Blackview S8 review: pure fun to play with

Welcome to the era of full display clones guys! We have one more of them to show you today, but I think this one has more to say about its performance than others. Meet Blackview S8, a device that – as the name suggest is a Samsung S8 “inspired model”. If you don’t mind not having the real thing and are happy with just the reduced bezels and 18:9 display aspect ratio, then keep reading!

Blackview promotes this model as one of the most impressive dual camera/full display smartphones, having serious expectations from its performance in the mid-range market and according to our initial impressions they could just have a decent proposal. With a well-built design and many great features, this budget-friendly smartphone is perfect for those who are looking for a new featured mobile with more demanding features and less price.

So if you’re ready to go by its resemblance to the “original Galaxy S8” then you won’t have any problem spotting its awesome design, usability, the impressive built quality and obviously its “Infinity style” display, with 18:9 aspect ratio and good brightness during day time.

Enough said let’s have a look at this Blackview S8 review.

great galaxy s8 clone to the detail

Blackview S8 – Technical specifications

• Display: 5.7 inch, 1440 x 720 Pixel screen
• CPU: MTK6750T 1.5GHz Octa CoreSystem: Android 7.0
• RAM + ROM: 4GB RAM + 64GB ROMCamera: 8.0MP ( SW 13.0MP ) + 0.3MP front cameras + 13.0MP + 0.3MP back cameras
• Sensor: Ambient Light Sensor, Gravity Sensor, Proximity Sensor
• SIM Card: dual SIM dual standby. 1 Micro SIM card + 1 Nano SIM card
• Feature: GPS
• Bluetooth: 4.0Network: 2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz – 3G: WCDMA 900/2100MHz – 4G: FDD-LTE 800/900/1800/2100/2600MHz

Blackview S8 review: Design and general appearance

I have to be honest, I loved the basic design of the Blackview S8 – and didn’t even pay attention to its similarity to the Galaxy S8 model.  Don’t get me wrong, it IS almost identical to the Samsung S8, but I chose not to pay attention to this detail.

I liked the design of Blackview S8. It is elegant and if you’re interested to know more, you will be glad to know it’s available in black, blue and golden color versions. Its dimensions are 154 x 71.9 x 8.5 mm (LxWxH) and it weighs approximately 190 gr. This means it can provide a trully slim body and a good handling experience. I have to admit that one of the outstanding features of the Blackview S8 is surely its 5.7-inch full-view display with 1440 X 720 pixels resolution and 18:9 aspect ratio. It provides exceptional response times, along with Gorilla Glass 4 protection that can basically protect it from scratches, falls and accidental knocks.

One of its unique selling points is the 18:9 full display, with really small bezels on top and bottom – that look really impressive, similar (NOT the same) to the ones the Galaxy S8 flagship has. The one that makes the difference is the top bezel which extends the display almost all the way to the top, leaving a rather small gap for the speaker and its dual selfie camera.

The 18:9 aspect ratio allows for excellent grip, average single hand usage and impressive multimedia viewing – you can watch video clips and/or movies with no black borders at all – something you’ll really like I bet. The colors of the display may be rather washed, but the images are crisp, with good viewing angles and a fully responsive panel if I may add. All in all a decent display – especially for a smartphone on this price range.

There’s no home button placed in front. Instead you will find three on display keys on the lower side of the display, that work as planned and allow for complete operation of the device. On the top of the screen, there are two selfie cameras, a speaker and a LED flash.

Note that the back side of the device is made of glossy material just like the front panel which has a 2.5D glass on top and a metal frame placed between them. This means that it may look beautiful but it turns out to be a fingerprint magnet, leaving fingerprint marks all over the place. You can also find two cameras at the back side, a dual LED flash, as well as a fingerprint sensor for fast unlocking the phone.

It can unlock the phone in less than 0.1 second with almost 98% success rate. It can basically store up to 5 different fingerprints and can recognize them all from 360 degrees, something that’s a standard nowadays. 

The card slot of S8 is located on the top edge of the handset, while there is an adapter with USB Type-C on the bottom edge. There is no 3.5 mm headphone jack but the Blackview company offers the USB to 3.5mm Jack output cable in the basic package of the device.

Hardware & Performance

In terms of performance, the Blackview S8 comes with the MediaTek MTK6750 octa-core processor operating at a high frequency of 1.5 GHz. It packs 4GB RAM and 64GB ROM, providing high-end gaming and multitasking a fast and smooth experience. I opened many apps, switched between them, watched videos, played a game (GT Racing 2) and the performance is buttery smooth. Nothing felt sluggish, and there was no significant lag.

Oh and if you’re into checking benchmark results, then you should know that the Blackview S8 scored 43073 points in AntuTu along with an exceptional GPS reception. I didn’t have any issues with GPS related apps since it uses most of the available satellites every time. It could be connected to more I guess, in order to offer even better results when scanning for our location.

Moreover, the storage can be expandable up to 128 GB with the use of microSD card. For the graphics, it has the Mali-T860 MP2 GPU with a frequency of 520 MHz. 

The operating system of the Blackview S8 is Android 7.0 Nougat. It can also be upgraded to higher Android Oreo but the Chinese manufacturer hasn’t disclosed yet when (and if) this will happen. Rumors say that the update could arrive to the owners of the phone by the end of this year – it remains to be seen. Moreover, you can also find the attractive features such as ambient light sensor, gravity sensor, proximity sensor, and so on.

If you like Samsung Galaxy clones, then you will surely gonna love the Blackview S8 in terms of UI and software. The device comes with its own UI (based on Android 7.0.1) which is surprisingly solid, fast and easy to use. Damn it’s much more stable and lag free than Samsung’s horrible UX interface, even with this average chipset and the same amount of RAM!

So the theme is very similar to Samsung’s UX, with identical icons and some basic animations. Thankfully there is no bloatware but you will find some other unnecessary apps inside (that cannot be uninstalled). The device supports all the classic Nougat features and it also has several customization options like System Motion, Gestures control and the ability to lock apps with the fingerprint scanner which is common these days.

Dual camera/Dual Selfie camera performance

If you’re interested in the imaging features of the device, then you’ll be happy to know that it’s one of a few smartphones available in the market, that’s  equipped with quad-cameras – dual cameras on both front and back panels. The rear dual camera has a resolution of 13.0MP + 0.3MP and the front dual camera have a resolution of 8.0MP ( SW 13.0MP ) + 0.3MP. The sensors on both sides of the phone are Sony IMX258 with an apperture of F/2.0 and a wide angle lens. In addition, both the cameras have LED Flash, so you can capture the photos and videos even in low light conditions.

It can take decent photos, but they are generally whitewashed. Even with HDR mode, the quality of the photos is not any better. Note that one camera is used for creating the bokeh effect and other will capture the image with quite good portrait photos and decent performance in low light conditions. 

Both cameras have independent vision processing unit, which enables background blurring in real time. It also allows you to choose where to focus (touch focus) and where to blur, with the ability to adjust the intensity of blurring, too.

Have a look at some of our sample photos, taken from the dual camera of the Blackview S8. Just click the gallery below:

Battery consumption

The Blackview S8 is equipped with a 3180mAh battery but numbers don’t mean anything in this situation. The device comes with an energy efficient processor and generally it performs well, providing more than a full day’s usage with no problems and works great in cooperation with the Android Nougat interface in order to block access to battery “hungry” apps, reduce energy consumption when possible and all those little things that make our lives easier when using a smartphone.

Note however that it supports quick charge with the Quick Charge 2.0 technology, meaning that with just one full charge, it can last for 24-30 hours even if you’re pushing it to its limits.

Conclusion – Our opinion

A Beautiful, budget galaxy s8 clone

I really enjoyed this small beauty from Blackview, I have to admit. It’s not featured as the super wow dual camera phone that everyone should buy, but as a budget Galaxy S8 clone with really impressive specs – given its current price tag of course which is just 152,99$.

The 4GB RAM + 64GB ROM variant I got for my tests, costs 152,99$ and – I believe that its fair price for what it offers. It’s really impressive when you hold it in your hands and use it, it packs a bright display with 18:9 aspect ratio, an average chipset and – strangely enough- a snappy UI that I loved in my everyday use.

If you’re into a decent Galaxy S8 clone then, this Blackview S8 could be the one you’ve been looking for. Who knows?