Xiaomi Black Shark 4S Review, Pros and Cons – The Xiaomi Black Shark produces decent gaming smartphones every year and always offers stiff competition to the smartphone industry like the Asus ROG Phone series. The company launched the Xiaomi Black Shark 4S smartphone to maintain that rivalry, which offers remarkable features and software that pleased the gamer’s audience. The sole purpose of making the Xiaomi Black Shark 4S smartphone is to open doors for mid-range users.
Xiaomi unveiled the phone to the world in October 2021, which also brought several features with it. While there may not be any significant update from the Black Shark 4 smartphone, you’ll notice beautiful colors and Themes with the Black Shark 4s exclusively in China. As usual, the main selling point of this phone would be the immersive gaming experience with the help of a personalized user interface. Let’s find out more in the detailed review of the Xiaomi Black Shark 4S smartphone.
Table of Contents
Xiaomi Black Shark 4S Review
Highlights
- The Black Shark 4S phone comes with a 144Hz refresh rate and supports HDR10+ sharpening on the 6.67 inches Super AMOLED display.
- Equip the Snapdragon 870 5G chipset that performs intense tasks behind the scenes with the Adreno 650 GPU unit.
- The image quality improves dramatically with the entry of a decent 48MP main camera and 20MP selfie camera.
- As for the software layer, heavy customization of the Joy UI 12.8 interface with Android 11 on top.
- Supports huge Li-Po 4500 mAh battery with 120W fast charger.
Design and Display
Unexpectedly, the design aspect isn’t much of a chance compared to the previous generation of the Xiaomi Black Shark 4, but the Black Shark 4S brings exciting color options for sale. You can purchase premium options like Black and White while providing a professional look with the game’s aesthetic. However, what makes this phone stand out from the rest is the premium build quality.
Although the Xiaomi Black Shark 4S appears with a bulky construction, it’s an obvious thing to users as there are cooling systems, advanced chipset parts, and more things that increase the thickness to 9.9mm. On the side panel, you’ll get pop-up gaming triggers that will further help to improvise the overall game experience. Still, the company hasn’t given any IP certifications, so that can be just as disappointing.
However, the front screen covers everything while opening up new hope with a 6.67 inches Super AMOLED panel. You’ll also get a better 144Hz refresh rating and touch sampling, and HDR 10+ sharpening contrast, with a 1300 nits brightness rating. Despite this, the corning gorilla’s protection is still lacking; otherwise, it would have improved the screen quality.
Memory and Internal
The hardware section would be incomplete without the performance-based chipset; the 7nm Snapdragon 870 5G chip comes with the Xiaomi Black Shark 4S smartphone. With this chip, the phone can reach up to 1x 3.2 GHz of clocking speed for advanced level games, while getting a smooth experience in all tasks that demand a lot of energy. The phone also commands other cores that work to improve the everyday user experience.
The Joy UI 12.8 interface drives the edge of software offering immersive gaming-centric features, heavy customization, dedicated gaming software, and much more. It brings the Android 11 operating system as the base OS. On the other hand, improved touch sampling and touch response latency provide better casual gaming results; in addition, you can reach maximum level gaming settings.
In addition to software, you get 8GB and 12GB RAM support with 128GB and 256GB storage options. These combos are sufficient for today’s requirements, and you can record 4K videos without any problem. But at the same time, you will not receive secondary storage on this device to expand your storage limits. Although the cooling system works excellent, overheating can be noticed during long gaming sessions.
Camera
As we all know, camera quality may not meet standards as the Black Shark 4S is a dedicated gaming smartphone. Expecting average camera quality is standard, but expecting something extraordinary from the camera setup would be a straight line. In short, you’ll get decent photos and video recording capabilities like the main phones, but the quality may not be up to par at this level.
However, the spec sheet tells an entirely different story, as the phone offers a 48 MP main camera. It also includes an 8MP ultrawide and 5MP macro for close-up shots, which also offers autofocus capabilities. While the image processing is inevitably average, the result would be the same whether it’s about low light or daylight photography.
However, the colors and exposures of the photos slightly improve the overall quality. But that doesn’t mean the camera island can look like the main camera; hopefully, the company renders a 4K video recording with slow motion and time-lapse capabilities intact. But at the same time, you won’t have EIS-gyro stabilization or optical image stabilization. As for the selfie camera, you will get a standard 20MP lens on the front.
Battery and Others
The Xiaomi Black Shark 4S supports overclocking features that require a lot of power and meet the requirements of power-hungry hardware; the company produces a slightly small 4500 mAh battery. Compared to a competition where you get 5000 ~ 6000 mAh, the battery capacity seems a bit small. However, you will be shocked to learn that the phone offers 120W brick.
With fast charging support, the phone will be charged in less than 20 minutes or even less, as announced by the company. As the Shark 4S is designed exclusively for gamers, the user will have more than 7 hours of screen time. Furthermore, the additional features that make this phone stand out are the stereo speakers and the advanced sound output technology with the latest communicators and sensors. Talking about the price the Xiaomi Black Shark 4S smartphone cost around $400 (Rs 29,999) approximately.
Xiaomi Black Shark 4S Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the Xiaomi Black Shark 4S smartphone.
| Specifications | Xiaomi Black Shark 4S | |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G | |
| Announced | October 2021 | |
| SIM | Dual-SIM | |
| Dimensions | 6.44 x 3.00 x 0.39 inches | |
| Weight | 210 grams | |
| Size | 6.67 inches | |
| Display | Super AMOLED Always-on display 144Hz HDR10+ 1300 nits brightness 20:9 ratio ~395 PPI density | |
| Protection/Other | Physical pop-up gaming triggers | |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels | |
| OS | Android 11, Joy UI 12.8 | |
| Chipset | 7nm – Qualcomm SM8250-AC Snapdragon 870 5G | |
| CPU | Octa-core 1×3.2 GHz Kryo 585 3×2.42 GHz Kryo 585 4×1.80 GHz Kryo 585 | |
| GPU | Adreno 650 | |
| Card slot | No | |
| RAM | 8GB, 12GB | |
| Internal | 128GB, 256GB UFS 3.1 | |
| Camera | 48 MP (wide), PDAF 8 MP (120° ultrawide) 5 MP (macro), AF LED flash, HDR, panorama Max – 4K@30/60fps | |
| Selfie | 20 MP (wide) HDR Max – 1080p@30fps | |
| Loudspeaker | Yes (stereo speakers) | |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes (24-bit/192kHz audio) | |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot | |
| Bluetooth | 5.2, A2DP, LE, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive | |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS, BDS | |
| NFC | Yes | |
| Infrared port | No | |
| Radio | No | |
| USB | USB Type-C 2.0 | |
| Sensors | side-mounted fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer | |
| Battery | Li-Po 4500 mAh Fast charging 120W | |
| Colors | Black, White | |
| Expected Price | $400 (Rs 29,999) approx. |
Xiaomi Black Shark 4S Pros and Cons
Down below you can see the list of pros and cons (advantages and disadvantages) of the Xiaomi Black Shark 4S smartphone.
Pros
- Elegant and premium design layout.
- Support 120W fast charging.
- 4K video recording features.
- Better sound and output with stereo speakers.
- NFC and 5G supported.
- Awesome gaming experience from 7nm chipset.
- Super AMOLED Always-on display with FHD+ resolution.
- Android 11 OS upgradable to Android 12 OS.
- 144Hz refresh rate with a better touch sampling rate.
- HDR 10+ contrast with higher brightness settings.
- Awesome Customization Features in Joy UI 12.8.
- Physical pop-up gaming triggers are present.
Cons
- Without any gorilla glass protection.
- Lack of secondary storage support.
- No wireless charging support.
- Average camera performance.
- No image or video stabilization features.
Conclusion
The Xiaomi Black Shark 4S smartphone is undoubtedly a low-cost gaming smartphone. It has everything a player needs, whether it’s a pop-up trigger or advanced level clocking speed. But there are some points where the phone is lacking. The first would be the camera section and the second would be the battery life. Although, everything looks decent in the end with the heavy gaming customization.
By analysis, if you’re looking for a gaming device, the Black Shark 4S is worth recommending. But these valuable features aren’t enough for you, in that case, you can also check out the Black Shark 4S Pro or the Asus ROG 5S Pro in the meantime.
