) | 4,720 |
| Type | Lithium Polymer, Non-Removable |
| Fast Charging Support | Yes, 65W |
| Fast Charging Support | Yes, 30W (8GB/128GB only) |
| Magnetic Charge | Yes, 18W |
| Others | |
|---|---|
| Color Variants | Armor Gray, Star Silver, Lightning Black |
| 3.5mm Audio Jack | Yes |
| Price | 36,690INR or $498 USD |
Pros
- Flagship Performance
- Enough Camera Quality
- Shark Game Space for better gaming
- Competitive Price
Cons
- It is not for Non-Gamers
- Casual design
- Some Bloatware & Adds
Price and Availability
The Black Shark 3 base variant is starting from Rs.36,690INR. This phone is available on three storage variants, the first is 8GB RAM with 128GB internal storage, the second is 12GB RAM with 128GB of internal storage, and the last one is 12GB RAM with 256GB of internal storage variant options, which prices are respectively, Rs.36,690, Rs.39,890, and Rs.41,990.
If we talk about the availability of this phone, it is currently available only in the Philippines and China. This smartphone has been launched in the Philippines on 27 June 2020, which is not currently available in any other country. According to sources, this phone is going to be launched on November 19, 2020 (expected).
Display and Design
This phone has a 6.5 inches Full HD+ IPS LCD display with a punch hole on the left side of the screen. It has a resolution of 1080 by 2400 pixels. The main highlight is, it supports the 90Hz of refresh rate, which is an Ultra smooth display.
This smooth display is very important for gaming because the standard (60Hz display ) does not perform very well, at the same time this 90 Hz display responds much better. This screen is based on the 20:9 aspect ratio, which looks very pretty and good looking. It has ~405 PPI of pixel density, which is enough to view videos and playing games on this smartphone.
At this price point, it is a gaming phone. So, Xiaomi has given the “NO COMPROMISE” tag on its display quality. There is no any kind of lack in this display. The company claims, it has 500 nits brightness on its Display, which is enough for using this Smartphone to direct sunlight.
If we talk about the design of this phone, then this phone is a very big and bulky phone, if you are premium compact phone users then you may have some complaints with this phone. Its flagship is 168.7 x 77.3 x 10.4 mm, which is the thickest phone yet with a weight of 222g.
So, after holding it in hand you will feel a very heavy phone. This phone is also very big, so if you are a one-handed user, then you may have more chances of dropping the phone by hand while using this phone.
The left side of this phone has a volume rocker and SIM card tray, the bottom also has a USB type C and 3.5mm audio jack, and a power button is provided on the right side.
Designed for users, who do not have to face any kind of trouble while gaming. During the FPS games like Call of Duty Mobile and PUBG Mobile, there are triggers in this phone, which you can also use like a gamepad.
The rear panel of this phone has an X shape design, which means that it reflects the evolution of gaming, which has also been seen in the earlier Black Shark smartphone series.
It has a dual X design, in which the camera bump has been given in the shape of the first side, while the magnetic charging port has been given on the other side. Which also supports 18W fast charging.
Camera
Black Shark 3’s camera specs are very impressive. This phone comes with a Trio camera setup, the first camera has been given a 64MP (26mm) main sensor, the second camera has been given a 13MP ULTRAWIDE camera sensor and the last one has a 5MP depth camera sensor.
If you talk about camera features in this, through its Pro mode, you can capture very high-quality images from a 64 MP primary camera, and with the help of its 5 MP depth sensor, you can also capture very good portrait images.
If Talk about the video recording feature, it can record 4K @ 30/60 fps, and can also record video up to 30/60/240 fps in full HD quality, as well as this phone 720p @ 1920 FPS also has the ability to record ultra slow-motion video. Which no other smartphones in this price range have this feature.
The pro mode and daylight photography of this phone are great, but if we talk about Low light performance in this gaming smartphone, it can disappoint you.
As soon as we do low light photography, there is a lack of details in it, the shutter speed becomes very slow and there is too much noise and overexposed.
This smartphone is a flagship smartphone, but if it is compared to any other flagship like OnePlus 8, the image quality of Black Shark 3 is far behind. In this price point, the camera quality of Black Shark 3 cannot be called bad, but it performs quite well in its low budget range.
Performance
This smartphone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 (7 Nm +) SoC octa-core chipset with a 5G network modem inbuilt, and Adreno 650 GPU for graphics. This CPU has Clock Speed up to Octa-core (1×2.84 GHz Kryo 585 & 3×2.42 GHz Kryo 585 & 4×1.80 GHz Kryo 585) chipset.
This smartphone has 12 GB RAM and is also equipped with a flagship chipset. So the performance of this budget flagship smartphone is the same as that of most expensive handsets, such as the OnePlus 8 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra.
This smartphone is very powerful, so in the present time, there is no such game or app in the play store that this smartphone cannot run.
If we install Heavy games from Play Store, i.g. PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty Mobile, etc. games on this smartphone, then this smartphone can run all these games in the highest graphics without any frame drops or lag issue.
Software
Software All-powerful Android skin is mostly a plaguing issue of gaming phones, including Black Shark 3. Black Shark 3 comes with the latest Android v10, which Xiaomi has based on the custom Skin Joy UI 11 for its Black Shark series. This skin has many types of ads and bloatware, which makes this skin even slower, and pointless UI.
The User Interface is very similar to Xiaomi’s MIUI skin, which has 2 or more pre-installed apps like player manual and Cleaner. The cleaner is useful but it already has in the security app from settings, Maybe it will like some users.
Battery
Black Shark 3 is powered by a 4,720 mAh Non-removable battery. With the help of this big battery, you can easily use it normally for a day. In which videos, listening to songs, WhatsApp and Instagram can be run very easily for a while. In which it falls below 8-10% per hour by normal use.
This gaming smartphone has a display of 90Hz. So, it has 90Hz HD Graphics PUBG Mobile or Call of Duty mobile gaming, then it drains 22 to 25% battery. It is worth noting that if it plays games in 90Hz, then it got a slightly higher battery drain than expected. On the other hand, if we were gaming at the standard 60 hrs standard refresh rate, then it was just a 15-18% battery drain.
So we also get 65 Watt fast charging support, which is that this 65 Watt fast charger comes with this phone box. The company claims that this charger will complete this gaming smartphone from 0 to 100% charge in 38 minutes.
The base variant of Black Shark 3 has fast charging support of only 30 watts. All its variants have an 18-watt magnetic charge supported, which proves very helpful during gaming.
Buy it if so
If you want an Ultimate powerful gaming smartphone on a low budget. It comes with good hardware and software in this gaming smartphone.
If You want a good camera smartphone. Black Shark 3 camera features are enough for photography. The Macro and Portrait images are really unbelievable.
It comes with JoyUi skin, which is a clean UI and if you are an iOS or Stock Android user, you can easily move it.
Don’t Buy it if
Don’t buy this gaming smartphone, if you have a small pocket or one-handed user. Because this smartphone is very bulky and big, May have difficulty carrying.
If you are premium, sleek, and light-weighted smartphone users. This gaming smartphone is like a casual smartphone, which has an S (X back panel) RGB lighting (show up). Most smartphone users not show up like this.
