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Technarchy

macrumors 604
May 21, 2012
6,753
4,927
Looks nice, but with no LTE and only 16GB of storage it is a no go for me.

And peep the RAM.

Uh yeah there is a reason I walked back from the iPhone 6.

Wouldn't tolerate that from Apple and for sure as hell won't tolerate it from a lower tier manufacturer either.

The lack of LTE is just the icing on the cake.
 

joshwithachance

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Dec 11, 2009
2,105
1,320
I've decided to return the Vivo Air. The lack of LTE is just inexcusable in 2015 (especially being on Cricket, where HSPA+ is limited to 4Mbps and 300ms ping times are the norm), and paired with only 8GB of usable space I just can't settle, even at only $199.

I will say though, it truly is one of the most beautiful phones on the market and only having 1GB of RAM didn't impact it's performance much at all. I also found myself impressed by the cameras as well.

Not a bad phone at all for under $200, but some pretty huge compromises were made to hit that price point, and a fresh coat of paint can't overcome them.
 
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Savor

Suspended
Jun 18, 2010
3,742
918
I tried researching more of the BLU smartphones and the only one that caught my eye is the BLU LIfe Pure XL released last year. QUALCOMM SNAPDRAGON 800 is really what grabbed my attention. The rest uses crappy MediaTek. But the Pure XL is quite pricey. This Vivo Air looks beautiful and all, but not for me. I've owned enough beautiful but underperforming or glitchy phones starting with my Motorola V600. I need an SoC that is on par to the Snapdragon 800/801 performers with 2GB-3GB DDR3 RAM and 3000+ mAh battery. Price those specs at $200 and BLU can shut up and take my money.

For me, the OnePlus One is still the best deal for the specs and performance as of right now. I would even get a Nexus 5 but I think a second hand or refurbished LG G2 under $200 would be more than suffice. I really love those Snapdragon 800/801 devices. I used the CPU Identifier app and laughed when the Aquos' 1.2 GHz Snapdragon 400 hit 13k while the Xiaomi easily hit 46k. That Snapdragon 400 is only on par with my girl's Kata with a MediaTek. The bare minimum should be around that level of Snapdragon 800 now that nearly 18 months since that SoC was released starting with the LG G2.

OnePlus One
Xiaomi Mi 4
Meizu MX4 w/ MediaTek 6595

^^^ Three of the best deals but only the 1+1 is more avail to the US.
 

TacticalDesire

macrumors 68020
Mar 19, 2012
2,286
23
Michigan
I really appreciate the effort the lesser named players are putting in to differentiate themselves. I'm a Sharp Aquos Crystal owner, but I can appreciate what BLU is doing.

#ShakingUpTheStatusQuo

I see the crystal out in the wild now and then and I am always impressed. It's not GSM though is it? I've only ever seen it on Sprint and their MNVOs.
 

TacticalDesire

macrumors 68020
Mar 19, 2012
2,286
23
Michigan
And peep the RAM.

Uh yeah there is a reason I walked back from the iPhone 6.

Wouldn't tolerate that from Apple and for sure as hell won't tolerate it from a lower tier manufacturer either.

The lack of LTE is just the icing on the cake.

Agreed. The only way I'd settle for 1gb of RAM is on a secondary phone. I love that I can keep tabs open in chrome, come back after a day or two, and they don't have to reload. Also, due to my job I'm in and out of wifi quite frequently so having LTE is a godsend. I can get along OK on H+ but why would I settle for that when so many budget LTE phones are available.

All this being said, still a great looking phone for the price. If they could have added another gig of RAM and maybe make it slightly thicker to accommodate a bigger battery, this phone would be a lot more appealing to most of us here I think.
 

AppleRobert

macrumors 603
Nov 12, 2012
5,729
1,133
The appeal? Price, looks, and it is unlocked.

Cons? Battery life, not LTE.

I am going to check out the 2nd gen Moto E for kicks, I already have the Moro X 2014 and a bunch of secondary phones as well so I doubt I'd buy it and the Zenfone is coming for a good price anyway.
 

Savor

Suspended
Jun 18, 2010
3,742
918
I was checking out the $150 BLU Studio Energy (aka Gionee Marathon M3) with its 5000 mAh battery...

If only it had a better SoC like the Snapdragon 410 and more RAM, I would ignore the newest Moto E and Moto G completely. I saw the THL 5000 last year and battery life wasn't all that. I can't stand most lower end MediaTek. Qualcomm's SD400 lags already for me esp while typing on a keyboard. White box makers and most Chinese brands at the lower end use inferior touch panels, some not even beyond two-point finger touch. A warning to anyone thinking getting a cheap smartphone since they might assume a touch response will always register. There is a lag to them and stutter while browsing.
 

TacticalDesire

macrumors 68020
Mar 19, 2012
2,286
23
Michigan
I was checking out the $150 BLU Studio Energy (aka Gionee Marathon M3) with its 5000 mAh battery...

If only it had a better SoC like the Snapdragon 410 and more RAM, I would ignore the newest Moto E and Moto G completely. I saw the THL 5000 last year and battery life wasn't all that. I can't stand most lower end MediaTek. Qualcomm's SD400 lags already for me esp while typing on a keyboard. White box makers and most Chinese brands at the lower end use inferior touch panels, some not even beyond two-point finger touch. A warning to anyone thinking getting a cheap smartphone since they might assume a touch response will always register. There is a lag to them and stutter while browsing.

Blu usually uses decent screens. I haven't dealt with 2pt multi touch since I used a Cruz Android 2.0/2.1 tablet about 4 years ago.
 
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