I have been using the R1 HD from BLU now for over 2 weeks as my daily phone, and I wanted to share my experience with it. So, two weeks in, and I am still impressed with the build quality of this phone. It still feels great in the hand with the aluminum edging.
After the 2 weeks of usage, I am even more impressed with the phone. I have experience no funny lags when switching between applications, or when scrolling webpages or applications like Newsstand. Even Google Maps and navigation run great. Battery life last me a day easy with my usage. I typically end with over 50% left at the end of the day. As my daily driver, it functions just fine for everything I do.
One of the shortcoming of the phone was lack of NFC, which meant lack of ability to install Android Pay, which I had come to depend on for my loyalty cards like Lowes, Qdoba, Best Buy, AutoZone and CVS. I found Stocard, an app that allowed me to store all the cards into it solving my lack of Android Pay. One other feature I have missed is the wireless charging I had with the Nexus 6. Plugging it in is a step backwards, but it is no deal breaker by any means.
Another difference I notice is the screen colors. Coming from the Nexus 6, I notice the green is not nearly as vivid on the R1 HD. It isn't that the colors are bad, it is just majorly tuned different and it has been a noticeable change. The screen works well with its auto brightness as I have used it outside and was able to use the phone without issue.
At this point I am still missing the VoLTE and Band 12 support. The BLU website still shows the update will come shortly after the phone is released. In addition, I will also miss WiFi Calling that the BLU R1 HD lacks for when I travel to the boonies to my parents where no cell carrier has clean coverage.
I was able to successfully use the camera for a mobile check deposit. Have only taken one photo of my pet, so not much to go on there, but the camera functioned fine and the picture captured what I wanted, so it can at least cover the basics. It is obviously not going to stand up next to the current top phones, but it gets the job done for a fraction of the cost.
After 2 weeks with this phone, I can now say I will be sticking with this phone for the foreseeable future as it covers all my needs at this time, or will when the Band 12 update arrives.
Showing posts with label VoLTE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label VoLTE. Show all posts
Sunday, August 7, 2016
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
BLU R1 HD - First Day
BLU is well known for making lower end with multiple SIM phones. As we have moved towards removing contracts, these low cost phones have become more appealing. I've had my eye on them for some time but never moved forward cause they have only made phones supporting AT&T or T-Mobile, for reasons I completely understand, but never fully supported T-Mobile like Band 12, VoLTE or WiFi-Calling. Since I'm with T-Mobile, these were important to me, which is why for my last phone purchase, I went with a Nexus 6. Last week, I dropped that in a rocky driveway and now have a shatter screen. Now enters the BLU R1 HD, which is supposed to be releasing an update which will enable VoLTE and the Band 12 the phone hardware supports. I purchased the upper model with 16GB of storage and 2GB of memory. Seems like a no brainer at $10 more putting the total at $110.
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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