Blackview’s durable phones are available in South Africa

We’ve seen numerous Chinese brands hit South Africa over the past 24 months or so, with Xiaomi and Meizu being two of the most prominent recent entries.

Now, we’ve got another Chinese brand in the form of Hong Kong-based Blackview, having recently launched South African operations. And the company has quite a variety of handsets available to purchase.

On the budget (R3000 and below) end of the spectrum, we’ve got the Blackview A5 for R1495, featuring an ageing quad-core A7 chip (MTK6580), 1GB of RAM and 8GB of expandable storage. There’s also a 2MP selfie camera, 5MP main shooter, 4.5-inch 480p display and 2000mAh battery.

Spend R2095 and you get the Alife P1 Pro, featuring a quad-core A53 chip (MT6735), 2GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage and 5.5-inch 720p display. Otherwise, a 5MP selfie camera, 13MP main shooter and 3000mAh battery round out the package.

What about the tough devices?

But the company stands out from the pack thanks to its rugged, IP68 handsets, offering dust and water resistance for cheaper than other smartphones.

The cheapest IP68 smartphone offered by the firm is the BV6000S, priced at R3895 and delivering a quad-core A53 chip (MT6735), 2GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage, a 4.7-inch 720p display and a large 4200mAh battery. Otherwise, the Achilles Heel here might be the 2MP selfie camera and 8MP main shooter.

Need a bit more oomph from your water and dust resistant phone? Then the BV6000 is for you, at R4795.

Your extra cash gets you a budget but capable Helio P10 chip, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of expandable storage, a 4.7-inch 720p display and large 4500mAh battery. The camera department also sees an upgrade, in the form of a 5MP selfie shooter and 13MP main snapper.

Wait until the end of the month, however, and you can claim the IP68-toting BV7000, featuring an octacore A53 chip (MT6750T), 4GB of RAM, 64GB of expandable storage, a fingerprint scanner, 5.5-inch 1080p display and 3500mAh battery. You also get a 13MP main camera and 8MP front-facing camera.

We’ve contacted the company for more information regarding its South African operations.