I recently looked around for a very ruggedized phone that i could use on the Verizon Network. I've been using a Samsung S7 for years and was very happy with it. The carriers just didn't have current ruggedized phones that i liked.
I spend alot of time outdoors and on the lake, specifically and i enjoy camping (so when camping, i wanted to know if there were any sasquatches out there when out in the woods watching me). So i wanted a FLIR Camera and when i found the BV9900, it had both and the price point was GREAT!!
I looked at Caterpillar and Ulefone as well. Caterpillar was quickly eliminated however Ulefone was a very strong contender. As I understand it, Ulefone is made in Mainland China and that bothered me a bit. Blackview is also made in China but it is actually listed as Tiawan. So that made me feel better. I also read a little on Blackview and learned that the founder of the company recognized the profits the carriers were making on their device and wanted to offer the consumers a higher end device for t a middle tier price point.
So i chose the Blackview BV9900 Pro. It comes with a very nice FLIR Camera built in (which works quite nicely) AND it can be dropped in water. And yes - i've dropped it in a hot tub twice and it was just fine.
it did not show as a compatible device on Verizon's IMEI compatibility website, Well, that site isn't the complete story! I took the sim out of my old phone, put it in my new one, and the service works just fine. it did take about 5 minutes and a power off cycle. But for any of you asking - the answer is YES - it works just fine.
I do have a few trouble spots when traveling. When placing voice calls, sometimes I will dial and then my phone will just hang up before it gets connected so i have to try a couple of times. But when it goes thru, it works just fine- clear as ever and consistent with what you would expect from Verizon service. I do experience some issues in other cities where Verizon has a strong presence. In my home area, my speeds are consistently average. When traveling, it seems as if the data speeds will get really slow when surfing the internet. i think this is more the phone than the network. While it doesn't seem to be the consistent experience i had with my S7, I have not had any situations where i couldn't get service or a call thru when needed and all in all, I've been very happy with the BV9900 Pro running on the Verizon network. I will share with you that i did purchase the CDMA oriented phone and it only goes to 4g, (no 5g) but with the low cost of this device (just over 400 bucks) with the ruggedization and the built-in FLIR Camera - i couldn't be more happier with the purchase and so far, fairly happy with the Verizon network service.
While there is a slowdown sometimes while surfing, it is not to the point of frustration. There still seems to be something that doesn't quite seem as if it is working correctly though, but hopefully i will figure it out soon. I plan to ask for a new SIM card - as mine was fairly old coming from my S7 unit. That may or may not make a difference. However, i can see from the phone that it accesses the 4G LTE bands often and it works good.
I would be interested to hear from others on their experience with this device.
The problem is when Verizon finally shuts down it’s 3G network you will be without voice calls. If your phone currently drops to 3g, as indicated by an H or an H plus in your notification bar, that is 3G service. And it’s why phones like Ulefone and Blackview are not whitelisted.
Hi, I work in facilities maintenance. I've been using the BV9900 pro on Verizon Wireless for over 2 years now. Almost everything works great, including 4g, VoLTE. The only issue I have found that is a bit frustrating and I would like help to figure out is. I'm not able to download the Verizon applications for voicemail and visual voicemail. The only voicemail notifications I get, is a scrambled (numbers and letters) text message from Verizon. Visual voicemail has never worked. Other than that I have been perfectly happy with the device. It's extremely durable, I've dropped this phone form about 30 ft high on a scissor lift, onto the concrete floor. Ended up with just a few scratches. I've also submerged it in water, I don't know how many times. I've abused it, about as much as a contractor abuses his tape measure. I highly recommend this phone. The thermal imaging camera I've come to rely on with my job.
@travisreitz83 wrote:Hi, I work in facilities maintenance. I've been using the BV9900 pro on Verizon Wireless for over 2 years now. Almost everything works great, including 4g, VoLTE. The only issue I have found that is a bit frustrating and I would like help to figure out is. I'm not able to download the Verizon applications for voicemail and visual voicemail. The only voicemail notifications I get, is a scrambled (numbers and letters) text message from Verizon. Visual voicemail has never worked. Other than that I have been perfectly happy with the device. It's extremely durable, I've dropped this phone form about 30 ft high on a scissor lift, onto the concrete floor. Ended up with just a few scratches. I've also submerged it in water, I don't know how many times. I've abused it, about as much as a contractor abuses his tape measure. I highly recommend this phone. The thermal imaging camera I've come to rely on with my job.
Verizon lightened up pretty quick. Although their IMEI check will still exclude phones, for the most part as long as the phone has banned 13 for LTE they will let it work.
Get yourself a Google voice number, you can use one for free. And then forward all of your Verizon missed calls or whatever to your Google voice number. This is a free way of not only getting visual voicemail but you get transcription which Verizon charges you for. My Google voice number is through my Gmail account and not only do I get a notification through the Google voice app but I also get an email, and I can actually listen to the voicemails through the email which means you can pick it up on a computer or a tablet. In my case it’s handy because my Google voice number is on two different phones and all of my voicemails go to one voicemail box.
I have an 8800 that I've been using for about a month and it's been working fine but the last week my data speeds have been horrible and then all of a sudden today I lost 5G and I'm down to 4G I'm lucky if I get two mags a second and download but can get over 10 and upload for some reason.
We want to make sure your service and device are working properly, can you provide us more details on this issue? Have you attempted to restart your device?
~Pam
I've had my BV9900 for about a year, and it's been great! Like others, i simply inserted my SIM card, waited 5 minutes and it just started to work. As for durability, I drop this phone quite often and it's survived quite well. Additionally, I've dropped it in the water a couple of times and it is truly waterproof! After a year, I've noticed alot of slowdowns lately while using the internet /general surfers but it usually recovers within a few minutes. I did note that it appears it's not a situation where it's switching to 3G - always good bars on 4G network and it still gets a slow down. But it does improve reasonably quickly. But it has degraded over the last few months - i see i happening alot more. The FLIR stuff is a bit complicated to learn to use, however it works and i really like it.
The one thing that is really quirky on this device is the GPS. I use Google Maps and WAZE - also apps associated with being a Rideshare driver part time. The GPS takes time to figure out where I actually am. It constantly thinks I am on a side street (for example, when in the right lane on an interstate), or when i go under a bridge it thinks i am on the overhead road and i get new map updates accordingly. Then has to reorient itself to understanding i am driving on the road below. his is very frustrating because if you know you have a turn coming up, you have to wait for it to truly figure out where you are.
The only other thing is i went ahead and updated to Android 10 via the manual method. They never pushed it to me. But the upgrade was reasonably easy to perform.
But i still love this phone more than any other phone i have ever had. It's durable, has a great battery. Not sure if they will come out with a 5G version for this model but hopefully they will. The features of this phone far outweigh any of my complaints! This is a GREAT phone!
/*end
I have been using a BV9800pro with verizon for about 2 years. I too simply put my old sim card into the phone and started using it...however, as sim cards do eventually degrade and this is the third phone its been used in, i decided to replace it. There's where the problems begin. Verizon customer service has told me on several occasions that the phone is not verizon compatible...even though they were talking to me on it...and after hours(12) with customer service and tech service they could not(or would not) transfer my number to a new sim card. The phone is great. Verizon not so much. Verizon has also taken it upon themselves to suspend my service now because of the 3g shut down. this despite the assurances of tech support that my phone would still function after 3g is turned off(it is a 4g phone...).
All in all, the phone is the best Ive ever had. Its very tough, the sound quality is excellent, cameras are second to none, and the other features like the flir make it a most useful tool...I wish after having service through verizon since 1996 i could say the same for them.
Have you considered an upgrade?
*Harley
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