Blackview BV8000 Pro Review - Outdoor Smartphone

Foreword: Blackview BV8000 Pro

About half a year after the publication of the  Blackview BV7000 Pro , the Chinese smartphone manufacturer "Blackview" released the Blackview BV2017 Pro in the summer of 8000. For just under € 200, the manufacturer promises a robust smartphone that should not only be able to withstand a lot, but also convince in terms of hardware. The basis for this is the powerful mid-range “MediaTek Helio P20” processor, a whopping 6GB of RAM and a 64GB internal memory. The inner hardware is combined with a 5 inch full HD IPS display, Android 7.0 and all kinds of sensors.

Design, workmanship and delivery

The Blackview BV8000 Pro is a typical outdoor smartphone with a rugged look. The term "rugged" stands for stability, because an outdoor smartphone should be able to withstand a lot. This is exactly why outdoor smartphones, like the BV8000 Pro, offer a housing that is bulky at first glance, but also well protective. Despite the small display diagonal of 5 inches, the smartphone is sometimes larger than some 5.5 inch devices. The dimensions of the smartphone are a height of 156.2 mm, a width of 79.2 mm and a thickness of 13.2 mm. The weight is a proud 243g.

The housing frame as well as the rear of the housing are made of metal. Hard rubber bumpers on the top and bottom provide additional impact protection, which also surrounds the display and is also used on the back of the housing. The Blackview BV8000 Pro is constructed as follows: 

 The 5-inch display is on the front. Below the display there are 3 capacitive and white illuminated control buttons. The auricle is located in the middle above the display, the front camera to the right and the proximity sensor to the left. An RGB notification LED is available and located below the auricle. Unfortunately, the LED does not shine too brightly, but it can be programmed in multiple colors. The "IP-68" imprint, which is located below the display, is particularly striking. This stands for protection class IP68, which means that the smartphone is dustproof and protected against permanent submersion.

As with most other smartphones, the control buttons are embedded in the housing frame. Both the housing frame and the control buttons are made of metal. It is interesting that in addition to a power button and volume rocker, the BV8000 Pro also has a camera button and a push-to-talk button (PTT). The buttons are arranged in such a way that they can also be easily reached with one hand. It is to be criticized that the control buttons sit a little loosely in the frame and also rustle. The smartphone's fingerprint scanner is in an unusual location. Instead of placing it on the back or below the display, Blackview has placed the fingerprint scanner in the middle of the right side of the frame. A very interesting position that can be reached very easily even with one-handed operation.

Further features of the housing frame are a 3.5 mm audio socket and a USB-C socket with an adjacent microphone. There is another point of criticism regarding the connection options. The USB-C socket and the 3.5 mm audio socket extend so deep into the housing that a conventional USB-C cable or a conventional 3.5 mm audio cable cannot be used with the smartphone. Only the supplied USB-C cable and the supplied headphones have a slightly longer plug and can be used with the smartphone without any problems.

The back of the case is mostly rubberized. The speaker is located in the lower area, and the slightly lower main camera with LED flash is located in the upper area. The SIM cards and the microSD memory card are inserted behind the rear metal cover, which is fastened with 4 screws.

In addition to the smartphone, the scope of delivery of the Blackview BV8000 Pro also includes a charger with EU plug, a USB-C cable, an OTG adapter, a USB-C adapter, in-ear headphones with a 3.5 mm audio connection, four replacement screws and a screwdriver, in total two screen protectors, one of which is already on the smartphone, as well as an instruction manual.

The processing quality is according to the price. The smartphone leaves a high-quality impression. Only the slightly loosely seated control buttons are to be criticized with regard to the build quality. The BV8000 Pro is available in the colors "Shark Gray", "Lion Gold" and "Eagle Silver".

Display

The display of the Blackview BV8000 Pro is of the IPS type, has a diagonal of 5 inches and has a resolution of Full HD (1920 x 1080). As the supplier of the panel, Blackview states “Sharp”. The NTSC color space is covered to 95%.

Decisive for the display of an outdoor smartphone is a high level of scratch resistance and break resistance. The display is protected by so-called Gorilla Glass 3 from Corning. This is a hardened display glass that is specially designed to protect against such scratches and breaks. In the meantime, Corning Gorilla Glass 5 has already arrived, which, in contrast to the older versions, offers even better protection against glass breakage, but also offers good protection against scratches and sometimes breaks, but Gorilla Glass 3. After several weeks of use, initially with and later Without a screen protector, not a single scratch was noticeable on the display glass. The smartphone or display also survived an unintentional fall from about 1.20 meters unscathed. 

Of course, the display is also important, especially readability in sunshine. Colors are displayed particularly vividly. Due to the high point density of 440 PPI, individual pixels can hardly be recognized. The color temperature is by default rather bluish-cool. Within the display settings, the representation can be adjusted later with the help of "MiraVision". In addition to two prefabricated profiles, there is also a user mode that allows settings for contrast, color saturation, brightness, but also sharpness and color temperature. Furthermore, the display settings allow the activation of an automatic brightness adjustment and an automatic contrast adjustment. The maximum luminance of the panel is around 430 cd / m². This means that the display is easy to read even when the sun is shining. Only direct incidence of light affects readability. The viewing angle stability is nothing to complain about. There is no significant change in the display or impairment of readability when viewed from an oblique angle.

The touchscreen supports multi-touch with a maximum of 10 simultaneous inputs. Touches were detected accurately and accurately during the test phase. So-called “ghost touches” did not occur.

Performance

The built-in processor is a MediaTek SoC with the designation MTK6757, better known as the Helio P20. The processor, manufactured using the 16nm process, has a total of 8 Cortex-A53 processor cores that clock at up to 2.6 GHz. A Mali-T880 GPU is used as the processor graphics. The memory configuration amounts to a 6GB LPDDR4X main memory and a 64GB eMMC 5.1 flash memory. A memory expansion using a microSD memory card is possible.

In everyday life, the Blackview BV8000 Pro presents itself as a powerful mid-range smartphone. The processor provides enough power to guarantee a smooth user experience. Thanks to the fast and ample 6GB LPDDR4X RAM (4522 MB / s), multitasking is no problem. Even several, particularly power-hungry apps that are open at the same time do not lead to any noticeable impairment of the system speed. The BV8000 Pro masters mobile games without any problems. Games like Dead Trigger 2 or Modern Combat 5 run smoothly. The case temperature was 38 ° C after an hour of gaming.

user interface

 The operating system is based on Android 7.0. The appearance of the user interface has been adapted to match the smartphone's appearance with custom icons. There is no scrollable app drawer. Instead, apps are stored on pages and can be sorted and grouped in folders as required. There are further adjustments in the settings menu, which has been expanded to include additional functions. There you will find, among other things, the “Smart Assistant”, with which the notification LED can be customized, the multifunction key can be programmed, or an eye-friendly reading mode can be activated. It is interesting that the network access of any app can be monitored and controlled with one click. "DuraSpeed" is firmly integrated into the system. This is a smart app management that regulates the allocation of resources. Apps that are in the background are thus throttled, which means that more power is assigned to the currently active apps.

The PTT function can only be used with an additional third-party app. A suitable app is not preinstalled. The range of functions of the PTT button is limited to making emergency calls (SOS). The number of pre-installed third-party apps is clear and is limited to a flashlight app, a compass app and the "Outdoor Toolbox", among other things. The outdoor toolbox in turn comprises 13 functions, which are, for example, a decibel meter, a heart rate monitor or a magnifying glass. The app uses conventional smartphone sensors or hardware components. The decibel meter, for example, works purely via the microphone. The magnifying glass opens the main camera in zoom and the heart rate is also determined via the main camera. As you can see, theoretically any smartphone with a corresponding app could implement these functions.

Camera

The camera equipment amounts to a main camera with a 16 megapixel Samsung S5K3P3 image sensor and F2.0 aperture and a front camera with an 8 megapixel Samsung S5K4H8 image sensor. These are two typical mid-range sensors that are mainly used in China smartphones in the 150-200 € range.

Practical test of the main camera

 The main camera produces acceptable images in good lighting conditions. Close-ups in particular impress with their consistently good image sharpness. The main camera of the Blackview BV8000 Pro does not capture distant objects too well, which is why they appear slightly out of focus. For the most part, colors are captured precisely. Only a slight tendency towards yellow can be seen. It can also happen that pictures are generally recorded rather dark. The autofocus is not one of the fastest, but it is still on a mid-range level. The same applies to the release time, which increases significantly in poor lighting conditions. In general, poor lighting conditions are a problem for the main camera of the BV8000 Pro. A clear picture noise can be seen, colors fade and a visible blurring runs through the entire picture.

 The main camera records videos with a maximum resolution of 1080p. There is no image stabilization. The video recording quality is convincing in good lighting conditions with pleasant image sharpness and constant 30 images per second. Again in poor lighting conditions, there is very strong image noise, followed by continuous image blurring and a loss of the frame rate to a meager 15 frames per second. The recording quality of the microphone is acceptable, albeit a bit tinny and noisy.

Practical test of the front camera

 The front camera is suitable for one or the other spontaneous selfie as well as for video telephony. The front camera is not one of the best in its price range. Here, too, a clear image blurring can sometimes be seen, especially at close range, and photos tend to be slightly overexposed. Videos can only be recorded with a maximum resolution of 480p. With the so-called "FaceBeauty" mode of the camera app, recordings from the front camera can also be embellished.

connectivity

Telephony

As a dual SIM smartphone, the BV8000 Pro can be operated with two nano SIM cards. The memory expansion option remains possible with dual SIM use. In the cellular network, the smartphone supports all important 2G, 3G and 4G cellular frequency bands. The quality of calls within the cellular network leaves nothing to be desired. The smartphone impresses with its stable connection quality. What is said is transmitted clearly and distinctly in both directions. Mobile surfing is also not a problem.

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

The outdoor smartphone behaves acceptably in WLAN. The WiFi protocols 802.11a / b / g / n / ac are supported. Dual-band WiFi is therefore no problem! The smartphone does not set a speed record, but with a transmission speed of around 105 Mbit / s you are still well served. However, the values ​​of current flagship smartphones are still a long way off! In terms of connection stability and range, the BV8000 Pro is within a good average. Disconnections did not occur during the test. The smartphone also cuts a fine figure with an active Bluetooth connection (4.1) and does not cause any problems in connection with a hands-free system or a loudspeaker.

GPS and sensors

One of the strengths of the Blackview BV8000 Pro is the GPS reception. A GPS fix is ​​found within a few seconds and the position determination is accurate to within a few meters after just a few seconds. At the same time, the smartphone is able to maintain a constant satellite connection. A well-functioning e-compass is also on board, which also enables precise pedestrian navigation.

The sensory equipment consists of a proximity sensor, an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope, a brightness sensor, a barometer and the aforementioned e-compass. A fingerprint sensor is located on the right edge of the housing. This works precisely so far, but leaves something to be desired in terms of unlocking time. Waking up the smartphone from sleep mode with the help of the fingerprint sensor can take up to 3 seconds. Another feature is the support of NFC.

Audio

The loudspeaker delivers a good and, above all, loud sound without distorting it. The 3.5 mm audio connection is to be criticized. Compared to conventional audio sockets, the socket of the BV8000 Pro sits much deeper in the housing, which is why a longer plug is required. The fact that Blackview includes an in-ear with an extended plug with the smartphone is a nice addition, but still not a permanent solution. It would have been better if the manufacturer had included an audio adapter so that one would not only have to rely on the supplied headphone solution.

Battery

The BV8000 Pro is convincing in terms of battery consumption. The manufacturer specifies the capacity of the battery as 4180 mAh. With normal use, one battery charge lasts for a good 1½ to 2 days. Converted into hours, this would correspond to a screen-on-time of a good 10 hours. Even with intensive use, a single charge lasts for the day without any problems. The smartphone is definitely up to excessive outdoor use! It takes around 3 hours to fully charge the battery using the charger supplied.