Blackview R7 Smartphone Review

Name: Blackview R7
Brand: Blackview

Low-budget flagship smartphone? Low-budget flagship smartphone? The R7 is the first self-titled flagship smartphone from the Chinese manufacturer Blackview – for a local price of around 160 Euros (~$180). We will check how the new flagship performs in our in-depth review.

Marcus Herbrich, ✓ Tanja Hinum (translated by Andreas Osthoff), Published 09/13/2016 🇩🇪 🇪🇸 ...

Android Smartphone Phablet Touchscreen

For the original German review, see here.

Being a smartphone for a street price of around 160 Euros, the Blackview R7 is very well-equipped and uses technology, which is usually reserved for premium devices. The 5.5-inch IPS display offers the Full HD resolution (1080p), the 32 GB of internal storage can be expanded and the RAM equipment is quite generous at 4 GB. Just as premium is the octa-core processor Helio P10 (MT6755) from MediaTek with a clock speed of 2.0 GHz. It is also possible to unlock the dual-SIM smartphone via fingerprint scanner.

The LTE smartphone is available in the colors gold (Champagne Gold), silver (Space Silver) as well as grey (Stardust Grey). Possible rivals in this price range include the ZTE Blade V7 Lite, the Coolpad Torino S, the LG K10 as well as the slightly more expensive Honor 5C. The reference device for this review is the current Xiaomi flagship smartphone Mi 5.

Test device courtesy of Blackview

Download your licensed rating image as PNG / SVG

Blackview R7

Processor

Mediatek Helio P10 MT6755 8 x 2 GHz, Cortex-A53

Graphics adapter

ARM Mali-T860 MP2

Memory

4 GB

Display

5.50 inch 16:9, 1920 x 1080 pixel 401 PPI, capacitive, LCD, IPS, glossy: yes

Storage

32 GB eMMC Flash, 32 GB

, 25.43 GB free

Connections

1 USB 2.0, Audio Connections: 3.5 mm stereo jack, Card Reader: microSD (up to 128 GB), 1 Fingerprint Reader, NFC, Brightness Sensor, Sensors: Proximity, Accelerometer, OTG, Miracast

Networking

802.11 b/g/n (b/g/n = Wi-Fi 4/), Bluetooth 4.0, 2G: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz, 3G: 900 / 2100 MHz, 4G: LTE 800 / 900 / 1800 / 2100 / 2600 4G: 1900/ 2300/ 2600 MHz, Dual SIM, LTE, GPS

Size

height x width x depth (in mm): 8.9 x 152 x 78 ( = 0.35 x 5.98 x 3.07 in)

Battery

3000 mAh Lithium-Polymer, Battery runtime (according to manufacturer): 334 h, Talk time 3G (according to manufacturer): 14 h

Operating System

Android 6.0 Marshmallow

Camera

Primary Camera: 13 MPix
Secondary Camera: 8 MPix

Additional features

Speakers: Mono, Keyboard: On-screen, Keyboard Light: yes, modular power adapter, USB cable, screen protector, protective case, Blackview UI, 12 Months Warranty, fanless

Weight

197 g ( = 6.95 oz / 0.43 pounds), Power Supply: 93 g ( = 3.28 oz / 0.21 pounds)

Price

160 Euro

Links

Blackview homepage

Note: The manufacturer may use components from different suppliers including display panels, drives or memory sticks with similar specifications.

see all specifications

[+] Add to comparison

» Compare devices

Case

The chassis of the Blackview R7 is mainly made of the glass and metal materials. The stability of the smartphone is ensured by a massive metal frame, which is one factor for the high weight of 197 grams (~7 oz). The frame areas at the front feel flat and edgy, despite the slightly curved 2.5-D glass made of Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The side areas around the display are comparatively thin at about 2 millimeters (~0.08 in), but the screen-case ratio is still just 70.3%, which is due to the big frames above and below the display.

The metal back cover is slightly rounded and cannot be removed. As with the speaker grilles, it is interrupted by ribbed plastic at the top and bottom. The haptic impression is still quite decent in spite of the size and the high weight. If you hold it with your hands, the Blackview R7 will occasionally produce creaking sounds.

The quality of the case is quite satisfactory for this price range, even though you can dent the rear cover slightly. Only the buttons for volume up/down and standby that are located on the right side of the case were not convincing. The pressure points are not well-defined; they have too much play and as a result, clatter quite a lot.

Connectivity

The internal eMMC storage has a capacity of 32 GB, and you can use 25.43 GB of this for your own data after the initial setup. It is possible to expand the capacity with a microSDXC-card (up to 128 GB) and apps can also be transferred to the card via App2SD functionality.

Technical specifications of the Blackview R7 include an FM radio as well as a fingerprint scanner. You can also attach peripherals such as USB drives at the micro-USB 2.0 port via OTG adapter. The wireless transfer of picture contents to external monitors is also supported.

Software

Blackview ships the R7 with Google's current software Android 6.0 "Marshmallow" with the security patch from March 2016. The user interface within the settings as well as the notification bar was adjusted by the manufacturer. The structure and the layout, however, hardly differ from the standard Android. Installed apps in Blackview's launcher are not listed in an app drawer, but are shown on the home screen.

Despite the selection of the German language, not all parts are translated properly and some were shown in English instead.

Communication and GPS

Small fluctuations for the transfer rates, Iperf client

Small fluctuations for the transfer rates, Iperf server

Local wireless connections can be established via Bluetooth 4.0. The integrated WLAN module supports the IEEE-802.11 standards b/g/n (dual-band) and works both in 2.4 as well as 5 GHz networks. The range of the signal is convenient – the damping in close proximity to the router (Telekom Speedport W921V) is -52 dBm. The Wi-Fi transfer speed between the smartphone and our reference router Linksys EA8500 is just as impressive. The data rates are much higher compared to the Honor 5C and were quite steady without any noteworthy fluctuations during our review.

The Blackview R7 supports mobile networks via GSM (quad-band), UMTS (dual-band) as well as LTE. Thanks to the dual-SIM functionality, you can use two microSIM-cards simultaneously. However, only one slot supports LET, the other is limited to the 2G network. It is quite unusual for imported devices, but the Blackview R7 even supports the 800 MHz band (LTE band 20), which is particularly important for rural areas in Germany. Overall, however, the number of supported frequencies is comparatively low.

Networking
iperf Server (receive) TCP 1 m
Xiaomi Mi 5 Adreno 530, 820 MSM8996, 64 GB UFS 2.0 Flash	316 MBit/s ∼100% +210%
Blackview R7 Mali-T860 MP2, Helio P10 MT6755, 32 GB eMMC Flash	102 MBit/s ∼32%
Honor 5C Mali-T830 MP2, Kirin 650, 16 GB eMMC Flash	49.8 MBit/s ∼16% -51%
iperf Client (transmit) TCP 1 m
Xiaomi Mi 5 Adreno 530, 820 MSM8996, 64 GB UFS 2.0 Flash	265 MBit/s ∼100% +234%
Blackview R7 Mali-T860 MP2, Helio P10 MT6755, 32 GB eMMC Flash	79.4 MBit/s ∼30%
Honor 5C Mali-T830 MP2, Kirin 650, 16 GB eMMC Flash	58.3 MBit/s ∼22% -27%

The smartphone locates its position via GPS satellites. The location outdoors is a bit delayed and accurate down to roughly 4 meters (~13 ft), but the number of satellites is pretty low. A satellite fix is not possible indoors. The overall track length on our bicycle ride (~8 km/~5 mi) differs by 200 meters (~219 yd) between the smartphone and the professional navigation device Garmin Edge 500. The accuracy of the professional GPS is better in general, but the performance of the Blackview R7 is not bad when you consider the price.

Telephone and Voice Quality

The phone app is mostly the standard app from the familiar vanilla Android. Besides speed dial, the app also features a call history as well as direct access to your stored contacts.

The signal quality of the Blackview R7 is good and the voice from our call partner was clear. Unlike the earpiece, the quality of the integrated microphone is bad. It was particularly hard to understand in video calls; our call partner complained of a slightly too quiet and distorted voice.

Cameras

The main camera with an OmniVision 13 MP PureCel sensor (OV13853) is located at the rear of the Blackview R7. As a result, pictures are taken at up to 4160x3120 pixels in a 4:3 aspect ratio. Thanks to the f/2.0 aperture – which describes the ratio between the focal length and the diameter – the sensor captures a lot of light. The edge length, however, is much smaller compared to other sensors from modern flagship smartphones such as the HTC 10 (1.55 µm), for instance.

Pictures taken with the 13 MP camera show sufficient details under good lighting conditions. The sharpness is good and the auto focus works well. The problem of the Blackview R7 is the color accuracy of the pictures. Our sample shots show very warm colors with a red cast (scene 1 & 2: fruit & environment), but also pale and washed-out (scene 3: environment). There is a lot of picture noise in low-light situations.

The front camera takes pictures with up to 8 MP and also uses a sensor from OmniVision (OV8858). The quality of the pictures is good for a device in this price range and absolutely okay for selfies.

Videos can be recorded either in 1080p at 30 frames per second (13 MP camera) or 720p at 30 fps (8 MP camera), respectively.

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.

Scene 1 Scene 2 Scene 3

click to load images

click to load images

click to load images

Accessories and Warranty

Inside the box of the R7 is a modular power adapter, a USB cable, a transparent protective case cover as well as a protective cover for the display.

The manufacturer's warranty is 12 months starting from the day of the purchase.

Input Devices and Handling

There are three non-illuminated capacitive buttons with the typical Android 6.0 design under the display that you can use to control the Blackview R7. Unlike the standard Android, however, their position is switched, which is familiar from Samsung devices (Back, right; Multitasking, left). The sensitivity and the accuracy of the touchscreen are good. Blackview uses the standard on-screen keyboard from Google.

On the back is an active fingerprint scanner to unlock the smartphone. The detection rate could be better, and occasionally, you have to put your finger on the scanner several times before it unlocks the device. The speed of the biometric identification could be improved as well – a Coolpad Torino S recognizes fingerprints faster and is more reliable.

Display

The 5.5-inch LC display of the Blackview R7 has a conveniently high resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, so all the contents are sufficiently sharp thanks to the pixel density of 401 PPI. We can measure a very good luminance of 554 cd/m² for the IPS panel. The more realistic APL50 test determines 552 cd/m² for the center of the screen, so there is hardly any deviation from the maximum value.


506 cd/m²	554 cd/m²	529 cd/m²
503 cd/m²	552 cd/m²	517 cd/m²
504 cd/m²	541 cd/m²	531 cd/m²

Distribution of brightness

LCD

X-Rite i1Pro 2

Maximum: 554 cd/m² (Nits) Average: 526.3 cd/m² Minimum: 28.36 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 91 %
Center on Battery: 552 cd/m²
Contrast: 863:1 (Black: 0.64 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 11 | 0.55-29.43 Ø5.1
ΔE Greyscale 14.3 | 0.57-98 Ø5.4
Gamma: 2.21

	Blackview R7 IPS, 1920x1080, 5.50	ZTE Blade V7 Lite IPS, 1280x720, 5.00	Coolpad Torino S IPS, 1280x720, 4.70	LG K10 IPS, 1280x720, 5.30	Honor 5C IPS, 1920x1080, 5.20	Xiaomi Mi 5 IPS, 1920x1080, 5.15
Screen		25%	12%	18%	22%	36%
Brightness middle	552	312 -43%	360 -35%	370 -33%	515 -7%	598 8%
Brightness	526	302 -43%	358 -32%	355 -33%	498 -5%	566 8%
Brightness Distribution	91	79 -13%	87 -4%	92 1%	93 2%	90 -1%
Black Level *	0.64	0.15 77%	0.45 30%	0.28 56%	0.49 23%	0.51 20%
Contrast	863	2080 141%	800 -7%	1321 53%	1051 22%	1173 36%
Colorchecker dE 2000 *	11	8.2 25%	6.8 38%	6.7 39%	6.2 44%	3.5 68%
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. *	20.8	16.5 21%	11.3 46%	17.8 14%	11.4 45%	6.1 71%
Greyscale dE 2000 *	14.3	9.2 36%	6.2 57%	7.9 45%	7.4 48%	3.5 76%
Gamma	2.21 ^100%	2.29 ^96%	2.14 ^103%	2.21 ^100%	2.28 ^96%	2.29 ^96%
CCT	12996 ^50%	9017 ^72%	7975 ^82%	9072 ^72%	8664 ^75%	6532 ^100%

* ... smaller is better

Both the contrast (863:1) as well as the black value (0.64 cd/m², APL50: 0.66 cd/m²) are below average for an IPS panel, but still sufficient in practice. The smartphone from Blackview also shows significant deficits in terms of color accuracy: DeltaE deviations of 11 (ColorChecker) and 14.3 (Grayscale) are very high, even in this price range. The grayscale also shows a distinct blue cast.

CalMAN ColorChecker (target color space sRGB, picture mode Standard)

CalMAN Colorspace (target color space sRGB, picture mode Standard)

CalMAN Saturation Sweeps (target color space sRGB, picture mode Standard)

CalMAN Grayscale (target color space sRGB, picture mode Standard)

CalMAN ColorChecker (target color space sRGB, picture mode User)

CalMAN Colorspace (target color space sRGB, picture mode User)

CalMAN Saturation Sweeps (target color space sRGB, picture mode User)

CalMAN Grayscale (target color space sRGB, picture mode User)

The outdoor performance of the Blackview R7 is convincing because of the very high maximum luminance. Thanks to the IPS technology, the liquid crystal display provides wide viewing angles and the colors remain stable for a long time.

Display Response Times

ℹ

Display response times show how fast the screen is able to change from one color to the next. Slow response times can lead to afterimages and can cause moving objects to appear blurry (ghosting). Gamers of fast-paced 3D titles should pay special attention to fast response times.

↔ Response Time Black to White
28 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined	↗ 10 ms rise
28 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined	↘ 18 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. » 65 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (22.3 ms).
↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey
32 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined	↗ 10 ms rise
32 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined	↘ 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 0.25 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 33 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is similar to the average of all tested devices (35.1 ms).

Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)

ℹ

To dim the screen, some notebooks will simply cycle the backlight on and off in rapid succession - a method called Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) . This cycling frequency should ideally be undetectable to the human eye. If said frequency is too low, users with sensitive eyes may experience strain or headaches or even notice the flickering altogether.

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 19035 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured.

Performance

Blackview has equipped the R7 with the upper mainstream SoC (System on a Chip) MediaTek Helio P10 MT6755. It consists of eight CPU cores based on the 64-bit Cortex-A53 architecture.

Subjectively, the system performance is very good. The system runs smoothly and almost without delays in practice. Apps are also launched and closed quickly. The browser performance with the browser Chrome (not installed by default) is not that convincing, but still good for this price range. The Helio P10 SoC, which is supported by 4 GB of RAM, can show its potential in the benchmarks and is on par with the Honor 5C, but the other comparison devices cannot keep up with the processor performance.

Besides the CPU, the subjective system performance is also defined by the performance of the internal eMMC storage. The transfer rates are very good in this price range, and only the Honor 5C is on a similar level. The integrated microSD-card slot on the other hand is comparatively slow. We checked the performance with our reference memory card Toshiba Exceria Pro M401 (read up to 95 MB/s, write up to 80 MB/s). Only 16 MB/s (read) and 12 MB/s (write), respectively, are just average at best for this price segment.

AndroBench 3-5
Sequential Write 256KB SDCard (sort by value)
Blackview R7	11.87 MB/s ∼14%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	12.62 MB/s ∼14% +6%
Coolpad Torino S	16.54 MB/s ∼19% +39%
LG K10	45 MB/s ∼52% +279%
Honor 5C	24.21 MB/s ∼28% +104%
Sequential Read 256KB SDCard (sort by value)
Blackview R7	15.56 MB/s ∼10%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	22.77 MB/s ∼15% +46%
Coolpad Torino S	25.79 MB/s ∼17% +66%
LG K10	75.5 MB/s ∼49% +385%
Honor 5C	51.9 MB/s ∼34% +234%
Random Write 4KB (sort by value)
Blackview R7	11.4 MB/s ∼2%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	8.26 MB/s ∼1% -28%
Coolpad Torino S	6.94 MB/s ∼1% -39%
LG K10	7.5 MB/s ∼1% -34%
Honor 5C	15.7 MB/s ∼3% +38%
Xiaomi Mi 5	13.61 MB/s ∼2% +19%
Random Read 4KB (sort by value)
Blackview R7	28.02 MB/s ∼5%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	18.24 MB/s ∼3% -35%
Coolpad Torino S	18.34 MB/s ∼3% -35%
LG K10	9.2 MB/s ∼2% -67%
Honor 5C	61.7 MB/s ∼11% +120%
Xiaomi Mi 5	106.8 MB/s ∼20% +281%
Sequential Write 256KB (sort by value)
Blackview R7	122.7 MB/s ∼4%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	70.3 MB/s ∼2% -43%
Coolpad Torino S	41.81 MB/s ∼1% -66%
LG K10	78 MB/s ∼3% -36%
Honor 5C	75.5 MB/s ∼2% -38%
Xiaomi Mi 5	159.3 MB/s ∼5% +30%
Sequential Read 256KB (sort by value)
Blackview R7	247.6 MB/s ∼5%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	187.3 MB/s ∼4% -24%
Coolpad Torino S	140.3 MB/s ∼3% -43%
LG K10	131 MB/s ∼3% -47%
Honor 5C	263 MB/s ∼6% +6%
Xiaomi Mi 5	459.6 MB/s ∼10% +86%

AnTuTu v6 - Total Score (sort by value)
Blackview R7	50572 Points ∼17%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	23822 Points ∼8% -53%
Coolpad Torino S	22766 Points ∼8% -55%
LG K10	27383 Points ∼9% -46%
Honor 5C	53143 Points ∼18% +5%
Xiaomi Mi 5	116330 Points ∼40% +130%

3DMark
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Score (sort by value)
Blackview R7	10762 Points ∼3%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	3070 Points ∼1% -71%
Coolpad Torino S	4430 Points ∼1% -59%
LG K10	4339 Points ∼1% -60%
Honor 5C	11755 Points ∼3% +9%
Xiaomi Mi 5	29246 Points ∼9% +172%
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Graphics Score (sort by value)
Blackview R7	10334 Points ∼1%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	2645 Points ∼0% -74%
Coolpad Torino S	3858 Points ∼0% -63%
LG K10	3774 Points ∼0% -63%
Honor 5C	11319 Points ∼1% +10%
Xiaomi Mi 5	32613 Points ∼4% +216%
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Physics (sort by value)
Blackview R7	12585 Points ∼11%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	7026 Points ∼6% -44%
Coolpad Torino S	9205 Points ∼8% -27%
LG K10	9106 Points ∼8% -28%
Honor 5C	13588 Points ∼11% +8%
Xiaomi Mi 5	21483 Points ∼18% +71%
2560x1440 Sling Shot OpenGL ES 3.0 (sort by value)
Blackview R7	590 Points ∼5%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	124 Points ∼1% -79%
Coolpad Torino S	52 Points ∼0% -91%
LG K10	52 Points ∼0% -91%
Honor 5C	563 Points ∼5% -5%
Xiaomi Mi 5	3542 Points ∼31% +500%
2560x1440 Sling Shot OpenGL ES 3.0 Graphics (sort by value)
Blackview R7	518 Points ∼3%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	101 Points ∼1% -81%
Coolpad Torino S	41 Points ∼0% -92%
LG K10	41 Points ∼0% -92%
Honor 5C	480 Points ∼3% -7%
Xiaomi Mi 5	4558 Points ∼27% +780%
2560x1440 Sling Shot OpenGL ES 3.0 Physics (sort by value)
Blackview R7	1155 Points ∼21%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	618 Points ∼11% -46%
Coolpad Torino S	735 Points ∼14% -36%
LG K10	730 Points ∼13% -37%
Honor 5C	1418 Points ∼26% +23%
Xiaomi Mi 5	1976 Points ∼36% +71%

GFXBench (DX / GLBenchmark) 2.7
T-Rex Onscreen (sort by value)
Blackview R7	17 fps ∼1%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	8.2 fps ∼0% -52%
Coolpad Torino S	5.3 fps ∼0% -69%
LG K10	9.7 fps ∼0% -43%
Honor 5C	20 fps ∼1% +18%
Xiaomi Mi 5	60 fps ∼2% +253%
1920x1080 T-Rex Offscreen (sort by value)
Blackview R7	17 fps ∼0%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	4.9 fps ∼0% -71%
Coolpad Torino S	9.8 fps ∼0% -42%
LG K10	5.2 fps ∼0% -69%
Honor 5C	19 fps ∼0% +12%
Xiaomi Mi 5	90 fps ∼1% +429%

GFXBench 3.0
on screen Manhattan Onscreen OGL (sort by value)
Blackview R7	4.7 fps ∼1%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	1.8 fps ∼0% -62%
Coolpad Torino S	1.8 fps ∼0% -62%
LG K10	4.1 fps ∼1% -13%
Honor 5C	8.4 fps ∼2% +79%
Xiaomi Mi 5	42 fps ∼12% +794%
1920x1080 1080p Manhattan Offscreen (sort by value)
Blackview R7	4.7 fps ∼0%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	3.4 fps ∼0% -28%
Coolpad Torino S	4.3 fps ∼0% -9%
LG K10	1.8 fps ∼0% -62%
Honor 5C	7.9 fps ∼0% +68%
Xiaomi Mi 5	42 fps ∼2% +794%

GFXBench 3.1
on screen Manhattan ES 3.1 Onscreen (sort by value)
Blackview R7	2.5 fps ∼0%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	1.2 fps ∼0% -52%
LG K10	fps ∼0% -100%
Honor 5C	4.9 fps ∼0% +96%
Xiaomi Mi 5	31 fps ∼1% +1140%
1920x1080 Manhattan ES 3.1 Offscreen (sort by value)
Blackview R7	2.5 fps ∼0%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	2.5 fps ∼0% 0%
LG K10	fps ∼0% -100%
Honor 5C	4.5 fps ∼0% +80%
Xiaomi Mi 5	30 fps ∼1% +1100%

PCMark for Android - Work performance score (sort by value)
Blackview R7	4364 Points ∼22%
Coolpad Torino S	3932 Points ∼20% -10%
LG K10	3999 Points ∼20% -8%
Honor 5C	5120 Points ∼26% +17%
Xiaomi Mi 5	6873 Points ∼34% +57%

BaseMark OS II
Overall (sort by value)
Blackview R7	338 Points ∼4%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	448 Points ∼5% +33%
Coolpad Torino S	602 Points ∼6% +78%
LG K10	536 Points ∼6% +59%
Honor 5C	1225 Points ∼13% +262%
Xiaomi Mi 5	2392 Points ∼25% +608%
System (sort by value)
Blackview R7	1971 Points ∼10%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	801 Points ∼4% -59%
Coolpad Torino S	1102 Points ∼6% -44%
LG K10	1050 Points ∼5% -47%
Honor 5C	2600 Points ∼13% +32%
Xiaomi Mi 5	3638 Points ∼19% +85%
Memory (sort by value)
Blackview R7	1030 Points ∼9%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	487 Points ∼4% -53%
Coolpad Torino S	607 Points ∼5% -41%
LG K10	453 Points ∼4% -56%
Honor 5C	1504 Points ∼13% +46%
Xiaomi Mi 5	1801 Points ∼16% +75%
Graphics (sort by value)
Blackview R7	655 Points ∼2%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	174 Points ∼1% -73%
Coolpad Torino S	321 Points ∼1% -51%
LG K10	310 Points ∼1% -53%
Honor 5C	814 Points ∼3% +24%
Xiaomi Mi 5	4522 Points ∼15% +590%
Web (sort by value)
Blackview R7	10 Points ∼0%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	592 Points ∼25% +5820%
Coolpad Torino S	599 Points ∼25% +5890%
LG K10	562 Points ∼23% +5520%
Honor 5C	707 Points ∼30% +6970%
Xiaomi Mi 5	1106 Points ∼46% +10960%

JetStream 1.1 - Total Score (sort by value)
Blackview R7	25.35 Points ∼5%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	12.73 Points ∼2% -50%
Coolpad Torino S	14.45 Points ∼3% -43%
LG K10	17.48 Points ∼3% -31%
Honor 5C	27.93 Points ∼5% +10%
Xiaomi Mi 5	54 Points ∼10% +113%

Octane V2 - Total Score (sort by value)
Blackview R7	3885 Points ∼4%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	1910 Points ∼2% -51%
Coolpad Torino S	2364 Points ∼2% -39%
LG K10	2838 Points ∼3% -27%
Honor 5C	4188 Points ∼4% +8%
Xiaomi Mi 5	8619 Points ∼8% +122%

Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Total Score (sort by value)
Blackview R7	9748 ms * ∼11%
ZTE Blade V7 Lite	19234 ms * ∼22% -97%
Coolpad Torino S	15784 ms * ∼18% -62%
LG K10	16638 ms * ∼19% -71%
Honor 5C	9111 ms * ∼11% +7%
Xiaomi Mi 5	2973 ms * ∼3% +70%

Legend

Blackview R7 Mediatek Helio P10 MT6755, ARM Mali-T860 MP2, 32 GB eMMC Flash

ZTE Blade V7 Lite Mediatek MT6735, ARM Mali-T720, 16 GB eMMC Flash

Coolpad Torino S Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 MSM8916, Qualcomm Adreno 306, 16 GB eMMC Flash

LG K10 Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 MSM8916, Qualcomm Adreno 306, 16 GB eMMC Flash

Honor 5C HiSilicon Kirin 650, ARM Mali-T830 MP2, 16 GB eMMC Flash

Xiaomi Mi 5 Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 MSM8996, Qualcomm Adreno 530, 64 GB UFS 2.0 Flash

* ... smaller is better

Games

Thanks to the comparatively powerful graphics unit ARM Mali-T860 MP2 of the Helio P10 SoC, the Blackview R7 is well-equipped for all games from the Play Store. Even demanding games such as “N.O.V.A. 3” or “Need for Speed No Limits” run smoothly at high details.

Emissions

Temperature

The smartphone from Blackview does not really warm up while idling – we can measure an even temperature distribution with a maximum temperature of 32.7 °C (~91 °F). This changes under load, where the top in particular gets much warmer up to 41.8 °C (~107 °F), while the lower part stays much cooler. Compared to the rivals, the temperature development of the Blackview R7 is very good.

Max. Load

Idle


38.4 °C 101 F	34.4 °C 94 F	33.4 °C 92 F
39 °C 102 F	35.2 °C 95 F	35.1 °C 95 F
37.8 °C 100 F	34.8 °C 95 F	33.7 °C 93 F

Maximum: 39 °C = 102 F
Average: 35.8 °C = 96 F


32.2 °C 90 F	34.2 °C 94 F	40.1 °C 104 F
32.5 °C 91 F	33.8 °C 93 F	41.8 °C 107 F
32.6 °C 91 F	34 °C 93 F	39.5 °C 103 F

Maximum: 41.8 °C = 107 F
Average: 35.6 °C = 96 F

Power Supply (max.) 33.5 °C = 92 F | Room Temperature 21.1 °C = 70 F | Voltcraft IR-350

(±) The average temperature for the upper side under maximal load is 35.8 °C / 96 F, compared to the average of 32.6 °C / 91 F for the devices in the class Smartphone.
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 39 °C / 102 F, compared to the average of 34.9 °C / 95 F, ranging from 21.9 to 54.6 °C for the class Smartphone.
(±) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 41.8 °C / 107 F, compared to the average of 33.7 °C / 93 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 31 °C / 88 F, compared to the device average of 32.6 °C / 91 F.

Speakers

The mono speaker at the bottom of our test model reaches a maximum volume of almost 75 dB(A). This means that the speaker of the R7 is not as loud as the direct competition – comparable devices often manage more than 80 dB(A). The sound quality is much worse compared to other mainstream devices and appears tinny and distorted. There is too much emphasis on the high tones, while bass is – as expected – not available.

Blackview R7 audio analysis

(±) | speaker loudness is average but good (74.4 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 30.5% lower than median
(-) | bass is not linear (15.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | reduced mids - on average 9.8% lower than median
(-) | mids are not linear (15.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(±) | higher highs - on average 11.7% higher than median
(+) | highs are linear (6.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(-) | overall sound is not linear (42.7% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 99% of all tested devices in this class were better, 1% similar, 0% worse
» The best had a delta of 11%, average was 23%, worst was 65%
Compared to all devices tested
» 99% of all tested devices were better, 0% similar, 0% worse
» The best had a delta of 3%, average was 20%, worst was 65%

ZTE Blade V7 Lite audio analysis

(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (82.6 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 35.5% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (7% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | reduced mids - on average 5.1% lower than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (8% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 2.2% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (2.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (23.4% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 53% of all tested devices in this class were better, 12% similar, 34% worse
» The best had a delta of 11%, average was 23%, worst was 65%
Compared to all devices tested
» 72% of all tested devices were better, 7% similar, 21% worse
» The best had a delta of 3%, average was 20%, worst was 65%

Honor 5C audio analysis

(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (87.9 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 30.8% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (8.1% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | higher mids - on average 7.1% higher than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (8.8% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(±) | higher highs - on average 12.1% higher than median
(+) | highs are linear (2.9% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(-) | overall sound is not linear (32.2% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 94% of all tested devices in this class were better, 2% similar, 4% worse
» The best had a delta of 11%, average was 23%, worst was 65%
Compared to all devices tested
» 95% of all tested devices were better, 2% similar, 3% worse
» The best had a delta of 3%, average was 20%, worst was 65%

Coolpad Torino S audio analysis

(±) | speaker loudness is average but good (81.1 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 39.6% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (8.6% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | reduced mids - on average 7.7% lower than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (8.1% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 2.8% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (3.8% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (28.4% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 84% of all tested devices in this class were better, 5% similar, 11% worse
» The best had a delta of 11%, average was 23%, worst was 65%
Compared to all devices tested
» 89% of all tested devices were better, 3% similar, 8% worse
» The best had a delta of 3%, average was 20%, worst was 65%

Frequency Comparison (Checkboxes select/deselectable!)

Energy Management

Power Consumption

The energy management of the Blackview R7 is not really efficient. Compared to the rivals, we can see much higher consumption values, particularly while idling. At 9.2 watts, the maximum power consumption under load is on par with the Xiaomi Mi 5, which is equipped with a Snapdragon 820 SoC.

Power Consumption

Off / Standby	0.17 / 1.41 Watt
Idle	1.83 / 3.21 / 3.45 Watt
Load	5.67 / 9.16 Watt


Key: min: , med: , max: Metrahit Energy Currently we use the Metrahit Energy, a professional single phase power quality and energy measurement digital multimeter, for our measurements. Find out more about it here. All of our test methods can be found here.

	Blackview R7 3000 mAh	ZTE Blade V7 Lite 2500 mAh	Coolpad Torino S 1800 mAh	Honor 5C 3000 mAh	Xiaomi Mi 5 3000 mAh
Power Consumption		57%	45%	41%	31%
Idle Minimum *	1.83	0.63 66%	0.68 63%	0.89 51%	0.45 75%
Idle Average *	3.21	1.37 57%	2.2 31%	2.07 36%	1.68 48%
Idle Maximum *	3.45	1.71 50%	2.26 34%	2.15 38%	1.71 50%
Load Average *	5.67	2.82 50%	3.47 39%	3.46 39%	6.7 -18%
Load Maximum *	9.16	3.36 63%	3.71 59%	5.18 43%	9.18 -0%

* ... smaller is better

Battery Runtime

Because of the high consumption, particularly under load, the Blackview R7 manages a battery runtime of only 6 hours and 52 minutes in our WLAN test at an adjusted display luminance of 150 cd/m². This is not a bad result, but some of the rivals have much more stamina.

The provided 18-watt power adapter (9V, 2A) needs only about 90 minutes to charge an empty battery.

Battery Runtime


WiFi Websurfing		6h 52min

	Blackview R7 3000 mAh	ZTE Blade V7 Lite 2500 mAh	Coolpad Torino S 1800 mAh	LG K10 2300 mAh	Honor 5C 3000 mAh	Xiaomi Mi 5 3000 mAh
Battery Runtime
WiFi v1.3	412	517 25%	397 -4%	453 10%	584 42%	504 22%

Pros

+ 1080p resolution

+ 4 GB RAM

+ 32 GB ROM

+ bright IPS panel

+ fingerprint scanner

+ LTE (band 20)

+ performance

+ price-performance

Cons

- build quality of the buttons

- speakers

- camera pictures with color cast

- weight

- back value/contrast display

Verdict

In review: Blackview R7. Test model courtesy of Blackview.

If you rate the Blackview R7 as what it is – an inexpensive mainstream smartphone and not really a flagship smartphone, our verdict is pretty positive. The internal storage of 32 GB and 4 GB of RAM are almost oversized for this price class. The combination with the Helio P10 SoC ensures a smooth system performance. Except for the dedicated buttons, even the chassis quality is convincing.

Things we did not like that much include the pretty slow integrated microSD-card reader and the poor sound quality of the speaker. The 13 MP main camera, which is generally sufficient in practice, suffers from a strong color cast, which affects the picture quality – maybe this can still be fixed with a software update. A weight of almost 200 grams (~7 oz) is also quite a lot for a 5.5-inch smartphone.

The R7 cannot meet all the expectations created by the good specification sheet – there are just too many compromises. However, it is still a good overall package for a street price of around 160 Euros (~$180).

Blackview R7 - 2016-09-05 09/05/2016 v5.1^(old)
Marcus Herbrich

Chassis

84%

Keyboard

68 / 75 → 91%

Pointing Device

88%

Connectivity

43 / 60 → 72%

Weight

88%

Battery

89%

Display

80%

Games Performance

23 / 63 → 36%

Application Performance

39 / 70 → 56%

Temperature

89%

Noise

100%

Audio

50 / 91 → 55%

Camera

61%

Average

70%

80%

Smartphone - Weighted Average

Pricecompare

Loading Comments

Comment on this article

Editor of the original article: Marcus Herbrich - Senior Tech Writer - 374 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2016

I have always been very passionately interested in mobile technologies, especially smartphones. Being a tech enthusiast means the half-life of my devices isn’t exactly long, and being the latest hardware is not enough to suffice as the manufacturer and operating system play a minor role – the most important aspect for me is that the device is state-of-the-art. After posting for Mobi Test I joined Notebookcheck in 2016, where I have been pursuing my enthusiasm for technology by reviewing the latest smartphone, tablet, and accessory trends.

contact me via: @Marcus_Herbrich

Translator: Andreas Osthoff - Managing Editor Business Laptops - 1492 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2013

I grew up with modern consumer electronics and my first computer was a Commodore C64, which encouraged my interest in building my own systems. I started working as a review editor for Notebookcheck during my dual studies at Siemens. Currently, I am mainly responsible for dealing with business laptops and mobile workstations. It’s a great experience to be able to review the latest devices and technologies and then compare them with each other.

contact me via: LinkedIn

Please share our article, every link counts!

.170

> Notebook / Laptop Reviews and News > Reviews > Blackview R7 Smartphone Review

Marcus Herbrich, 2016-09-13 (Update: 2018-05-15)

Blackview R7 Smartphone Review

Case

Size Comparison

Connectivity

Software

Communication and GPS

Telephone and Voice Quality

Cameras

Accessories and Warranty

Input Devices and Handling

Display

Display Response Times

Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)

Performance

Games

Emissions

Temperature

Speakers

Blackview R7 audio analysis

ZTE Blade V7 Lite audio analysis

Honor 5C audio analysis

Coolpad Torino S audio analysis

Energy Management

Power Consumption

Battery Runtime

Pros

Cons

Verdict

Pricecompare