Xiaomi Black Shark Helo gaming smartphone launched in China
What's the story
As the successor to the Black Shark gaming smartphone, Xiaomi-backed Black Shark has launched Helo in China. The key highlights of the Black Shark Helo are its new liquid cooling system, up to 10GB RAM, Snapdragon 845 processor, a dedicated image processing chip and 6.01-inch full-HD+ AMOLED display. The phone comes at a starting price of CNY 3,199 (approx. Rs. 34,100). Here's our roundup.
Design & Display
Black Shark Helo: At a glance
Up front, the phone has a traditional 18:9 display with slim yet prominent top and bottom bezels which pack stereo speakers. Further, there's a dual rear-camera setup, a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, and RGB LED-illuminated back logo and side strips. The Black Shark Helo features a 6.01-inch full-HD+ (1080x2160 pixels) AMOLED display with 402 ppi density, HDR10 support, and 60Hz refresh rate.
Information
Black Shark Helo will convert SDR content to HDR
The Helo also features a dedicated Pixelworks-designed chip that helps convert Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) content to High Dynamic Range (HDR) in real-time. This essentially means both the shadows and highlights of an image will be increased to offer more detail and wider color range.
Internals
Under the hood
The phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, paired with Adreno 630 GPU, 6GB/8GB/10GB RAM, and 128GB/256GB inbuilt storage. It also comes equipped with a dedicated liquid cooling system to prevent overheating. Further, the Black Shark Helo packs a 4,000mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0 support and runs a forked version of Android Oreo 8.1 (probably MIUI 10).
Information
For the shutterbugs and selfie lovers
The Black Shark Help sports a dual-rear camera setup comprising a 12-megapixel (f/1.75) primary sensor with 1.25-micron pixels, paired with a 20-megapixel (f/1.75) secondary sensor, and an LED flash module. Up front, the phone packs a 20-megapixel sensor with an f/2.2 aperture.
Nitty-gritty
Connectivity options and Sensors onboard the Black Shark Helo
In terms of connectivity options, the phone supports dual-SIM (Nano) cards, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS/A-GPS, Glonass, aptX and aptX HD. Sensors onboard the phone include an ambient light sensor, geomagnetic sensor, gravity sensor, gyroscope, and proximity sensor. Further, the phone comes with a Gamer Studio app that lets you customize CPU, display, and network settings for creating different gaming profiles.
Information
The phone also comes with a dedicated gaming controller
The Black Shark Helo also comes with a dedicated joystick-based analog controller called Black Shark Biplane Handle. Notably, the 6GB and 8GB RAM variants come bundled with one Biplane Handle whereas the 10GB RAM model gets two controllers - one for each side.
Other details
Pricing and Availability
The Black Shark Helo starts at CNY 3,199 (around Rs. 34,100) for the 6GB/128GB variant. Further, the 8GG/128GB model costs CNY 3,499 (approx. Rs. 37,000) whereas the top-end 10GB/256GB variant is priced at CNY 4199 (approx. Rs. 44,500). The phone, available only in Black color, will go on sale starting October 30 with pre-orders now live on Xiaomi's China e-store.