BV5900 - The Best Budget Rugged Phone

What US buyers need to know

1. All Blackview Phones are network unlocked. 
2. Only SOME Blackview phones have the 3G and 4G bands to work in the US. 
3. HD Voice is required for phones as 2G and 3G networks are being retired.
4. Not all carriers are welcoming on BYOD Phones. 

In short, we have tested BV5900 on AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon and have verified that the phone works great with these three major US carriers.

1. Blackview BV5900 is Unlocked

Compatibility to local carrier provider is 1# problem buyers face in buying foreign manufactured smartphones. This makes you can't buy every phone you want and expect it to work on US Carriers. You should never buy a network locked Blackview set. They are also rare so this point should be easy to fulfil.

☑​ Blackview BV5900 is unlocked by default.

2. BV5900 has bands that work on AT&T, Verizon & T-Mobile

Based on data in devicesranks, frequencycheck, & kimovil.com, Blackview BV5900 should work with most US Carriers. BV5900 supports many bands' frequency.

1. GSM: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz 3G 
2. WCDMA: 850 / 900 / 2100 MHz 4G 
3. FDD-LTE: B1(2100) / B3(1800) / B7(2600) / B8 (900) / B20 (800 DD) / B40 (TD 2300)

Carriers can use many bands but there are only a few which is important. Please see the BOLD 4G LTE Bands.

Main bands for use in US: 2,4,12,13,17,25,41, 66,71

As you can see in this bar chart, the vast majority of 4G LTE mobile data volume goes through mid-band spectrum. That would be the 1900MHz band 2 (B2) for AT&T; the 1900MHz B2 together with 1700MHz AWS bands B4 and B66 for Verizon; and pretty much the same combination of B2, B4 and B66 for T-Mobile.

Those bands make the backbone of 4G LTE network coverage especially for urban areas .In rural areas of the United States, the importance of low-band spectrum (below 1GHz) has a greater importance. Here, Verizon Wireless is particularly well invested with its 700MHz bands B13, B14, and B17. AT&T and T-Mobile, on the other hand, rely on 700MHz band B12.

☑​ Blackview BV5900 has all of the main bands used by Carriers in the US

3. HD Voice is needed from 2022

Come 2022, 3G networks will be retired. This means that your Voice Calls must use the 4G network. Hence some carriers like AT&T and Verizon have stopped activating non HD Voice Phones. Most new phones should have HD voice and BV5900 has no problems getting HD Voice on AT&T and Verizon.

A simple test to see if your phone is HD Voice Capable is to

1. See if there is a HD or VoLTE icon at the signal bar
2. Make a phone call and see if your network connection stays on 4G. It should not drop to 3G
3. While on a phone call, surf the internet.

If your phone can do all three, you most likely have a HD Voice Phone.

☑​ Blackview BV5900 has all HD Voice working on AT&T, Verizon & T-Mobile

4. Not all carriers are welcoming on BYOD

To activate your Blackview to mobile providers in United States such as AT&T, Boost Mobile, Cricket Wireless, FreedomPop, Google Project Fi, H2O Wireless, Lycamobile, Sprint, T-Mobile, Ting (GSM), U.S. Cellular, Verizon Wireless, MetroPCS, Mint Mobile, Straight Talk.

1. Find your phone IMEI
2. Register / call to your carrier mobile provider
3. Then it will be activated

Below is an example guides from AT&T:

Sometimes carriers just won't activate your unlocked or BYOD phone. This is true if you do not have a BYOD plan or on some more restrictive carriers like Verizon/Sprint. In this case, feel free to use our 30 days refund/return policy.

BV5900 SPECIFICATIONS

Design

Dimensions
159.00 x 80.00 x 15.00 mm
Display

IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen Color / IPS TFT 16M colors

Screen Size

5.70"295 ppi ∼63.8% screen-to-body ratio

Screen Resolution

720 x 1520px
Weight

268.00 g

Connectivity

WIFI
2.4 i 5 GHz v802.11 a/b/g/n

Bluetooth

BT4.2

2G

B2(1900)/B3(1800)/B5(850)/B8(900)

3G

WCDMA: B1/B2/B4/B5/B6/B8/B19

TDSCDMA: B34/B39

4G

FDD LTE: 2600, 2100, 1800, 900, 800
TDD LTE: 2300

Performance

CPU

MediaTek Helio A22 MT6761

CPU Clock

2.00 GHz / Number of cores: 4

GPU

PowerVR GE8300 @660 MHz

RAM

3 GB

ROM

32 GB

TF Card Slot

Support

Max TF Card Capacity

microSD, microSDHC
(up to 32 GB)

USB

v2.0 OTG

SENSORS

Light / Magnetometer / Gyroscope / Fingerprint scanner
Battery
Li-Ion 5580 mAh
Charging
Fast wired-charging

Camera

Rear Camera

13.0MP + 0.3MP dual rear cameras,
Front Camera
5MP