This rugged Android is my pick for off-grid adventures - and it's on sale for $250

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

  • This ruggedized smartphone has a immense battery, a monolithic 800-lumen flashlight, and a nighttime imaginativeness camera.
  • The monolithic artillery does marque the handset measurement a hefty 2 pounds.
  • The show tin beryllium a spot washed retired successful agleam sunlight.

At Amazon, the Blackview BV7300 is connected merchantability for $250, a 7% discount. You tin besides use a $20 coupon, lowering its terms further to $230.


I retrieve erstwhile smartphones started to usage the built-in flash arsenic a flashlight - it was rather revolutionary. While the flash is bully capable for galore situations, determination are times erstwhile it is somewhat constricted successful its powerfulness output capacity, and thing bigger would beryllium welcomed. 

Also: The champion rugged phones you tin buy

Enter the Blackview BV7300 - a ruggedized smartphone with the biggest flashlight I've seen connected a phone.

Let's speech hardware

The BV7300 features a 6.67-inch HD+ IPS show moving astatine 720 by 1,604 solution and a adaptable refresh complaint that shifts betwixt 60Hz and 90Hz depending connected what's connected the screen. To adhd other ruggedness, the show is armored with a furniture of Corning Gorilla Glass 5 for interaction and scratch resistance.

It's a passable screen, with conscionable capable colour and opposition to vividly picture apps and text, but it looks a small washed retired nether nonstop sunlight. A boost successful brightness (nits) would assistance the telephone a lot.

Powering the smartphone is simply a 2GHz octa-core MediaTek Helio G81 spot backed by 6GB of RAM (with the quality to adhd a further 12GB utilizing representation expansion, which I urge doing), 256GB storage, and the quality to bump that up adjacent further with a 2TB microSD card.

Inside, there's a 15,000mAh artillery (for comparison, the iPhone 16 Pro Max has a 4,685mAh battery) that tin powerfulness the portion for 57 days connected standby, up to 56 hours of telephone time, 28 hours of web browsing, and astir 16 hours of video playback. Given the size of the battery, the smartphone supports accelerated charging up to 45W with the due charger, making charging little of a headache.

Also: I recovered a fund Motorola with a amended artillery than smartphones doubly the price

Audio output is handled by a brace of 1712 container speakers that are bully and large and person rather a decent scope for a smartphone successful this terms range. 

That's a precise almighty battery, but it does adhd to the size and value of the BV7300 - it comes successful astatine 8.15 x 8.11 x 1.46 inches and weighs a shadiness implicit 2 pounds!

The BV7300 is big, thick, and weighs implicit    2  pounds!

The BV7300 is big, thick, and weighs implicit 2 pounds!

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

And however tin I hide that elephantine duplicate COB (Chip-on-Board) flashlight connected the backmost with a combined 800 LED modules? One sheet is simply a lukewarm light, the different cold, and they tin beryllium turned connected independently oregon unneurotic to connection a maximum of 800 lumens for up to 5.8 hours connected a afloat charge.

The airy  is rather  impressive!

The airy is rather impressive!

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

The contents are housed successful a rugged, water- and dust-resistant polymer-armored bundle rated IP68/IP69K and MIL-STD-810H. This is simply a pugnacious portion that tin grip astir drops, tumbles, and unexpected encounters.

The BV7300 boasts an awesome array of cameras, including a 50-megapixel Samsung ISOCELL JN1 Quad Bayer main camera, a 20MP SONY IMX376 nighttime vision, and a 32-megapixel front-facing camera. The nighttime imaginativeness camera uses built-in infrared illuminators to flood the country with airy that's invisible to the oculus but picked up by the camera.

Also: The champion camera phones of 2025

From the shots I gathered, don't expect this telephone to stroke your mind. Notably, the 2 sensors grounds a noticeable deficiency of item and colour inaccuracy, but not to the grade that portrays your taxable successful a wholly antithetic manner.

Night imaginativeness   of the BV730 successful  enactment   ... backmost  to the creepy Santa!

Night imaginativeness successful enactment ... backmost to the creepy Santa!

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

The SIM paper tray supports dual SIM cards oregon a operation of a SIM paper and a microSD/TF paper for expanded storage. In presumption of security, the instrumentality features some a fingerprint sensor and facial recognition, minimizing the clip spent entering your passcode.

ZDNET's buying advice

All successful all, the Blackview BV7300 is an awesome package, each the much truthful erstwhile you cheque retired the terms and find that you tin prime 1 up for $230. The size, weight, and brainsick flashlight mean it's not for everyone, but for campers, explorers, and radical who enactment outside, similar mechanics and engineers, that airy is simply a beauteous neat feature.

The caller US tariffs connected imports from countries similar China, Vietnam, and India purpose to boost home manufacturing but are apt to thrust up prices connected user electronics. Products similar smartphones, laptops, and TVs whitethorn go much costly arsenic companies rethink planetary proviso chains and measurement the outgo of shifting production.

Also:Tariff warfare has tech buyers wondering what's next. Here's what we know

Smartphones are among the astir affected by the caller US tariffs, with devices imported from China and Vietnam facing steep duties that could rise retail prices by 20% oregon more. Brands similar Apple and Google, which trust heavy connected Asian manufacturing, whitethorn either walk these costs connected to consumers oregon sorb them astatine the disbursal of nett margins. 

The tariffs could besides pb to delays successful merchandise launches oregon shifts successful wherever and however phones are made, forcing companies to diversify accumulation to countries with much favorable commercialized conditions.

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