Xiaomi Black Shark Coming To Europe, No US Launch Yet

Gaming smartphones are still considered pretty niche but it seems that manufacturers are starting to take risks in spreading them across the world. ASUS' Republic of Gamers has just recently landed in international markets, including the US, and Xiaomi seems to be ready to do the same, sans the US. It global landing page for the Black Shark notes that it will be coming to Europe in the coming days. Unfortunately, it might not be the Black Shark gaming phone consumers wished they were getting instead.

By now, Xiaomi already has two gaming phones under its roster. There's the first ever Black Shark and the recently announced Black Shark Helo. To some extent, the latter is perhaps what Xiaomi had gone for in the first place. But that is not what European markets are getting.

Instead, they are getting the first Black Shark which isn't exactly all that bad, all things considering. It still has the top of the line Snapdragon 845, 6 or 8 GB of RAM, 64 or 128 GB of internal storage, a 5.99-inch 2160x1080 no-notch screen, and dual 12 MP f/1.8 and 20 MP f/1.8 cameras on its back. You also get, optionally, the one-sided physical game controller.

What buyers won't get is the 10 GB RAM option that only comes with the Black Shark Helo, nor dual controllers that is only available for that. That said, 10 GB of RAM is still not exactly that critical these days and some might argue that even 8 GB is a tad superfluous. All in all, European buyers won't be missing out too much but they won't be getting the best that the new Black Shark brand has to offer.

The phone will be landing in markets like Austria, France, Germany, Spain, and the UK, just to name a few, on November 16. Xiaomi has yet to announce local pricing, but the 3,000 RMB, roughly 380 EUR, of the Chinese model sounds pretty promising.