The Gaming Phone You Don't Want To Miss Out On Xiaomi BlackShark 2

Now my first impression of the phone was that it was whack.

Design

Not only was my unit of the BLACK Shark 2 not black, they handed me a unit without the box whilst still connected to the cooling fan add-on and I legit thought I’d just been handed some alien tech. But then I realised I was just stupid. Upon taking off the damn thing, the phone actually looked pretty cool. Barring the fact that it was silver.

I love the fact that the back of the device isn’t a fingerprint magnet. Pretty much EVERY Android device bar the flagships now have this terrible shiny plastic? looking back. The Black Shark 2 doesn’t have this.

The back of the phone comes equipped in a heavy metallic finish and when I say heavy, I mean it quite literally as well. The phone weighs 205 grams but to be completely honest, I loved it. Probably won’t still be saying it when I inevitably drop it on my face but still, I’ve always liked heavy phones.

What’s a gaming phone without fancy lights right? The Black Shark 2 doesn’t disappoint. There are two ‘breathing’ LED strips at each side of the phone and the S logo on the back can light up as well. The breathing LED strips on the side also make for really good notification light and of course, you can change the colour.

One thing you’ll notice is that when you tilt it at a specific angle, there’s a subtle reflective green strip running around the device’s edge. I really think it gives the phone a touch of personality and it actually looks good, so kudos to the design team, really.

One last thing worth mentioning is that the phone does NOT have a headphone jack… Which really annoys me! It’s not like the phone is thin either, it can comfortably fit one without compromising its thickness. There is no reason for it not to be there. None!

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