Blackview BV5200 smartphone review - Inexpensive and robust with NFC
Possible competitors in comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Drive | Size | Resolution | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 74.3 % v7 (old) | 02 / 2023 | Blackview BV5200 Helio A22 MT6761, PowerVR GE8300 | 268 g | 32 GB eMMC Flash | 6.10" | 1600x720 | |
| 74.5 % v7 (old) | 10 / 2022 | Ulefone Armor 15 Helio G35, PowerVR GE8320 | 346 g | 128 GB UFS 2.0 Flash | 5.45" | 1440x720 | |
| 75 % v7 (old) | 01 / 2023 | Cubot KingKong 7 Helio P60, Mali-G72 MP3 | 267 g | 128 GB eMMC Flash | 6.36" | 2300x1080 | |
| 82.6 % v7 (old) | 12 / 2022 | Gigaset GX6 Dimensity 900, Mali-G68 MP4 | 278 g | 128 GB UFS 2.1 Flash | 6.60" | 2412x1080 |
Case and equipment - Colorful on request
The Blackview BV5200 is available in three color variants: orange, black, and green, whereby these are only accents, the basic color of the rubberized case is always black. The design is restrained and the phone feels very good in the hand.
A slightly protruding frame protects the screen on the front and the camera on the back is also slightly recessed so that drops do not directly hit the protective glass. The USB port and the SIM slot are protected by rubber flaps, so the phone gets an IP69K certification and can thus withstand very dusty environments and submersion into the water. The phone also complies with MIL-STD-810H.
With its 6.10-inch screen and weight of 268 grams, the phone is quite compact and light. The case proves to be sturdy and only lets very strong pressure through to the screen.
With only 32 GB of mass storage, the memory configuration is very tight. At least more space can be added with the help of a microSD card. The microSD reader is comparatively slow in our test with the Angelbird V60 reference card but still remains on par with the class.
The USB port is equipped with the USB 2.0 standard. There is also an NFC module so that mobile payment services can be used with the Blackview BV5200.
| SD Card Reader - average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
| Gigaset GX6 (Angelbird V60) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (7.7 - 58.9, n=69, last 2 years) | |
| Cubot KingKong 7 (Angelbird V60) | |
| Blackview BV5200 (Angelbird V60) | |
| Ulefone Armor 15 (Angelbird AV Pro V60) | |
Cross Platform Disk Test (CPDT)
Communication, software and operation - Good WLAN
Despite the low price, the Blackview BV5200 does not have to do without WiFi 5. In our test with the reference router Asus ROG Rapture AXE11000, the phone is on par with similarly priced outdoor phones and offers a fast Internet connection.
5G is not available, but there is a decent range of 4G frequencies, so the phone can also be used abroad in many networks. The reception is not always quite optimal in our random samples during the test, but you usually get a cellular network, even in difficult environments.
Quite up-to-date Android 12 is available on the device, but the manufacturer installs a few apps and games ex-factory. The security updates are from August 2022 and are thus hopelessly outdated at the time of testing.
With a 60 Hz screen, the operation is not quite as smooth as it could be. However, faster screens are not found in other similarly priced outdoor phones either. Overall, the touchscreen is precise and also offers a glove mode.
There is a button on the left of the casing that can be freely assigned with apps or predefined commands.
There is no fingerprint sensor; the phone can only be unlocked biometrically via the face. This works quite well in good lighting conditions, but it is not quite secure.
| Networking | |
| iperf3 transmit AXE11000 | |
| Ulefone Armor 15 | |
| Blackview BV5200 | |
| Cubot KingKong 7 | |
| iperf3 receive AXE11000 | |
| Ulefone Armor 15 | |
| Blackview BV5200 | |
| Cubot KingKong 7 | |
| iperf3 transmit AXE11000 6GHz | |
| Gigaset GX6 | |
| iperf3 receive AXE11000 6GHz | |
| Gigaset GX6 | |
Camera - Not very convincing
Although two camera lenses are visible on the back of the Blackview BV5200, you can only actually use one of them: the second one is a very low-resolution support camera for blur effects.
The main camera with 13 megapixels comes from Sony and takes sharp pictures in the close-up range, but it needs to catch up in terms of dynamics. Some areas are very blurry in the surroundings, and large areas are blotchy. Details are only presented rudimentarily. The sharpness also drops in low light and high contrasts, and hardly anything can be recognized in darker areas.
In the lab, the camera takes decent pictures in good light, but fine details disappear and the sharpness is only really good in the center of the picture.
Videos can be recorded with 1080p and 30 fps, but the brightness adjustment sometimes reacts too hesitantly and the autofocus also has problems again and again.
Selfies are quite dark with the 5-megapixel camera on the front even in good light conditions. You should not look closer, otherwise, you will quickly see coarse details and little detail in dark areas.
Image Comparison
Choose a scene and navigate within the first image. One click changes the position on touchscreens. One click on the zoomed-in image opens the original in a new window. The first image shows the scaled photograph of the test device.
Main cameraMain cameraLow-Light
Display - Could be brighter
A bright screen is naturally recommended for a phone that is often used outdoors. The Blackview phone can only convince to a limited extent here: the average peak brightness of the IPS panel is 405 cd/m², which is on par with the class, but there are also outdoor phones with much brighter screens. Strong reflections on the screen make the content difficult to read on very sunny days, so it is better to use the phone in the shade.
The illumination is a bit imprecise; you can see brightness differences between different areas on the screen when you look closely. The black level, on the other hand, is convincing, and the Blackview BV5200 at least manages a decent contrast ratio and a somewhat stronger color reproduction than some comparison devices.
We did not notice PWM flickering, but we discovered a bluish cast in bright grayscales that is visible to the naked eye in our measurements with the CalMAN software and the spectrophotometer. Blue tones are also displayed most inaccurately.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 80 %
Center on Battery: 400 cd/m²
Contrast: 1429:1 (Black: 0.28 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 5.8 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.86
ΔE Greyscale 7.7 | 0.09-98 Ø5.1
96% sRGB (Calman 2D)
Gamma: 2.107
| Blackview BV5200 IPS, 1600x720, 6.1" | Ulefone Armor 15 IPS, 1440x720, 5.5" | Cubot KingKong 7 IPS, 2300x1080, 6.4" | Gigaset GX6 IPS, 2412x1080, 6.6" | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Response Times | 33% | 42% | 39% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 45.2 ? | 35.41 ? 22% | 31.4 ? 31% | 29 ? 36% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 31.2 ? | 17.89 ? 43% | 15 ? 52% | 18 ? 42% |
| PWM Frequency | 5221 | |||
| Screen | -15% | -1% | 24% | |
| Brightness middle | 400 | 416 4% | 462 16% | 505 26% |
| Brightness | 405 | 407 0% | 466 15% | 491 21% |
| Brightness Distribution | 80 | 96 20% | 91 14% | 93 16% |
| Black Level * | 0.28 | 0.37 -32% | 0.61 -118% | 0.3 -7% |
| Contrast | 1429 | 1124 -21% | 757 -47% | 1683 18% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 5.8 | 7.3 -26% | 4.1 29% | 4.32 26% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 10.77 | 15 -39% | 8.26 23% | 7.22 33% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 7.7 | 9.6 -25% | 3.3 57% | 3 61% |
| Gamma | 2.107 104% | 1.95 113% | 2.228 99% | 2.268 97% |
| CCT | 8415 77% | 8536 76% | 7286 89% | 7098 92% |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | 9% /
-5% | 21% /
7% | 32% /
27% |
* ... smaller is better
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 31.2 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 13.7 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 17.5 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 83 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (20.7 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 45.2 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 23 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 22.2 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 76 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (32.3 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM not detected |  | ||
In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 8437 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 343500) Hz was measured. | |||
Performance, emissions and battery life - Blackview BV5200 with little power
You shouldn't expect miracles from the already 5-year-old Mediatek Helio A22 which is a rather slow entry-level SoC that cannot even manage some current benchmarks. 3DMark, for example, completely refuses to work. Thus, it can happen that some games do not run or cannot even be found in the Play Store.
Blackview also installs quite slow memory, which, in combination with the less powerful SoC, leads to stutters during operation and long waiting times from time to time.
The maximum temperature of 34.7 °C is very moderate, and we did not notice any performance throttling in the long-term GFXBench test.
The mono speaker on the bottom actually does an acceptable job for such an inexpensive smartphone: it does not overdrive even at maximum volume and is quite balanced between mids and trebles. However, true sound fans will probably prefer to connect headphones or speakers. This is possible via USB-C or Bluetooth. A basic set of SBC, AAC, LDAC, aptX, and aptX HD codecs is available for the wireless connection.
Despite the somewhat stronger battery of 5,180 mAh, Blackview's BV5200 cannot hold its own in comparison with some outdoor rivals: a little more than 15 hours in our WLAN test are sufficient for everyday use and should also allow several days of use, but the Gigaset GX6 will get you much more battery life and even has an exchangeable battery.
The included charger manages 10 watts, so it takes a good 3 hours until the phone's battery is full again.
| GFXBench | |
| on screen Aztec Ruins Normal Tier Onscreen | |
| Average of class Smartphone (5.5 - 166, n=202, last 2 years) | |
| Gigaset GX6 | |
| Ulefone Armor 15 | |
| Cubot KingKong 7 | |
| Average Mediatek Helio A22 MT6761 (2.3 - 6.1, n=14) | |
| Blackview BV5200 | |
| 1920x1080 Aztec Ruins Normal Tier Offscreen | |
| Average of class Smartphone (3.4 - 321, n=202, last 2 years) | |
| Gigaset GX6 | |
| Cubot KingKong 7 | |
| Ulefone Armor 15 | |
| Average Mediatek Helio A22 MT6761 (1.9 - 4.2, n=14) | |
| Blackview BV5200 | |
| on screen Aztec Ruins High Tier Onscreen | |
| Average of class Smartphone (0.85 - 144, n=203, last 2 years) | |
| Gigaset GX6 | |
| Ulefone Armor 15 | |
| Cubot KingKong 7 | |
| Average Mediatek Helio A22 MT6761 (2.7 - 3.9, n=14) | |
| Blackview BV5200 | |
| 2560x1440 Aztec Ruins High Tier Offscreen | |
| Average of class Smartphone (1.2 - 129, n=202, last 2 years) | |
| Gigaset GX6 | |
| Cubot KingKong 7 | |
| Ulefone Armor 15 | |
| Blackview BV5200 | |
| Average Mediatek Helio A22 MT6761 (0.7 - 0.9, n=14) | |
| Octane V2 - Total Score | |
| Average of class Smartphone (2228 - 100368, n=207, last 2 years) | |
| Gigaset GX6 | |
| Cubot KingKong 7 | |
| Ulefone Armor 15 | |
| Blackview BV5200 | |
| Average Mediatek Helio A22 MT6761 (3920 - 5041, n=8) | |
| Blackview BV5200 | Ulefone Armor 15 | Cubot KingKong 7 | Gigaset GX6 | Average 32 GB eMMC Flash | Average of class Smartphone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AndroBench 3-5 | 93% | 162% | 459% | 43% | 1531% | |
| Sequential Read 256KB | 253.4 | 285.68 13% | 480.8 90% | 953.5 276% | 242 ? -4% | 2043 ? 706% |
| Sequential Write 256KB | 57.5 | 161.1 180% | 212.9 270% | 454.7 691% | 100.5 ? 75% | 1659 ? 2785% |
| Random Read 4KB | 22.2 | 64.99 193% | 81 265% | 194.9 778% | 43.1 ? 94% | 285 ? 1184% |
| Random Write 4KB | 21.1 | 18.36 -13% | 26 23% | 39.9 89% | 22.3 ? 6% | 327 ? 1450% |
Temperature
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 33 °C / 91 F, compared to the average of 35.1 °C / 95 F, ranging from 21.9 to 63.7 °C for the class Smartphone.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 34.7 °C / 94 F, compared to the average of 33.9 °C / 93 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 22.1 °C / 72 F, compared to the device average of 32.8 °C / 91 F.
Speaker
Blackview BV5200 audio analysis
(±) | speaker loudness is average but good (79.1 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 24.9% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (11.4% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | higher mids - on average 5.6% higher than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (7.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 3.2% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (5.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (22.1% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 43% of all tested devices in this class were better, 7% similar, 50% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 36%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 62% of all tested devices were better, 6% similar, 32% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 24%, worst was 134%
Gigaset GX6 audio analysis
(±) | speaker loudness is average but good (80.2 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 29.4% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (8.9% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | reduced mids - on average 5% lower than median
(+) | mids are linear (6.9% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 2.9% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (3.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (22.4% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 45% of all tested devices in this class were better, 7% similar, 49% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 36%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 63% of all tested devices were better, 6% similar, 31% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 24%, worst was 134%
Battery life
| Battery Runtime - WiFi Websurfing | |
| Ulefone Armor 15 | |
| Average of class Smartphone (575 - 3244, n=203, last 2 years) | |
| Gigaset GX6 | |
| Cubot KingKong 7 | |
| Blackview BV5200 | |
Pros
Cons
Verdict - Affordable rugged phone with some highlights
If you do not spend much money on an outdoor phone, you should not expect top performance. At least the Blackview BV5200 meets the IP standards for water and dust protection and is cleanly manufactured for just under 150 Euros. Smaller highlights are the decent speaker and the NFC capability, which is otherwise rarely found in inexpensive phones.
The Wi-Fi speed is good and there is no PWM flickering on the screen. However, the screen could be brighter, especially for an outdoor smartphone. The performance rates are also quite low, so you have to expect incompatibilities and long loading times. On top of that, the software is outdated, which can endanger the user's security.
The Blackview BV5200 is a compact and inexpensive outdoor phone with IP certification and NFC, but also with little performance.
The partly even cheaper Cubot KingKong 7 has much more memory and a faster SoC, but no NFC. Those who can spend more money will get a better price with the Gigaset GX6 - a phone assembled in Germany with an exchangeable battery and much more power.
Price and availability
The Blackview BV5200 costs just under 150 Euros on the Internet, for example directly from the manufacturer where you can even save a few Euros at the time of testing.
Otherwise, the smartphone is also available on amazon.de in all three colors: black, green, and orange.
Blackview BV5200
- 02/24/2023 v7 (old)
Florian Schmitt
Transparency
The selection of devices to be reviewed is made by our editorial team. The test sample was provided to the author as a loan by the manufacturer or retailer for the purpose of this review. The lender had no influence on this review, nor did the manufacturer receive a copy of this review before publication. There was no obligation to publish this review. We never accept compensation or payment in return for our reviews. As an independent media company, Notebookcheck is not subjected to the authority of manufacturers, retailers or publishers.
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