Black Shark — the gaming peripherals brand best known for controllers and cooling fans — just announced a sporty new smartwatch designed specifically for hardcore gamers. The Black Shark S1 Pro will support ChatGPT Voice and feature a “Gaming Health Monitoring Mode” to keep tabs on user wellness during particularly long bouts behind the sticks.
We expect to see the Black Shark S1 Pro launch sometime in early 2024 for $69. When it does drop, you'll be able to grab one directly through Black Shark. The product page lists two color options, black and blue, both of which look pretty snazzy to me. What else will the S1 Pro offer? Read on.
Black Shark S1 Pro smartwatch – ChatGPT support
The standout feature of the S1 Pro is support for ChatGPT Voice. However, as of writing, examples of the Black Shark watch running the AI tool are nonexistent. And details are scant.
Nevertheless, S1 Pro users will almost certainly be able to activate their wrist-based chatbot via voice commands — “Hey ChatGPT, tell mom to bring some more Totinos Pizza Rolls, stat!” — without ever having to put down the controller or look away from the screen.
OpenAI just recently made ChatGPT Voice available to the masses for free. And Black Shark may very well be the first smartwatch maker to capitalize on its open availability by incorporating support directly into a device. But they certainly won’t be the last.
Black Shark S1 Pro smartwatch – health monitoring
Little is also known about the watch’s Gaming Health Monitoring Mode. Will the S1 Pro remind users to get up and move every so often, like the best fitness trackers? I’m not sure that would go over well, especially if those reminders go off in the middle of crucial gameplay. More likely: It will gently alert users if their key wellness metrics look out of whack.
Like the standard Black Shark S1 smartwatch, the Pro model sports a pulsometer for keeping tabs on heart rate. It will also have an onboard SpO2 sensor for monitoring blood oxygen saturation. Low oxygen saturation levels can sometimes be used to indicate the presence of an illness early. So, it's a handy thing to have built-in.
Finally, despite being marketed specifically to gamers, the S1 Pro will be able to track over 100 different physical activities and sports. Which metrics will be tallied, and what activities will be supported? We don’t know yet.
Black Shark S1 Pro smartwatch – other features
The S1 Pro boasts a 1.43-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 466 x 466 pixels, a refresh rate of 60Hz and a maximum brightness of 600 nits. Other features include support for Bluetooth calling, NFC, an IP68 water-resistance rating, up to 15 days of battery life and interchangeable watch faces. The device will run on FreeRTOS.
Beyond that, the Black Shark S1 Pro remains a mystery. But rest assured, we plan on calling one in and putting it through its paces.
Frankly, even if it ends up being a total stinker, it’s still a darn cool-looking smartwatch for under 70 bucks — I’ve spent more than that on a Casio dumb watch.
