Blackview BL5000 Review: Good for gaming

The Blackview BL5000 model with its gaming preferences brings real refreshment in the segment of robust smartphones, and the company makes this clear to us with its visual identity. In order for users or customers to immediately recognize that the Blackview BL5000 is capable of gaming, the company based the design of this device largely on Xiaomi’s Black Shark gaming series of smartphones.

Anyone who has had the opportunity to use a rugged smartphone so far is well aware that they come with proportions that differ significantly from conventional smartphones. The reason for this is the additional reinforcements on the structure in order to achieve the highest possible strength. As a result, rugged smartphones are generally bulky and awkward, and all this is accompanied by considerable weight.

The Blackview BL5000 smartphone can be found in this story, but unlike other resistant smartphones, you will hardly notice that you are using a device designed for the most extreme conditions. When you get your hands on the Blackview BL5000, the first thing you will think of is that it is a standard smartphone that has a plastic protective cover.

The rugged case of the Blackview BL5000 smartphone is without a doubt the main trump card of this device, and it will offer its users a whole range of resistances in various areas and in various conditions. To begin with, let’s start with the IP68 certificate, which guarantees protection and resistance to sand, dust, dirt, water, moisture and salt fog.

According to the company, this device should survive 30 minutes in water at a depth of 1.5 m. Even falls or accidental impacts thanks to the MIL-STD 810G certificate should not be a problem, as it is stated that its housing can withstand falls from a height of up to 1.5 m on hard surfaces. The list of resistances in extreme conditions does not end there, because this device can be used even in extreme temperatures from -30 ° C to 55 ° C.

The back panel and frame of the Blackview BL5000 smartphone is made of plastic, and thanks to the ribbed relief pattern, no fingerprints remain on it, and the most important thing is more securely in the hand. Apparently, this is a product made of very high quality plastic that works very firmly and with quality in the hands, and at no time did the plastic creak or crack, nor did it bend. The thickness of the frame around the screen is in accordance with the category and purpose of this device.

At the center of the rear panel is a triple camera module with a single LED flash, and the good thing is that it is flush with the rear panel so that the Blackview BL5000 does not sway when used when it is placed on the table. Just below the cameras is an NFC tag that has RGB LED backlighting and serves as a kind of notification light.

The right edge of the device brings a standard arrangement of buttons for turning on and adjusting the volume. Inside the power button is an integrated fingerprint sensor that works very quickly and accurately. The lower part of the device is reserved for the microphone, USB Type-C port and speaker, while the SIM card tray is located on the left side of the frame. The USB Type-C port and SIM card tray come with an additional cover, which provides additional protection to prevent water and dust from penetrating. We don’t remember the last time we tested a smartphone with a notification light, and the Blackview BL5000 model has two. In addition to the one already mentioned on the back panel, this smartphone has another notification light on the front panel above the screen.

The Blackview BL5000 model features a large enough 6.36" screen with a selfie camera hole in the upper left corner. Given the thickness of the edges around the screen, we have the impression that this selfie camera could have been comfortably placed on a frame at the top of the screen. The resistance and durability of the screen covered with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protective glass have not been neglected either. The Blackview BL5000 smartphone has a body measuring 164 x 80.4 x 12.8 mm, which is almost in line with today’s standards for some standard smartphones, and in addition, its weight of 273 grams is quite acceptable for a resistant smartphone. Screen

Having given the technical details regarding the screen resilience of the Blackview BL5000 smartphone, we will now write a few words about the aspect of this screen related to image display. Thus, the front of the Blackview BL5000 is dominated by a 6.36-inch IPS LCD screen with FHD + resolution that covers 84% ​​of the front panel area. We can say that it offers a very good color display and contrast for this category of devices. The company does not state the exact data on the brightness of this screen, but we can confirm that the visibility, when used outdoors, is quite satisfactory.

One of the most desirable features of the screen lately is the highest speed of image refresh, which is especially evident in gamer-oriented smartphones. However, users of the Blackview BL5000 can only count on the standard 60Hz screen refresh rate, while the 120Hz touch response speed will improve the gaming experience.

In the screen settings, it is possible to additionally adjust the color temperature and brightness of the screen, and it was best for us to leave it at automatic settings. The screen settings are standard and slightly blank, so you can only turn “Night Mode” and “Dark Mode” on or off, thanks to which the screen uses a dark color palette for system and application backgrounds, and the main task is to reduce eye strain. when the device is used in darker areas with less natural light. Hardware

The Blackview BL5000 smartphone relies on the MediaTek 700 (MT6833) processor, which was created for those users who want an affordable mid-range device, and support for 5G networks is also important. MediaTek Dimensity 700 is a 7nm processor consisting of two large Cortex-A76 cores running at 2.2 GHz and six small Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 2.0 GHz combined with a large L3 cache with ARM G57 MC2 graphics running at clock speed of 950MHz. MediaTek states that this is the most energy efficient processor in its class and brings enough power for all the daily needs of users.

The choice of MediaTek Dimensity 700 processors confirms that the target audience of the Blackview BL5000 smartphone is one that is not too demanding when it comes to performance, but with some basic use of smartphones, their priority is 5G connectivity. In terms of memory configurations, the Blackview BL5000 smartphone is only available in 8 GB LPDDR4X RAM and 128 GB UFS 2.2 internal memory. The memory of this device cannot be further expanded with MicroSD cards.

What we can conclude after using this smartphone is that the specified hardware configuration works quite solidly and does all everyday tasks well. The Blackview BL5000 was not created for those who expect a lot in the field of games, but it proved to be quite capable of running even the most demanding games. Some of the unavoidable features of gaming smartphones are certain cooling technologies, which is desirable for long-term gaming, and the Blackview BL5000 smartphone is not far behind. The company states that this smartphone comes with liquid cooling technology via 3D copper tubes that allow the processor temperature to be reduced by 8.5 ° C.

On this smartphone, we have already tested the standard package of demanding games that the Blackview BL5000 can not only run but is quite capable of comfortable gaming. Even playing PUBG games in HD settings is not too much for this device, and the game runs smoothly and without noticeable slowdowns or jerks. What we can conclude after using this smartphone is that the above hardware configuration provides the user experience that is expected for a mid-range device, and those who sometimes like to play games will not be disappointed either. It’s not always lightning fast, but it does everything very smoothly and without too much downtime, so we have the impression that the hardware configuration of the Blackview BL5000 smartphone, led by the MediaTek Dimensity 700 processor, is one of the better sides of this device. If you are not a demanding user, you can be sure that the Blackview BL5000 smartphone will provide you with more than enough power for all your usual actions. Cameras

A larger number of cameras has long been a standard for rugged smartphones, and this standard is followed by the Blackview BL5000 model. Inside the rear camera module is the primary 12 MP Sony IMX362 f / 1.75 aperture sensor with six lenses and 1.4μm large pixels. This is a fairly old model of sensor that first appeared in smartphones back in 2017. The manufacturer states that this camera achieves high focusing speed, better stabilization and significantly increases the ability to collect light. The primary camera is equipped with a 16 MP ultra-wide-angle sensor of 125 °, which comes to the fore when taking group photos or landscapes. A little strange, but the company does not provide any data on the third sensor contained in this module, but it is to be assumed that this is a depth sensor. Let’s mention that the LED flash is located inside this module.

Obviously, Blackview put more emphasis on some other features with this smartphone, and accordingly, our expectations from these cameras were not high. Despite this, the Blackview BL5000 smartphone proved to be very solid in the field of photography, of course, considering that this is a device with middle-class hardware specifications.

The camera app is very easy to use and is set so that the most commonly used shooting modes like photos and videos are available as soon as the app launches, and it is a pleasant surprise that one such smartphone also comes with night shooting mode.

The resulting photos in automatic settings have a resolution of 12 MP and are in conditions with enough lighting of very good quality with enough detail and solid color display, but photos in night conditions or low light conditions are expected to have a lot of noise and washed out colors. One of the more interesting camera options in the Blackview BL5000 smartphone is Underwater mode or underwater mode which allows you to use the camera underwater. This feature works by using the physical side keys to take photos. Just be careful because you need to take into account that this smartphone is waterproof only up to a depth of 1.5 m.

The rear camera of the Blackview BL5000 smartphone also boasts some standard video recording capabilities for a mid-range smartphone, and the user is only able to record videos in HD, FHD and 2K resolution at 30 fps.

The front camera, just like the rear, comes with a portrait mode for taking photos with a bokeh effect, and a 16 MP camera with Samsung S5K3P9SP aperture sensor f / 2.0 is in charge of getting a selfie portrait. The front camera supports Samsung Tetracell technology to increase light sensitivity to improve image quality in both light and dark lighting conditions. In addition to taking photos and recording, this camera also serves as a Face Unlock feature with which the device is unlocked by recognizing the user’s face. Audio and video

The speaker hole on the Blackview BL5000 smartphone is located on the bottom next to the USB Type-C port. The company has not forgotten the sound of the 1217 ultra-linear speaker with a large physical cavity of 0.9 cc in the BL5000 model. The speaker pleasantly surprised us with its volume, but the sound quality is still at the level of mid-range smartphones.

The Blackview BL5000 smartphone does not bring a 3.5mm audio output which will not appeal to those who like to connect their headphones this way. We can say that users for the amount invested will be satisfied with the multimedia capabilities of the Blackview BL5000 smartphone, and the same goes for watching videos that are comfortable thanks to the large enough 6.36-inch screen.

Operating system, additional applications

The Blackview BL5000 smartphone is based on the Android 11 operating system, on top of which is the company’s Doke OS 2.1 user interface, which in addition to the standard ones also brings some gaming features for a better gaming experience. This primarily refers to Game mode, which brings some useful features for players such as preventing wrong touches, blocking calls or notifications, and freeing up working memory.

Apart from the pre-installed five or six games, there are almost no bloatware applications on the Blackview BL5000 smartphone. In fact, there is not much to add, the software side of the Blackview BL5000 smartphone is very well done, and most importantly, everything works quickly and fluidly. Connectivity

Support for 5G networks in the smartphone industry is slowly becoming standard even with mid-range devices, and we can see it more and more often with robust smartphones, and our test Blackview BL5000 model can also boast of it.

Although manufacturers are happy to promote 5G support as a very desirable feature, which is why we will be happy to set aside a slightly higher amount for a smartphone, it should be taken into account that the 5G network is still not available to everyone.

With the Blackview BL5000 smartphone, the SIM tray can hold two Nano SIM cards at the same time, both of which can work on a 5G network.

Those who like to control TVs, air conditioners and other household appliances with a smartphone will probably not be thrilled by the fact that the Blackview BL5000 does not come with an infrared port. In terms of positioning, the Blackview BL5000 has support for GPS, Glonass, Beidou and Galileo. WiFi signal reception was quite solid, and the Blackview BL5000 also offers NFC support. Battery

One of the key points of this rugged smartphone is the 4,980 mAh battery that Blackview claims should provide at least one day of autonomy in extreme use. This large battery comes in combination with MediaTek 5G UltraSave technology for better autonomy. Let’s mention that this robust smartphone comes with fast charging technology, so the device comes with a 30W fast charger, and charging of course takes place via USB Type-C port.

Throughout the day of using the Blackview BL5000 smartphone, which includes our standard actions such as email synchronization, social networking, surfing, taking photos and playing games, about 60% of the battery would remain at the end of the day, which will be more than satisfactory for most users. In any case, even if you overdo it by playing demanding games, the battery of this smartphone will last until the end of the day. We can conclude that this high-capacity battery will last most users for approximately two days. In addition to very good autonomy, this device also boasts 30W fast charging, and the company states that it takes 78 minutes to fully charge.