The Black Shark 5 Pro is rocking Qualcomm's current top-of-the-line chip - the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. That will be true at least until the beefed-up Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 becomes available in retail devices, which shouldn't be long now. We already got an early taste of its performance gains which you can read about here.
Anyway, the Black Shark 5 Pro pairs the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 with 8GB, 12GB or 16GB of RAM. The first two come with 256GB of storage, while the top tier variant is 16GB RAM, plus 512GB of storage. Those RAM chips are all fast LPDDR5 (6,400 Mbps). RAM can be used to create a RAM disk for occasions when even faster storage is required.
And speaking of fast storage, the Black Shark 5 Pro has its storage actually split into two. Half of it is on fast UFS 3.1 chips, while the other half is on even faster NVMe. Using the so-called DM Cache technology, Black Shark has managed to improve the random read and write performance significantly. You still get access to the full amount of storage, but optimizations are going on behind the scenes to determine what data and which apps go where.
Our review unit has 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
Let's kick things off with GeekBench and some CPU loads. We can clearly see the Black Shark 5 Pro holding its own and generally scoring in line with other Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 devices in both single and multi-threaded testing.
GeekBench 5 (multi-core)
Higher is better
Asus SD 8 Gen 1+ test platform (1080p) 4199
Realme GT Neo3 4079
ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 3855
ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 Pro 3845
Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate 3728
iQOO 9 Pro 3708
Xiaomi 12 Pro 3682
Samsung Galaxy S22 3682
Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro 3665
Motorola Edge 30 Pro 3658
Xiaomi 12 3652
Poco F4 GT 3637
OnePlus 10R 3564
Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro 3521
vivo X80 Pro 3505
Realme GT2 Pro 3501
Xiaomi Black Shark 4 3448
OnePlus 10 Pro 3447
Sony Xperia 1 IV 3403
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G 3049
vivo V23 Pro 3021
vivo X70 Pro 2956
Google Pixel 6 2899
Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G 2691
GeekBench 5 (single-core)
Higher is better
Asus SD 8 Gen 1+ test platform (1080p) 1316
ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 Pro 1251
ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 1246
Poco F4 GT 1244
Realme GT2 Pro 1238
iQOO 9 Pro 1231
Motorola Edge 30 Pro 1196
Xiaomi 12 1187
vivo X80 Pro 1184
Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro 1176
Samsung Galaxy S22 1171
Xiaomi 12 Pro 1169
Sony Xperia 1 IV 1160
Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate 1128
Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro 1117
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G 1096
Google Pixel 6 1030
Xiaomi Black Shark 4 1029
OnePlus 10 Pro 975
Realme GT Neo3 968
OnePlus 10R 881
vivo X70 Pro 875
vivo V23 Pro 850
Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G 815
Looking at those other similar devices, it is clear that a few extra points can technically be squeezed out of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, but not that many. Definitely not enough to make an actual real-world performance difference. Sustained performance is always going to be the way more important metric. You can scroll down the page for more on that topic.
AnTuTu is a lot more favorable towards the Black Shark 5 Pro and justifiably so given that it is a much more compound benchmark with things like storage and memory testing as well as graphics runs.
AnTuTu 8
Higher is better
Asus SD 8 Gen 1+ test platform (1080p) 974069
Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro 876704
iQOO 9 Pro 862324
OnePlus 10 Pro 782439
Samsung Galaxy S22 745496
Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate 708579
vivo V23 Pro 635060
Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro 630726
Xiaomi Black Shark 4 617456
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G 566529
Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G 550659
Sony Xperia 1 IV 539699
AnTuTu 9
Higher is better
Asus SD 8 Gen 1+ test platform (1080p) 1120235
ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 Pro 1056511
ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 1056488
Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro 1007133
vivo X80 Pro 1002570
iQOO 9 Pro 997948
Xiaomi 12 Pro 985226
Xiaomi 12 985115
Realme GT2 Pro 966251
Poco F4 GT 952124
Motorola Edge 30 Pro 941895
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1080p) 940400
OnePlus 10 Pro 886248
Samsung Galaxy S22 881428
Sony Xperia 1 IV 838832
Realme GT Neo3 819348
OnePlus 10R 759929
Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro 735588
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G 719696
vivo V23 Pro 716766
vivo X70 Pro 694499
Google Pixel 6 676831
Xiaomi Black Shark 4 605569
For now, the Black Shark 5 Pro seems to only get slightly outpaced by the ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 family.
This slight lead remains mostly consistent across GFXBench and its rendering tests. The Black Shark 5 Pro is a top scorer thanks to the beefy Adreno 730 on board the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.
GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (onscreen)
Higher is better
Asus SD 8 Gen 1+ test platform (1080p) 63
Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro 61
Xiaomi 12 59
Motorola Edge 30 Pro 59
ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 58
ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 Pro 58
Samsung Galaxy S22 53
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1080p) 51
Google Pixel 6 46
Sony Xperia 1 IV 43
Realme GT Neo3 42
Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro 40
OnePlus 10R 39
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G 38
OnePlus 10 Pro 37
Xiaomi 12 Pro 36
iQOO 9 Pro 36
Realme GT2 Pro 36
Xiaomi Black Shark 4 34
vivo X80 Pro 34
vivo V23 Pro 34
vivo X70 Pro 31
GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
Asus SD 8 Gen 1+ test platform (1080p) 46
ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 43
ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 Pro 43
OnePlus 10 Pro 43
Realme GT2 Pro 42
Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro 41
vivo X80 Pro 41
Xiaomi 12 Pro 41
Xiaomi 12 41
iQOO 9 Pro 40
Motorola Edge 30 Pro 39
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1080p) 32
Samsung Galaxy S22 31
Google Pixel 6 30
Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro 28
Realme GT Neo3 27
Sony Xperia 1 IV 26
OnePlus 10R 26
Xiaomi Black Shark 4 24
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G 24
vivo V23 Pro 23
vivo X70 Pro 21
GFX Aztek Vulkan High (onscreen)
Higher is better
Asus SD 8 Gen 1+ test platform (1080p) 65
ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 64
ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 Pro 64
Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro 61
Motorola Edge 30 Pro 60
Xiaomi 12 59
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1080p) 46
Samsung Galaxy S22 44
Google Pixel 6 43
Realme GT Neo3 43
Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro 42
OnePlus 10 Pro 41
Realme GT2 Pro 39
OnePlus 10R 39
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G 38
Xiaomi 12 Pro 37
iQOO 9 Pro 37
Xiaomi Black Shark 4 34
vivo X80 Pro 34
vivo V23 Pro 32
Sony Xperia 1 IV 31
vivo X70 Pro 29
GFX Aztek Vulkan High (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
Asus SD 8 Gen 1+ test platform (1080p) 51
ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 48
ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 Pro 48
OnePlus 10 Pro 48
Realme GT2 Pro 46
Xiaomi 12 Pro 45
Xiaomi 12 45
Motorola Edge 30 Pro 45
Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro 44
iQOO 9 Pro 44
vivo X80 Pro 37
Xiaomi Black Shark 4 34
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1080p) 34
Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro 31
Google Pixel 6 30
Samsung Galaxy S22 29
Realme GT Neo3 28
Sony Xperia 1 IV 26
OnePlus 10R 26
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G 25
vivo V23 Pro 21
vivo X70 Pro 20
As usual, you should only look at offscreen rendering tests when comparing across different devices since that takes the on-screen resolution out of the equation.
GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)
Higher is better
Asus SD 8 Gen 1+ test platform (1080p) 83
Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro 82
Motorola Edge 30 Pro 78
ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 77
ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 Pro 77
Xiaomi 12 75
Sony Xperia 1 IV 74
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1080p) 69
Samsung Galaxy S22 69
Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro 59
Google Pixel 6 57
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G 56
Realme GT Neo3 53
Xiaomi Black Shark 4 50
OnePlus 10 Pro 48
Realme GT2 Pro 48
Xiaomi 12 Pro 46
iQOO 9 Pro 46
vivo V23 Pro 45
vivo X80 Pro 44
OnePlus 10R 42
vivo X70 Pro 40
GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)
Higher is better
Asus SD 8 Gen 1+ test platform (1080p) 103
ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 97
ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 Pro 97
OnePlus 10 Pro 97
Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro 96
Xiaomi 12 Pro 96
iQOO 9 Pro 95
Realme GT2 Pro 95
Motorola Edge 30 Pro 95
vivo X80 Pro 90
Xiaomi 12 84
Sony Xperia 1 IV 79
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1080p) 76
Samsung Galaxy S22 74
Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro 70
Google Pixel 6 66
Realme GT Neo3 60
Xiaomi Black Shark 4 59
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G 57
vivo V23 Pro 53
OnePlus 10R 48
vivo X70 Pro 45
The lineup remains mostly unchanged with lower intensity GFXBench runs as well. However, we did run into a particular issue with the oldest tests we still run. The problem boils down to the fact that the Ultimate refresh rate mode, as offered by the system settings menu on the Black Shark 5 Pro, actually runs at 120Hz instead of 144Hz. The only way we found to run games at 144Hz was by using the Shark Space gaming launcher and its per-app display settings menu. However, Shark Space refused to recognize GFXBench or 3DMark as "games". This means that both were limited to 120fps in on-screen rendering, and that's exactly what the Black Shark 5 Pro got in both Manhattan OpenGL ES 3.1 and 3.0 runs. Hence, we are only publishing the actually useful offscreen runs for these tests.
GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)
Higher is better
Asus SD 8 Gen 1+ test platform (1080p) 180
OnePlus 10 Pro 175
ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 174
ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 Pro 171
Xiaomi 12 Pro 168
Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro 167
Realme GT2 Pro 165
vivo X80 Pro 164
Xiaomi 12 164
iQOO 9 Pro 160
Motorola Edge 30 Pro 160
Sony Xperia 1 IV 126
Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro 120
Google Pixel 6 117
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1080p) 114
Realme GT Neo3 111
Samsung Galaxy S22 108
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G 103
Xiaomi Black Shark 4 97
OnePlus 10R 95
vivo V23 Pro 91
vivo X70 Pro 85
GFX Manhattan ES 3.0 (offscreen 1080p)
Higher is better
ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 Pro 267
Asus SD 8 Gen 1+ test platform (1080p) 266
ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 263
OnePlus 10 Pro 261
Realme GT2 Pro 251
Motorola Edge 30 Pro 251
Xiaomi 12 Pro 249
Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro 241
Xiaomi 12 236
iQOO 9 Pro 236
vivo X80 Pro 226
Sony Xperia 1 IV 186
Samsung Galaxy S22 173
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (1080p) 172
Realme GT Neo3 168
Google Pixel 6 159
OnePlus 10R 159
Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro 144
vivo V23 Pro 140
Xiaomi Black Shark 4 139
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G 133
vivo X70 Pro 129
Going by the respectable results, this doesn't seem to be an issue in our 3DMark testing, which makes sense since we are using the high-intensity Wild Life test. The Black Shark 5 Pro handily maxes out Slingshot Extreme.
3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
Asus SD 8 Gen 1+ test platform (1080p) 10534
ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 10118
ZTE nubia Red Magic 7 Pro 10112
Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro 10008
Sony Xperia 1 IV 9794
vivo X80 Pro 9778
iQOO 9 Pro 9673
Xiaomi 12 Pro 9664
OnePlus 10 Pro 9610
Xiaomi 12 9535
Realme GT2 Pro 9487
Motorola Edge 30 Pro 9406
Samsung Galaxy S22 7526
Google Pixel 6 6832
Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate 5745
OnePlus 10R 5600
Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro 5556
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G 5432
vivo V23 Pro 4713
Oppo Reno7 Pro 5G 4219
Xiaomi Black Shark 4 4212
vivo X70 Pro 4148
Thermal management and throttling
The Black Shark 5 Pro packs a sophisticated cooling solution. It has something called an "Anti-Gravity Dual Vapor Chamber Cooling System". In simpler terms, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and a few other chips are sandwiched between two vapor chambers on either side. There is a big 4,323 mm facing the back of the phone and 997 mm on the other side underneath the display.
There is no point beating about the bush here - the Black Shark 5 Pro gets hot on the outside. Very very uncomfortably, almost hand-scorching hot. That is the price to pay for what is otherwise impressive sustained performance.
Thermal throttling behavior
Our usual testing in this department includes an hour-long CPU Throttling test. However, the phone got so hot after 20 minutes (which is the default test length anyway) that we started to actually worry about the battery and the display. It is impressive to see over 80% retained performance, but we have to say that even with normal gaming, as opposed to an unrealistic all-core CPU load, the Black Shark 5 Pro gets uncomfortably hot to the touch. Particularly on the metal frame. It doesn't take that long for the heat to build either.
The bottom line is that user comfort suffers significantly to facilitate better-sustained performance on the Black Shark 5 Pro. So much so that we wonder whether the engineers didn't go overboard in their quest.
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