We’ve been on the floor at IFA 2024 checking out Blackview’s latest array of smartphones, with the Blackview BL 9300 sticking out as an interesting piece of kit. The rugged phone manufacture’s recent addition to its arsenal brings smartphone thrills together with a walkie-talkie like aesthetic that isn’t just for reliving your childhood adventures. In fact, the Blackview BL 9300 is billed as the “world’s first NTN satellite terminal.”
The applications of the BL 9300 might be not catered to your everyday trip to the supermarket or the cinema, but it could be a game changer in situations where even the best 5G phones aren’t cutting the mustard. Blackview’s latest smartphone offers both “22KM ultra-long range walkie-talkie” and NTN functionality. The latter means you’ll be able to connect to satellites orbiting the Earth’s surface, giving you extremely reliable coverage no matter what terrain you find yourself traversing.
So yes, it’ll work if you’re stuck at a music festival next year and need an emergency lift home. While the Blackview BL9300 on show at IFA was a dummy model, with the real thing not set to hit the market until early next year, it seems to be a pretty impressive bit of kit. Admittedly, it’s a heavy handset, but you get that with a lot of the best rugged phones, and few of them come with walkie-talkie technology.
Outside the impressive 22 km range walkie-talkie feature, the spec sheet points to the BL 9300 being a pretty decent smartphone in its own right. It boasts a 200MP main camera, ideal for capturing any natural wonders you might come across on a wilderness excursion, a massive 20,000mAh battery to keep you going for days, and Android 15, which will be the latest version of the operating system by the time the BL9300 arrives in 2025.
It’s a handset that won’t be for everyone, but we’ll be eager to see how it operates in the wild once it hits shelves next year. If the form factor seems like off-putting to you at first glance, we recommend checking out our Doogee s100 Pro review if you’re after a solid rugged phone.
For more IFA 2024 coverage, head over to our in-person roundup of TECNO’s product showcase, and our hands-on TECNO Pocket Go preview.