Ok.
The good, and the bad:
The good: Battery life is insane. Before I connected to a carrier, I left it connected to wifi and turned on. It ran for over a WEEK! And still had 45% battery left. Best battery, I have ever seen in a phone, by far. My old Samsung Galaxy 5s would be dead by noon whether I used it, or not.
Screen image quality is amazing.
Sound quality in calls, equally excellent.
FLIR, works well, and has enough features to be very useful.
Phone is almost indestructible. It is heavy, and solid. Best build quality I have ever seen. This phone will last forever. Most phones feel light, cheap and plasticky. This phone feels expensive. When you pick it up, you know this is no ordinary phone. This, is a Blackview. I love it.
There are NO, ADVERTS built into this phone. I left Sprint, because they kept stuffing more ads into my phone. It was intolerable. I love this phone, just because it has no advertising.
The bad:
Guys, this thing needs work.
I bought this, brand new.
For starters, what, is the difference between 9800, and 9800 PRO? NOWHERE in your sales literature, does it say. It costs an extra 100$ to buy a 9800 PRO. What extra features am I buying with my extra 100$? Doesn't say. Anywhere. Is it faster? Does it have more memory? Is the screen or camera better? I could not find out. I bought a PRO just because I wanted the best. I still do not know what makes a 9800 PRO better than a 9800.

Right out of the box, it doesn't work. I place a call, the screen goes black and stays stuck until either the call ends, or I force-restart the phone. Does not respond to screen touch, only power buttons and volume control work. Proximity calibration does not work. I tried the calibration instructions I found on this forum: No good, the screen just returns to last screen.
 I cannot receive calls at all. The phone rings, the screen goes black, and locks. I cannot answer the call, or do anything until the caller gives up and hangs up and ends the call.

By browsing this forum, I discovered that, 1: I'm not the only one who has this problem, 2: Somebody discovered a workaround... apparently, you can stop the screen from going black by plugging in headphones into the 3.5mm jack. And 3: The only solution offered so far is, "email support."

I should not have to "email support" to get a brand new phone to work properly. My smashed, six year old Galaxy 5S works better than this.

 There are several misspellings and mistakes in the GUI. "Night camema?" Two problems: 1: There IS no "night camema", the phone has false advertising. The night camera must be purchased separately. Second, the word "camera" is spelled, "camera" not "camema". You're supposed to have someone quality check the software package before releasing it.

 Misspelled words in a technical device make it look like the device is counterfeit or fake. I thought I had bought a fake Blackview phone.

"Sim toolkit" app does not work. Try to use it, it says, "sim toolkit is not ready or unsupported" If it is unsupported, why is it in this phone?

Dual SIM slots: Whose idea was it, to design the phone, so you can have dual SIM cards, OR one SIM card and one T-flash card, but not both? If you want to use the flash card, the 2nd SIM slot capability is useless. If you actually want a 2-SIM phone, the flash memory slot is useless.

The manual: There isn't one. In-phone support is extremely limited. You have to figure out, a chinese-built phone, with no manual. You're on your own. Good luck. I hope you're technical.

Feature Toolbox: Not bad, but all of it, only works in kilometers and centimeters. I am American. We use inches and miles. There is no way to change the units for the entire device. There is no way to change the units for the Toolbox. The only place I have found where you can change units, is temperature... you can select Celsius or Fahrenheit. The rest of the phone assumes you want metric, and only metric. Unacceptable.

Voicemail: There IS no voicemail. No app, no instructions, NOTHING. I learned from a friend, that I can direct-dial the voicemail at my carrier by dialing *68. If I had not been told this, I would never have voicemail at all. I could not even do THAT, until after I found out that I can at least make calls while there is something in the headphone jack.

Verdict:
Build Quality: 10. Perfect Score. Toughest, heaviest, most awesome smartphone ever. This thing makes my old Samsung look like a cheap Kia by comparison. I didn't even know anyone MADE a phone this good till somebody showed me one. If we can get the rest of it to work, I'm in love.

 Usability: 4. Poor.  I had to do research, to find out how to connect by USB just to load some files onto the phone. The phone connects to PC, but stays locked until you find the controls for -how- to use the USB. Again, it should not require hours of research to find out how to use a phone. "Select USB Function: Tether, Data, USB Mass Storage, PTP," should pop up automatically when connected. It doesn't. It just sits there, leaving you wondering, why you can't put files on it, and why Windows can't look into it and see it as a drive. You have to figure it out yourself, with hours of research and experimenting, and no manual. Good luck.

Hardware: Cameras, Screen, CPU, Battery: 10. Perfect score. Pictures are crisp. Wifi, just works. 4G signal, very strong everywhere. Body and casing, almost indestructible. Very poor SIM and Tflash card slot design, other than that, this thing is amazingly well built.

Software: 4.5... Poor/Mediocre. If I want voicemail, I have to go find my own app for that. Same goes for a number of other functions. I should not have to go download apps to get the phone to function fully. I thought I was buying a fully functional, developed phone. I was wrong.
 
Total phone score: 7.5. The amazingly good hardware saves this phone from the junk bin. If it were not so well built, I would rate it as cheap, chinese knockoff junk due to the badly thought out software and even worse quality control. If it actually worked, out of the box, without requiring heroic measures, workarounds and research just to even make a call with it, I would rate this phone a solid 9.5+. But as it stands now, if it were put on the open consumer market and advertised alongside the Galaxy and Iphone lines, it would be a disaster, and everyone buying one would sue the maker and return the phone for something else.

I'm going to keep it, and hope we can sort out all the issues, because it is that good, IF it is fixable.

Recommendation: Blackview, hire a team of white people, Americans, educated, technical cellphone users who can spell words in English, who can catch garbled syntax and poor translations to English, and who will report what the phone does badly and get it to work properly before this phone's next release.

It's a good review.. Only thing that I would like to inform you about the bv9800 and pro is that the pro has the flir camera and you are paying the extra 100 dollars for the thermal camera. But you don't get the wide angle lens which is on the bv9800.
I wish the phone was a bit lighter in the 200gm category and the customer softwares would be a bit better... There is no support for widgets and many banking or security apps with fingerprint support dose not work. Software support is almost non existant

Very first of all, keep in mind that Blackview is a Chinese company and that you payed half the price you would have payed for any other brand with the same features.

disposablemeatpuppet wrote:

For starters, what, is the difference between 9800, and 9800 PRO? NOWHERE in your sales literature, does it say. It costs an extra 100$ to buy a 9800 PRO. What extra features am I buying with my extra 100$? Doesn't say. Anywhere. Is it faster? Does it have more memory? Is the screen or camera better? I could not find out. I bought a PRO just because I wanted the best. I still do not know what makes a 9800 PRO better than a 9800.

From the product page > parameters :
Rear Camera
BV9800: 48MP + 16MP + 5MP
BV9800 Pro: Thermal Imagery + 48MP+5MP

disposablemeatpuppet wrote:

Right out of the box, it doesn't work. I place a call, the screen goes black and stays stuck until either the call ends, or I force-restart the phone. Does not respond to screen touch, only power buttons and volume control work. Proximity calibration does not work. I tried the calibration instructions I found on this forum: No good, the screen just returns to last screen.
 I cannot receive calls at all. The phone rings, the screen goes black, and locks. I cannot answer the call, or do anything until the caller gives up and hangs up and ends the call.

By browsing this forum, I discovered that, 1: I'm not the only one who has this problem, 2: Somebody discovered a workaround... apparently, you can stop the screen from going black by plugging in headphones into the 3.5mm jack. And 3: The only solution offered so far is, "email support."

It's probably a simple calibration problem
Open the phone application, dial *#87# to open the factory test menu
tap MMI1>single test>Distance Calibration
Follow the instructions. (the sensor is near the front camera)
Pass the test.
You can then test it with the Distance sensor .
DON'T MESS WITH ANYTHING ELSE
When done press the back button several times until you see the phone app.

disposablemeatpuppet wrote:

There are several misspellings and mistakes in the GUI. "Night camema?" Two problems: 1: There IS no "night camema", the phone has false advertising. The night camera must be purchased separately. Second, the word "camera" is spelled, "camera" not "camema". You're supposed to have someone quality check the software package before releasing it.

 Misspelled words in a technical device make it look like the device is counterfeit or fake. I thought I had bought a fake Blackview phone.

Please read this post viewtopic.php?f=286&t=532531#p858369

disposablemeatpuppet wrote:

"Sim toolkit" app does not work. Try to use it, it says, "sim toolkit is not ready or unsupported" If it is unsupported, why is it in this phone?

Read "Unsupported by your SIM card"

disposablemeatpuppet wrote:

Dual SIM slots: Whose idea was it, to design the phone, so you can have dual SIM cards, OR one SIM card and one T-flash card, but not both? If you want to use the flash card, the 2nd SIM slot capability is useless. If you actually want a 2-SIM phone, the flash memory slot is useless.

Just like almost every dual-sim phones.

disposablemeatpuppet wrote:

The manual: There isn't one. In-phone support is extremely limited. You have to figure out, a chinese-built phone, with no manual. You're on your own. Good luck. I hope you're technical.

There is a hardware manual in the box. And it's an android phone so the software manual is here : https://support.google.com/android

disposablemeatpuppet wrote:

Feature Toolbox: Not bad, but all of it, only works in kilometers and centimeters. I am American. We use inches and miles. There is no way to change the units for the entire device. There is no way to change the units for the Toolbox. The only place I have found where you can change units, is temperature... you can select Celsius or Fahrenheit. The rest of the phone assumes you want metric, and only metric. Unacceptable.

Again, BV a Chinese company, they use SI units like everyone. It is taught in every country in the world, even the USA. Only 2 or 3 countries still use Imperial units along with SI. Totally acceptable

disposablemeatpuppet wrote:

Voicemail: There IS no voicemail. No app, no instructions, NOTHING. [...]

Yes there is, like every other Stock Android phone, it's in the phone app. Settings > Voicemail.
Then you can long-press the 1 on the dial-pad to quick-call it, just like on the firsts mobile phone.

disposablemeatpuppet wrote:

I had to do research, to find out how to connect by USB just to load some files onto the phone. The phone connects to PC, but stays locked until you find the controls for -how- to use the USB. Again, it should not require hours of research to find out how to use a phone. "Select USB Function: Tether, Data, USB Mass Storage, PTP," should pop up automatically when connected.

It lights-up the screen and show a notification telling you to tap it if you want to do more than charging. Pretty clear imho.

Recommendation : open your narrow mind and quit the condescending tone if you don't want everyone to speak to you the same way.

Pardon my sarcasm and exasperation.
It did not seem unreasonable to expect the phone's development to have been completed. That includes things like selecting units, basic spelling in the interface, and making sure their phones actually work prior to shipping.
I have owned 5 Android phones prior to this one. All through Sprint. On all 5, the voicemail app was presented as an icon on the main screen alongside the phone app itself. It also appeared in the "apps" screen along with all other functions. It was not necessary to dig through settings to find it. This is the first Android phone I have owned that built the voicemail into a hidden settings submenu off the phone app. Thank you for the pointer- Once I knew where to look, I found it.

Not to be rude, but, there IS no manual. There is a tiny pamphlet included with the phone with basic SIM and flash insertion instructions, some simple pictorial graphics, and the usual useless boilerplate cautions not to microwave your phone or abuse it. Out of 56 pages in the pamphlet only 7 pages are in English, half of that nonverbal images. The rest is repeats in other languages.

 I clicked your link to online Android manuals, and all it did was prove my point. It led to a page where you have to select which manufacturer's Android build manual you are looking for... Blackview is not on the list. There is no Blackview-specific info available.

I tried the #87# calibration. The phone simply returned to previous screen. I tried it again this time with headphones plugged in using the workaround. This time, it did not ignore the request, but it instead displayed a dialing screen saying "Server Unavailable" then terminated the call. I CAN force the sensor to respond... if I make a call, -then- unplug the headphones, the screen stays alive. If I put the phone to my head, it goes black, as it should... detecting that I had put the phone to my head and thus needed the screen turned off. Ergo, the sensor works. But then it stays black and does not respond to any further keypresses unless the call is either terminated at the other end, or I force-reboot it.

 I tried emailing BV Support. I got a reply in broken english from someone who did not understand the question and offered, "Hello Cusomter,
We can send you a new screen, if you can take it to repair?" Um, that's not how defective phone handling works, guys.

 I facepalmed and thought, "forget it..." There is no way I will get useful assistance past a comprehension and language barrier like that.

"Just like all dual sim phones" Pardon me. This is my first one.

Bottom line, I'm returning it for another. if the next one is this bad, I am done with Chinese phones until they get the idea that half-finished features and phones that don't work, even brand new, are not acceptable to the American market. Neither is putting out a phone with no manual and no support that speaks english.

pascoals wrote:

It's a good review.. Only thing that I would like to inform you about the bv9800 and pro is that the pro has the flir camera and you are paying the extra 100 dollars for the thermal camera. But you don't get the wide angle lens which is on the bv9800.
I wish the phone was a bit lighter in the 200gm category and the customer softwares would be a bit better... There is no support for widgets and many banking or security apps with fingerprint support dose not work. Software support is almost non existant

The shock launcher support widgets, long tap on the desktop. You can also use alternative launcher. I don't like the stock one so I personally use Launcher Oreo 8.1, very fast, simple and highly customizable, based on the original Oreo launcher.
I use the fingerprint authentication with 3 banking apps, Paypal and 2 other security apps without problems. You need to activate it first in the Settings > security > fingerprint.

disposablemeatpuppet wrote:

I have owned 5 Android phones prior to this one. All through Sprint. On all 5, the voicemail app was presented as an icon on the main screen alongside the phone app itself. It also appeared in the "apps" screen along with all other functions. It was not necessary to dig through settings to find it. This is the first Android phone I have owned that built the voicemail into a hidden settings submenu off the phone app. Thank you for the pointer- Once I knew where to look, I found it.

It's because your devices were bloated "modded" by the operator There is no specific voicemail app on stock Android phones (BV's phone are not really stock but very lightly modified), all happens in the phone app. It will be the same on every stock (and lightly modified) Android phones.

disposablemeatpuppet wrote:

I clicked your link to online Android manuals, and all it did was prove my point. It led to a page where you have to select which manufacturer's Android build manual you are looking for... Blackview is not on the list. There is no Blackview-specific info available.

These brand-specific info are just links to the brand websites. Heavily modified Android system (like Samsung, Sony, every mobile operator brands..) need specific help because those are too different from the original Android system.
Use the search feature or just try the other items

disposablemeatpuppet wrote:

I tried the #87# calibration

It's *#87#  . You don't need to press call, the menu appears immediately. If it fails, erase the number or close the phone app and try again.

Not all dual-sim have a usd/sim tray. Some rare phones have the 3 trays (Xiaomi do that if I remember correctly).

You choose a Chinese phone if you want it cheap and almost stock. And to be fair there is no equivalent to the bv9800pro in any other brand.