Black Shark 5 Pro review

New triple-camera setup

Compared to last year's model, the Black Shark 5 Pro has a notably upgraded camera setup. It's not overly fancy, but that's generally been the case with gaming phones. Still, the primary camera uses a 108MP Samsung S5KHM2 1/1.52", 0.7 um, Nonacell sensor, commonly known as the HM2. It's a fairly popular part that has already proven its capabilities and is found in a number of other devices, including some of Xiaomi's own Redmi Note 11 models, also the K50 and Xiaomi 11T, several Motorola Edge phones and Honor 50 and 60 ones, as well as the Samsung Galaxy A73 5G. Here it is just paired with simple PDAF and always-on EIS. No OIS.

The Black Shark 5 Pro also has a 13MP ultrawide that uses an OmniVision OV13B10, 1/3.06", 1.12 µm sensor. Nothing too fancy, just a fixed focus snapper. And last and probably least, there is also a 5MP telemacro camera. It uses a Samsung ISOCELL 5E9, 1/5", 1.12µm sensor and does have autofocus at its disposal.

Finally, the 16MP selfie camera is another OmniVision - the OV16A, 1/3.06", 1.0 µm. It's another fixed focus camera.

Looking at all the cameras on paper - overall decent, but nothing to phone home about.

Camera interface

The default camera app is pretty much the same as on any other Android smartphone. The camera modes are arranged in a carousel formation. Additional settings can be found on top of the viewfinder, where toggles for the HDR and AI are also at your disposal. However, the toggle for the ultrawide camera is separate from the toggle for the 2x zoom. The Macro mode is found in the hamburger menu.

If you ask us, this UX, in particular, is well overdue for a good restructuring to make things more easily and logically accessible. In its current state, it takes some getting used to. A toggle to disable EIS would also be greatly appreciated.

Camera interface

The Pro mode offers control over white balance, manual focus (no focus lines, though), shutter speed, ISO and exposure. You can set those on any of the given cameras, too.

Photo quality

Let's kick things off with the main 108MP camera. Seeing how in uses a Nonacell pixel arrangement in its default mode it produces 12MP stills.

These look quite decent but have their fair share of issues. We like the amount of detail, as well as the color rendition. We wouldn't exactly call it true to life, but it's not oversaturated either. Just slightly brought up for extra "pop".

Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro: 12MP main camera samples

In terms of shortcomings, we would say that the dynamic range is the biggest one. Skies and highlights are frequently blown-out. Shadows get clipped from time to time as well. This loss in detail can generally be prevented through more or better HDR stacking. The Black Shark 5 Pro also tends to oversharpen its main camera stills a bit too much. There are noticeable sharpening artifacts and halos around most finer objects in the frame.

Speaking of sharpening, stills captured in full-res 108MP mode suffer from the polar opposite issue. The overall processing is much more relaxed but not exactly to their benefit. Everything looks soft and out of focus.

Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro: 108MP main camera samples

This could be resolved via a software update. And while at it, Xiaomi should also address the annoying constant freezing issue we experienced while shooting in 108MP mode. The camera app would simply hang with the only way to fix it being a full restart of the phone.

Here is how the main camera on the Black Shark 5 Pro stacks up against competitors in our vast photo comparison database.

Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro against the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G and the Google Pixel 6 in our Photo compare tool

There is no dedicated telephoto camera on the Black Shark 5 Pro. Instead you can zoom digitally with the main camera. The interface has quick toggles for 2x and 5x zoom, which is also the maximum.

Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro 12MP main camera zoom samples: 2x • 5x

You can also capture portraits using the main camera. These are ok overall, but not perfect either. Colors look good, and we like the quality of the rather convincing bokeh effect in the background.

Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro: 12MP main camera portrait samples

Skin surface could use some extra detail, though. And the subject detection and separation frequently miss details here and there. It's not a significant issue, but definitely noticeable.

The mode works just as well on non-human subjects.

Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro: 12MP main camera portrait samples

The 13MP ultrawide is decent but imperfect in a similar but more obvious way to the main camera. Detail is good, even great for an ultrawide and dynamic range, even if still limited, is also perfectly acceptable for this kind of hardware.

Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro: 13MP ultrawide camera samples

Colors, however, are notably oversaturated. If you are a fan of the "punchy OLED look," then you might just like them, but they are anything but true to life. Sharpening is also a bit of an issue here, though arguably less so than on the main cam.

The Black Shark 5 Pro has a 5MP telemacro cam. It managed to impress us quite a bit. Its autofocus works excellent, and thanks to its telephoto nature, you can really get up close to the subject. Shots look very sharp and clean with great detail.

We enjoyed using this cam a lot, whether it was for artsy close-up shots or simply to read small text.

Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro: 5MP telemacro camera samples

We have very few complaints regarding the 16MP selfie camera. Sure, it can use more HDR stacking to address the limited dynamic range.

Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro: 16MP selfie camera samples

But other than that, it captures excellent stills with plenty of detail and good skin texture. The colors look decent, and the focus plane is nice and wide, which makes it forgiving even in the absence of autofocus.

Selfie portraits look decent enough. The background blur quality is good, but subject detection and separation could use some more work.

Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro: 16MP selfie camera portrait samples

Video quality

The Black Shark 5 Pro can capture 4K video on both its primary camera and the ultrawide cam at up to 60fps and 30 fps, respectively. There is an option to use HEVC, but for the best possible quality, videos get saved in standard h.264 with a solid AVC video stream at around 50 Mbps and stereo audio at 48 kHz. The Black Shark 5 Pro can do smooth digital zooming while capturing video and also has mic zoom working by default.

Videos from the main camera look great. There is plenty of detail, colors look natural, and there is plenty of dynamic range. There are no signs of noise or other similar artifacts.

We did notice a bit of softness around the edges of the frame, but nothing too serious.

Here is how the main camera stacks up against competitors in our extensive video comparison database. Pixel-peep away.

Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro against the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G and the Google Pixel 6 in our Video compare tool

The ultrawide camera also captures solid 4K videos. The detail is there, and so is the dynamic range. Noise is also not an issue.

Colors are a bit more saturated on the ultrawide camera but still manage to come out looking quite similar to the main cam.

In terms of stabilization, the Black Shark 5 Pro lacks OIS but does actually have EIS for both its main and ultra-wide cameras. It does a pretty great job, too, smoothing out most shakes and bumps nicely.

Our only real issue with it is the inability to disable EIS, or at least we didn't find a way to do so. This might not be a major end-user issue but really makes precise framing a nightmare.

The selfie camera tops out at 1080p and also records in a standard AVC video stream at about 30 Mbps and stereo audio. The quality is solid, especially for a FullHD video. Detail is plenty, and the colors look great.

The primary deficiencies with the selfie videos are the limited dynamic range and the weak or, more likely, absent EIS. The Black Shark 5 Pro wouldn't be our first choice for a vlogging phone, but it will more than suffice for a face cam while streaming mobile games.

Low-light camera quality

The main camera holds up well in low-light conditions. The Ai scene detection system works great and springs into action, increasing capture times and HDR stacking as necessary. There is plenty of detail in these shots, low noise and pleasant colors. Light sources are well contained, and shadows retain some detail.

Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro: 12MP main camera low-light samples

Sharpening is quite visible in these shots, especially for straight lines and patterns, and dynamic range could still be better.

This is where night mode would typically come in, but unfortunately, it is unreliable on the Black Shark 5 Pro. For some scenes, the dedicated mode with its longer capture times brightens shadows a bit and sharpens some of the lines. However, night mode shots come out looking softer and darker for other scenes.

Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro: 12MP main camera night mode samples

You are probably better off just skipping night mode and relying on the Ai scene detection, which is notably more consistent.

Zooming at night is also a hit-or-miss affair. At 2x shots typically look softer and darker than their 1x counterparts. With enough patience, though, usable stills can be acquired.

Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro: 12MP main camera 2x zoom low-light samples

The ultrawide camera struggles quite a bit in low-light conditions. These shots have a pretty limited dynamic range and come out looking dark with crushed shadows and also blown-out light sources.

Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro: 13MP ultrawide camera low-light samples

While still usable as a whole, we would definitely shy away from using the ultrawide camera in low-light conditions.

Finally, low-light selfies look fine but are not remarkable in any way. Skin tone and texture come out looking fine, but the camera struggles badly with light sources and their handling.

Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro: 16MP selfie camera low-light samples

Perhaps selfies would have benefited from night mode, but that is unfortunately unavailable for this camera.

Last but not least, we need to look at low-light video capture. The main camera on the Black Shark 5 Pro holds up really well, with plenty of details in the frame and pleasant colors. Even light sources, while not perfect, are handled competently.

The ultrawide camera is another story, though. Its videos are generally dark and noisy.