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
System Performance
The Black Shark 2 was among one of the devices we’ve included in our Snapdragon 855 device roundup, so we should be plenty familiar with the device’s performance.
The summary explanation of diverging performance between different smartphones with the same SoC chipset is that vendors can deploy the software and firmwares at different stages of their development cycle. Some vendors try to keep things up to date with what Qualcomm provides, while others base off their firmwares some time early in the R&D cycle of the phone and then never update it again until a major Android update a year or more later.
In PCMark, the Black Shark 2 preforms relatively average in relation to its other Snapdragon 855 siblings. The more interesting comparison here is against Xiaomi’s own Mi9; we’re seeing a few minor differences here and there but generally there isn’t too much divergence from its sister platform.
In the JS web browsing benchmarks, the Black Shark 2 actually performs well and in line with the better S855 platforms.
Overall, the performance of the Black Shark 2 is very good and in line with that of other Snapdragon 855 phones. It’s very similar to the Mi9 and that’s a good thing, albeit a bit short of the very best S855 tuned systems such as the Galaxy S10.
The more interesting aspect of performance is something we can’t really measure with benchmarks, and that’s the phone’s 240Hz touch input which does actually help quite a lot in terms of giving users a more fluid and less sluggish experience, something that’s especially visible in scrolling content.
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Andrei Frumusanu - Thursday, September 26, 2019 - link
You don't seem to understand, the gaming mode on the BS2 makes absolutely zero difference. It still throttles to the performance levels published here.As for the OPPO, that phone didn't throttle in either mode so I don't understand what you're on about. The performance mode it has is not like that of other phones and it's not a natural operational mode of the phone.
s.yu - Thursday, September 26, 2019 - link
If we could achieve a new consensus on testing battery life in default mode and performance in performance mode, then I suppose something like that could be reasonable, but many other devices would have to be retested.Andrei Frumusanu - Thursday, September 26, 2019 - link
I'm testing all devices in their performance modes both for performance and battery - the only exception to this rule until now has been the Reno as its performance mode just blatantly ignores normal DVFS operation.s.yu - Thursday, September 26, 2019 - link
Right, that also works.melgross - Thursday, September 26, 2019 - link
The point is. That it can’t maintain that speed without burning something out.melgross - Thursday, September 26, 2019 - link
Anandtech is the only site that does it correctly. The others don’t do real reviews.brucethemoose - Wednesday, September 25, 2019 - link
Or, more importantly, heating up your (non replacable) battery and degrading its useful life.s.yu - Wednesday, September 25, 2019 - link
It should all be run in whatever default mode available out of fairness, and comparability of results.Total Meltdowner - Wednesday, September 25, 2019 - link
The specs on these phones are all so boring.Give me an 8000mAH battery and a screen that isn't a downgrade from an S6 Active.
How about some ports or SOMETHING that separates these devices from one another? 0 innovation. It's just a bunch of chinese garbage.
plsbugmenot - Thursday, September 26, 2019 - link
I think you'll enjoy the ROG Phone 2 review, then.