The Blackview A80 Pro was announced at the close of 2019 with promising specifications and features. The company taunt the device as the most affordable quad-camera phone. Apart from the quad-camera setups at the back, the phone also comes with the Mediatek Helio P25 CPU, all offered around $80 dollars.
Today, I have a unit of the A80 Pro, and I’ll be looking at the box content and will also share few of of my initial impression with you. I will also be checking if Blackview’s claim of almost a 100k Antutu score is real.
Blackview A80 Pro Key Specs and Features
- OS: Android 9.0 (Pie)
- SIM Type: Hybrid Nano-SIMs
- Network Type: GSM/WCDMA/LTE
- Screen Size : 6.49-inch HD+ IPS display with 720 x 1560 pixels resolution
- Processor Type: Octa-core Mediatek MT6757CD Helio P25 Octa-core (4×2.39 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4×1.6 GHz Cortex-A53) with Mali-T880 MP2
- Storage: 64 GB + 4 GB RAM
- Camera: 13MP + 2MP + 0.3MP + 0.3MP main camera with dual LED Flash and 8 MP front-facing camera.
- Battery: 4680mAh Non-removable Battery
- Other Features: Fingerprint scanner, USB Type-C
- Price: Starting at $79
Unboxing and First Impressions
At $80, the A80 came in a plain white box, carrying the phone and few other accessories. Items in the box includes;
- The A80 Pro
- A 5V/2A charging brick
- A USB Type-C cable
- A pair of Earpiece
- SIM ejector tool
- Extra Screen film
- A TPU silicon case and
- User manual with about 7 different languages
Our unit is Gradient Blue color, although there are three other colors, which includes Coral Red, Emerald Green, Interstellar Black. At 80 dollars, the A80 Pro beat our fuzzy imaginations about it built quality. surprisingly, the device was more stud than we expected. The phone is completely plastic, but the non-removable back panel helps the device to stick tightly together.
The 6.49 inch display is an IPS panel and looks sharp and vivid both indoor and outdoors, so long as you aren’t expecting the quality of an AMOLED screen. It kept minimal bezel side-wide, but the bezels above the screen was a bit too pronounced, and yes, there is a notification LED light above the display.
Then, there is the USB Type-C kept in the middle of what looks like dual but a single loud speaker. At first, I was wondering; a USB Type-C on a sub 80 dollars phone, how will it be? But then, it function well, and even help the phone to charge fast, thanks the 2A charger.
As for the loud speaker well, all you are getting from it is a loud sound output and nothing more. Sadly that loudness didn’t transfer into the bundle earpiece, maybe because I forgot cleaning my ears the day before the test.
Very scary SIM Trail
In-spite the few cliches here and there, I was still very satisfied with the Blackview A80 Pro, until the point of inserting SIM cards. Guys, be careful is all I can say! Never seen this kind of SIM trail before. Something link a fragile Zinc holding the SIM from falling out of the trail. Then you have to turn the phone upside-down to be able to properly insert it.
A busy back panel with four cameras
At the back, there is a working rear placed fingerprint sensor, but most notably is the quad-camera module at the back; a combination of a 13MP + 2MP + 0.3MP + 0.3MP lens. If I have time, I might run more tests on the cameras to see which is present and which is proxied. But the main sensor is 13-megapixel, and it can take some really cool photos.
Performance overview and Antutu Test
From the OS wings, the A80 Pro almost run on stock Android 9.0 (Pie), with minimal performance tweaks added by Blackview. For example, screen capture which requires no additional app to record or capture your screen, plus full screen capture is present too.
Aside the quad-rear camera setups, performance is one of the marketing strategy used by Blackview, as the company claims that the A80 Pro can make it above 98,000 in Antutu score. Sadly, my real life test result did not turn so promising, as I got a little above 78,000.
In my opinion, I think a smartphone with the MediaTek MT6757CD, also known as Helio P25, a 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage, all priced under $80 is a pretty deal, but a 20,000 difference in claimed Antutu score is not the best marketing strategy we’ve seen recently.
But taking the above out the way, I still think the Blackview A80 Pro is a great device at it price tag. The device can compare fairly well with the likes of Infinix Hot 8 and the Camon 12 Air, and yet the cheapest of them all.
Is there anything you wish to know about this device? You can use the comment section below to post your questions, and I’ll try to answer them to my best knowledge.