While it's rugged enough to survive drops on gravel or water, the BL8800 Pro has mediocre specs and plenty of pre-installed crapware.

A heavy phone that you could break a window with, the Blackview BL8800 Pro thermal imaging quickly gets boring and turns into a pointless gimmick. While it is certainly rugged enough to survive drops on gravel or water, this mid-range phone has corresponding specs and a bunch of preinstalled crapware that you probably don't want.

What everyone needs is a phone that doesn’t break if you drop it. Over the past few years, the rugged phone sector has expanded, marrying mid-range specs with heavy-duty protection and an attractive price.

Drop them, throw them, send them swimming, jump on them. These Android-based devices will still work, and many even manage to bundle in crazy features, from modular components to secondary displays.

So, what is so special about the Blackview BL8800 Pro is a 5G rugged smartphone? Well, it has thermal imaging. Is that enough though?

Until July 1st, you can use the code JUN30 on AliExpress to get $30 off the BL8000 Pro, bringing the pre-order price to $305.99.

Shipping in a pleasantly refined, slimline box, the Blackview BL8800 Pro is bundled along with a short user guide, USB Type-C to USB Type-C cable, USB adapter, and a small plastic diamond. It resembles an ineffective guitar plectrum and is included to assist in opening the SIM card slot.

The BL8800 Pro ships with the screen protector pre-applied, but while I admire the effort that has gone into protecting the screen, it also has a few bubbles. Those are freebies no one wants.

Other versions of the Blackview BL8800 Pro are available. While we reviewed the basic model, you can also purchase it with add-ons: either wireless earbuds or a smartwatch. There is also the option of a choice of colors, with black, orange, and green available as bezel highlights.

With an RRP of up to $600 (though you can preorder it for just over $300 using our code above), the Blackview BL8800 Pro features a 6.58-inch IPS display with 2048x1080 pixel resolution.

While there is no SD card slot, the device features 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM. The processor is a MediaTek Dimensity 700 octa-core, with 2x2.2GHz Cortex-A76 cores and 6x2.0GHz Cortex-A55 cores.

A 5G phone with support for all the usual bands, this is a dual SIM phone. One 5G and one 4G SIM can be used simultaneously, but two 5G SIMs cannot.

The Blackview BL8800 Pro has GPS, Glonass, Beidou, and Galileo navigation satellite support, with OTG, NFC, and FM radio.

For the imaging system, the BL8800 Pro has a 50MP+5MP+2MP rear camera with FLIR Lepton thermal imaging sensor, while the front camera is 16MP. The camera records video at 2K resolution (2550 x 1440px), at a maximum of 30 frames per second.

An enormous 8380mAh battery supports 33W fast charging, claiming to achieve 100% charge in as little as 90 minutes. It also supports reverse charging.

The main reason you would buy this Blackview phone is for the thermal imaging and ruggedized chassis. But what else does it offer?

Described as a “game-changer for rugged lifestyles” this 5G mobile phone boasts a 50MP camera, fast charging, and measures to protect it from damage. The IP68/IP69K ratings, and MIL-STD-810H testing mean that you can rely on the Blackview BL8800 Pro to survive most accidents.

On the downside, it uses Doke 3.0, an Android 11-based operating system that brings with it some unnecessary and unwanted pre-installed games and apps.

A glove mode means the phone can be used while wearing gloves, useful for cold weather. However, the touchscreen does not respond well when wet, so be sure to keep it wiped clean in wet weather or other inclement scenarios.

There is also an anchor point for a wrist strap or even a lanyard, for extra phone safety.

Finally, the BL8800 Pro features a pre-applied screen protector. While our test device had a couple of small air bubbles under the protector, it’s better than spending time applying the protector yourself.

As is usual for reviewing a phone or computer, I ran benchmarking software on the Blackview BL8800 Pro, using PCMark.

The average score for the device was 8261, with a Work 3.0 performance score if 8195. At the time of writing, the PCMark app doesn’t have enough data to compare scores for the device, but a browse through the best devices list in the app reveals the Realme GT Neo 2T is the current top-scoring phone with 17732, followed by the Meizu 18 Pro with 17268.

Closer to the Blackview BL8800 Pro are OnePlus 6T with 8275, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G with 8240, and the Blackview BL5000 with 8265.

Meanwhile, the 8380mAh battery of BL8800 Pro lasts 28 hours and 15 minutes using the Work 3.0 battery test. Ruggedized build aside, this is a mid-range phone with mid-range benchmarks. It scores well for battery life, browsing the web, and data manipulation, but other performance benchmarks come up short.

If you are familiar with Android then you will know what to expect from the first boot. Unfortunately, this phone takes things in a slightly different direction.

Just before the phone boots to the Android home screen, but after you’ve completed all the usual account creation or sign-in, entered the Wi-Fi password, and selected the preferred authentication type, you’re presented with a screen in Russian.

While steps are included in the user guide to change language settings, doing so doesn’t seem to have any impact on this particular screen.

Of course, I have no idea what it says, but it seems to be some sort of installer asking for permission. It is a system app, labeled in Russian too, found at the foot of the app drawer.

This is the sort of screen which, if it appeared on a desktop PC or browser window, you’d rightly think you had been exposed to malware. There is no suggestion that this is the case here, but it is a huge misstep that detracts from the overall experience of the Blackview BL8800 Pro.

This is a rugged phone with one crazy superpower. The Blackview BL8800 Pro boasts a heat vision camera.

Yes, I said HEAT VISION—well, thermal imaging, to be accurate. Perhaps the killer app of this phone, the thermal imaging is particularly impressive.

However, it is important to note what thermal imaging is, and is not.

Accessed via the pre-installed FLIR Tools app, thermal imaging comes in various views, such as the traditional rainbow effect, night vision, and others. Each view also offers a temperature meter, thereby providing a key for what is hot and what is cold. You can add key points for specific measurements, or define an area for average readings.

Once you get around any inaccurate preconceptions about thermal imaging, it’s quite a fun feature to explore. For example, I found that the camera detected heat in my reflection. Either way, it is a fun feature, albeit one that works to quite a short distance.

As for standard photography, the camera is certainly worth considering at 50MP, although this doesn't seem to appear as an option in the camera app.

Instead, you'll find 12MP and below, HDR option, and 16MP on the front camera. These test photos were taken at 12MP with HDR enabled in standard and 2x zoom. Colors are pleasingly vibrant and lines crisp, although the photos were taken on a bright summer day.

It's not clear why the front camera has a better resolution option in the camera settings than the rear camera. However, the rear camera does have 2K video, which is slightly better than standard 1080p HD.

To assess the ruggedness---or otherwise---of this phone, I conducted a selection of tests. These check the device for waterproofing, impact protection, and strength under physical pressure.

I should add: they’re completely arbitrary, mainly for entertainment rather than having any scientific basis. However, these tests also reflect real-world incidents that might damage a standard phone.

Rugged phones are almost always accompanied by an IP68 specification, providing waterproofing and protection from dust ingress to such an extent that the device can be reliably expected to work again after the water or dirt event.

IP68 means that the phone is waterproof to a depth of 1.5 meters and submerged for 30 minutes. Now, I don’t have 1.5 meters of water close by, so the simple option is a standard bucket.

The result: Of course, the BL8800 Pro resumed operation perfectly after being “rescued.”

Over the years I’ve broken quite a few phones by dropping them. One seemed to self-destruct when falling down a two-story stairwell some years ago.

The MIL-STD-810H spec features various impact tests (though this isn't a formal accreditation). To check the phone’s resilience to falls, I arranged a simple drop from the bedroom window. The fall is around 12 feet, so four times what is recommended in the device manual.

The result: The phone survived the drop with a small bounce.

Perhaps some idiot grabbed your phone and decided to throw it. Or you’re in a survival situation and need to throw your phone to someone, but they miss the catch. With any standard phone, you hope it hasn’t broken. With the Blackview BL8800 Pro, you'd be needlessly worrying.

Admittedly an opportunity to simply chuck a phone with little concern for its survival, this is in fact a useful test. The 373-gram phone takes some throwing, and in a survival situation, you genuinely may need to launch it to someone else.

With this in mind, I threw the phone as far as I could.

The result: The screen protector was a little scratched, but the Blackview BL8800 Pro was fine.

Finally, I tested the strength of the phone in the event it is run over by a vehicle. Using a car seemed like overkill, so instead I used a 25kg bike with me on top.

Another impact test, this time two shocks in quick succession with prolonged pressure, the setup is straightforward: place the phone on the road, and then ride over it with both wheels.

The result: The phone survived, but the screen protector was pierced by the graze from a stone. This says more about the poor quality of the screen protector than it does the phone.

It’s heavy, it’s resilient and rugged, and it’s quite big. The Blackview BL8800 Pro might double as a weapon, or as a doorstop, but ultimately, it’s a quite average phone wrapped in thick, protective plastic.

This is by no means a bad thing, but while the BL8800 Pro benchmarks to a reasonable standard and isn’t too expensive, it may take a while to set up to your liking.

The issues with the Russian set-up and preinstalled apps and games may make this an unattractive option unless you’re absolutely set on a rugged phone with thermal imaging night vision. Otherwise, it’s a decent, tough phone that you can rely on in all scenarios.

We hope you like the items we recommend and discuss! MUO has affiliate and sponsored partnerships, so we receive a share of the revenue from some of your purchases. This won’t affect the price you pay and helps us offer the best product recommendations.

Deputy Editor for Security, Linux, DIY, Programming, and Tech Explained, and Really Useful Podcast producer, with extensive experience in desktop and software support. A contributor to Linux Format magazine, Christian is a Raspberry Pi tinkerer, Lego lover and retro gaming fan.

Join our newsletter for tech tips, reviews, free ebooks, and exclusive deals!