aside from LTE support, why has no one considered Blu?

[soccerballtux]

both can be had for like, $200.

here's one option

• 2.2ghz quad core
• 3GB RAM
• 5.5" 1080p (not 2k!!!) screen

my personal favorite

• 1.6ghz quad core snapdragon
• 2GB RAM
• 6" 1080p (also not 2k!!!) screen
• $210 on Amazon

HSPA+21 is plenty fast IMHO, especially now on AT&T that everybody moved to LTE.

and I mean hey, it's $210, and you get a huge 6" 1080p screen. Crank that build.prop DPI!!!

 

[Jodell88]

Because their phones suck.

<----- BLU has been sold here for years.

 

[luv2liv]

i like BLU too. they make fine phones for people like me who needs nothing but voice n text. no games, no apps, nothing fancy

 

[Anubis]

before today id never heard of them

looks like a Samsung clone

 

[paperwastage]

cause in USA, consumers are conditioned to only buy/use carrier-branded phones

(Sprint and Verizon users never had a choice, T-mobile users need band 4 3G which is usually not supported in chinese phones)

HSPA/3G on AT&T is going to get worse, because ATT is refarming the spectrum for LTE




now? there are better quality phones at that price point: Moto E/G (LTE), Samsung Avant, LG G2 (older gen but well rounded phone)

 

[Dulanic]

Had never heard of them, and US carriers don't make it easy to use a non carrier supported phone.

 

[preslove]

Because LTE is a huge deal? In 2015, LTE is absolutely necessary.

 

[maevinj]

I know this won't be popular, but it looks like Blue has released an LTE phone
http://www.windowscentral.com/impressions-blu-win-hd-lte

 

[poofyhairguy]

why has no one considered Blu?

Because in 2015 its less about the hardware than the software. Those phones come with Kit Kat 4.4, and might never get 5.0 let alone the 5.1 that fixes 5.0. Plus Blu's Android skin is DISGUSTING, it is that worst case Miui-type skin that is just a crappy copy of iOS in too many ways (aka no app drawer). It is nothing like stock Android, and we are an enthusiasts forum.

We are now to the point where many Chinese/foreign focused companies like Blu and Xiaomi and whoever offer a lot of good hardware value for the money, and then ruin the software experience for an American audience. These cheap phones are designed with a foreign audience in mind who care less about updates (because they might have problems getting them anyway) and more about aping the ultimate status symbol called the iPhone.

We do get excited about the crossovers, aka the companies that try to play ball with western enthusiasts. Like the One Plus One or the Micromax YU Yureka that both ditch the disgusting skin for CM. Or how excited we will all get about the Huawei Nexus if it happens. And I think the success of these devices will bring more devices. The problem is that many Chinese OEMs haven't proven they have a software side that can crank out a nice stock Android without bugs, while CM is about to ditch the parts of Android that a lot of us care for.

For "normal" people a Blu phone isn't fine because no one has one, which means no support or buyer validation. For normals the problem is less about the OS (which they don't know about) and more that they can't bug the poor people at the Verizon store when they have problems with the device.

Honestly these cheap phones are spinning their wheels. They sell on specs, something normals don't care about, with a crappy OS, which makes enthusiasts who care about specs tune out. It reminds me of when American-centric companies go into non-US markets and assume that everyone's taste is the same as Americans.

People point to the ROM community, but except for major devices most don't get third party AOSP Roms. And even with the major devices those ROMs are hacks. If its not stable to the point of a Nexus ROM or a GPe ROM why bother? Who cares how many megapixels the camera has if the ROM breaks HDR.

 

[Denly]

I actually rocking a BLU HD WP since Oct and they're rock solid. Great batter life, solid build, bold color(holding up good), reliable, dual sim, good screen and come with case.

For $129(on sales) no complain here, will buy again.

And BLU is a US company right?

 

[poofyhairguy]

And BLU is a US company right?

They are based in Florida yes, but they sell Chinese phones to mostly foreign markets. I think their biggest market is Brazil maybe.

Edit: I looked and I read it wrong. They plan to start building in Brazil, which makes sense as Brazil is crazy about importing tech.

 

[sweenish]

I enjoyed the argument about US carriers being so difficult to bring your own phone into.

Sprint and Verizon, given.

GSM networks, "Your phone has to have the right bands to function on the network" amounted to the sum total of the argument. That was awesome.

 

[ThisIsChrisKim]

I enjoyed the argument about US carriers being so difficult to bring your own phone into.

Sprint and Verizon, given.

GSM networks, "Your phone has to have the right bands to function on the network" amounted to the sum total of the argument. That was awesome.

To be fair, the US in general doesn't use the same LTE frequencies as the majority of the world. Add in that T-Mobile also uses frequencies not commonly used in other places--it's not uncommon for many people on TMo where 1900MHz hasn't been refarmed to be stuck on EDGE.

 

[soccerballtux]

Because in 2015 its less about the hardware than the software. Those phones come with Kit Kat 4.4, and might never get 5.0 let alone the 5.1 that fixes 5.0. Plus Blu's Android skin is DISGUSTING, it is that worst case Miui-type skin that is just a crappy copy of iOS in too many ways (aka no app drawer). It is nothing like stock Android, and we are an enthusiasts forum.

We are now to the point where many Chinese/foreign focused companies like Blu and Xiaomi and whoever offer a lot of good hardware value for the money, and then ruin the software experience for an American audience. These cheap phones are designed with a foreign audience in mind who care less about updates (because they might have problems getting them anyway) and more about aping the ultimate status symbol called the iPhone.

We do get excited about the crossovers, aka the companies that try to play ball with western enthusiasts. Like the One Plus One or the Micromax YU Yureka that both ditch the disgusting skin for CM. Or how excited we will all get about the Huawei Nexus if it happens. And I think the success of these devices will bring more devices. The problem is that many Chinese OEMs haven't proven they have a software side that can crank out a nice stock Android without bugs, while CM is about to ditch the parts of Android that a lot of us care for.

For "normal" people a Blu phone isn't fine because no one has one, which means no support or buyer validation. For normals the problem is less about the OS (which they don't know about) and more that they can't bug the poor people at the Verizon store when they have problems with the device.

Honestly these cheap phones are spinning their wheels. They sell on specs, something normals don't care about, with a crappy OS, which makes enthusiasts who care about specs tune out. It reminds me of when American-centric companies go into non-US markets and assume that everyone's taste is the same as Americans.

People point to the ROM community, but except for major devices most don't get third party AOSP Roms. And even with the major devices those ROMs are hacks. If its not stable to the point of a Nexus ROM or a GPe ROM why bother? Who cares how many megapixels the camera has if the ROM breaks HDR.

Blu is an American company from Florida. They don't have that Chinese feel.

I don't know anyone really worried about lack of 5.1. It was a huge step backwards, and has too many issues to be worth installing. I'll check it out around 5.3, maybe they'll have cleaned things up, unlikely.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I could see doing that as Lollipop is rough. I think it adds too much to lose it, but I miss Kit Kat sometimes.