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jrswizzle

macrumors 603
Aug 23, 2012
6,107
129
McKinney, TX
Agreed, this can only be good for consumers. It will also put pressure on the big players to really step up their products across the board

In the low-end market, perhaps.

I don't see devices like this affecting Apple or the high-end flagships of Samsung, HTC etc.
 

AppleRobert

macrumors 603
Nov 12, 2012
5,729
1,133
Really?

"Get impressive theater like sound thanks to its DTS surround audio technology with equalizer, that gives you sweet high’s, smooth alto and deep bass for the best enjoyment of music and movies.

This amazing smartphone has two microphones, which enable noise cancellation and stereo recording. Dual microphones permits hearing the other party clearly without background noise, and lets you record videos in stereo sound".

The reviews I found are pretty good as well, one gent did a very comprehensive one on Amazon that especially made me take notice.

Hot Damn for $200! :)
 

Savor

Suspended
Jun 18, 2010
3,742
918
f01_00.jpg

Gionee Elife S5.1

Copycats copying other copycats. Gionee's Amigo OS is just as bad as most Chinese skins like Lenovo's or Meizu's Flyme.

To me, 2100 mAh simply isn't enough powering a 720p display. Trying to claim on having the world's thinnest smartphone is worse than going 2-4k display with no real difference for the sake of battery life. And just 1 GB of RAM esp for Lollipop or any platform for that matter.

I like what BLU is doing here but if Asus or Xiaomi can get their act together and target the Western markets, they probably can offer something much better down the line. After seeing a decent $199 smartphone, I am now looking forward to OnePlus One's successor. This BLU is more fashionista for the fans with a limited budget. Only 1 GB RAM, no sd slot, no removable battery and only 2100 mAh are huge red flags for me. Asus Zenfone 2 in whatever variant might still be the better deal but you would have to wait another month for that one.
 

thecurryman

macrumors 6502
Jun 9, 2012
329
45
BLU has promised to have Lollipop on it by June! Thanks for posting your impressions on it! I kind of want a BB Passport too, so if it doesn't work out, I'll just return it and order a PP too :)

Seems like such a great deal for less than $200 though. I've loved my 6 Plus, but I can't fathom this thing being SO MUCH WORSE than I'm begging to have my $900 phone back.

Well if it gets lolipop that should be a huge upgrade in terms of performance and maybe battery life. I had the PP before but I wanted to give this one a try. However the PP is just a superior communications device which fits my use more effectively. Theres no doubt tho, at $200 this competes with an iPhone pretty well. And battery usage really varies by person so thats negligible. Great phone for a great price.
 

Savor

Suspended
Jun 18, 2010
3,742
918
I didn't realize BLU (USA) and Gionee of India (subsidiary of China) actually co-develop products. So now we know of the similarities in design.

Still, I have tried enough "cheap" smartphones to see both sides. There is a point for people who are bargain shoppers saying too many overpay for products which have defects of their own or if the features are just overkill. And there is a side from other people who buy the more popular brands to get more of a peace of mind esp with customer service in case it breaks.

I was reading the comments about the BLU Life View on GSMArena. MyPhone (Philippines) actually repackages BLU products too. I think these "bargain" phones all need a caveat. My gf owns a $100 Kata F1s after she broke her Lenovo. Quad core MediaTek but the battery is awful, sound speaker is weak, and the touch isn't as sensitive typing on SwiftKey. But we can't expect flagship performance for $100? That Kata is still better and less crash prone than that Lenovo A516 which cost $40 more a year prior.

I just recently got the Nokia Lumia 635 which can hit 8 mbps download speeds which is 2x faster than my M7 but in real life usage, does lag, crashes alot, and touch isn't as sensitive like my Samsung Focus from three years ago. I can't even log onto this forum using that 635. But again, what do I expect from a $50 phone? The only real bargain phones I trust comes from Xiaomi or maybe Asus.

So it really doesn't matter whether popular brand or not. Sometimes, a cheaper phone can outperform a flagship or higher priced phone. But with issues later popping up along the way. The perfect phone or perfect brand really does not exist. YMMV with all of them no matter what price or brand.
 

AppleRobert

macrumors 603
Nov 12, 2012
5,729
1,133
Careful with spec whoring, folks.

The Blu I have runs fine, it updated 20 apps in less than 5 minutes and it does not approach the specs of the Vivo. I am not a power user, it was unlocked and I paid $129.
http://www.phonearena.com/phones/BLU-Studio-5.0-CE_id8813
 

Rangomango

macrumors member
Jun 25, 2012
94
2
Been using the Vivo Air as my second phone since it came out so feel free to ask any questions!

Real quick though, I wouldn't buy this expecting flagship performance...apps take time to launch and exhibits lag...nothing worse than the galaxy s4 though.

An excellent value and I highly recommend it for the average user.
 

AppleRobert

macrumors 603
Nov 12, 2012
5,729
1,133
Been using the Vivo Air as my second phone since it came out so feel free to ask any questions!

Real quick though, I wouldn't buy this expecting flagship performance...apps take time to launch and exhibits lag...nothing worse than the galaxy s4 though.

An excellent value and I highly recommend it for the average user.

Which color did you get and rate its looks please.

Do you install an alternate launcher, how about developer options and changing animations?

How about battery life?

Screen quality?

Speaker quality?

You asked for it, don't need lots of detail but your experience would be appreciated! :)

Best video I found and he also posted a review on Amazon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-kz70RkPMI
 
Last edited:

Rangomango

macrumors member
Jun 25, 2012
94
2
Which color did you get and rate its looks please....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-kz70RkPMI

Which color did you get and rate its looks please.
Black and grey, it looks great and feels great in the hands.

Do you install an alternate launcher, how about developer options and changing animations?
Yes I did, I use nova prime. The stock launcher is pretty good, but I didn't like how there was no app drawer. Developer options are available and yup you can set the animations.

How about battery life?
Hard for me to comment here since it is my second phone. But very similar to the first gen moto g. With my limited use, lasts about 2-3 days. Again, my daily use is limited, mainly used for syncing my moto 360.

Screen quality?
Pretty good actually. Besides the fact it is a 720p display, text is sharp and brightness is adequate. The auto brightness on mine is pretty unstable though. Screen is much better than the one on the galaxy alpha...i felt the text wasn't as sharp, however that screen had better brightness and control.

Speaker quality?
Both earpiece and speakerphone are fairly good. Earpiece isn't super loud, but should be good for most situations. The speaker phone is good, similar to the galaxy s4, just slightly quieter.

One thing to note, even though this doesnt have LTE, I still get 2-3Mbps on ATT. This is plenty fast since the limitation is the processor.

Haha, and no problem about all the questions, glad to help.

----------

Really?

"Get impressive theater like sound thanks to its DTS surround audio technology with equalizer, that gives you sweet high’s, smooth alto and deep bass for the best enjoyment of music and movies.

This amazing smartphone has two microphones, which enable noise cancellation and stereo recording. Dual microphones permits hearing the other party clearly without background noise, and lets you record videos in stereo sound".

The reviews I found are pretty good as well, one gent did a very comprehensive one on Amazon that especially made me take notice.

Hot Damn for $200! :)

Yeah to add to my above post, the audio quality isn't that great. When streaming via bluetooth to my car, it had a slight distortion.
 

AppleRobert

macrumors 603
Nov 12, 2012
5,729
1,133
I appreciate you taking the time and responding to my post.

I already have two Blu smartphones, one for Windows and one for android. The Win was more expensive, $179 at a MS store.

Not sure if this manufacturer will be a player. I recommend them for the price dependent on what one's usage would be.
 

gotluck

macrumors 603
Dec 8, 2011
5,717
1,260
East Central Florida
1GB on a phone running android and a phone running IOS is very different experiences.

moto g runs android with 1 gb ram quite well though :)

would be interesting to see how an android device with 1gb ram and highest end processor performed (though that will never happen, cuz why not more ram)

cant really compare 1gb ios to 1gb android because the processors are not comparable
 

Rangomango

macrumors member
Jun 25, 2012
94
2
moto g runs android with 1 gb ram quite well though :)

would be interesting to see how an android device with 1gb ram and highest end processor performed (though that will never happen, cuz why not more ram)

cant really compare 1gb ios to 1gb android because the processors are not comparable

1gb of ram is plenty for an unskinned version of android ala Moto g.

The Vivo air has some sort of skin, which slows it down, only slightly though.
 

mclld

macrumors 68030
Nov 6, 2012
2,658
2,127
It isnt plenty in my use with the G, I can not browse Chrome and use my podcast app at the same time
 

mclld

macrumors 68030
Nov 6, 2012
2,658
2,127
The podcast app will eventually close and I have to restart it. Sometimes it happens fast, other times it take a little longer but it will always happen
 

Michael Goff

Suspended
Jul 5, 2012
13,329
7,422
Believe it or not the reviews of this thing have been much more favorable than I expected. It could use another gig of RAM, but apparently the device is still very smooth in operation. And awkwardly it has a better front camera than the 6 and 6 Plus :eek:

Of course you don't get Apple's unmatched customer service, but you can literally buy 3 of these for less than one iPhone 6, which is where this thing becomes VERY tempting.

I'm highly doubting this. In what metric are you judging?
 

spinedoc77

macrumors G4
Jun 11, 2009
11,488
5,413
No LTE no chance in hell.

Just out of curiosity, what do you and others who need LTE need that speed for on a cell phone? HSPA should be good enough for the max resolution on a smartphone screen. File sharing? Tethering?

----------

In the low-end market, perhaps.

I don't see devices like this affecting Apple or the high-end flagships of Samsung, HTC etc.

Probably not until they put out a $350 smartphone to rival apple/Samsung. I'm surprised they haven't already done so.
 

mattopotamus

macrumors G5
Jun 12, 2012
14,738
6,109
Yeah, the Android browser will reload tabs like crazy with only 1GB of RAM.
Ugh, hang on...

har har har. Seriously though, most android phones with 1gb of RAM lag horrendously. The moto G would be the exception, but that has a lot to do with barebones stock.
 

AppleRobert

macrumors 603
Nov 12, 2012
5,729
1,133
Well it's a 5MP wide-angle lens. I'm assuming it's most likely the same sensor as on the HTC One M8, which is pretty good. I'll find out and let you know.

What are you for looking for from this smartphone? Giving up the Plus is understandable if the size isn't up to one's liking or if one doesn't like the OS.

Maybe the Samsung Galaxy Alpha which is nice looking as well and isn't as costly as an iphone but I bet you would get better mileage out of it than this Vivo. MRU gave a nice review and if not, there are other alternatives out there.
 
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