96 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 65BUYING GUIDEand despite featuring a single sensor, the Portrait
mode is available and nails the edge recognition.
It’s more than enough for selfie-taking, Skyping and
Snapchatting, and even features a handy Straighten
tool to keep your selfies straight.
In terms of video, the Black Shark can record
video in 4K, 1080p and 720p, though the latter
two options are capped to 30fps. According to
Xiaomi, you can record up to 120fps at 720p,
but we couldn’t find the option to enable it after
exploring the Camera app. The performance wasn’t
amazing either; the phone struggles to adjust
between different levels of brightness, often leaving
highlights blown out if stepping into direct sunlight
from shade. There’s no OIS or even EIS on offer
either, resulting in shaky videos.
It’s a similar story with the front-facing camera.
It can record at 1080p at 30fps, but the quality can
vary greatly depending on the levels of light and
how shaky your hand is when recording.
In essence, it’s handy for capturing little videos
to share on social media, but those looking for
pro-looking video capture should look elsewhere.Battery life
With a focus on gaming, this phone offers a whopping
4,000mAh battery to keep you going through those
intense mobile gaming sessions. We’ve found that,
in reality, the battery life is impressive and is more
than enough to last a day with average usage. Even
when gaming, we were surprised at how slowly the
battery was depleting, though this will vary somewhat96 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 65BUYING GUIDE
and despite featuring a single sensor, the Portrait
mode is available and nails the edge recognition.
It’s more than enough for selfie-taking, Skyping and
Snapchatting, and even features a handy Straighten
tool to keep your selfies straight.
In terms of video, the Black Shark can record
video in 4K, 1080p and 720p, though the latter
two options are capped to 30fps. According to
Xiaomi, you can record up to 120fps at 720p,
but we couldn’t find the option to enable it after
exploring the Camera app. The performance wasn’t
amazing either; the phone struggles to adjust
between different levels of brightness, often leaving
highlights blown out if stepping into direct sunlight
from shade. There’s no OIS or even EIS on offer
either, resulting in shaky videos.
It’s a similar story with the front-facing camera.
It can record at 1080p at 30fps, but the quality can
vary greatly depending on the levels of light and
how shaky your hand is when recording.
In essence, it’s handy for capturing little videos
toshareonsocialmedia,butthoselookingfor
pro-looking video capture should look elsewhere.Battery life
With a focus on gaming, this phone offers a whopping
4,000mAh battery to keep you going through those
intense mobile gaming sessions. We’ve found that,
in reality, the battery life is impressive and is more
than enough to last a day with average usage. Even
when gaming, we were surprised at how slowly the
battery was depleting, though this will vary somewhat