Black Shark 4S and Black Shark 4S Pro now official, leaked AnTuTu score shows the 4S Pro flexing its Snapdragon 888 Plus muscle

Xiaomi's Black Shark series is the company's flagship Android gaming smartphone sub-brand. Earlier this year, we saw the Black Shark 4 and Black Shark 4 Pro launch with 144 Hz AMOLED displays, SSD-based storage, 120 W fast charging, etc. Now, it looks like Xiaomi is all set to launch a mid-cycle refresh in the form of the Black Shark 4S and Black Shark 4S Pro. 

Bot the Black Shark 4S devices feature a 6.67-inch E4 AMOLED FHD+ display with a 144 Hz refresh rate and a whopping 720 MHz touch sampling rate. According to Xiaomi, this brings the display response time down to 8.3 ms. Other common features include UFS 3.1 and SSD storage in a RAID setup, and a 4,500 mAh battery with 120 W fast charging.

While the Black Shark 4S and Black Shark 4S Pro share the same 8 MP ultra-wide, 2 MP depth, and 20 MP selfie cameras, the Black Shark 4S Pro uses a 64 MP primary sensor while the 4S makes do with a 48 MP one. The other main difference between the 4S duo is the SoC. The 4S Pro now gets an upgrade to the Snapdragon 888 Plus while the 4S implements the Snapdragon 870.

Essentially, the Black Shark 4 and Black Shark 4S are the same device for all intents and purposes with minor variations in the design and availability of various RAM and storage options.

The 4S Pro also features a neon green LED light that doubles-up as both a notification LED and as a do-not-disturb light. The 4S lacks this LED but comes in a special Gundam edition theme for the phone, the case, and the retail box. JoyUI 12.8, which is a MIUI 12.5 derivative with gaming aesthetics based on Android 11 powers both 4S devices.

A leaked AnTuTu score shows the Black Shark 4S Pro amassing 887,734 points, which makes it at least 7.5% faster than the Nubia Red Magic 6 Pro and nearly 8% faster than the Asus ROG Phone 5. Note that AnTuTu has still not compiled the leaderboard for Snapdragon 888 Plus-based phones.

The Black Shark 4S and Black Shark 4S Pro are available for pre-order in China. The Black Shark 4S comes in Black and Fog White color options and is available in three memory and storage variants. The 8 GB/128 GB option retails for ¥2,699 (US$420), the 12 GB/128 GB for ¥2,999 (US$466), and the 12 GB/256 GB variant will set you back by ¥3,299 (US$510). The special Gundam edition of the Black Shark 4S with 12 GB/256 GB will cost ¥3,499 (US$545) once it goes on sale.

The Black Shark 4S Pro, on the other hand, will be available in Black and Sky White colors and starts from ¥4,799 (US$755) for the 12 GB/256 GB configuration going up to ¥5,499 (US$855) for the 16 GB/512 GB variant.

With the phones launching in China and first sale scheduled for October 15, global availability can be expected shortly in the coming weeks.

Buy the Black Shark 4 5G (Unlocked) on Amazon