Price: £639 from fave.co/3mDjg7b
Xiaomi-owned Black Shark has become one of the key manufacturers of gaming phones in recent years, with unique innovations like magnetic pop-up triggers offering genuine innovation for keen mobile gamers – and that trend is set to continue with the Black Shark 5 Pro.
However, the impressive design and performance of the Black Shark 5 Pro mean it’s more expensive than ever before, and more expensive than key rival Red Magic too. Has Black Shark done enough to justify a price that’s etching ever closer to flagship smartphones? Well…
DESIGN
The Black Shark 5 Pro, like the rest of the collection, is a gaming phone through-and-through, and that’s very much reflected in its design – though it is arguably toned down a little this time around.
While the phone still has all the quirks of a typical ‘gamer’ aesthetic, including bold lines and icons donned across its rear, it’s completely smooth to the touch with a nice matte finish that feels good in the hand and provides extra grip.
That’s a stark contrast to angular alternatives like the Asus ROG Phone and its aluminium rear, but I like the more subtle gamer feel this time around.
The camera housing has also been redesigned, ditching the horizontal camera bar for a more rectangular camera bump, with bevelled edges helping disguise just how raised the bump is from the rest of the body. It’s not huge, but it’s
