Miami upstart Blu Products has slowly managed to pop up on the radar
of smartphone buyers looking for a smarter buy. The company in recent
times has focused heavily on introducing Android devices that compete
with the wares of bigger brands by undercutting them on price. The
phones don't match up on specs, but the aim is that a good phone can
still be found at a significantly lower price.
With the Blu Life View, Blu attempts to translate its strategy in a new arena and ride the wave of oversized Android phones that dwarf the displays seen on other devices. It's a category with increased competition and increased difficulty to master. Can the Blu Life View and its 5.7-inch display provide a big screen and still deliver big performance and big savings?
Hardware and Design
Anyone whoever wondered what would happen if HTC and Samsung were to collaborate on a phone could probably guess that the resulting offspring might resemble the Blu Life View. The curve along the back makes it look like a bloated HTC One, and it has a metal plate, though not with the same anodized aluminum treatment. The front and sides contrast that with a white hard plastic. Capacitive buttons for Menu, Home, and Back are on the lower portion of the device's face, and a single rear speaker of average volume handle things on the other side. A micro USB charging port is at the bottom and a removable portion of the metal back reveals dual-SIM slots.
The Blu Life View is a hefty device thanks to its 5.7-inch display. The large bezels on the side stretch the footprint to161 x 82.5 x 9.3mm (6.34 x 3.25 x0.36in), which is larger than the Galaxy Note. The Life View is still comfortable to hold because of its slanted sides and texture make it easier to put a firm grip on the device. The metal back is also comfortable and cool. The phone can be at times unwieldy because of its weight (220g, 7.76oz) and size. Trying to swipe down the notification drawer with one hand is challenging, but the extra weight ironically makes it easier to do than it is on a Galaxy Mega 6.3. Anyone considering the Life View is obviously someone who wants, needs, and loves extra large devices. The trade-offs are sacrificing portability and smooth one-handed usage but gaining a much larger surface area to type on a keyboard, read text, and view videos.
With the Blu Life View, Blu attempts to translate its strategy in a new arena and ride the wave of oversized Android phones that dwarf the displays seen on other devices. It's a category with increased competition and increased difficulty to master. Can the Blu Life View and its 5.7-inch display provide a big screen and still deliver big performance and big savings?
Hardware and Design
Anyone whoever wondered what would happen if HTC and Samsung were to collaborate on a phone could probably guess that the resulting offspring might resemble the Blu Life View. The curve along the back makes it look like a bloated HTC One, and it has a metal plate, though not with the same anodized aluminum treatment. The front and sides contrast that with a white hard plastic. Capacitive buttons for Menu, Home, and Back are on the lower portion of the device's face, and a single rear speaker of average volume handle things on the other side. A micro USB charging port is at the bottom and a removable portion of the metal back reveals dual-SIM slots.
The Blu Life View is a hefty device thanks to its 5.7-inch display. The large bezels on the side stretch the footprint to161 x 82.5 x 9.3mm (6.34 x 3.25 x0.36in), which is larger than the Galaxy Note. The Life View is still comfortable to hold because of its slanted sides and texture make it easier to put a firm grip on the device. The metal back is also comfortable and cool. The phone can be at times unwieldy because of its weight (220g, 7.76oz) and size. Trying to swipe down the notification drawer with one hand is challenging, but the extra weight ironically makes it easier to do than it is on a Galaxy Mega 6.3. Anyone considering the Life View is obviously someone who wants, needs, and loves extra large devices. The trade-offs are sacrificing portability and smooth one-handed usage but gaining a much larger surface area to type on a keyboard, read text, and view videos.
Screen Quality
The 5.7-inch display makes it obvious why Blu chose to name this device the Life View. The phone has one of the biggest screen sizes seen this side of a tablet, and only the recently-announced Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Mega 6.3 could be considered comparable. The Life View has a larger bezel than those devices, and it uses LCD rather than AMOLED. Though colors are not as deeply saturated, the display is very bright.
As previously mentioned, Blu's Life series are designed based on the premise that a quality product can still be delivered by making adjustments that can still be good enough despite costing and offering less. The screen takes that approach by having a 720p rather than 1080p resolution. The difference is noticeable on a screen this big. The display is sometimes grainy when you purposely focus and keep the screen close, but the large size means that you can rest the phone far away and still get a clear look at the device. The screen is good enough thanks to its size and relative quality.
Performance
One might think that a quad-core processor automatically means that the Blue Life View is a beast, but that's not the case. The Life View has a Mediatek 1.2 GHz quad-core processor. It uses the older ARM A7, a PowerVR SGX 544MP GPU, and only 1GB of RAM. In every day use of browsing, reading, tweeting, and calling, performance is fine. In the first few days of my time with the Life View, I was blissfully happy doing my usual activities. The phone lacks the instant response seen in more expensive devices, but it did not hang or belabor through light activities.
The 5.7-inch display makes it obvious why Blu chose to name this device the Life View. The phone has one of the biggest screen sizes seen this side of a tablet, and only the recently-announced Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Mega 6.3 could be considered comparable. The Life View has a larger bezel than those devices, and it uses LCD rather than AMOLED. Though colors are not as deeply saturated, the display is very bright.
As previously mentioned, Blu's Life series are designed based on the premise that a quality product can still be delivered by making adjustments that can still be good enough despite costing and offering less. The screen takes that approach by having a 720p rather than 1080p resolution. The difference is noticeable on a screen this big. The display is sometimes grainy when you purposely focus and keep the screen close, but the large size means that you can rest the phone far away and still get a clear look at the device. The screen is good enough thanks to its size and relative quality.
Performance
One might think that a quad-core processor automatically means that the Blue Life View is a beast, but that's not the case. The Life View has a Mediatek 1.2 GHz quad-core processor. It uses the older ARM A7, a PowerVR SGX 544MP GPU, and only 1GB of RAM. In every day use of browsing, reading, tweeting, and calling, performance is fine. In the first few days of my time with the Life View, I was blissfully happy doing my usual activities. The phone lacks the instant response seen in more expensive devices, but it did not hang or belabor through light activities.
Blu Life View Key Specs
- 1.2 GHz quad-core processor (ARM Cortex-A7)
- PowerVR SGX544 GPU
- 1GB of RAM
- 5.7-inch display, 720p resolution (258 ppi)
- 16GB of internal storage (12.83 accessible)
- Dimensions: 161 x 82.5 x 9.3mm (6.34 x 3.25 x0.36in)
- Weight: 220g (7.76oz)
- 2,600 mAh battery
- Bluetooth 4.0, HSPA+
- Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
Software and Apps
When I reviewed the Blu Life Play, I praised Blu for releasing a phone that made very few changes to Android. The Blu Life View makes even fewer modifications and leaves a nearly stock Android 4.2 Jelly Bean software package for users to explore. The launcher, Calendar, Clock, Contacts, and Gallery apps are standard issue Android. Only the core Google Mobile apps are preloaded but the full suite of apps - and more than 1 million other choices - are available in Google Play. Best of all, the phone is free of carrier crapware.
There are only a few subtle changes to the software, including themes that change the accent colors from blue to mint, mocha, or raspberry. Scenes offer further customization for having different widget and app displays for personal use or work. Someone can have one home screen display for work or traveling and then switch to another standard later.
A proximity sensor adds more options through Smart Gestures. The Life View can automatically answer an incoming call or unlock a phone by waving a hand over the top of the device, silence a ringer by flipping the phone on its face, or call someone whose contact details are on screen. We've seen similar features on Samsung's Galaxy devices, so it's nice to see Blu recognize the value of providing quick shortcuts to common activities.
The Life View also adds a few apps meant to plug holes in the stock Android software. File Manager offers a free tool to browse through internal storage and find, copy, move, or delete files. An FM radio plays live radio broadcasts and a Holo-inspired Task app provides a dead-simple way to locally managed a to-do list. The Music app from the Life Play is surprising replaced with an app that looks and performs exactly like the old stock Android music app. I wasn't a fan of the previous Music app, so it's not much of a loss. The app works well for locally-stored music, but since the phone has less than 13GB of storage, I'd wager that people will be wise to give Google Play Music, Spotify, Rdio, or Rhapsody a try as replacement music players.
Communication and Data
The beauty of Blu products is that they are sold unlocked, so they typically work with AT&T, T-Mobile, and other GSM networks. The ugly side of that is the phone doesn't support LTE. The dual-SIM phone supports 4G HSPA+ on the 850/1900/2100 bands. The phone uses Mini SIM cards so you may have to visit a carrier and pick up a new card because most phones released in the past year have Micro or nano SIM slots. I don't have a mini SIM and was unable to test call quality or network performance as a result.
Camera
A 12-megapixel camera with autofocus, face detection, and LED flash handle the picture-taking duties of the Life View. A surprisingly-high 5-megapixel camera takes care of things on the front for video chat and self-portraits. The rear camera is still just average and passable. The LED flash unfortunately injects a very blue tone when used, and I noticed that the camera works best when manually adjusting settings because the default overexposes images. Brightness and other settings can be adjusted in the revamped software. The Life View also supports taking panoramic photos, toggling HDR, using a self-timer, adjusting exposure/white balance, and much more.
Battery Life
A 2,600 mAh integrated battery keeps the Blu Life View running with solid longevity. With 100 percent brightness, I managed to watch nearly an entire season of The League on Netflix and play a few rounds of Dead Trigger before the battery warning appeared on screen. The phone offered 7 hours of active use streaming video over Wi-Fi. Again, it's hard for me to truly gauge battery life because I could not test with a SIM installed, but battery life should be solid with an HSPA+ mini SIM in a strong coverage area.
Conclusion
Blu's playbook is fairly obvious at this point. It's also smartly executed. The Life View is not as fast as an Optimus G Pro, nor is it as flexible and visually stunning as a Galaxy Note 3. It's not as good as the top of the line devices and it unapologetically lays no claim to being on that level. What the phone does is simply acknowledge that it's in the same arena and may be good enough for consideration.
The Life View offers a large screen for people who like above average-sized displays and below-average prices. Like all Blu devices, the appeal lies in the low price, which is only $299 unlocked, and what someone gets for the money. The Life View costs less than half what other companies charge for the full retail price of their devices. Though the phone falls short of some preferred attributes, it surpasses the "good enough" benchmarks and meets the demands of the average user. I would not recommend this device for anyone who plans to play the top-of-the-line games because the phone is not powerful enough for that segment of consumers. Anyone else looking for a big device with a little price might be pleased to know that the Life View is inexpensive and still quite interesting.
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