Xiaomi Black Shark Helo gaming smartphone launched in China
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
