BQ Shark Rush Review – Dust & Waterproof smartphone

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Design

Apparently, BQ Shark Rush is a purely human smartphone, it is just as brutal and tough. Available exclusively in black, it includes decorative mounting screws, plus its design has straight lines and sharp angles. In this case, there are no metal inserts besides the mentioned screws.

Besides too many elements of the overall design concept of the smartphone, there is a classic. which located in the next section. This device does not have a monopoly or vertical oval camera, despite the “fashion” of Apple. Earlier it replaced by traditional screen frames, and the camera is horizontal and rectangular. The back panel looks very stylish and unusual, a square fingerprint scanner.

The screen size of Shark Rush is 5.45 inches. The frames are wide, but this is apparently due to shock protection: 16 mm from the top, 19 mm from the bottom, 6 mm to the right and left.

Display resolution – 1440×720 pixels, density – 295 pixels per inch. Pixelization is invisible. It should be borne in mind that the glass protecting the screen in this model is quite thick. So the IPS matrix is ​​somewhat recessed.

The viewing angles are maximum. But under the slopes, the image takes on either yellowish or purple hues. The brightness of the backlight of the screen matrix is ​​very high and amounts to almost 600 cd / m2. The contrast in the region of 1000: 1! Naturally, the picture does not fade in the light.

Screen Brightness
100 %
Night mode
Disabled/will not turn on automatically
Adaptive brightness
To change the brightness based on the level
illuminations
Wallpaper
Sleep mode
After 30 minutes of inactivity
Screen auto-rotate
Font size
By default
The scale of the image on the screen
By default

BQ Shark Rush smartphone that crosses water, dust and drops
The front panel itself is much larger than the screen itself – its scope is a complete waste under the standards of 2019. But in this case, it justified by an increase in the power of the case. Falling on a hard surface at the end of the case will destroy the screen, as thick as its frame. So this is a plus.

There are no control buttons in the bottom frame – they are virtual and located on the screen. At the top of the display are a multi-colour information wire, air sensor and front camera, proximity and light sensor.

Positioning

The iron component of this model is also not in the last place: here is MediaTek P22. And 4/64 GB of memory, and 4G with VoLTE / VoWi-Fi, and even an NFC chip for contactless payment. Of the nice little things – the presence of a USB Type-C connector, two SIM cards, a fingerprint scanner.

The positioning of the BQ Shark Rush is extremely simple. An affordable secure smartphone with decent settings for all occasions. Today, a smartphone can be purchased for 12,990 rubles.

Appearance

As befits a secure phone, it looks brutal and exactly the same as shock-resistant devices are usually designed. Various protrusions that soften the fall; rubberized plugs to prevent moisture from entering the housing; large fasteners. Which are more likely to give an impressive appearance to the device.

Despite the small screen diagonal of 5.45 inches, the dimensions of the BQ Shark Rush are large. Therefore, in this case, you should not rely on a compact protected device. Dimensions – 159x75x11.7 mm, weight – 211 grams. Colour is only black.

The frame of the device made of durable rubberized material bonded to the rest of the body using Torx screws. At the corners, you can see thickening. They serve, as I wrote earlier, to mitigate the impact of the case on a hard surface.

On the front panel, there are two thickenings – above and below. They are necessary so that when falling, the load falls on them, and not on the glass. But, there are similar solutions.

Three patterns are extruded on the backside: a running man, a man on a bicycle and a man in a kayak. The meaning, I think, is clear. And a little lower – black embossed insert with the name of the smartphone model.

The power button is quite original: it is made of metal and resembles a large convex Torx screw. The remaining buttons are flat, oblong and thin: on the right – volume control, on the left – multifunctional.

The USB-C connector on the bottom is protected by a dummy, a microphone just above it. The speakerphone is on the back.

On the front panel above is an indicator of missed events and battery power, a selfie camera and a speaker. It is quiet, but it sounds clean and bass.

You ask: “And where is the 3.5 mm headphone audio output?” “He is not there,” I will answer. For a protected device, each additional hole is a minus in moisture protection. In addition, the engineers thought about the likelihood that the user, having forgotten, could jump into the pool without removing the headphones.

On the back, there is a wide module with two lenses and a flash. And just below – a square fingerprint scanner. It works fast.

The device protected according to the IP68 standard. Which implies a fairly high level of moisture protection, including immersion to a depth of one meter to half an hour.

Total: a well-made external device with relatively good ergonomics for such devices.

Working Experience

Inside the smartphone, a non-removable 3900 mAh battery is installed. The received data disappointed me a little:

• Video playback at maximum brightness – 7 hours
• Games at maximum brightness – 4 hours
• Screen glow at auto brightness – about 4 hours
• The total average operating time of the device is about 13 – 15 hours.

This is strange, given the 12 nm technical process and a rather capacious battery. Most likely, the essence lies in the very high brightness of the backlight of the display matrix. Still 600 cd / m2! Usually, this is not more than 450 cd / m2, even for devices of the middle price category.

The battery is charged from the 5V / 2A AC adapter for 2.5 hours.

Communication opportunities

As usual, work with two nano-format SIM cards is supported. Both “understand” 4G LTE B1 (2100 MHz), B3 (1800 MHz), B5 (850), B7 (2600 MHz) and B20 (800 MHz). The slot is combined, which is bad. The quality of communication is familiar, so it’s difficult to single out something special.

The first chip – BQ Shark Rush is equipped with an NFC contactless payment chip. The second is support for two 2.4 / 5 GHz bands. The third is working with VoLTE and VoWi-Fi. Of course, there is GPS and GLONASS. The satellite detection speed is average, accuracy is from 7 meters.

Memory and Performance

This unit has 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal memory (45 GB available). As usual, you can expand the microSD card, the maximum capacity is 128 GB. Let me remind you that the slot is combined, that is, either two SIM cards, or one SIM card and a memory card.

The speed of RAM is 5000 MB / s. For such devices, the result is good. The speed of the built-in memory is much more interesting – 200/150 MB / s, an excellent result!

The MediaTek Helio P22 processor was introduced in May 2018. The chip was built on the basis of 12 nm process technology. It was equipped with transistors FinFET from TSMC. Inside work 8 cores Cortex-A53, the frequency of each – up to 2 GHz. PowerVR GE8320 graphics accelerator, frequency – 650 MHz. Of course, not without the rudiments of artificial intelligence. Here it is needed for more accurate face recognition, for more correct work with digital bokeh.

The game PUBG sets the minimum settings. You can play with such parameters, but the device is straining, and the game goes smoothly. Therefore, I can not recommend this model of the smartphone as a device for launching powerful toys like PUBG.

In general, the phone behaves slowly. It’s not very clear what this is connected with: memory is fast, the processor is not the weakest.

Software & Performance

The device runs on the Google Android operating system version 9.0. No branded shell. There are built-in games and programs. You can delete them.

Shark Rush runs on Android 9 with minimal interface changes. Added support for gestures, as well as the ability to configure applications launched by pressing an additional side button. Everything else is pure Android, so it does not waste mobile resources.

But if there are no additional system applications on the smartphone, there are many advertising programs that can be removed. Of 11 such applications, you can stop 9, only two utilities will be Index, which you can simply disable. Removing will free up to 500 MB of additional space.

The new smartphone is very fast, even when you just start – without slowing down or freezing, everything opens quickly and right out of the box. The software has been improved, and the OS also lacks useless software. When Dr Webb checked, no malware was detected.

The smartphone has been tested with Ice Storm in Benchmark Encanto and 3DMark. Investigation rejected for unknown reasons. Used the latest version of the installed application from Google Play.

The results, in fact, surprised us very much. The smartphone received very good results in both tests – Antoine gave him 90,174 points, and the 3D Mark scored 11,750 points. For the vast majority of modern games, this is more than 99% of typical applications. During the test, a moderate case temperature was felt in the processor case.

In the memory of the smartphone, there are three heavy (two navigators and browsers) and five small applications. For daily use.

Cameras

BQ Shark Rush uses multiple cameras. The manufacturer claims that the main module consists of 13 MP and 0.3 MP sensors. What role does the 0.3 MP camera perform, it was not possible to find out, since it does not blur the background. It is not a monochrome module, there is neither zoom nor wide-angle optics.

To my surprise, the pictures obtained of quite good quality, especially pleased with the detail. The absence of obvious noise in the frame and the “soap” in the corners. Selfies also come out well, like the dynamic range: there are no obvious overexposures or dark areas.

The interface is simple: from the bottom – switching between photos and videos. switching to manual mode, to the “Night” mode and mono (monochrome, b / w), “Beautiful face”; above – settings and switch to a selfie camera.

Musical possibilities

There are two speakers here. One is for speech output, and the other is for hands-free calling.

Ringtones sound quiet and hoarse, mostly with mid frequencies. It is possible to block the sound output from the speaker (it is located on the backside from the bottom) since the slot for the speaker is narrow here. The volume level drops by about 50%.

The sound in the headphones is not bad (I had to connect a USB-C adapter to 3.5 mm), loud. I do not see the meaning of describing quality in more detail. Via Bluetooth, music is transmitted without difficulty. Radio in this model is present, but without a headset, it does not work.

Finding

For those who were looking for an inexpensive smartphone with IP68 protection, BQ introduced the Shark Rush model. In addition to dust and moisture protection, the device is partially protected from shock, at least I operated it fully. No problems arose during testing.

You cannot count on performance at the flagship level, which is understandable.

With all the other things, BQ Shark Rush does well. Particularly pleased with the very bright screen of 600 nits. Among the positive aspects, it is also worth noting the presence of VoLTE, VoWi-Fi and an NFC chip for contactless payment.

The most interesting competitor is the LG Q7 worth 14,000 rubles: a 5.5-inch screen with FullHD + resolution, 3/32 GB of memory, a 3000 mAh battery, NFC and IP68.

Close in spirit to the BQ – Blackview BV6800 Pro costing about 15,000 rubles. Here the battery is 6800 mAh, the screen is FullHD +. Other characteristics are the same plus or minus.

As the cheapest option – Doogee S40 worth about 6500 rubles. There is NFC, a 5.5-inch screen, but with a resolution of 960×480 pixels, a 4650 mAh battery, 2/16 GB memory. Shockproof housing and protection against water and dust.

And what low-cost secure smartphones do you know? And how much is this protection necessary in a modern smartphone?