Blackview BL9000 Pro Review: A rugged phone built to withstand anything

One of the best aspects of Android is the sheer diversity of available handsets. While many people will opt for one of the best Android devices on the market, others may need something a bit more rugged, something capable of taking on life’s toughest conditions. That’s where devices like the Blackview BL9000 Pro come into play.

The BL9000 Pro is Blackview’s latest rugged flagship and aims to satisfy the most extreme users. If you enjoy the great outdoors, are the adventurous type, or are just sick of your kids breaking your phone, then a well-rounded, rugged device may just be for you.

Price and availability

The Blackview BL9000 Pro was announced in April 2024 and is expected to launch in May. The smartphone’s retail price is $760, but Blackview has slashed that price to $550 during the preorder period. Blackview ships this device in either black or gold colorways. It can be found directly from Blackview or authorized retailers such as Ali Express.

What’s good about the Blackview BL9000 Pro?

Well-rounded and extremely durable

If you value nothing more than having a dependable and durable device, then the BL9000 Pro has that in spades. In addition to its MIL-STD-810H rating, this device carries both an IP68 and IP69K rating. This phone has no issue being submerged in up to 1.5 meters of water for up to 30 minutes. It can also withstand high temperatures and high-pressure jets and operate in environments ranging from -4 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

The BL9000 Pro is also quite the performer. Outfitted with a MediaTek Dimensity 8020, 12GB of LPDDR4X RAM, and 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage, the BL9000 was quite smooth during my testing. Lag was non-existent, allowing for smooth operation. If you push things, the BL9000 Pro can use some of its storage to create virtual RAM, allowing it up to 24GB of RAM. It’s also going to give you a decent gaming experience.

While not nearly as powerful as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, it can play the latest titles with no slowdown. In Geekbench 6, the BL9000 Pro got a single-core score of 1117 and a multi-core score of 3656, which puts this processor in similar territory to the Snapdragon 888 processor.

The viewing experience is also quite good thanks to its large 6.78-inch, 2460 x 1080, IPS, LCD display. It doesn’t have the most accurate colors, and it’s missing the punchy colors of an AMOLED, but it was nice and fluid thanks to its 120Hz refresh rate. The display is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus. This display is glove-friendly, working with some thicker gloves.

With a massive 8800mAh battery, this device measures its battery life in days, not hours. This is especially great if you are frequently without your charger or hate charging your device daily. I could easily make it three full days between charges, and I could have made it four days if I wasn’t actively trying to push it to its limits. It may not be as good as the Unihertz Tank, but it is more than enough for most uses. If your battery runs low, the included 120W charger can get the device from 1 to 50 percent in about 15 minutes or to 100 percent in about an hour.

The BL9000 Pro ships with Android 14 with DokeOS 4.0 on top. DokeOS 4.0 is essentially stock Android, and it surprisingly ships with almost no bloatware. It also has face unlock and the power button doubles as a fingerprint reader.

Unique features

Blackview touts its thermal imaging capabilities, and for good reason. It comes with an FLIR Lepton 3.5, with a 160 x 120 resolution, for some serious thermal imaging capabilities. When using the MyFLIR app, you are presented with what feels like your normal camera app with a twist.

You get a thermal overlay on top of the image you are looking at, allowing you to see a heat map in real-time. This is incredibly useful in a variety of situations. It can help you see animals at night, which can be especially useful when performing activities such as camping. It can also help you identify areas of concern when investigating electrical or even plumbing issues.

The BL9000 Pro comes with dual Harmon Kardon Smart-PA speakers, which can easily double as a portable Bluetooth speaker. In addition to solid sound quality, these are the loudest speakers I have ever heard on a smartphone, and it’s not even close. These speakers are so loud that watching a YouTube video at the lowest volume setting was easily audible. Turning the volume up to the halfway point was more than enough to fill my entire apartment with sound.

What’s bad about the Blackview BL9000 Pro?

Bulky doesn’t begin to cover it

All those great features come at a cost. This device is one of the largest and heaviest I have ever had the pleasure of holding. At 179.5 x 82.6 x 17mm, it is almost unwieldy and makes the Samsung XCover 6 Pro look small in comparison. It’s so large that it doesn’t fit in my deep-pocketed jeans. It physically fits in them, but two to three inches stick out.

You can also forget about one-handed use. It’s just not possible with this thing. In addition to its physical size, it’s got some serious heft to it. At 412g, trying to hold it with one hand can get tiring.

The dual-camera system is also not that great. It comes with a 50MP Samsung ISOCELL GN5 main camera and a 13MP ultrawide camera that doubles as a macro lens. When given ample lighting, the main lens can get some decent-looking shots. As soon as the lights begin to dim, things quickly go downhill. Images become muddy, and colors get washed out.

Should you buy it?

Cutting directly to the chase, a device like the Blackview BL9000 Pro isn’t going to be for everyone, and that’s alright. People who love outdoor activities or work in harsh environments can make great use of a device like this. It was tailor-made for people who like to hike or camp, or for physically demanding jobs such as electricians and construction workers. I can also see this device being used in homes with kids who habitually break phones.

If you can get past the physical stature of this device and its mediocre cameras, then it makes a solid and well-rounded companion. At $760, the price is going to be the biggest hurdle to get over. With solid budget devices that cost hundreds of dollars less, you need to be sure that having a rugged phone is your highest priority.

If it’s at the top of your list, then the BL9000 Pro is hands down one of the best rugged Android devices to date. It also has good overall performance, a decent display, phenomenal battery life, and the loudest speakers I have ever heard. It also has a thermal imaging camera, which can be useful in certain situations.