The Black Shark 2 Pro was announced just about half a year after the base Black Shark 2 was announced. It has also just recently been made official on the local market. During its launch event, I spent some time with the phone to get a feel of what difference the Pro moniker made.
And to be honest, most of the changes are really subtle. Like before, the back of the phone really stands out, with a look that’s still quite unique. It’s got a new strip down the middle with more RGB LED bits, but beyond, that, it’s still the familiar look from the Black Shark 2.
Also like before, it’s pretty thin and light despite the way it looks. Black Shark claims though that it’s made subtle adjustments for a more comfortable grip when gaming. That said, I didn’t feel any different at all to me when I held it.
It’s the same story for the rest of the phone’s exterior. Just like the base Black Shark 2, the Pro version only has a USB-C port at the bottom. The power button and the Shark Space launcher switch sits on the right. And on the left is the volume rocker. On both sides are the RGB LED strips from before that light up when you’re gaming, or when the phone is being charged.
On the front, we have the 6.39-inch display, the same in size as the base Black Shark 2. Like the base model, the one on the Pro variant also comes with 240Hz touch sampling rate, but with a refresh rate of 60Hz. Touch latency has also been reduced, but it’s hard to tell if it’s really the case.
In a period of phones with notches, the Black Shark 2 Pro maintains the old-fashioned design of having bezels on the top and bottom of the display. This is to accommodate for its stereo speakers. So far, at least from the front, the Pro variant is identical to the base version of the phone.
With that being said, the user experience is undeniably slightly better. The UI is as snappy as before, but the Shark Space launcher has a much smoother startup now. This may have something to do with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset of the phone.
The Black Shark 2 Pro comes with a dual rear camera setup as before. The main shooter is still a 48MP sensor, but the secondary unit is now a 13MP unit. That said, it’s hard to tell if there’s any significant improvement in terms of detail preservation or colour accuracy compared to the standard Black Shark 2.
Considering the similarity between the Black Shark 2 Pro and its base model, there’s only so much that can be said about it in a limited period of time. With more time, it would be nice to see the extent to which it can be pushed. This is especially considering it’s the first phone in the country to sport a Snapdragon 855 Plus.
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