It’s been simply over 5 years since Samsung introduced the first mainstream smartphone with a foldable display screen, the unique Galaxy Fold. Now a smaller participant, Blackview has thrown its hat in the ring with the Hero 10, a rival to the Galaxy Flip collection. Is the Blackview Hero 10 a competitor to established smartphone manufacturers? It’s getting there, however we’re nonetheless far off from higher identified gamers.
Though it’s not a family identify, Blackview has been round for practically a decade and we have reviewed greater than a dozen of its rugged smartphones, rugged tablets, moveable energy stations, and, very quickly, mini PCs as effectively. However, there are nonetheless well-founded reservations about the reliability and the after-sales companies that these far-east firms can ship.
The Galaxy Z Fold ushered a brand new period that has seen tens of hundreds of thousands of foldables bought since 2019 with Motorola, OnePlus, Google, Xiaomi, Honor, ZTE, Vivo, and Huawei becoming a member of the fray, leaving Apple the solely mainstream vendor with out a foldable cellphone (ed: Don’t neglect Sony!).
I have owned the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 for greater than two years, and you may nonetheless purchase one as we speak in the UK for just below £399 (about US$415 tax-free, AU$760), a testomony to its reputation.
It is my each day driver, however whereas the Blackview Hero 10 is outwardly a superior beast – on paper – the lack of certainty when it comes to future firmware updates and after-sales help might have a robust dissuasive impact on potential clients.
The plucky smartphone vendor has assured us that it will provide three Android updates (Android 14, 15, and 16) over the subsequent three years; the default guarantee stays 12 months. Blackview says it will launch Android 14 from July 2024 by way of OTA.
Blackview Hero 10: The {hardware} and software program
The Hero 10 has a foldable 6.9-inch AMOLED show with a secondary, exterior round cowl show. It is powered by a Mediatek G99 system-on-chip, a 4G mannequin that should carry out worse than the 5G-capable Snapdragon 888 discovered in my 2021 Galaxy Z Flip 3. That’s a giant display screen, even larger than that in the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.
It comes with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. So, you get extra reminiscence and storage than on my Flip 3, however Blackview opted to use slower UFS 2.2 storage expertise (slightly than the newer UFS 3.1) and LPDDR4 (slightly than LPDDR5x), a double whammy that may affect efficiency. It additionally claims to provide up to 32GB RAM, when in reality it ring-fences 20GB of system storage to be used as digital reminiscence.
Also disappointing is the presence of Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), slightly than Wi-Fi 6, not to mention Wi-Fi 7. Only two colours (Sakura purple and Eclipse black) can be found, whereas Samsung presents practically a dozen, relying in your foldable alternative. There’s no eSIM capabilities (it helps twin SIM, although), no wi-fi charging or reverse wi-fi charging. And nor will it survive a fast bathe; not like the Galaxy Z Flip 3, it is just not IPX7 licensed.
So the place does Blackview’s new flagship surpass Samsung’s price-dropped Galaxy foldable? It has a much bigger battery. It has a lot sooner charging capabilities (45W vs 15W). The essential digicam sensors are a lot larger: a 108-megapixel Samsung Isocell HM6, plus a extra succesful 32-megapixel selfie digicam. Disappointingly, regardless of being bodily able to capturing 4K footage, the Hero 10 can solely do full HD movies. A software program limitation?
Ironically, my Galaxy Z Flip 3 acquired its newest (and final) Android replace (to Android 14) the very day I obtained the Blackview Hero 10, which remains to be on Android 13 with a proprietary overlay referred to as DokuOS. The latter doesn’t deliver a lot to the customary Android interface aside from a handful of apps (Child mode, Cold Room, Easy Share, Focus mode and so on). These are primarily un-erasable bloatware of the kind generally discovered on Mediatek-powered Android gadgets.
Blackview Hero 10: In use
I spent a few days taking part in with the Blackview Hero 10, too brief to ship a decisive efficiency report, however sufficient to get an excellent concept of its good qualities and its flaws. The upshot: it may be very effectively constructed; the crease is much less seen than on my Galaxy Z Flip 3, however I can nonetheless hear the hinge creak when I open the Hero 10 slowly.
I returned my Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 as soon as as a result of it cracked alongside the crease, and I can not predict how a lot of an ordeal it could be to return this Blackview cellphone. Still, it is fairly quick in use, and I didn’t detect any trace of stuttering or drop in velocity.
The OLED show is shiny, with out being too aggressive, and – dare I say – higher than the one on my older Samsung, with brightness that reaches up to 1,300 nits.
Initially, I couldn’t entry the full 108-megapixel decision, with solely up to 12 megapixels out there to me. I reached out to Blackview to learn how to unlock it and they defined that confusingly, the 108-megapixel mode is accessed by swiping the menu to the left, whereas all the different choices are on the proper. Samples are adequate for each day utilization, however I’d advise getting devoted digicam apps should you need higher high quality shoots.
Blackview designers selected a grainy rubber (marketed as vegan leather-based) for the entrance and again covers, which supplies it a much less premium really feel in contrast to the Z Flip 3, however a a lot better grip. However, I suspect that it will get dirtier over time.
There’s additionally a free plastic case bundled with the Hero 10, maybe to defend the protruding digicam sensors from falls. All in all, although, it is a really first rate try; the hinge – which is claimed to final 15 years – is thinner and the hole is nearly non-existent on Blackview’s mannequin. Please test the pattern photos of the Blackview Hero 10 at default decision in the gallery beneath.
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Blackview Hero 10: How did it fare?
It is clear that corners have had to be minimize in order to get this foldable to match inside a sure price range. It could also be a 2024 mannequin, however the essential elements used can barely compete with a mainstream rival from yesteryear. The Geekbench outcomes are notably telling, highlighting the big hole that exist between Samsung’s quirky flip cellphone and this contender.
Using model 6.3.0 of the fashionable benchmark app, the Hero 10 scored 731 and 2,035 factors respectively in single/multi-core – considerably lower than the Z Flip 3’s 835 and 3,625. It was an analogous situation on Geekbench ML, a extra AI-oriented benchmark, with a rating of 414 for the Hero 10 and and 498 for the Flip 3.
At $400, it is a perhaps for me whereas a $350 everlasting price ticket would make it a much more engaging proposition. Given that the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G now has a lower cost tag than at launch and assuming it is on the market new the place you might be, it stays a greater choice for anybody needs to expertise the joys of flipping, for not much more cash.
Which brings me to ultimate conclusion. No, I received’t be swapping my Flip 3 for the Hero 10; the compromises are far too massive for me to ignore. The lack of wi-fi charging, 5G, quick Wi-Fi and eSIM are merely not acceptable for a smartphone that aspires to be a mainstream challenger.
Don’t get me fallacious, although: this can be a very, excellent try from a little-known firm to compete with the massive weapons, and whereas there are tough edges (unique Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, anybody?) I, for one, can’t wait to see what the subsequent model will deliver to the fore.