At first we would like to thank Blackview for offering a sample of their Zeta smartphone for testing and reviewing.

 

 

 

About Blackview:

 

“Blackview was founded in March 2013 by serial entrepreneur Xu Ming(David Xu) ,who believes that high-quality technology doesn't need to cost a fortune. Blackview is the second largest independent brand subordinated to Blackview International Group.

 

Blackview advocates "quality and experience", imposing strict examination on each procedure from design to production. In terms of quality, all products of Blackview are subject to strict high standards and high-quality testing processes to ensure that every user has perfect experience. We incorporate user feedback into our product range, which currently includes Acme, Omega, Sigma, Ultra, v3, Crown, Arrow, DM550, JK600, JK606 and JK890, etc. We sell at low price to customers to keep our prices competitive, and our products launched in Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Laos and other place, we are ready to go global.

 

We hope that Blackview is a milestone-type industry brand—the essence, exquisite appearance and flexible operation of products endowed by designers convey to the user the hope and enjoyment of life.

 

We hope that in the entire industry Blackview is extraordinary refined—through the usage of Blackview products by users, the leisure time in life brings more happiness and affection, helps users harvest friendship and love, and creates memory and missing thoughts. Enjoyment of life is what Blackview products create for users. ”

 

Product Features:

CPU: High performance Octa core MTK6592 1.4GHz processor

OS: Android 4.4 operating system

GPU: ARM Mali-450

Screen: 5.0 inch multi-point capacitive touch screen with 1280x720 pixels resolution

SIM card: Dual SIM Card Dual Standby, standard SIM card and micro SIM

Camera: Dual Cameras, front camera 2.0MP (Interpolation To 5.0MP) + back camera 5.0MP (Interpolation To 8.0MP)

RAM+ROM: 1GB RAM + 8GB ROM

Network:

2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz

3G: WCDMA 900/2100MHz

 

Product Specifications:

 

 

 

Here we are at it again with another low-cost smartphone from Blackview and to be more precise, the Zeta model. Zeta is available in multiple colors for more personalization and features a 5’’ HD IPS screen; the shipping box features a specific Blackview design, with the blue/silver logo in the top right corner, a photo of the product in the middle but also the name and total storage capacity on the lower area:

 

 

 

On the back side we will get to see a product description and specifications (very tiny font), in multiple languages:

 

 

 

Let’s open it up and see which goodies we have inside; the smartphone is located on the top layer, wrapped inside a semi-transparent protective bag:

 

 

 

The lower area of the cardboard box houses the rest of the bundle:

 

 

 

Besides the usual charger, USB cable and battery, we will also receive a set of earphones, one free protective case, the Quick Start Guide but also a plastic screen protector:

 

 

 

The Quick Start Guide is useful for most people which haven’t used an Android smartphone before:

 

 

 

The USB cable is Blackview-branded and features slightly rounded connectors:

 

 

 

The power adapter sports a similar shape with the one we have found along with the Omega and Breeze models:

 

 

 

On its back we will be able to spot the power rating, which is on the output 5V at 1A:

 

 

 

The earphones are of decent quality and feature an in-line remote:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The supplied battery for the Zeta is rated at 3.8V, with a charging voltage limit of 4.35V and a capacity of 2200mAh:

 

 

 

On its back sticker we will be able to see some warning messages:

 

 

 

As other manufacturers, it is nice to see that Blackview is pre-installing the screen protector which saves any user quite a bit of time and extra hassle:

 

 

 

After removing the top layer, we will be able to spot the 5’’ multi-touch IPS screen:

 

 

 

On the top area we will be able to spot the 2MP frontal camera, along with the light and proximity sensors:

 

 

 

On the lower area we have the usual Menu, Home and Back Android capacitive buttons:

 

 

 

On the left side of the Zeta, the manufacturer has not placed any interfaces:

 

 

 

The bottom area only sports the microphone port:

 

 

 

 

On the right side of the terminal we have both Volume rocker and the Power/Standby button; on this same side we will be able to find a small crevice which helps us remove the back cover:

 

 

 

 

The top area of the Zeta features the USB port, along with the headphone jack:

 

 

 

As you may have seen from the previous shots, our sample is the Pearl Pink version; it is also available in Apple Green, Dark Pacific Blue, Lemon Yellow and Pearl White:

 

 

 

The top area is holding the 5MP camera lens along with the LED flash and manufacturer logo:

 

 

 

The lower left corner has the speaker grill present:

 

 

 

After the removal of the back cover, we will be able to check out the internals:

 

 

 

On the top area we will find the Micro SD slot, one microSIM slot and also one miniSIM slot:

 

 

 

Also, on the lower area we have the speaker, vibration motor, antennas and the microphone assembly:

 

 

 

The supplied plastic case is really handy and fits the device perfectly:

 

 

 

It can be installed in seconds for protecting our investment and also looks nice because of its semi-transparent feature:

 

 

 

Here are some shots with the Zeta interfaces, while the protective case is applied:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the Zeta, Blackview have reworked the interface of the Android 4.4.2 distribution completely, which looks and feels quite smooth. On the desktop we have one custom wallpaper set along with some icons of the usual applications present:

 

 

Let’s go into the drawer though and se which applications we have available there:

 

 

The Backup & Restore application is usual with any MTK ROM and is operating only when a microSD card is installed for extra storage:

 

 

Next we can check out the stock Android browser:

 

 

The Calculator application has been restyled with a new color:

 

 

Next, we could remind of the Calendar application, which also has some slight modifications:

 

 

The Camera application buttons have been completely reworked and look quite good; by pressing the small gear button we can access even more options:

 

 

The Clock application is looking similar to the one we are getting with the Lollipop distributions:

 

 

Another application which has been re-skinned and slightly modified for better access is Contacts:

 

 

The Downloads application is just a shortcut to the folder with the same name on the internal storage:

 

 

We can use the Email application for connecting to all kinds of services besides Gmail:

 

 

Facebook, the most used social application is installed with Zetas’ current ROM:

 

 

The File Manager application is stock with any MTK ROM:

 

 

The FM Radio application works well only when we have the earphone connected and its cable will be used as an antenna:

 

 

The well-known Gallery application will index suitable files and display them with thumbnails for easy access:

 

 

Gmail has been also included which can be used along with the Google account address or another one:

 

 

With Maps we can check out world-wide places and even help us with navigation:

 

 

The Messages section will allow us send SMS with ease:

 

 

The Music application has been heavily reskinned in order to maintain a pleasant look and functionality:

 

 

The Phone (dialer) application has been re-skinned too, with a green theme:

 

 

Google Play Store application is pretty self-explanatory:

 

 

Next, we could remind of the Power Saving Management application, which is usual with the recent MTK ROMs:

 

 

For recording different sounds or conversations we can use the Recorder application:

 

 

ToDo is a regular scheduler MTK application:

 

 

Next, we could remind of the Torch application, which comes in handy at times:

 

 

Twitter is another largely-used social media application which Blackview saw fit to include with the Zeta:

 

 

The Videos application will index the suitable files and display them along with thumbnails for easy playback:

 

 

A separate Wallpaper application is pre-installed from which we can choose a new one or access the Online services for even more resources:

 

 

Xender from Blackview allows us to transfer files with iOS-based devices:

 

 

The Settings application seems to borrow something from MIUI since we are dealing with two tabs; one of the tabs is General, simplified mode which holds the important settings but we will work with the “All” tab:

 

 

The “All” tab comes with the usual Android 4.4.2 settings but a visual redesign can be spotted right away:

 

 

From the Wi-FI section, we will be able to connect to nearby networks, given that we have the necessary credentials:

 

 

The Bluetooth menu can be used for pairing with devices which sport the same technology:

 

 

From the Data Usage menu, we will be able to see how much traffic has been consumed so far:

 

 

The Wireless & networks menu allows us to enable Airplane mode, choose the default SMS application, work with Tethering & portable hotspot and so on:

 

 

From the Audio profiles menu, we are able to customize one of the available predefined profiles, but also enable or disable the sound enhancement plugins:

 

 

The customization menu allows us to modify the ringtones, adjust the volumes, enable or disable vibration function and more:

 

 

From the Display menu, we can enable ClearMotion feature, adjust the wallpaper, screen brightness, sleep timer, lock screen effect etc:

 

 

The Storage section will permit us to select the default storage location and here we will also be able to see how much space we’ve got left on each partition:

 

 

The Battery menu allows enabling the CPU power saving mode, the Battery Percentage display and here we can also see which processes use the most battery resources:

 

 

From the Apps menu, we can see the currently installed applications and how much space they take on the internal storage. The Apps section can be also used as a task manager:

 

 

Of course, the Zeta smartphone does not lack screen gestures; from the Action menu we can enable functions like Tapping wake, Quick start, Pick up call and more:

 

 

The Location menu allows us to enable hardware GPS and from here we will be also able to see the applications which use this resource:

 

 

The Security menu allows us to encrypt the smartphone, modify the screen lock procedure and many of the usual settings are also available here:

 

 

The Language & input menu allows us to select the system language, enable the Spell checker/Personal dictionary but also work with a custom keyboard of our choice; some other options are available like Voice Search or Text-to-speech output:

 

 

From the Backup & reset menu we can easily perform a Factory data reset if something is not working as it should (unless it is a hardware or ROM issue):

 

 

The Date & time menu is self-explanatory:

 

 

The Schedule power on & off menu comes with each and every MTK ROM:

 

 

The Accessibility menu is standard:

 

 

The Printing menu will show the currently installed services:

 

 

Finally, from the About phone menu we can perform OTA updates and see the currently installed Android version, baseband, kernel version or build number:

 

 

With the specific shortcut, we can also enable the Developer menu:

 

 

The Blackview Zeta smartphone is equipped with the MediaTek MT6592 SOC, which is true octa-core chip with eight ARM Cortex-A7 application processors but this time downclocked at 1.4GHz from the usual 1.7GHz and the Mali-450 MP4 GPU cores are clocked at 600MHz instead of the usual 700MHz. This smartphone also comes with 1GB of installed memory:

 

 

The System tab will supply us more information regarding the board type, Android version, kernel, resolution, free memory and so on:

 

 

The Battery tab will show the current status; the battery sensor is operating properly, unlike some other terminals we have checked out previously:

 

 

The new Thermal tab will update us with the live temperatures in different areas:

 

 

The application also shows live data from the available sensors:

 

 

To test out the performances of the Blackview Zeta smartphone in more detail, we have installed some freeware benchmark apps from the Google Play Store in the internal memory (did not transfer them to a 3rd party microSDHC card, in order not to influence the test results). Afterwards, the applications were ran one-by-one, and we recorded the final scores; the obtained results were also compared with the previously tested systems, in order to spot the performance differences.

 

AnTuTu

 

 

Basemark GUI

 

 

 

GFXBench

 

 

Quadrant

 

 

Vellamo

 

 

3DMark

 

 

Real Pi

 

PCMark

 

 

The 5MP (interpolated to 8MP) back sensor of the Zeta is able to produce almost decent photos; when we are shooting for social media platforms, the quality should be enough, but in case we want to record our memories from holidays, we'd better ride with an extra point-and-shoot camera or choose another smartphone model.

 

Of course, you can always check out the full-resolution, unaltered versions at this LINK.

The HD IPS screen of the Zeta has good color reproduction and the text remains clear even when viewed from different angles.

 

 

Blackview has taken a step ahead regarding their low-end smartphone line by releasing the Zeta which is available in multiple colors so the younger people with budget restrictions would be more attracted to it. We see it as a worthy successor of the Breeze, by sporting a friendlier look and the processor has been upgraded now to the octa-core MT6592 but at 1.4GHz in order to save battery life. Also, Zeta is equipped with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal memory which features a single partition. The cameras though are not stellar and while the manufacturer displays on the packaging the interpolated values, we are really dealing with a 2MP sensor for selfies and one 5MP sensor for the back shooter.

 

The battery comes with a 2200mAh capacity so we should expect decent uptimes, even if the previous-version octa-core SoC is a little bit power-hungry.

 

 

 

The GPS feature of the Zeta is the same old story as we have seen with all MT6592 SoC-equipped smartphones in the past: the product is able to lock-in quite fast, has decent SNR for the detected satellites but this does not guarantee a good tracking performance; we took it to the test and we have found the same speed spikes and tracking issues as before with both Runtastic and Runkeeper. If you are willing to use this smartphone frequently for tracking your performances, we would rather steer to MT6595, MT6732, MT6735, MT6752 or MT6753 SoCs which do not have this problem anymore.

 

 

 

Even if we are dealing with a bit older Android 4.4.2 distribution, Blackview was hard at work and modified the software interface quite a bit so it feels really snappy while the custom icons, dialer and other skinned applications look really interesting.

 

Our sample had some issues regarding wrong information displayed on the box, a small issue with the launcher which was showing 2GB installed instead of the real 1GB but also a wrong drawing regarding the insertion of the microSIM card. We were told that these issues were fixed right after we have reported them so good job Blackview!

 

The Zeta is available online at GearBest for about $85 or 73.12 Euros at ChinaVasion.

 

Blackview Zeta is Recommended For:

 

 

We would like to thank again to Blackview for making this review possible!