Kudos to Kia Motor, qpegop and lalala (timofei.agafonov on r/KaiOS Discord server) on the 4PDA forum, and gleb_prokop on r/KaiOS Discord server for their valuable findings, which immensely contributed to the documentation of this device.
Blackview Hong Kong released the Blackview N1000 in April 2024. It has a USB-C port for charging and data transfers, 1GB of RAM, 3300mAh battery and a strong servicable flashlight at the top, which many forum users found to be very useful.
This phone was certified MIL-STD-810H and was rated IP69 for water jet resistance.
¶ Tips and tricks
- Since build no. 240715V4, the phone supports reverse charging devices over USB-C. To toggle, open Settings, Personalisation.
¶ Known issues
- LCD screen inverts colours horribly, making it obvious it's a TFT matrix.
- Rear camera is terrible.
- A-GPS fails to lock current position on 4G LTE, possibly due to interferences with TDD bands. A workaround is to switch to 2G/3G to get GPS signal: Settings, Mobile network & data, Carrier - SIMx, Network type, 3G/2G. Might be a major issue for those live in place where 2G/3G have been shut down.
¶ Secret codes
*#*#0574#*#*(*#*#0lri#*#*): Open the MTKLogger app.*#2886#(*#auto#): Open KaiOS MMI Test, an internal tool for OEMs to test the hardware components of a KaiOS device.*#8378269#(*#testbox#): Open the legacy Testbox engineering menu to test hardware components; can also be manually opened using Luxferre's CrossTweak
¶ Codes that don't work
*#*#33284#*#*(*#*#debug#*#*): Toggle debugging mode, granting ADB and DevTools access to the phone (see ADB and WebIDE). A bug icon will appear in the status bar letting you know debugging mode is on. Debugging mode may also be activated under Settings, Device, Developer, Debugger, ADB and DevTools.
¶ Special boot modes
Exit these modes by removing and re-inserting the battery, or following the instructions at the end of each mode.
¶ Factory mode (in Chinese)
Press and hold the Power/End call button and the * key while the phone is powered off. (TBD: how can one navigate in this menu?)
In this mode, you can run automatic test or manual test of all hardware components (1 and 2), test a single component (3), access previous test reports (4), debug a component (5), wipe all data and factory reset the device (6), view version information (7) or restart the phone back to normal mode (8).
To exit Factory mode, select the last option in the menu.
¶ Fastboot mode
During the boot process, the phone's preloader (first-stage bootloader) may briefly show up on a Linux computer as /dev/ttyACM0 for a few seconds, as it waits for a connection handshake from a flashing tool like SP Flash Tool. Sending the ASCII bytes FASTBOOT at 115200 baud to the phone during that window makes the phone boot into a limited Fastboot mode.
On a computer with Python 3 installed, create a Python virtual environment, then install pyserial from PyPI. Download and run this script to send commands to /dev/ttyACM0:
# Create a new Python virtual environment in the current directory
python3 -m venv .venv
# Activate the new virtual environment (to exit later, just run `deactivate`)
source .venv/bin/activate
# Install pyserial from PyPI
pip3 install pyserial
# you might need extra privileges, run this command again with "sudo" prepended
python3 mtk-bootseq.py FASTBOOT /dev/ttyACM0
Switch off the phone, then connect it to the computer while it is powered off. The phone should boot into a blank screen.
Reading/dumping or writing/flashing partitions in this mode are not allowed.
One command, fastboot oem reboot-recovery, restarts the phone to a black screen with an exclamation mark, where pressing buttons doesn't do anything and there is no output to dmesg -w. After a minute or so, it restarts to normal mode.
Editor's note: As we've seen with other devices in this situation (such as the Nokia 2780 Flip), it might be necessary to press a combination of buttons together to actually open the Recovery menu.
Per lalala (timofei.agafonov on r/KaiOS Discord server), sending the
METAMETAbytes causes the phone to boot into a state where it gets stuck at the splash screen. ADB access is available at this point, albeit inunauthorizedstate and requires an ADB vendor key.
To exit Fastboot mode, type and run fastboot reboot.
¶ Sideloading and debugging third-party applications
Developer menu is hidden from Settings by default, as is common with many production KaiOS phones. However, unlike other devices, the secret code to toggle debugging mode *#*#33284#*#* does nothing on the N1000. Attempting to open the Developer menu with W2D will immediately close it.
ADB access is available in Factory mode and MAUI mode, albeit requires an authorised vendor key.
To access the Developer menu and allow ADB and DevTools access, you need to unlock the bootloader and patch the boot partition with the use of bkerler's mtkclient.
¶ ROOT: Bootloader unlock and patching the boot partition
¶ See also
- Blackview N1000 KaiOS 2.5.3.2 - Discussion on 4PDA forum (in Russian)
¶ Device specifications
- Released: 17 April 2024
- SoC: MediaTek MT6739 (4 × 1.28GHz Cortex-A53)
- RAM: 1GB LPDDR3
- GPU: IMG PowerVR GE8100 @ 570MHz
- Storage: 4GB eMMC 4.5 (+ up to theoretically 512GB microSD card, practically 32GB)
- Network: 2G GSM, 3G UMTS, 4G LTE Cat4 150/50Mbps; supports VoLTE and VoWiFi
- EU, APAC: band 1, 3, 7, 8, 19, 20, 40
- SIM: Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual-standby)
- Screens:
- Main: 320 × 240 at 167 PPI; 2.4-inch TFT LCD, 300 nits
- Bluetooth: 4.2
- Wi-Fi: 802.11a/b/g/n, 2.4GHz, Hotspot
- Peripherals: GPS, Dedicated flash
- Cameras:
- Rear: 2MP with fixed focus
- Dimensions (HWD): 133.1 × 59.6 × 19.1 (mm) / 5.24 × 2.35 × 0.75 (in)
- Weight: 165g (5.82oz)
- Ports:
- USB 2.0 USB Type-C, supports charging and data transfers
- 3.5mm headphone jack
- Specials:
- IP69 dust/water resistant (withstanding high pressure and temperature water jet, no depth)
- MIL-STD-810H certified
- Reverse charging over USB-C (since 240715V4)
- Battery: Li-Ion 3300mAh, removable, wired charging via dock (up to 12 days of 4G standby advertised)
- KaiOS version: KaiOS 2.5.3.2
- WhatsApp VoIP: Supported
- Build numbers: 240715V4