The first thing that came to mind when referring to a thermal camera on a smartphone, was CAT S61/S60. That changed recently as Blackview announced the BV9800 Pro rugged outdoor smartphone that comes with a Thermal camera by FLIR® and boasts a Sony® 48MP camera. The feature went viral last month when the company started the “warm-up” marketing campaign. Almost 2 months later, someone would say that the Blackview BV9800 Pro is a late-comer but let’s see how both the smartphones stack up against each other.
Display & Design
The Blackview BV9800 Pro and the CAT S61 boast the most impressive design and build quality. Both phones boast excellent design and build quality and both have a super rugged body that is waterproof, drop-proof, and dustproof (IP68/IP69K/MIL-STD-810G certified). But when it comes to the display, the BV9800 Pro is a clear winner since it comes with a 6.3″ IPS FHD+ display with 19.5:9. On the other hand, the CAT S61 sports a smallish 5.2″ FHD IPS display with the classic 16:9 aspect ratio. The BV9800 Pro looks more fresh and modern thanks to its thin bezels and waterdrop notch while the CAT S61 looks like it came from the past (and it did).
Hardware & Software
If the design and display aren’t your first priorities when buying a rugged phone, then hardware and software definitely are, especially if you consider the price tag. Blackview’s phone is powered by a MediaTek chipset while the CAT S61 is fueled by a Qualcomm chipset. MediaTek’s Helio P70 8-core SoC runs @2.0GHz coupled with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage and the S61 uses Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 8-core @2.2GHz backed by just 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The BV9800 Pro comes with Android 9 Pie out-of-the-box while S61 runs on Android Oreo, with an update to Pie. With these specs in mind, the BV9800 Pro is a clear winner both in hardware and software.
Camera
Moving on to the optics found in both phones, the brand-new Blackview phone comes with Sony’s popular 48MP sensor with night shot mode support as a part of a triple camera setup. The camera setup also includes a FLIR® Lepton® thermal imaging sensor and a 5MP sensor assisting with thermal imaging, with an extra flash. Also, there is a 16MP front shooter. The CAT S61 is apparently weaker in this part as it sports a 16MP single rear camera with dual LED flash and an 8MP front shooter.
Battery
Here things are even clearer, as BV9800 Pro houses an enormous 6580mAh battery with wireless charging support. That’s almost 47% bigger than the 4500mAh battery found in CAT S61. Both phones come with an 18W charger though.
Price
Blackview BV9800 Pro is a clear winner in all the factors that matter when it comes to a good user experience so the final factor is the price tag. Believe it or not, the Blackview BV9800 Pro boasts a price that is more than 50% less than that of the CAT S61. The price during the crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter is $429 while at the same time the S61 costs around $999! The Kickstarter campaign is in full swing and more than 700 backers have contributred over $290,000. Thanks to that support, the Super Early Bird and Early Bird offers have gone. The good news is Blackview has added a new perks scheme that is the following:
1. $699 for 1 x BV9800 Pro & 1 x BV9800, with a gift of 2*tempered screen protector & 2*Type-C adapter, limited to 100
2. $829 for 2 x BV9800 Pro, with a gift of 2*tempered screen protector & 2*Type-C adapter, limited to 100
3. Re-activate BV9800 Pro US$429 Early Bird offer, limited to 100 this time.
If you are interested, you can visit the Kickstarter campaign page and also participate in the giveaway offered by the company.
