Blackview BV8800 review

Design, build quality, handling

The Blackview BV8800 is one beautiful, rugged smartphone with a catchy design and solid protection. It was not designed for the mainstream user but for those who need their phone to be with them and even help them in harsh environments where other handsets won't survive for long, like construction sites, factories, or even extreme hiking.

The Blackview BV8800 is both water and shockproof and can take a lot of beating. It has both IP68 and IP69K certifications for dust and water - both normal and pressurized - resistance. It is also shockproof and can easily survive a drop on a concrete floor from up to 1.5m.

There is more! The Blackview BV8800 also covers some MIL-STD-810H standards like high humidity, temperature and altitude shocks, and transport shock. Not surprising, given the rubber elements across its body.

The Blackview BV8800 measures 176.2 x 83.5 x 17.7 mm and weighs 367 grams, which is far from lightweight and compact. Yet, we've seen thicker and heavier rugged devices, so we think that Blackview has struck the right balance between ruggedness, battery capacity, and pocketability.

Most of the front is occupied by the 6.58-inch 90Hz IPS LCD screen. It is surrounded by thick bezels, enough to put a selfie camera on them, and yet Blackview has chosen a notched panel, and the 16MP front camera is in the droplet-shaped cutout. Go figure!

Above the screen is the earpiece, a couple of sensors, and a notification LED light.

The screen is shielded with flat tempered glass, but we don't know its brand. The phone arrives with a pre-installed thin screen protector, which gives it an extra scratch resistance but makes it much more prone to fingerprints and smudges.

The matte back of the Blackview BV8800 is a good-looking piece of thick plastic with metal chassis underneath. Some of the metal frame also stretches over the back for extra grip and shock resistance.

There are two features of interest on the back - the camera setup and a giant lanyard eyehole around the bottom. You can also spot a number of screws across the entire back.

The camera island contains the 50MP primary, the 20MP Night Vision, the 2MP depth and the 8MP ultrawide cameras. Above the shooters, you will see a powerful dual-LED flash, while below them are the two IR emitters used by the Night Vision camera.

There are two small holes on the back panel, and we are pretty sure there is a microphone underneath at least one of them.

The frame of the Blackview BV8800 is quite thick and grippy. Its top and bottom and all four corners are reinforced with what looks like some thick TPU (rubber-like plastic) material, which is great for shock resistance.

The left and right sides are made of brushed metal.

The left side houses the dual-SIM tray and the extra shortcut key intended for PTT purposes, but you can configure it to serve your purposes.

The right side of the Blackview BV8800 has the volume and power/lock keys. The surface of the power button also contains the always-on fingerprint scanner, which takes a while to set up, but works flawlessly.

There is nothing on the top of the Blackview BV8800.

The bottom has the mouthpiece, the speaker, and the USB-C port with a special protective lid.

Handling the Blackview BV8800 was an overall great experience - the phone has all sorts of protections, yet it offers catchy looks and an incredibly comfortable grip. The BV8800 is not an enormous device and can be carried around in most pockets. You probably need both of your hands when you are using it, as single-handed operations are almost impossible outside calls and video playback.

Our only beef is with the notch - it was completely unnecessary.