Outdoor cell phones are characterized as particularly robust smartphones. They are waterproof and usually withstand a fall on hard ground without any problems. But they are usually big and clumsy, even if buyers can definitely save themselves a protective cover (guide). This makes the devices ideal companions for hikes, camping or the next festival.
Manufacturers often save on hardware in order to be able to offer outdoor cell phones at a reasonable price. Often only older and above all slow chipsets, simple LCDs and only mediocre cameras are found. The Blackview BV9200 is different. The outdoor smartphone offers a relatively fast processor and even an LCD with a refresh rate of 120 Hertz. Unusual for this category: The power supply charges really quickly with 66 watts – we have never had that in any outdoor cell phone in our test.
Design
The Blackview BV9200 looks martial and robust – just as you would expect from an outdoor smartphone. The design is octagonal and angular. The back is completely covered with rubber. The metal frame is rubberized at the corners to effectively absorb shocks. Visually, the BV9200 is somewhat reminiscent of sci-fi films from the 1980s.
Filigree is different, the BV9200 is quite bulky (dimensions: 174.5 × 81.8 × 13.6 mm) and quite heavy at 310 g. Sure, there are even heavier smartphones like the Blackview BV7100 (test report). But that also offers a battery that is more than twice as strong. The metal frame is attached to the rubber case by three screws on each side. The back is traversed by several lines and indentations. The camera is flat and hardly protrudes. This means that the smartphone lies on its back without wobbling. The front camera is located in a waterdrop notch.
On the right in the frame is the power button with a fingerprint reader and the volume rocker, on the left there is an orange button that is programmable but is primarily intended for push-to-talk (PTT). There is also a cover for the slot for the nano SIM and the microSD card. It’s not that easy to pull these out. The clasp is watertight, but if you’re not careful, a fingernail can easily break off when you open it. We had some trouble with that.
Certification according to MIL-STD-810H is also typical for this device class. However, you have to be careful here: many manufacturers do not specify exactly which tests were actually carried out for the military standard and use this more for marketing. However, our experience from the tests shows that smartphones with MIL-STD-810H have always been extremely stable. According to Blackview, the BV9200 can withstand a fall of up to 1.5 meters onto a hard surface – which we can confirm.
The cell phone is also waterproof and even offers the highest protection class according to IP69K. The smartphone even survives contact with hot water from a high-pressure cleaner.
Display
The LC display uses an IPS panel and offers a resolution of 2408 × 1080 pixels (Full HD+) with a diagonal of 6.6 inches. This is actually quite high for a device in this category, and outdoor smartphones often have to make do with HD. At a pixel density of 440 pixels per inch (ppi), no more pixels are visible.
The display offers a really good image quality, colors look powerful and rich, contrasts are well balanced. Only the black values cannot keep up with OLED panels, but the usual high viewing angle stability of the IPS panel is convincing. In terms of color, the display looks a bit cool overall. The display is protected by Gorilla Glass 5 from breakage and scratches.
The refresh rate, which reaches up to 120 Hz, is very positive. This is not yet a matter of course for outdoor mobile phones and ensures smooth and fluid animations. In order to reduce the battery consumption a little, 90 or 60 Hz are optionally available. In addition, there is a glove mode that users can use to increase the sensitivity of the display in order to be able to operate the touchscreen with gloves. This works less well with thick winter gloves than with thin leather gloves.
We are less happy with the screen’s maximum brightness. We could measure a relatively meager 500 cd/m² maximum. This means that the display can hardly be read in sunshine – very impractical for an outdoor device.
Blackview BV9200 – photo gallery
Blackview BV 9200 – photo gallery
Camera
Purely in terms of technical data, the camera promises a good package. The main lens uses 50 megapixels, plus a wide-angle lens with 8 megapixels, which is also responsible for macro shots. Luckily, Blackview saves a superfluous macro lens – but it was too soon: The third lens is only on board as an alibi and is responsible for “depth of field” with 0.3 megapixels. There is a 16-megapixel front camera for selfies.
Unfortunately the result is not convincing. The main camera still manages to take decent pictures in daylight. However, the white balance is not always successful, and there is still room for improvement in terms of sharpness. The dynamic range is somewhat limited and struggles to cope with changing lighting conditions. Subjects that are further away can only be captured with low image details. It looks a little better when taking pictures of people or objects from a short distance. In the dark, the lens fails completely without a flash.
The wide-angle lens is weaker, delivering meager image details and results that are paler in color than the main lens. Close-ups in macro mode are also rarely successful and promote blurred images. If desired, it works with selfies, even if the sharpness is not particularly pronounced there and the white balance could be better. Videos are possible with the main camera up to a maximum of 2.5K resolution at 30 frames per second (fps), with the front lens Full HD is possible. The result is impressive – even without optical image stabilization.
Blackview BV9200 – Originalaufnahmen
Blackview BV 9200 – original recordings
Hardware
Many outdoor cell phones often only offer basic equipment. For a smartphone of this type, the BV9200 surprises with a fairly high-performance processor, the Mediatek Helio G96 with two Cortex-A76 and six Cortex-A55 cores. The SoC (System on a Chip) fuels some of the best smartphones up to 300 euros (top list). The system always runs smoothly and without significant delays – it hardly needs any more performance. This is also shown by the solid benchmark values in PCmark (9800 points). The integrated ARM Mali G57 GPU is not quite as strong in terms of graphics performance. 3Dmark’s “Wild Life” scores around 1200 points. The BV9200 is less suitable for graphics-heavy games, but for practically all casual games.
Blackview is generous with the memory, in addition to 8 GB of RAM, the block also comes with a lavish 256 GB of internal memory. However, UFS 2.1 is not the fastest standard installed. An expansion using a microSD card is possible up to 1 TB. NFC and Bluetooth 5.2 are on board, but the BV9200 does not support 5G. The WLAN module with Wifi 5 and USB 2.0 in the Type-C slot is also no longer up to date – but this is often no better even in more expensive smartphones.
The BV9200 cuts a good figure when navigating. According to the GPS test, we came up with a high accuracy of 1 meter. Even flagships don’t always achieve that. The GPS module uses Beidou, Glonass, Galileo and A-GPS for positioning. The phone quality is good, the fingerprint sensor works quickly and reliably. Communication via push-to-talk (PTT) is also possible.
Software
The Blackview BV9200 runs with Android 12, the manufacturer calls its user interface Doke OS (version 3.1). This is based on the original Android from Google, but the icons in the settings are quite colorful. The programmable button can be assigned up to three functions (single tap, double tap, long press) such as PTT, flashlight, SOS or screenshots.
The security patch is from March 2023 and is therefore no longer up to date. Blackview does not state how long updates are planned. We are not optimistic here, regular updates are not to be expected. The system ships with a surprising amount of bloatware, including casual games, but also tools and a health-tracking app.
battery pack
In view of the high weight of the smartphone, we are surprised by the “low” capacity of 5000 mAh. That’s a lot for “ordinary” smartphones, but we are used to longer battery life from some devices like the already mentioned Blackview BV7100 (test report).
We achieved about 10.5 hours in the PCmark battery test. That’s not a bad value, but not particularly high either. The device should last about a day before it has to be connected to the power supply again. However, if you use it a lot for navigating, then the consumption can increase quickly – for an outdoor device, that’s a bit small overall.
The faster the BV9200 is charged. With the included 66 watt power supply, the cell phone is fully charged in around 45 minutes – we’ve never had that with any outdoor smartphone. Even wireless charging is possible, also fast with up to 30 watts.
Preis
Normally, the Blackview BV 9200 costs around 340 euros. The outdoor smartphone is currently available at Amazon at a significantly reduced price (-15 percent) for 289 Euro. That’s a fair price considering the equipment. The colors available are black and black with green or orange elements.
Conclusion
The Blackview BV9200 is a good outdoor cell phone and a decent smartphone in many areas. It looks almost indestructible and is still one of the faster representatives of its kind. Fast charging with 66 watts has never been achieved before in devices of this type. The LCD reaches up to 120 Hz, the performance is also more than solid.
The BV9200 has to give up when it comes to the rather average battery life. Despite the solid number of megapixels, the camera is disappointing in most disciplines. The display is too dark for use in sunshine and buyers are looking for 5G in vain. If you are still looking for a smartphone that is as stable as possible, with good performance for occasional snapshots and is less interested in a long battery life, the BV9200 is the right choice.