Don’t Be Afraid of Black Shark’s New Gaming Phones

Black Shark has announced (and launched) its latest flagship smartphone series, the Black Shark 5 and 5 Pro, two models that focus on video game performance.

The new Black Shark 5 series is sporting a sleeker design than previous Black Shark models, has received several upgrades, and claims to have a physics-defying cooling system. Okay, it doesn't actually break Newtonian laws, but Black Shark says the anti-gravity dual VC system found in the 5 Pro increases liquid circulation for better and more consistent performance.

A Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 5G Mobile Platform can also be found in the Black Shark 5 Pro, which it supposedly takes full advantage of to push game performance even further. Though the boosted performance also applies to non-gaming stuff like more typical smartphone tasks and apps. The Black Shark 5 Pro also uses a 6.67-inch OLED display that offers what Black Shark is calling "industry-leading" levels of brightness, color accuracy, and contrast.

It's mostly a similar story with the Black Shark 5, though the lack of "Pro" in the name should make it pretty clear that it doesn't quite measure up to its counterpart. For instance, it incorporates a "Sandwich" liquid cooling system instead of the anti-gravity system and has a Snapdragon 870 instead of a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, which basically means it will perform well, but not as well as the more costly alternative. On the other hand, the Black Shark 5 uses a higher image quality 6.67-inch AMOLED display instead of an OLED like the 5 Pro.

Physical, pop-up magnetic control triggers are still present in both series 5 models, however, and Black Shark says the technology has been improved. These physical controls pop out via side-mounted buttons and can be mapped to various game commands—or they can be used for other phone functions if you want. Black Shark alleges that the adjustments made to the new magnetic trigger system significantly improve precision and response time.

Both the Black Shark 5 and Black Shark 5 Pro are available now, starting at about $585 and $852, respectively. You can find them on Black Shark's online shop, Amazon, and AliExpress.