Xiaomi Black Shark 4 Teardown Reveals Its Secrets As Pre-Orders Start

Xiaomi Black Shark 4 teardown reveals its secrets as pre-orders startSmartphones these days have started to become a tad boring. With few exceptions, each new generation really has just more of the same stuff. Those exceptions include, of course, foldables, but if that's not your cup of tea, you might have to look towards gaming smartphones for some of the craziest innovations in the smartphone market. Unfortunately, those often come at a literal price but JerryRigEverything takes apart the Black Shark 4 in search of something a bit more affordable.

Unlike its rivals in that niche market, the Black Shark 4 from the Xiaomi sub-brand seems almost too modest but fortunately also has a price to match. It doesn't have the fancy LEDs and built-in fans of its peers while still promising solid specs. It does delegate some of the extra cooling duties to accessories, which does mean more sales for Black Shark.

The Black Shark 4 does have one trick up its sleeves, or rather at its edges. Those are the physical buttons that pop up from the side, this time powered by magnets rather than motors. Unsurprisingly, that's a point of curiosity for YouTuber Zack Nelson who set out to take the phone apart to learn what lurks beneath.

Fortunately, the Black Shark 4 fared a whole lot better than something like the Lenovo Legion Duel Phone 2 in the durability test and the teardown. The deceptively plastic back made the process a lot easier and the use of a more standard component design helps in disassembling the phone safely. And, of course, it survived that, too, and remained functional after being taken apart.

This teardown appraisal comes just in time for the start of the Black Shark 4's global pre-orders. Starting at $449 with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, it is arguably one of the more affordable gaming phones this year and, apparently, also one of the more durable ones.