Black Shark 3S unveiled with 120 Hz 6.67" AMOLED display, same Snapdragon 865 chipset

The Black Shark 3S has joined the game and it has picked up a few upgrades compared to the Black Shark 3. The biggest change is that the 6.67” AMOLED display now has a 120Hz mode in addition to the 90 Hz mode of its predecessor. The new panel is capable of 270Hz touch sampling rate (same as before).

The display has two pressure-sensitive zones, which can be mapped to different actions. Also, the gyroscope is used to detect flicking motions. You can create game macros too, which trigger several actions in sequence. Voice commands are available as well, so you can start the screen recorder without taking your hands off the controls.

The AMOLED panel has 1080p+ resolution (20:9), offers 500 nits of brightness, 105% DCI-P3 coverage and a 3rd generation MEMC.

The 3S is still powered by the Snapdragon 865 chipset (not its plus version). It comes with LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage. The base 12/128 GB configuration costs CNY 4,000 ($575/€485) while the upgrade to 256 GB is just CNY 300 more.

Note that there’s a 512 GB model on the way for CNY 4,800, but that one isn’t available for pre-order just yet. The other two are ready to ship out on August 4 (next Tuesday).

For comparison, the Black Shark 3 uses UFS 3.0 storage and the base model comes with 8GB of LPDDR4. The 12GB models do switch up to LPDDR5 and you can have one for CNY 3,600 (with 128 GB storage).

The latest JOYUI12 software comes with screen mirroring. It sends a video of the screen over USB-C to a computer, so you can play your games with a keyboard and mouse. This mode will run at 60 fps and has a 40 ms latency.

The rest is unchanged – the 4,729 mAh battery charges at 65 W over the USB-C connector. It needs 12 minutes for a 50% charge, 38 minutes for a full charge. Alternatively, there’s a magnetic adapter that attaches to the back (keeping out of the way of your hands) so you can play and charge at 18W simultaneously. This attaches to the “triangle” opposite the cameras.

Speaking of cameras, they have not changed either. The main module has a 64 MP sensor (0.8 µm pixels, 1.6 µm with binning) and an f/1.8 aperture. It’s joined by a 120° ultra wide camera (13 MP, 1.0 µm, f/2.25) and a 5 MP depth sensor. A 20 MP selfie camera completes the picture. It’s embedded in the top bezel and not the screen, believe it or not.

Black Shark 3S in Blue and Black

Once again the Black Shark team has prepared a fan add-on that provides external cooling to the phone. The chipset relies on a heat pipe to wick the heat away from it, fan or no fan.

Source (in Chinese)