Blackview’s devices have been impressing me lately, and as a result I’ve begun to look forward to the company’s next releases. With this, I now have the Blackview BV7000 Pro in my hands, and it’s ready for a full review. So, how does the Blackview BV7000 Pro fare?
Blackview BV7000 Pro Specifications
| Processor | MTK6750T Octa Core |
| Display | 5″ 1920×1080 IPS LCD |
| RAM | 4GB |
| Storage | 64GB |
| Operating System | Android 6.0 Marshmallow |
| Cameras | 13MP, 8MP Camera |
| Battery | 3,500mAh |
| Physical Dimensions | 222g, 153 x78.9 x 12.6 mm |
I’d like to thank Blackview for lending us a review unit of the BV7000 Pro.
Hardware
The BV7000 Pro is a device designed to fit into a niche market, that market being the rugged design market. As such, the BV7000 Pro features all the hallmarks of a rugged phone like a rubberized design, metal everywhere and a covers for every slot and socket.
As a result of this, the device looks very unique but also not too practical. It’s quite heavy at 222g, but it’s also incredibly solid and tough. It’s got thick bezels around the display, but this only makes the Gorilla Glass 3 coated display even safer. The thing is thick and chunky for a 5-inch device at 153mm x78.9mm x 12.6mm, but it makes up by feeling substantial in the hand.
The build quality here is unparalleled as far as I’m concerned. This device is made up of a huge and solid CNC Metal frame, which makes it so incredibly solid. The parts that aren’t metal are rubberized, meaning they’ll be more shock resistant and are easier to grip.
Really, this design comes down to whether you like these types of devices or not.
In terms of ports and slots, the device comes with a hybrid sim slot for either two sims or one micro sim and a microSD card slot. There are also the power button and volume rockers on the right, and on the bottom you’ll find the USB-C 2.0 slot. The USB-C slot is deep in the phone, which means the cable you use needs to have a longer head or it won’t work.
The top features a 3.5mm headphone jack, but because it’s deep in the phone, most earbuds and headphones might not work with them, which is very disappointing. Also of interest is the small oneclick button right under the power button and volume rockers on the right. It can be setup to perform simple actions with a single press, it’s pretty nifty.
If it’s just build quality you’re after however, the BV7000 Pro stands tall above the rest. I’ve thrown it onto a cement wall multiple times, and it’s barely scratched. This is a device that you could literally use as a weapon, it’s simply that tough. Also, it’s water resistant and dust resistant with an IP68 rating, which is always good.
Display
The Blackview BV7000 Pro has a 5-inch full HD 1920×1080 display, and it’s once again a very high quality panel for the device. The display is sharp, vibrant and accurate, just like any good display should be. Sunlight visibility is also good, though you’ll have to crank it up to full brightness in harsh sunlight.
Viewing angles are very good, though they are somewhat hampered by the thick bezels around the display. While they do protect the device, they also make the viewing experience less immersive. This however keeps the display extremely safe from danger, so it’s up to you to decide if it’s an acceptable trade off.
So in conclusion, the BV7000 Pro has a very nice display, much like the P2 before it. It’s actually quite surprising to find a display like this on a rugged device, though it’s much appreciated. Hopefully future rugged devices will have displays like these instead of the almost TFT looking things a majority of them have.
Software
Blackview UNI Launcher makes another appearance here, and once again it’s pretty much stock Android with a skin on top and no app drawer. The BV7000 throws out the old icon design for a new Huawei Mate 8 look, which wasn’t really much of an improvement, so I threw on Nova Launcher.
The settings menu has some options for unlocking the phone with gestures, but they’re not really all too useful when you consider the device fingerprint sensor. There’s also an option to setup the oneclick button on the bottom right. This allows you to configure what you want it to do.
The oneclick button can do simple tasks like start up your flashlight with a single press or take a screenshot with a double press. You can also set it to start applications, so the possibilities are endless, and it’s pretty useful. Aside from that, everything else is pretty much stock Android 6.0.
Performance
The Blackview BV7000 Pro comes with a MTK6750T chipset and 4GB of RAM. This is the exact same setup that comes with the Blackview P2, and as such the performance on display here is roughly the same as it is on the P2, which is great.
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The UI is snappy and quick, with few to no slowdowns throughout this testing period. Opening multiple apps at the same time was also no problem thanks to the huge amount of RAM in the device.
Moving onto gaming, The BV7000 Pro once again impresses with all around good showings. Playing simple games like Tetris and Prune proved to be no challenge for the BV7000 Pro. More graphic intensive games like NOVA 3 caused some minor slowdowns, but nothing that effected my enjoyment of the game.
Overall, the performance of the Blackview BV7000 Pro is great. The combination of the MTK6750T and 4GB RAM provides a very good user experience, with everything being quick and snappy. It’s not the fastest device, but it provides reliable performance all throughout.
Battery Life
The Blackview BV7000 Pro features a 3,500mAh battery which is a fairly decent size for a 5-inch device. In terms of actual performance, it seems to match up just fine. The Blackview BV7000 Pro managed to get through an entire day, even with intensive usage.
With 20 minutes of gaming and an hour of social media as well as mobile data constantly turned on and 60% brightness, the phone managed to get nearly 6 hours of screen on time, which is quite good.
The BV7000 Pro also charges surprisingly quick thanks to that 5V2A charger. It can go from 0% to 100% in just over an hour, which is fairly impressive. So to summarize, the Blackview BV7000 Pro is great in terms of longevity and charging speeds.
Audio
As is the case for many rugged devices, the sound quality is its downfall. The main speaker is adequately loud, but crank up the volume and you’ll start to hear crackling, blurriness and distortion. The reason for this is the water resistant nature of these devices, which reduces the quality of the speaker.
Following that, the in-ear speaker is also not really that good. It’s clear enough that you can understand what the person is saying, though it becomes harder once you’re in a public area with a lot of people. This is typical of rugged devices, but it’s still a con nonetheless.
Camera
The Blackview BV7000 Pro’s camera is, at its best, decent. The phone suffers from the same problem most mid-range smartphones suffer from, the cameras rarely stand out amongst the competition. Their cameras are fully usable, but they aren’t going to be the reason you buy the device.
The device can snap images quickly thanks to low shutter lag, but details get blurred out fairly often. Highlights can get overblown easily, requiring quite a bit of manual readjustment to get a decent shot. The lack of OIS also means that it’s tough to take a steady image.
Once night hits however, things take a turn for the worse. The camera starts to become really slow, which presents the user with a terrible case of shutter lag. This, paired with the amount of noise generated by the camera in low light make low light photography pretty bad.
Video recording doesn’t fare much better either. Videos are incredibly shaky and lack detail. The colours are also muted, which sometimes makes things look lifeless and uninspiring. Rugged devices aren’t known for their cameras, though I was still hoping for more.
Camera Gallery
Connectivity
Back to the positives, the Blackview BV7000 Pro definitely impresses in connectivity. The GPS locked-on quickly and managed to hold a strong connection every time I needed it, and mobile reception was fantastic, as I could get mobile reception from the middle of a bustling shopping mall.
Bluetooth works well, and Hotknot also works though I’m not sure why you’d use it over Bluetooth. Everything ran as it should have and there weren’t any times where a problem with stop me from doing something. So in this case, the BV7000 Pro gets a thumbs up from me.
Conclusion
The Blackview BV7000 Pro is a solid rugged device, that is also held back by the fact that it’s a rugged device. It has some incredible build quality, but now some of your headphones may not work and it gets some massive bezels. The display is tough, but the speakers suffer. This thing is made up of pros and cons, all of which boil up to the fact that it’s a rugged device.
Pros
- Stock software is snappy
- Build quality is incredible
- Connectivity is good
- Battery life is solid
- Good display
- Gaming performance is good
- 4GB of RAM allows for a lot of multitasking
- Design is unique
- Backlit buttons are finally here
- IP68 rating
Cons
- Cameras are either average or bad
- Heavy
- Chunky
- Audio quality isn’t good
- Rugged design prevents some headphones from being usable
- Covers for every single port and slot gets cumbersome
- Design is different
- No NFC
Whether you’ll like this device or not really comes down to whether you want a rugged device or not. The industrial design isn’t for everyone, but those who do like it will probably appreciate it greatly. Those who don’t however will probably want to look elsewhere for a device.
You can buy it here.