The Black Shark 2 Review: A Gaming Phone's Existential Crisis
by Andrei Frumusanu on September 25, 2019 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Mobile
- Smartphones
- Xiaomi
- Snapdragon 855
- Black Shark 2
Camera - Low Light Evaluation
We’ve had the Reno 10x in camera comparisons in previous articles, but as mentioned in the introduction of the device, Oppo was able to update its software over the last few months. The one area where there has been significant advancements in is in terms of low-light photograph and an apparent new night mode.
Previously, the original Night mode on the Reno was a dedicated mode one had to select to use. In newer firmware updates, the Reno now will automatically select a new kind of night mode in lower light conditions, and this is characterised by the camera app doing three quick shutter animations and sounds. We’ll see how this has changed, and how the new mode compares against the competition.
[ BlackShark 2 ] - [ S10+ (E) ] - [ S10+ (S) ]
[ Xperia 1 ] - [ P30 Pro ] - [ Mi9 ]
[ G8 ] - [ Reno 10x ] - [ RedMagic 3 ] - [ Pixel 3 ]
As expected, this first shot isn’t any good, albeit it does a little bit better than the Mi9’s auto mode. The problem here is that it’s just a tier below any other newer phone out there with better camera sensors, OIS, or night modes.
[ BlackShark 2 ] - [ S10+ (E) ] - [ S10+ (S) ]
[ Xperia 1 ] - [ P30 Pro ] - [ Mi9 ]
[ G8 ] - [ Reno 10x ] - [ RedMagic 3 ] - [ Pixel 3 ]
The next shot is again a disappointing blurry mess. I’d like to point out the result of the Red Magic 3 here – that phone uses the same camera sensor again and it also lacks OIS, both being gaming phones. Yet the RM3 managed to have a significantly better image that is much sharper.
[ BlackShark 2 ] - [ S10+ (E) ] - [ S10+ (S) ]
[ Xperia 1 ] - [ P30 Pro ] - [ Mi9 ]
[ G8 ] - [ Reno 10x ] [ RedMagic 3 ] - [ Pixel 3 ]
Here we again see the same results. The BS2 ends up as the worst result amongst the line-up by quite a significant margin, and again I want to point out the differences to the RM3 that is leagues ahead even though both have almost the same hardware.
[ BlackShark 2 ] - [ S10+ (E) ] - [ S10+ (S) ]
[ Xperia 1 ] - [ P30 Pro ] - [ Mi9 ]
[ G8 ] - [ Reno 10x ] - [ RedMagic 3 ] - [ Pixel 3 ]
I was actually surprised to see the BS2 get in as much light as it did here in this shot as it’s extremely dim.
[ BlackShark 2 ] - [ S10+ (E) ] - [ S10+ (S) ]
[ Xperia 1 ] - [ P30 Pro ] - [ Mi9 ]
[ G8 ] - [ Reno 10x ] [ RedMagic 3 ] - [ Pixel 3 ]
Lastly, in this indoor low light shot, the BS2 couldn’t focus and the picture is largely unusable.
Low-light Conclusion - Also Terrible
The low-light conclusion for the BS2 doesn’t differ to much of that of the Mi9 – they’re both terrible at it. The situation for the BS2 is even more dire than that of the Mi9 as it doesn’t offer a dedicated Night Mode to at least attempt to capture more light and at least be able to produce images fit for social media.
I understand gaming phones aren’t camera oriented, but Xiaomi at least could have put the effort to just copy the camera processing from its main flagships for the Black Shark 2. As it is, it’s just pretty much unusable.
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Flunk - Wednesday, September 25, 2019 - link
I'd take "gaming" phones more seriously if they actually had better hardware instead of just having obnoxious styling like this thing. I feel like that won't happen because of the way SoCs are developed, so we'll just see more of these cynical products.wrkingclass_hero - Thursday, September 26, 2019 - link
So it has finally come to paid reviews... this will not end wellAndrei Frumusanu - Thursday, September 26, 2019 - link
It will end come Monday.Galcobar - Thursday, September 26, 2019 - link
Xiaomi might agree with your sentiment, since Qualcomm paid for a review which called out deceptive practices, poor design, and significant under-performance by a Qualcomm client. Clearly, the payment did not include guarantees of positive coverage or control over the published results. Xiaomi is probably wishing this review hadn't happened, but it does seem to establish the Independence of Anandtech editorial staff to publish a negative review even when sponsored.PeachNCream - Thursday, September 26, 2019 - link
Pretty much this stuff. It's really hard to question AT's integrity with this particular paid review given the results do not paint the phone in question in a very good light. Will that always be the case? Dunno, but I think probably, yes it will.Imran-Shaikh - Thursday, September 26, 2019 - link
What benefits AT had through these paid reviews?Money or anything else?
Thanks in advance.
Badelhas - Thursday, September 26, 2019 - link
What do you mean?Average James - Friday, September 27, 2019 - link
I just ran Slingshot Extreme Unlimited on my own BlackShark 2 with explicitly turned off thermal throttling and maximum speed setting [4] as Gamer Studio allows to tune the option.With GPU overlocked via Caller hidden menu, I marked 7100~ish Graphics and 4100-ish Physics which seems legit to its clock setting. While that, the temp marked through 35~38C.
And then, I voluntary set Gamer Studio level to [2] which actively uses Silver Cores for battery and heats for non-3D heavy games. the result is similar to the article.
So I wonder, Mr. Andrei might misunderstood about CPU/GPU governor stuff. On Auto setting, it seems natural that SW detects what kind of game or apps which requires how much 3D/CPU power to get most favorable results. Like nowdays modern VGA drivers are doing.
Average James - Friday, September 27, 2019 - link
I can understand you're blaming detecting benchmarks software to turn off thermal throttling as a reviewer. It's generally evil thing to trick customers. BUT this device offers various performance levels through it's exclusive Gamer Studio menu and even allows to set thermal throttling level if you want.So what I cannot get from your article is, it doesn't talk about it's real performance. This is just complaining about "Poor performance in Auto perf setting if an App is not registered properly as it uses lower performance (seems level 2) level."
s.yu - Friday, September 27, 2019 - link
"if an App is not registered properly"If "real" performance mandates that apps "register" properly, how can you ensure that every game is registered properly then, if "registration" doesn't depend on a load detection?