The BV9900 Pro is the ultra-rugged, ultra-reliable smartphone built for intensive outdoor use and most hazardous environments. It’s exceptionally resistant to damage from dropping, water immersion and flushing, shock and impact.. And meets the military standard [MIL-STD-810G] for dustproof, waterproof and shockproof, humidity, solar radiation and temperature extremes,which is a device against the rigor of your job site but also meet your outdoor smartphone needs. It combines a Sony triple rear camera 48MP+5MP+2MP, which adjust light and tone intelligently, and it has a built-in FLIR Lepton thermal imaging camera that locates the heat source and translates it into a thermal image that you can see the temperature. It’s helpful to get the superpower of seeing heat at day or night,and be your survival tool in the wild. Discover more in Blackview BV9900 Pro rugged smartphone review 2020.
In the box
1 x smartphone
1 x Charger (9V/1.67A)(wireless charger not included)
1 x USB Type-C Cable
1 x Earphones
1 x OTG cable
1 x Protective film separately
1 x user manual
Reason to buy – Blackview BV9900 Pro rugged smartphone
The Blackview BV9900 Pro is the world’s fastest thermal rugged smartphone perfect to be used for electrical inspections, HVAC, plumbing, agriculture or fire rescue and first responders. The Blackview BV9900 Pro is tri-proof and ultra-reliable built for intensive outdoor use and most hazardous environments. It offers an exceptional resistance against damage from dropping, water immersion and flushing, shock and impact. The Android rugged phone can even survive extreme temperatures as low as -30℃. Underwater camera mode, a quad camera setup with thermal camera by FLIR and Qi Wireless charging support are additional features of the BV9900 Pro.
Specifications – Blackview BV9900 Pro rugged smartphone
General
- Model Blackview BV9900 Pro
- Released April, 2020
- Status Available
Design
- Type Bar
- Dimensions 156.5*78.3*14.2 mm
- Weight 264 grams
- Waterproof Yes
Display
- Display Type FHD+ waterdrop IPS
- Size 5.84 inches
- Resolution 2280×1080 pixels
- Display Colors 16M
- Pixel Density 400 ppi (pixels per inch)
- Touch Screen Yes
Hardware
- CPU MediaTek Helio P90 (MT6779V/CE) Octa-Core
- GPU IMG 9xm-hp8 970MHZ
- RAM (Memory) 8 GB LPDDR4X
- Internal Storage 128 GB
- Memory Card Slot Yes upto 128 GB
- Sensors Gyroscope, Magnetic, Air pressure sensor, Fingerprint
Software
- Operating System Android 9 Pie
- User Interface Yes
Camera
- Rear Camera 48MP+5MP+16MP+2MP
- Flash Dual LED
- Front Camera 16MP
Network
- SIM Nano SIM
- Dual SIM Dual SIM Dual Standby Dual Nano SIM
Connectivity
- Wi-fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
- USB 24pin TYPE-C
- GPS GPS + GLONASS + Beidou + Galileo
- NFC Yes
- Wireless Charging Yes
- Headphone Jack Yes
Battery
- Capacity 4380 mAh battery 18W Wired & 10W Wireless Charge
- Placement Non-Removable
Media
- Video Playback Yes
- Video Out Yes
- FM Radio Yes
- Ring Tones Yes
- Loudspeaker Yes
- Handsfree Yes
Data
- 4G LTE Yes
- 5G NR Bands No
- Speed FDD: B1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/17/18/19/20/25/26/28A/28B/66 TDD: B34/38/39/40/41
Is it compatible with network?
Global LTE Bands & Dual 4G VoLTE
The BV9900 Pro supports 38 global bands. Regardless of the destination of your journey, you can connect to the local mobile networks with your BV9900 Pro anywhere in the world.
GSM：B2/3/5/8
WCDMA B1/2/4/5/6/8/19 TDS34/39 CDMA BC0/BC1/BC10
TDD：34/38/39/40/41
FDD B1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/17/18/19/20/25/26/28A/28B/66
Important NOTES: Please Confirm Your SIM Card’s Compatibility Before Purchasing!
Blackview BV9900 Pro rugged smartphone comparison
| Blackview BV9900 Pro 4G Rugged Phones Unlocked | OUKITEL WP5 (2020) Rugged Smartphone | Ulefone Armor 7E (2020) Rugged Smartphone Unlocked | Unlocked Cell Phone, Blackview BV9800 Pro Thermal Imaging by FLIR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Screen Size | 5.8 inches | 5.5 inches | 6.3 inches | 6.3 inches |
| Item Dimensions | 6.16 x 3.08 x 0.56 inches | 6.06 x 2.92 x 0.71 inches | 6.53 x 3.19 x 0.53 inches | 6.63 x 3.19 x 0.58 inches |
| Item Weight | 0.60 lbs | 0.61 lbs | 0.64 lbs | 0.88 lbs |
| Operating System | Android 9.0 | Android | — | Android |
Blackview BV9900 Pro rugged smartphone review
Design
It has a smaller volume (78.3 x 15.65 x 14.2mm) and weighs less than the former Blackview flagship (264g vs 322g) while using the same material; metal frame for sturdiness, polycarbonate and TPU for improved grip as well as giving it a tidier, more professional finish.
The BV9900 Pro goes back to a simpler design, still influenced by what we called the 4 + 4 model (four short corners and four long edges), and losing the roundedness of the BV9800 Pro. It feels more compact, more solid and more utilitarian than its predecessor
Processor
The BV9900 Pro swaps the P70 for a P90 processor from Mediatek. The system memory is raised by a third to 8GB and while the storage capacity remains the same at 128GB, it is swapped for one supporting UFS 2.1, which should translate into a much faster storage subsystem. Similarly Bluetooth 5.0 makes a debut in lieu of Bluetooth 4.1.
Storage
Furthermore, the BV9900 Pro features 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128GB UFS 2.1 storage which enables the smartphone to handle multiple tasks at the same time and switch seamlessly between applications. The internal storage can be further expanded by up to 128GB with a microSD memory card.
Camera
On the rear of the Blackview BV9900 Pro is a quad camera system with a 48-megapixel Sony IMX582 main camera, in combination with a 5-megapixel lens, a 2-megapixel camera sensor and a fourth thermal heat camera, helping you to unleash your creativity in photography or videography as well as being a great maintenance tool. In combination with the Helio P90 AI algorithms, the phone features the new FaceCute Portrait mode. The AI-driven 16-megapixel front selfie camera (S5K3P9-SX) offers bokeh effect and adjusts your skin tone based on the ambient light conditions to provide a high-quality selfie. The BV9900 Pro can even capture photos under water up to 1.5m in depth.
FLIR sensor
The back of the BV9900 Pro is where all the action takes place. The heart rate monitor is located near the lower left corner of the device while the FLIR sensor is one of four located at the back with a 5-megapixel depth camera and a fourth 2-megapixel one.
USB
On the right edge are the volume rocker, the power button and a separate fingerprint reader, the left edge contains the SIM tray and a customisable button. The bottom part houses the speaker grill and a covered Type-C USB port.
Blackview BV9900 Pro rugged smartphone performance review
This is how the Blackview BV9900 Pro performed in our suite of benchmark tests:
Geekbench: 398 (single core); 1434 (multi core)
PCMark (Work 2.0): 9476
Passmark: 5723
Passmark CPU: 15189
Androbench (sequential): 516 (sequential read); 196 (sequential write)
Androbench (random): 151 (random read); 31 (random write)
3DMark Slingshot: 2011
3DMark Slingshot Extreme: 1189 (OGL) 1489 (Vulkan)
HWBot Prime: 5406
When it comes to sheer power, the device is up there with the fastest rugged smartphones we’ve tested to date, the Mediatek P90 lot (from Ulefone and Doogee) and the lone Qualcomm Snapdragon 845-powered AGM X3, its upgraded storage delivers almost SATA speeds (at least on read) and is one of the reasons why we encountered absolutely no lags or delays during our session with it.
Is there any better alternative?
There’s only three other widely available smartphones that come with embedded FLIR.
A FLIR-less version of the 9900 Pro, unsurprisingly exists called the BV9900. It comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB onboard storage which makes it an attractive alternative to the likes of the Doogee S95 Pro or the Ulefone Armor 7.
The Cat S61 retails for about $660 and was launched in 2018. It has an older but still capable Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 with half the storage. It does however have an indoor air quality monitor as well as a laser-assisted distance measuring tool. Oh and it was the first rugged smartphone we reviewed that earned a well-deserved 5/5 stars.
The BV9800 Pro is the previous flagship from Blackview and we reviewed it in December 2019. Unsurprisingly, we gave it an Editor’s choice award as it delivered exceptional value for money. You can get it for as low as $450 from Aliexpress and it is still a worthy device if you wanted the cheapest FLIR smartphone. We still think that forking extra for the BV9900 Pro is well worth it.
Even older is the S60, the original FLIR smartphone which costs just under $400. Just bear in mind that it was launched almost four years ago and will struggle to get any meaningful updates having been launched on Android 6.0. It does have 3GB of RAM and 32GB onboard storage which is what you’d get on an entry level Android smartphone and yes, you have that FLIR camera as well.