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Blackview BV7000 Review

Tough and durable are only some of the words that describe the recently released Blackview BV7000 when you first hold it in your hand. With its rugged, tactical design and very grippy texture at the back, the device feels solid as a rock.

Coming from a relatively unknown brand, at least here in the Philippines, Blackview shows that you can get your hands on a high-durability smartphone without leaving a hole in your pocket—but is it worth it? This review takes an in-depth look at the performance, battery life, camera tech and smart features of the Blackview BV7000.

Table of Contents

Design and Construction

The BV7000 has a 5-inch Full HD IPS display and though it’s clear and the colors are vibrant, the screen-to-body ratio could be better. However, it does get a Full HD display that has a pixel density of around 440ppi, as well as a 5MP front camera.

The BV7000 uses rubber flaps to cover the ports, which might not be too reliable in the long run. Having said that, the fitment on the rubber flaps are super tight and it’s actually hard to open at times. This is good because the BV7000 is a waterproof (IP68) phone. At the top side of the phone, covered by a rubber flap, is the 3.5mm audio jack.

At the left side of the phone covered by another rubber flap is the hybrid SIM tray.

On the other side of the phone are the volume controls, power button, and a dedicated camera button.

At the back, you will find the 8MP rear camera, the LED flash and the fingerprint scanner surrounded by thick aluminum. Below that is the Blackview logo and the speakers.

On the bottom of the phone, covered with yet another rubber flap, is the USB Type-C charging port and the microphone. It also comes with a USB Type-C to USB Type-A adapter which is always convenient. The aluminum construction paired with the rubber material at the back makes the BV7000 feel solid.

Display and Multimedia

As previously mentioned, the BV7000 comes with a 5-inch Full HD IPS display at 1920×1080 pixels which is equal to 440ppi. It has great viewing angles, good color reproduction, and accuracy. Due to the thick bezels, the BV7000 looks like it has a smaller screen than it already has.

Camera

The camera on the BV7000 isn’t something to write home about. With its 8-megapixel sensor with LED flash, the rear camera is at the lower end of the spectrum. One could easily notice that the shadows have a lot of noise, even in photos that are well-lit. This is most likely due to its low megapixels, but on the bright side, it does focus faster than expected.

You can select Pro mode which enables you to adjust the ISO, and such. The 5-megapixel front facing camera is average and isn’t all that impressive. It’s sufficient enough for selfies and video calls.

You may watch our sample video below:

OS, UI and Apps

In terms of UI and software, the trade-offs and compromises are pretty apparent. The software of the BV7000 is powered by Android 7.0 Nougat. The UI looks slightly outdated, and the home screen is prone to be cluttered due to the lack of an app drawer. You may notice minor lags while scrolling, but it’s smooth and responsive for the most part.

The BV7000 comes pre-installed with the basic Google package and WPS Office. The 16GB storage gets eaten up by 5.2GB because of the system. But it can be expanded with the use of a microSD card but you have to sacrifice your SIM 2 slot for it.

Durability

Since the BV7000 has IP68 certification, we did some durability light tests and submerged the BV7000 int the water for 15 minutes. Didn’t seem to bother it at all, but as expected, the screen does not respond under water.

Performance and Benchmarks

Under the tough rubber case and chassis of the BV7000 is a 1.7GHz MediaTek MTK6737T quad-core CPU and 2GB RAM. Its performance is decent as apps launch fast and smoothly. The fingerprint scanner is very responsive and never failed during our testing. The BV7000 can run graphically intensive games (such as Mobile Legends) smoothly, but the back of the phone is prone to heating up slightly.

Here are the benchmark scores it got:

AnTuTu: 38153
PCMark (Work 2.0): 2870
Geekbench: 651 (Single-Core Score), 976 (Multi-Core Score)
AndroBench: 205.43 MB/s (Sequential Read), 38.31 MB/s (Sequential Write)

Connectivity, Call Quality, and Battery Life

In terms of connectivity and call quality, the Blackview BV7000 has everything you need from LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS. The hybrid Dual-SIM tray can support two SIMs but if you want a microSD card you have to sacrifice one SIM card slot.

With its 3500mAh battery, its juice lasts long with everyday use and still have a lot left the next day. We ran our traditional video loop test and it lasted for 9 hours and 35 minutes. In PCMark’s Work 2.0, we got 6 hours and 55 minutes, which is average. Charging the BV7000 does not take a lot of time for it only took 1 hour and 50 minutes to get it fully charged.

Conclusion

The low price point $143.99PHP 8,450INR 12,203EUR 137CNY 1,048 (roughly Php7319.30USD 125INR 10,573EUR 119CNY 908 before taxes and other fees), the mid-range hardware, lack of updates, and security features are a small compromise for what is an almost indestructible build. If you’re looking for a low-cost, hard-wearing phone that is suitable for travel and an active lifestyle, then the BV7000 might be worth looking into.

Blackview BV7000 specs:

5-inch Full HD IPS display @ 1920×1080 pixels
Corning Gorilla Glass 3
1.7GHz MediaTek MTK6737T quad-core CPU
2GB RAM
16GB storage
MicroSD card support
8MP rear camera
5MP front camera
Dual-SIM
4G LTE
WiFi
Bluetooth
NFC
GPS, A-GPS
USB 2.0 Type-C
USB OTG
Fingerprint scanner
Android 7.0 Nougat
3,500mAh battery w. reverse charging
Space Silver, Mocha Gold, Stardust Gray