Blackview P6000 Review: Big Battery Android On A Budget

One of the major reasons people like Huawei flagships is because the Chinese company manages to cram a larger battery into its flagships than Samsung, Apple or any other mainstream phonemakers are willing to do. The Huawei P20 Pro, for example, has a 4,000 mAh battery, offering battery life that’s almost twice as long as what one would get on an iPhone X.

But if people want even larger batteries, then they’ll have to turn to smaller Chinese brands, who are willing to push the envelope even further to capture that niche market. Case in point: Shenzhen-based Blackview, which has been known for releasing some thoroughly rugged and durable phones. Its recent release the P6000 packs a battery with a capacity of — as the name suggests — 6,000 mAh.

I’ve tested the handset on and off for a few weeks now, and yes, the phone is a beast in terms of battery life.

To me, the P6000 is about the perfect blend of large battery while still maintaining a reasonable form factor. Other big batteried devices out there, such as the Oukitel K10000 Pro, may offer even more juice, but it comes at the expense of form factor — that phone was so chunky it was virtually impossible for me to lug around on a day-to-day basis. The P6000’s 0.4-inch thickness, while not slim, is definitely not too bulky. The shiny glass back also helps the phone appear sleeker than it is.

Ben Sin

The 5.5-inch display is wrapped by bezels that aren’t huge, but aren’t small either.

The device features a 5.5-inch 1080 X 1920 LCD panel with decent brightness and color accuracy. The bezels on top and below the screen aren’t large, but they’re not quite small either. Overall the design is good for a large battery phone, but it falls behind Blackview’s previous releases, such as the S8.

Running Android 7.1 and not Oreo and with Blackview’s Android skin on top, the software experience isn’t the greatest, but I found that Nova Launcher installs easily and manages to stick on this phone, and once Nova Launcher is applied the phone feels reasonably snappy and pleasing to look at.

The Helio P25 chipset inside is above average for a phone at this price point — around $270 — but they obviously fall behind any of the big name handsets running Qualcomm or Exynos chipsets.

Blackview advertises a dual 21-megapixel camera on the back, but as per usual with these smaller Shenzhen brands, the second camera is suspect, as bokeh shots are, well, fake. The depth-0f-field blur is completely digital trickery and not actual dual-camera work. At least the main camera can produce solid photos if you’re using it during the day. At night, however, I wouldn’t even bother.

The main draw of this phone is obviously the battery, and as I already mentioned Blackview delivers on that front.

Ben Sin

The P6000 did very well on the PC Mark batter test.

As you can see from the photo above, the P6000 lasted almost seven and half hours on PC Mark’s battery test. If you’re not familiar with this benchmark test, it pushes the phone nonstop, running intensive CPU tasks such as video editing and 3D graphic rendering, while keeping the display on at full brightness, all the way from 100% down to 20%. That the P6000 lasted over seven hours under that scenario is impressive, considering the Samsung Galaxy S9 only can last about three hours and 45 minutes under the same test. Keep in mind this is intensive use of the phone, so under normal use, you should get at least eight to nine hours of screen-on time, which almost certainly means the phone will go an entire day unless you’re seriously a phone addict.

Ben Sin

The 5.5-inch display is serviceable.

All the other basic smartphone sensors you’d expect in 2018 are here: the phone has gyroscope, GPS, proximity and ambient light sensors, and they all work. Connectivity is fine too, but obviously the phone can’t quite reach the top speeds found on a flagship device with a more high-end modem like the Huawei Mate 10 Pro or Samsung Galaxy S9. But then again, why am I comparing $900 phones to $270 phones?

Ultimately, if you need a phone that will surely last an entire day but can still fit in your pocket, the P6000 fits the bill. Just keep expectations modest outside of the battery — this isn’t a phone that will blow you away in processing power or camera capabilities.

source:-forbes