Xiaomi's gaming-centric Black Shark Phone now has a release date

Xiaomi is reportedly launching a new gaming-centric smartphone on April 13. Black Shark Technology Ltd, a Xiaomi investee, dedicated to making gaming products is said to launch a new smartphone reports GizmoChina.

On Tuesday, GizmoChina posted an official invite poster revealing the launch of the upcoming smartphone. As we mentioned, the invite suggests a launch date of April 13 and the event is said to start at 3 PM in China.

The phone was first teased by the company on Weibo. It was followed by a leaked AnTuTu listing that confirmed the specifications of the phone. According to the leak, the Black Shark will sport a Snapdragon 845 with 8GB of RAM. Although we are not sure about the display size and refresh rate, it likely to have a 18:9 aspect ratio at 2160×1080 pixels. It is also said to have company’s Black Shark branding on the back.

GizmoChina had also reported that the Black Shark phone will come in two variants having 6GB/8GB RAM and 128GB/256GB storage. It will support Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 fast charge.

Moreover, the leak confirms Android Oreo on the phone, meaning we could see Project Treble support alongside the solid hardware.

Also, the company has revealed that the phone will come with ‘Shark Space’ — an app similar to Apple’s Game Centre app.

Somebody leaked the pictures too

A Weibo user today shared alleged promotional pictures of the Black Shark phone. The pictures, if turn out to be real, suggest a phone that looks like a modern version of Nokia Engage.

It has a black and acid green accent, under the joysticks and shoulder keys on both sides. On the right there are face buttons, a joystick and two small buttons under it. There’s a display in the middle, that doesn’t look like it has 18:9 aspect ratio (and that arises a question on authenticity) and the left has direction buttons with a joystick. The image shown on the display is the same poster that was teased recently.

The phone in the pictures sure has an attractive design for a gaming phone, but there are more than just one reason why it’s probably a fake picture. So we suggest you take it as a pinch of salt and wait until it’s officially released.