Vivo iQOO vs Black Shark Helo: Which Is A Better Gaming Smartphone?

Lately, we have been welcoming quite a lot of gaming-centric devices with great designs along with powerful performances that allow us to experience the latest games on Android without any problem. One of the latest offering is from a new Vivo’s sub-brand called iQOO, which has just launched in the Chinese market, and is set to come to India this June, according to 91Mobiles. It is a very strong contender against the Xiaomi Black Shark Helo that was released later 2018 and it is expected to come to the country soon. Both of these gaming-centric smartphones can enable users to play pretty much all the Android games available at the moment without any issue or lag. So, if you are looking for a smartphone mostly for playing games, check out our comparison to help you decide.

Vivo iQOO vs. Xiaomi Black Shark Helo: Price & Availability

The Vivo iQOO base option with 6GB of RAM/128GB of storage is priced from CNY 2,998 (around Rs. 30,600) in China. You can get the 8GB of RAM/128GB of storage variant for CNY 3,298 (around Rs. 33,700). There are also two more models with 8GB RAM/256GB storage and 12GB RAM/256GB storage which are priced at CNY 3,598 (around Rs. 36,800) and CNY 4,298 (around Rs. 44,000), respectively. As mentioned, the handset is said to come to India in late May or early June this year.

Same as the Vivo iQOO, the Black Shark Helo has also yet been released in the Indian market. In China, its price starts from CNY 3,199 (around Rs. 32,700) for the option with 6GB of RAM/128GB of internal storage. Xiaomi also offers two more options with 8GB RAM/128GB storage and 10GB RAM/256GB storage for CNY 3,499 (around Rs. 35,800) and CNY 4,199 (around Rs. 42,900), respectively.

Vivo iQOO vs. Xiaomi Black Shark Helo: Design, Specifications & Features

The iQOO offering comes with an LED strip on the back panel which is quite common on gaming-centric smartphones lately. It goes the same for the Black Shark Helo with an LED light that is embedded into its rear ‘S’ logo. Its rear panel is also the place for two cooling vents that adds to its attractive look while the Vivo iQOO’s rear panel is a bit more simple.

The Vivo iQOO sports a full-screen design thanks to its tiny water-drop notch on the front. It comes with a 6.41-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with an on-screen fingerprint sensor embedded. Meanwhile, the Black Shark Helo comes with a more conventional display design with a 6-inch FHD+ AMOLED panel.

Powering the Vivo iQOO is the Qualcomm’s latest flagship, octa-core Snapdragon 855 SoC with an Adreno 640 GPU. Meanwhile, the Black Shark Helo is slightly worse than the Vivo counterpart with a last year’s octa-core Snapdragon 845 chipset and an Adreno 630 GPU. As for the chipset alone, the Vivo iQOO should be quite a head of the Black Shark Helo as the Snapdragon 855 SoC is proved to be significantly more powerful than its predecessor Snapdragon 845 SoC. In terms of memory, the Vivo offering packs up to 12GB RAM while Xiaomi offers the Black Shark Helo up to 10GB RAM.

As both of them are gaming-centric smartphones, they are all equipped with a liquid-cooling system to ensure that the phone stays at a stable level during long sessions. Besides, the two phones are also equipped with some other cool features that you should know about. Vivo goes for a large touch-sensitive areas on its handset’s frame to allow for triggers similar to the console. The Chinese phone maker also equips it with processional-grade haptic engines. As for the Black Shark Helo, users can attach external gamepads to top and also bottom sides of the handset.

In terms of software, the Vivo gaming-centric handset runs Vivo’s Funtouch OS 9.0 which is based on the latest Android 9 Pie. Alongside the OS, it is also integrated with some other softwares used to improve users’ gaming experience. The Black Shark Helo, on the other hand, only comes with MIUI 10 which is based on the dated Android 8.1 Oreo.

Vivo iQOO vs. Xiaomi Black Shark Helo: Camera

As both of them are gaming-centric smartphones, you wouldn’t expect their camera quality to be on par with the same devices in the segment. However, they still deliver decent photo quality. The Vivo iQOO comes with a triple camera system on the rear, including a 12MP primary sensor with an f/1.8 aperture, a 13MP secondary shooter with an ultra-wide lens, and a 2MP third depth sensor. Up front, the selfies duties will be processed by a 12MP shooter. The Xiaomi offering, on the other hand, only features a dual camera system at the back, including a 12MP primary sensor with an f/1.8 aperture and a 20MP secondary sensor for optical zoom and portrait effects with an f/1.8 aperture. In the front, there is a 20MP camera for taking selfies and video calling.

Vivo iQOO vs. Xiaomi Black Shark Helo: Battery & Other Features

Both of them are powered by a 4,000 mAh cells which is quite decent. However, while Vivo includes a 44W fast charging standard on the iQOO, the Black Shark Helo only comes with a 18W charging adapter. The Vivo iQOO is touted to take only 45 minutes to charge from 0 to 100 percent.

The Vivo and Xiaomi handsets will both charge via a USB-C port and both of them don’t come with a micro-SD slot for expanding more storage. As for the headphone, while the Vivo still has one at the bottom, Xiaomi decides to get rid of it on the Black Shark Helo.

Vivo iQOO vs. Xiaomi Black Shark Helo: Final thought

Both of the offerings from two Chinese phone makers, Vivo and Xiaomi, are strong in some certain aspects. Both of them also still have some weaknesses of their own. For example, the Black Shark Helo’s Snapdragon 845 is surely less powerful compared to the latest Snapdragon 855 SoC on the Vivo iQOO. Additionally, Xiaomi only goes for a dual rear while iQOO is equipped with a triple camera cluster. On paper, the 20MP selfie camera of the Xiaomi phone might be better than the 12MP front shooter on the iQOO. However, it also comes down to the supported softwares and other factors as well.

Though you have to pay additional money for those differences. While the Vivo iQOO is priced at flagship tier, the Xiaomi Black Shark Helo should come at a much affordable price. Ultimately, you will have to decide if you want to pay a substantially higher sum of money for a slightly more powerful specifications and an additional rear camera.