Blackview BV9700 Pro Smartphone Review: Rugged phone measures heart rate and air purity
The smartphones made by the Chinese manufacturer Blackview have so far always been very robust. The two models BV5800 Pro and P10000 Pro, however, had several weaknesses in terms of a slow system, weak speakers or a mediocre camera. This might no longer be the case with the BV9700 Pro thanks to its Mediatek Helio P70 processor and 6 GB of RAM, although things will also depend on the performance of the ARM Mali G72 MP3 GPU and the 128-GB storage device.
We will be comparing the Blackview BV9700 Pro with a few comparison devices (see table below). You can add any device from our database to the comparison via the box at the bottom of each comparison table.
Comparison Devices
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Drive | Size | Resolution | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 76.3 % v7 (old) | 10 / 2019 | Blackview BV9700 Pro Helio P70, Mali-G72 MP3 | 283 g | 128 GB NVMe | 5.84" | 2280x1080 | |
| 79.2 % v6 (old) | 05 / 2019 | RugGear RG850 430, Adreno 505 | 209 g | 32 GB eMMC Flash | 5.99" | 1440x720 | |
| 76.2 % v7 (old) | 08 / 2019 | Ulefone Armor 6E Helio P70, Mali-G72 MP3 | 268 g | 64 GB eMMC Flash | 6.20" | 2246x1080 | |
| 75.7 % v7 (old) | 04 / 2019 | Cubot King Kong 3 Helio P23 MT6763T, Mali-G71 MP2 | 280 g | 64 GB eMMC Flash | 5.50" | 1440x720 | |
| 78 % v7 (old) | 03 / 2019 | Crosscall Trekker-X4 SD 660, Adreno 512 | 250 g | 64 GB eMMC Flash | 5.50" | 1920x1080 |
Case - certified waterproof smartphone
The Blackview BV9700 Pro has a lot of metal and hard plastic surfaces. It is mostly gray and looks very solid and stable. This impression is confirmed by its IP68, IP69k and MIL-STD-810G certifications. They certify that the robust smartphone is protected against shocks, dust and water and can also resist high-pressure streams at high temperatures. However, users should be warned that the actual size of the screen is significantly smaller than the manufacturer claims (see our photo below).
Connectivity - Outdoor phone with additional sensors
Blackview has equipped the BV9700 with a Mediatek Helio P70, 6 GB of RAM and a 128-GB eMMC flash storage. The ARM Mali-G72 MP3 is responsible for displaying graphics. The outdoor smartphone also offers a slot for a microSD card reader, should users need more storage. However, this is a hybrid slot which means that using a microSD card prevents users from using two SIM cards. Both NanoSIM slots support LTE and VoLTE and the device also supports VoWiFi.
The USB Type-C port is connected using the 2.0 standard and requires a particularly long connector (must be at least 3 mm/~0.11 in longer than a normal Type-C connector). The BV9700 comes with a suitable adaptor. Users will not be able to stream Full-HD content from sites such as Netflix (no support for DRM L3).
Apart from the usual sensors, the Blackview BV9700 also features a heart rate monitor that can measure your heart rate by holding the sensor to a fingertip. The robust smartphone can also measure the CO2 content in the air.
Software - Outdoor apps for Android
The Blackview BV9700 runs on Android Pie with security updates currently dated 5th March 2019. Users of Android phones will immediately find their way around the Blackview phone. The only difference is that the manufacturer has included various applications that should be helpful outdoors in its toolbox app. These include a compass, an application for the heart rate monitor and air purity sensor and several other features. The BVFamily app is another addition. It has its own store and offers lots of information on Blackview devices. These applications cannot be uninstalled.
Communication and GPS - Slow Wi-Fi in the Blackview BV9700 Pro
The BV9700 Pro supports mobile connections in GSM, 3G and LTE networks. It supports LTE cat. 6, which in theory enables download speeds of up to 300 MBit/s and upload speeds of up to 50 MBit/s. The device also supports NFC, Bluetooth 5.0 and the Wi-Fi standards 802.11 a, b, g, n and ac.
While the device is supposed to support the fast ac standard according to the manufacturer, the BV9700 is not able to connect to fast networks using the 5-GHz band during our Wi-Fi test. The transfer rates are accordingly slow and are similar to the speeds of our comparison devices. The only exception is the Crosscal Trekker-X4.
| Networking | |
| iperf3 transmit AX12 | |
| Crosscall Trekker-X4 | |
| Blackview BV9700 Pro | |
| Ulefone Armor 6E | |
| Cubot King Kong 3 | |
| RugGear RG850 | |
| iperf3 receive AX12 | |
| Crosscall Trekker-X4 | |
| Blackview BV9700 Pro | |
| Cubot King Kong 3 | |
| Ulefone Armor 6E | |
| RugGear RG850 | |
The app "GPS test" locates our position within 4 meters (~13 ft) outdoors. The device did not manage to locate us indoors.
The device was actually a little more precise when tracking our movements on our bike tour than the comparison device Garmin Edge 520. It did particularly well on curves.
Telephone and Voice Quality - good connection on the BV9700 Pro
The Blackview BV9700 Pro uses the standard Android telephone app. The volume during phone calls is good, which enables communication even in loud surroundings. Voices are clear and easy to understand on both sides of the line. The included USB Type-C headset has similar qualities.
Cameras - mediocre dual camera and few configuration options
The main camera of the Blackview BV9700 Pro is a dual camera with a 13-MP and an 8-MP lens with an aperture of f/1.75 and f/2.0, respectively. The front camera also has 13 MP and takes decent portrait photos. While the image itself is a little pale, the subject is reproduced nicely. However, fine structures and details are not sharp, even without zooming in, and colored areas are not delineated well.
The main camera is good enough for fun snapshots. The image subjects are recognizable, but again colors are rather pale. The edges of objects and fields of color are a little grainy. The BV9700 Pro has difficulties with blurry edges and badly-defined objects when taking close-ups. Colors, however, appear stronger in these photos. Objects in the image are only just recognizable in bad lighting conditions. Their edges are very blurry and colors are not reproduced accurately. The camera app offers various modes, for example a night mode or face mode. However, this only enables you to make rudimentary changes via slide bars, such as making the background blurrier or putting a soft focus on objects. The professional mode enables users to manually adjust the white balance, ISO value and exposure.
Videos recorded with the BV9700 Pro are of similar quality. You can choose between 480p, 720p and 1080p, but it is not possible to adjust frame rates or similar.
Colors turn out a little too dark with yellow, green and brown tones appearing most similar to the original. All colors turn out too dark in bad lighting. A photo of our test chart taken under controlled lighting reveals that areas outside the focal point are blurry and, again, colors appear too dark. This becomes even stronger under bad lighting conditions.
Accessories and Warranty - Smartphone with screen protection and headset
The BV9700 Pro comes with a USB AC adaptor plus USB Type-C cable, a USB Type-C headset, a screen protector and an adaptor with which users can connect conventional Type-C connectors to their Blackview smartphone. Users can also purchase a night vision camera that can be used together with the BV9700 Pro.
Buyers of the Blackview receive a twelve-month warranty.
Input Devices & Handling - GBoard included
The BV9700 uses Google's GBoard for text input. The touchscreen responds very well to inputs, although it offers a little too much resistance for easy drag-and-drop motions. The position sensor responds well and quickly adjusts the orientation of the screen to that of the smartphone.
The fingerprint reader, which is positioned on the side, was reliable in our test. However, its position could make it a little uncomfortable to reach for users with long thumbs. Both the heart rate monitor and the air purity sensor were a little slow, but did provide results after playing around with them a little.
Display - wrong size information
According to Blackview, the screen of the BV9700 Pro consists of a 5.84-inch IPS panel with a resolution of 2280x1080 pixels. After hearing that not only do the render images of the device show a significantly larger display than the device has in reality, but that the display size stated in the technical specifications is inaccurate, we decided to take a closer look: Our measurements confirm that the real display size is 5.66 inches. This means that users are not only tricked by false product images, but that the technical specifications contain wrong information.
The screen itself has a good brightness value of 524 cd/m² on average and a brightness distribution of 87 percent. However, the manufacturer uses PWM to regulate display brightness, which means that the display is always flickering at a frequency of around 91 Hz.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 87 %
Center on Battery: 521 cd/m²
Contrast: 1797:1 (Black: 0.29 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 6.22 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.9
ΔE Greyscale 11 | 0.5-98 Ø5.2
99.9% sRGB (Calman 2D)
Gamma: 0.558
| Blackview BV9700 Pro IPS, 2280x1080, 5.8" | RugGear RG850 IPS, 1440x720, 6" | Ulefone Armor 6E IPS, 2246x1080, 6.2" | Cubot King Kong 3 IPS, 1440x720, 5.5" | Crosscall Trekker-X4 IPS, 1920x1080, 5.5" | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Screen | -52% | -3% | -8% | -22% | |
| Brightness middle | 521 | 444 -15% | 357 -31% | 365 -30% | 374 -28% |
| Brightness | 525 | 469 -11% | 352 -33% | 379 -28% | 352 -33% |
| Brightness Distribution | 87 | 88 1% | 91 5% | 82 -6% | 86 -1% |
| Black Level * | 0.29 | 0.62 -114% | 0.24 17% | 0.14 52% | 0.35 -21% |
| Contrast | 1797 | 716 -60% | 1488 -17% | 2607 45% | 1069 -41% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 6.22 | 9.75 -57% | 6.08 2% | 8.03 -29% | 7.46 -20% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 9.5 | 22.4 -136% | 9.46 -0% | 16.34 -72% | 13.27 -40% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 11 | 13.5 -23% | 7 36% | 10.3 6% | 9.8 11% |
| Gamma | 0.558 394% | 2.736 80% | 2.292 96% | 2.197 100% | 2.152 102% |
| CCT | 8077 80% | 9287 70% | 7695 84% | 9941 65% | 10554 62% |
* ... smaller is better
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM detected | 90.9 Hz |  | |
The display backlight flickers at 90.9 Hz (worst case, e.g., utilizing PWM) . The frequency of 90.9 Hz is very low, so the flickering may cause eyestrain and headaches after extended use. In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 8687 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 343500) Hz was measured. | |||
The contrast ratio of 1797:1 and the black value of 0.29 cd/m² are good. However, colors on the BV9700 Pro have too much blue in them. The night mode enables users to add a yellow cast to the display, which is supposed to be easier on the eyes.
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 26 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 13 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 13 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows relatively slow response rates in our tests and may be too slow for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 59 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (20.9 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 47 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 25 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 22 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. » 79 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (32.8 ms). | ||
The BV9700 Pro is easy to use outdoors, although the reflective surface can make reading the screen a little difficult, depending on the viewing angle.
The IPS panel of the BV9700 has very stable viewing angles. Screen content can be read even from very wide angles without distorting colors.
Performance - an affordable mid-range outdoor phone
The Mediatek Helio P70 processor and 6 GB of RAM make the BV9700 Pro a device that is capable of running more demanding apps. Thanks to a large flash storage with a capacity of 128 GB, users should also have sufficient space to install these apps. Graphics are displayed by the ARM Mali-G72. This hardware combination places the Blackview smartphone in first place in many of our tests and even enables it to beat the significantly more expensive Crosscall Trekker-X4 in some areas. The BV9700 Pro is fast and enables quick navigation through menus and open apps in everyday use.
| PCMark for Android | |
| Work performance score (sort by value) | |
| Blackview BV9700 Pro | |
| RugGear RG850 | |
| Ulefone Armor 6E | |
| Cubot King Kong 3 | |
| Crosscall Trekker-X4 | |
| Average Mediatek Helio P70 (7160 - 11781, n=10) | |
| Work 2.0 performance score (sort by value) | |
| Blackview BV9700 Pro | |
| RugGear RG850 | |
| Ulefone Armor 6E | |
| Cubot King Kong 3 | |
| Crosscall Trekker-X4 | |
| Average Mediatek Helio P70 (5992 - 8365, n=12) | |
| AnTuTu v7 - Total Score (sort by value) | |
| Blackview BV9700 Pro | |
| RugGear RG850 | |
| Ulefone Armor 6E | |
| Cubot King Kong 3 | |
| Crosscall Trekker-X4 | |
| Average Mediatek Helio P70 (130058 - 148726, n=5) | |
The results of the browser benchmarks are not quite as impressive, but still place the BV9700 Pro towards the top of our comparison field. Websites are accessed quickly during everyday use and even media content loads swiftly.
| JetStream 1.1 - Total Score | |
| Crosscall Trekker-X4 (Chrome 71) | |
| Blackview BV9700 Pro (Chrome 77) | |
| Average Mediatek Helio P70 (34.3 - 50.2, n=7) | |
| RugGear RG850 (Chrome 73) | |
| WebXPRT 3 - Overall | |
| Average of class Smartphone (38 - 347, n=81, last 2 years) | |
| RugGear RG850 (Chrome 73) | |
| Ulefone Armor 6E (Chrome 76) | |
| Blackview BV9700 Pro (Chrome 77) | |
| Average Mediatek Helio P70 (35 - 55, n=8) | |
| Octane V2 - Total Score | |
| Average of class Smartphone (2228 - 100368, n=213, last 2 years) | |
| Crosscall Trekker-X4 (Chrome 71) | |
| Blackview BV9700 Pro (Chrome 77) | |
| Ulefone Armor 6E (Chrome 76) | |
| Average Mediatek Helio P70 (6269 - 9863, n=8) | |
| Cubot King Kong 3 (Chrome 73) | |
| RugGear RG850 (Chrome 73) | |
| Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Total | |
| RugGear RG850 (Chrome 73) | |
| Cubot King Kong 3 (Chrome 73) | |
| Average Mediatek Helio P70 (4198 - 5659, n=8) | |
| Blackview BV9700 Pro (Chrome 77) | |
| Ulefone Armor 6E (Chrome 76) | |
| Crosscall Trekker-X4 (Chrome 71) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (277 - 28190, n=169, last 2 years) | |
* ... smaller is better
The internal storage of the Blackview BV9700 Pro has good write and read rates that are comparable to those of its competition. The performance of the card reader, however, is below average in our test with our 32-GB reference card from Hama. The BV9700 Pro did not recognize the Toshiba Exceria Pro M501, which we usually use as our reference card.
| Blackview BV9700 Pro | RugGear RG850 | Ulefone Armor 6E | Cubot King Kong 3 | Crosscall Trekker-X4 | Average 128 GB NVMe | Average of class Smartphone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AndroBench 3-5 | 599% | 71% | 696% | 571% | 0% | 688% | |
| Sequential Read 256KB | 293.8 | 280.1 -5% | 287.5 -2% | 241 -18% | 272.4 -7% | 294 ? 0% | 1883 ? 541% |
| Sequential Write 256KB | 190.2 | 120.7 -37% | 103.3 -46% | 134.3 -29% | 194.7 2% | 190.2 ? 0% | 1476 ? 676% |
| Random Read 4KB | 89.5 | 39 -56% | 43.4 -52% | 17.21 -81% | 71.5 -20% | 89.5 ? 0% | 278 ? 211% |
| Random Write 4KB | 21.86 | 12.64 -42% | 15.8 -28% | 11.21 -49% | 14.3 -35% | 21.9 ? 0% | 311 ? 1323% |
| Sequential Read 256KB SDCard | 45.1 ? | 83.9 ? 86% | 41.7 ? -8% | 81.2 80% | 83.5 ? 85% | 45.1 ? 0% | |
| Sequential Write 256KB SDCard | 1.7 ? | 63.7 ? 3647% | 11.2 ? 559% | 74.3 4271% | 59.5 ? 3400% | 1.7 ? 0% |
Games - the BV9700 Pro can be used for gaming
The ARM Mali G72 MP3 in the BV9700 Pro is suitable for gaming. Games are displayed smoothly as long as users don't insist on always playing at the highest settings. We tested the games "Arena of Valor" and "Asphalt 9:Legends" and did not encounter any judders. The touchscreen responded well and the position sensor was reliable. Only long drag-and-drop motions were made a little difficult due to the high resistance of the screen surface.
Emissions - high volume and hardly any heat production
Temperature
According to our measurements, the surface temperature of the BV9700 Pro reaches a maximum of 41 °C (~106 °F) under load. This makes the outdoor smartphone feel warm at most.
(±) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 40.1 °C / 104 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 41 °C / 106 F, compared to the average of 33.9 °C / 93 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 28.6 °C / 83 F, compared to the device average of 32.8 °C / 91 F.
Speakers
The high-volume speakers of the BV9700 Pro produce particularly strong highs. This means that voices are reproduced nicely, but music and other media content sounds rather weak.
Crosscall Trekker-X4 audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (85.6 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 73.1% lower than median
(+) | bass is linear (0% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(-) | nearly no mids - on average 73.1% lower than median
(+) | mids are linear (0% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(-) | nearly no highs - on average 73.1% lower than median
(+) | highs are linear (0% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(-) | overall sound is not linear (116.3% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 86% of all tested devices in this class were better, 5% similar, 9% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 36%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 96% of all tested devices were better, 2% similar, 3% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Battery Life - Outdoor smartphone with large battery
Power Consumption
While the BV9700 Pro's power consumption is around 10 percent higher than that of comparable smartphones, it still does not consume too much energy. The included AC adaptor has a rated output of 18 watts and can supply the Android device with sufficient power.
| Off / Standby |   0 / 0.3 Watt |
| Idle |  1.2 / 1.5 / 2.8 Watt |
| Load |
3.5 / 7 Watt |
    
| |
Key:
min: ,
med: ,
max: Metrahit Energy | |
| Blackview BV9700 Pro 4380 mAh | RugGear RG850 4000 mAh | Ulefone Armor 6E 5000 mAh | Cubot King Kong 3 6000 mAh | Crosscall Trekker-X4 4400 mAh | Average Mediatek Helio P70 | Average of class Smartphone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power Consumption | -0% | 7% | -7% | 12% | 9% | -12% | |
| Idle Minimum * | 1.2 | 1.2 -0% | 0.8 33% | 0.9 25% | 0.7 42% | 0.801 ? 33% | 0.883 ? 26% |
| Idle Average * | 1.5 | 1.7 -13% | 1.6 -7% | 1.9 -27% | 1.4 7% | 1.739 ? -16% | 1.464 ? 2% |
| Idle Maximum * | 2.8 | 2.6 7% | 2.5 11% | 2.4 14% | 2.2 21% | 2.06 ? 26% | 1.621 ? 42% |
| Load Average * | 3.5 | 3.8 -9% | 3.8 -9% | 5.2 -49% | 4.1 -17% | 3.59 ? -3% | 6.63 ? -89% |
| Load Maximum * | 7 | 6 14% | 6.5 7% | 6.8 3% | 6.4 9% | 6.65 ? 5% | 9.96 ? -42% |
* ... smaller is better
Battery Life
Our realistic Wi-Fi test shows that the BV9700 Pro can make great use of its battery capacity with a runtime of just over 17 hours. The included USB AC adaptor recharges the 4380-mAh battery in around 2.5 hours.
| Blackview BV9700 Pro 4380 mAh | RugGear RG850 4000 mAh | Ulefone Armor 6E 5000 mAh | Cubot King Kong 3 6000 mAh | Crosscall Trekker-X4 4400 mAh | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battery Runtime | |||||
| WiFi v1.3 | 1033 | 857 -17% | 942 -9% | 1267 23% | 839 -19% |
Pros
Cons
Verdict - A combination of ups and downs
The Blackview BV9700 Pro impressed us with its strong exteriors. Its performance has significantly improved as well with good benchmark results confirming a smooth-running system. However, the average camera, the slow Wi-Fi and the rockbottom performance of the storage card reader are still big weaknesses.
The Blackview BV9700 Pro is very stable and offers a good system performance. But do not be fooled by its technical specifications.
Another issue is the use of the very long USB Type-C connector. While the phone is delivered with a suitable adapter, this is easily lost. On top of that, the specification of the display size is simply wrong. While we could perhaps excuse some cheating on render images, buyers will probably be very disappointed when they realize their newly-bought device has a size of 5.66 instead of 5.84 inches.
Blackview BV9700 Pro
- 05/15/2020 v7 (old)
Mike Wobker
Price comparison
