Mobile help please - Blackview (Android) BV5300 - Slow Performance

[Beancounter]

My phone, a Blackview BV5300, is a complete pain the arse to use and I'm hoping someone can suggest why (besides it being a cheap tough phone). Main problem is clunky/slow operation. Every day I will get a message telling me whatever app I am using is not responding, mainly WhatsApp and the UI but sometimes it'll be Messenger, Threads. When using the swipe gesture, whether to go back a screen or to type, it will take a full second for the phone to register the gesture, then the phone seems to trip itself up and the screen freezes. When trying to watch Youtube/Prime/Netflix I frequently get the spinning circle.

I'm using Android 12 and the system is "up to date". In terms of storage, I'm at 59.12GB of 64GB (12GB is WhatsApp, another 6GB is Netflix) - would this affect the performance?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C231ZVMR? ... tails&th=1

I've got a Blackview BV8800 which was awesome until I smashed the screen, hence buying a cheap replacement until I could get the BV8800 fixed (easier said than done).

Thanks!

[Count Steer]

Sounds like it's just overwhelmed! I'd try freeing up some storage just to see if it makes a difference and stripping out a few apps and looking what else is going on like Blutooth links etc etc.

Q1? Do you ever switch it off? (I know, it sounds daft).
Q2? Did it used to work OK?

[KungFooBob]

When you manage the apps there'll be an option to clear the cache, which should free up some space rather than removing the apps themselves.

[Rockburner]

Sounds like it's just a shitty phone. These days you need to max out on memory and ram as much as you can afford.

Have you turned off all the aeriels? Eg mobile data unless you need it, GPS unless you need it Bluetooth etc etc.

[DefTrap]

What RB said, can you send it back? Life's too short to be messing about with duff technology when mostly it just works.
Personally for cheap stuff I like the Xiaomi Poco range, just works.
And yes as much RAM as poss, at least 6GB these days.

[Beancounter]

Q1? Do you ever switch it off? (I know, it sounds daft).
Q2? Did it used to work OK?

Q1 - Not really, only when I've exhausted my patience with it or the phone itself has chosen to reset itself (once a day I'll get 'System UI is not responding'.)

When you manage the apps there'll be an option to clear the cache, which should free up some space rather than removing the apps themselves.

Thanks, I'll give that a try.

Sounds like it's just a shitty phone. These days you need to max out on memory and ram as much as you can afford.

Have you turned off all the aeriels? Eg mobile data unless you need it, GPS unless you need it Bluetooth etc etc.

I'm inclined to agree it's a shitty phone and I bought it expecting it to not be as good as my other Blackview, I just didn't expect it to be *so* shitty, particularly when the numerous reviews give it a good rating. I'll try switching off the other aerials, I guess if that helps then I'll be chucking it in the bin, can't be bothered having to toggle aerials as required just to get the device to work.

What RB said, can you send it back? Life's too short to be messing about with duff technology when mostly it just works.
Personally for cheap stuff I like the Xiaomi Poco range, just works.
And yes as much RAM as poss, at least 6GB these days.

Doubt I can return it as I've had it 7 weeks now but I'll have a look. The BV5300 is supposed to have 7GB of RAM so it *should* be plenty for my needs.

Local place has said they can repair my BV8800 but it'll take a week because they have to order in the screen which isn't surprising or unreasonable IMO.

Thanks again all!

[Count Steer]

It's good practice to do a power off on occasion, I believe, rather than 'Restart'. (I think there's a certain amount of housekeeping goes on on a cold start, but I could be wrong.

If it worked OK initially I'd consider backing stuff up, clearing everything/factory reset and starting again only putting essentials on....but that's a pain in the bum.

[mangocrazy]

I'm asking this from the perspective of one who has never owned anything other than a dumb phone, but do phones come with the same amount of preinstalled garbage that, say, Windows 11 comes with? If so is it possible to do a ruthless cull of all the unwanted crap and have a comparatively lean and mean phone? And how much actual control do you have over a modern phone - can you delete and bin stuff that comes preinstalled or are you prevented from doing that?

Asking for a friend, obvs...

[v8-powered]

I'm asking this from the perspective of one who has never owned anything other than a dumb phone, but do phones come with the same amount of preinstalled garbage that, say, Windows 11 comes with? If so is it possible to do a ruthless cull of all the unwanted crap and have a comparatively lean and mean phone? And how much actual control do you have over a modern phone - can you delete and bin stuff that comes preinstalled or are you prevented from doing that?

Asking for a friend, obvs...

Different networks preload with certain shite but even if you buy from the OEM that still have rubbish loaded that you simply can't delete. You can flash bespoke firmware but lose warranty and future support....

[DefTrap]

I'm asking this from the perspective of one who has never owned anything other than a dumb phone, but do phones come with the same amount of preinstalled garbage that, say, Windows 11 comes with? If so is it possible to do a ruthless cull of all the unwanted crap and have a comparatively lean and mean phone? And how much actual control do you have over a modern phone - can you delete and bin stuff that comes preinstalled or are you prevented from doing that?

Asking for a friend, obvs...

Some have more / less - it depends.
It's well worth looking at YouTube reviews - I've had good luck with cheaper phones reccd by this guy https://www.youtube.com/@TechSpurt . I don't have much truck with Amazon reviews because the ratings are skewed by idiots.
But, assuming you don't buy something -really- cheap (likely a less-known brand or a model from a few years ago on offer) then app-bloat isn't as much of a problem to performance as it used to be (it's more annoying than anything else) even a few years ago.

[Felix]

Dont buy a phone that was locked to a network and you tend not to get the bloated shit. I found 3 to be the worst. I bought a refurbished Galaxy S20+ what was cheaper then the poor quality one in the OP link. It is far superior for less money and has no branded shit. Most apps can be deleted or disabled unless its a system app.

[Beancounter]

A quick update. I contacted Blackview's customer support and after a few emails was advised to do a factory reset on the BV5300. This did significantly help as I stopped getting the multi-times daily app not working messages. The phone was working much better but still not as smooth as you'd expect. A few days after doing the factory reset and without further contact from me, Blackview reached out to offer me a new phone, model BV6200 Pro in return for updating my Amazon review. The new phone works as it should and much more like my old BV8800 (which is now in for repair).

Blackview's customer service has been spot on, very happy with them.