Upon first sliding the phone out of the plastic wrapper, it is very shiny. It doesn't at all look like $100 phone. The outer border feels solid in hand and the back had a solid grip to it. Coming from a Nexus 6, the BLU looks and feels to be the same quality. Powering the device on you see BLU custom boot screen and then greeted with the standard Android setup. After getting my account setup and applications installed, I began to run my typical tasks on it. Reading email, scanning news articles and messaging with friends. After setting it up yesterday afternoon and using it all day today, I found no performance issues when searching IMDB, browsing Redbox or loading my usual webpages.
Upon inspecting the back of the phone, the camera bulges out. This is nothing unusual as even the iPhone does this as did my first smartphone the HTC EVO 4G. The micro USB port is not in the center bottom as with most phones. The power button is also different. It is located below the volume rocker. It took some adjusting, but it becomes natural.
The display is nothing special. The colors get a bit washed out when the brightness is up but overall, text is clear. The touch input works just fine. Never felt like there were delays or incorrectly read taps. The benefit to the lower resolution screen is that battery has less of an impact.
After using the Nexus 6 for over a year, I've come to know well what stock Android is. I notice a few differences that BLU has implemented in the R1 HD, but for the most part, it is stock. Some of the subtle changes are a clear all button in the recent section, status bar shows 4G LTE, and the quick settings auto starts with having hotspots enabled plus adds in audio profiles for quick changing audio settings.
The phone has a flash which is very bright. The camera take moderate pictures. I'm no camera expert but it appears to be similar to my Nexus 6, though it appears a bit slower at focusing and loading to take pictures, but its fast enough for me. One unique item is this phone has a front facing flash as well, but I haven't tried it yet at this point as I don't do video chats.
Network performance on the phone is fine. I don't notice any weaker signal than my Nexus 6, just the lack of Band 12. Phone calls were clear and data is fast over LTE. I haven't tested a second SIM in the phone. The SIM was difficult at first to figure out how to insert as the instructions were vague, but I soon figured out how to slide the holder so it can lift up and allow the SIM card to drop in. This setup is very nice as you won't risk getting SIM cards stuck, especially when using adapters like I had to for the nano SIM to fit.
What this phone lacks in hardware features is NFC, wireless charging and fingerprint sensor. This is no surprise for a phone at this price. With no NFC though, this phone is not compatible to run Android Pay, and that is the biggest drawback for me as I have all my reward cards in there like Qdoba, Lowes, Kroger, etc.
So, after a days use, I'm thoroughly impressed with the phone. Although it isn't as easy to read large articles or emails as the larger Nexus 6, it does grip well in the hand and performs solid enough for my needs. With no VoLTE at this point, I might find it hard to switch to this as my daily driver, even though my Nexus 6 has a shattered screen, I prefer the connection when in the office. Once the VoLTE update hits, then I will likely make the change to use the BLU daily and find another app over Android Pay to store my reward cards.
Upon inspecting the back of the phone, the camera bulges out. This is nothing unusual as even the iPhone does this as did my first smartphone the HTC EVO 4G. The micro USB port is not in the center bottom as with most phones. The power button is also different. It is located below the volume rocker. It took some adjusting, but it becomes natural.
The display is nothing special. The colors get a bit washed out when the brightness is up but overall, text is clear. The touch input works just fine. Never felt like there were delays or incorrectly read taps. The benefit to the lower resolution screen is that battery has less of an impact.
After using the Nexus 6 for over a year, I've come to know well what stock Android is. I notice a few differences that BLU has implemented in the R1 HD, but for the most part, it is stock. Some of the subtle changes are a clear all button in the recent section, status bar shows 4G LTE, and the quick settings auto starts with having hotspots enabled plus adds in audio profiles for quick changing audio settings.
The phone has a flash which is very bright. The camera take moderate pictures. I'm no camera expert but it appears to be similar to my Nexus 6, though it appears a bit slower at focusing and loading to take pictures, but its fast enough for me. One unique item is this phone has a front facing flash as well, but I haven't tried it yet at this point as I don't do video chats.
Network performance on the phone is fine. I don't notice any weaker signal than my Nexus 6, just the lack of Band 12. Phone calls were clear and data is fast over LTE. I haven't tested a second SIM in the phone. The SIM was difficult at first to figure out how to insert as the instructions were vague, but I soon figured out how to slide the holder so it can lift up and allow the SIM card to drop in. This setup is very nice as you won't risk getting SIM cards stuck, especially when using adapters like I had to for the nano SIM to fit.
What this phone lacks in hardware features is NFC, wireless charging and fingerprint sensor. This is no surprise for a phone at this price. With no NFC though, this phone is not compatible to run Android Pay, and that is the biggest drawback for me as I have all my reward cards in there like Qdoba, Lowes, Kroger, etc.
So, after a days use, I'm thoroughly impressed with the phone. Although it isn't as easy to read large articles or emails as the larger Nexus 6, it does grip well in the hand and performs solid enough for my needs. With no VoLTE at this point, I might find it hard to switch to this as my daily driver, even though my Nexus 6 has a shattered screen, I prefer the connection when in the office. Once the VoLTE update hits, then I will likely make the change to use the BLU daily and find another app over Android Pay to store my reward cards.
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