I?ve been curious about the Blu Windows Phones for a while. On paper they look like excellent value for the money. I finally decided to get a Win HD for a backup phone as the Lumia 520 I have is really small and I?m using it for more of a SIM free mp3 player sort of thing.
My Blu Win HD arrived just about one week ago?
What it doesn?t do or doesn?t have:
No Glance
No Double-Tap to Wake
No Lumia Firmware and all that comes with that; Lumia Camera, Gestures Beta, etc.
No Sensor Core goodies
No LTE
It didn?t set up my APN & MMS automatically from my SIM
Now that the above is out of the way, let?s talk about the actual phone.
One week in and I?m satisfied this is a phone I can use on an extended basis. Battery life is very good with the 2200 mAh battery and the efficient Snapdragon 200 SOC. That part surprised me the most, even after studying the spec on paper and looking at some user reviews. And battery is important to most users. I?m a light to moderate user, so I?m getting 2 and 3 days out of my Win HD between charges. I like that.
The display is better than I expected. It looks very sharp at 294 ppi. It?s 720p with 720 x 1280 pixels on the 5? diagonal display. I will say also that I am biased toward IPS LCD such as is included on the Win HD. I just favor it over AMOLED. Other users will disagree and that?s fine too. I like the more natural tones of LCD. There are no Brightness or Color Profile settings, but the firmware seems to have dialed in the display to a nice point that is at once lively and usable. One thing to note: the automatic brightness adjustment doesn?t seem to want to compensate for bright, direct sunlight. I don?t know why. Keep Brightness toggle in your Action Center so you can toggle to medium or high manually to compensate. A quirk that disappoints on an otherwise very nice display for the money.
The screen itself is plastic ? not glass. I can see where that saved them a few dollars. The Blu Win HD comes with 2 screen protectors. 1 installed and 1 in the box, right? Some complain about the screen protector and the screen itself being over sensitive. My unit was an ?opened box? deal on Amazon. I saved about $40, but there were no screen protectors; either on the phone or in the box. Raw, the screen was way sensitive and has an odd feel to it. The firmware has it dialed in sort of touchy. Fortunately I found a nice item at the local Walmart. Hard plastic type screen protectors that are supposed to be ?trim to fit? and are actually the perfect size. It covers side to side perfectly and from the very top of the panel all the way down about 3mm past the bottom edge of the display. The capacitive buttons are not covered, but I don?t feel any seam from the screen protector. With the hard plastic sheet I get a better feel and the sensitivity isn?t a glaring deficit. There are occasional unwanted taps, but much fewer and I?m learning there is a way to scroll on this device to avoid that issue. Never hesitate and use a firm touch.
Buttons. The buttons on the Win HD are at the top of the phone?s sides. Upper right is Power. Upper left is the Volume rocker. Careful how you hold the phone when you squeeze that Power button. I?ve gotten lots of accidental screen shots by pressing Volume + and Power without meaning to. Two and a half years on Lumia phones makes for some hard to break grip habits. LOL.
I chose Neon Orange for my phone?s color. I like it a lot. It?s very vibrant. Looks almost edible, like a sorbet. The included TPU case is a nice match and provides a good grip and adequate bump protection. I?ve not used the included headphones (white), but the charger and cable are very nice. The cable is a bit on the short side, but that is the trend now ? saving money by giving out short cables. Overall I find the phone very attractive. It is slim and easily pocketable. There is a bit of heft to it that belies the plastic construction.
There is a removable back, removable battery, two micro SIM slots and a micro SD card slot. All very nice and easy to access. I?ve inserted a class 10 SanDisk 32GB card I have that I?ll swap between the Win HD and my 520. No issues with read or write and it plays music and video quite nicely off the card. I?m the type to only put disposable media on card so don?t ask about App speed.
I am using a Straight Talk AT&T compatible SIM. It is a nano SIM because of my 1520. I have an adapter with a tough plastic sheet for a backing. A bit of double sided sticky tape and the nano stays put in the adapter. No issues with insertion or removal in the Win HD?s slot. I?m only using one SIM, but can say the Blu dual SIM is set up as an active system where you can decide what each SIM is for and can use both simultaneously. The phone did not read my SIM for data and I had to manually set up my APN and MMS. No biggie. Any user should always be prepared to do so. Removing the SIM and reinserting it is fine. The Win HD remembers the SIM and goes back to your settings.
I set up some Bluetooth headphones with the Win HD. No issues pairing and remembering them. Using the Bluetooth headphones is just as it should be; no button press issues or any difficulties to report.
Calling. Calls on the Blu are clear and clean sounding. On the handset, on the speakerphone, on the Bluetooth headset ? the sound quality is there. Volume is a slight concern. I like to have reserve volume for when things get noisy on my end. With the volume maxed the calls are just slightly loud. There really isn?t much need to turn it down even one notch. But if things get noisy, there really isn?t any upward adjustment left. Headphones show the best possibility in this regard and if you have a dedicated Bluetooth earpiece I can see that being a plus when paired with this phone. Data. The Blu Win HD gets the fastest H+ available: up to 42.2 mbps and my phone has shown no issues keeping and maintaining a data connection with my carrier. The antenna and radio in the Blu is as capable as any I?ve used and my signal lock is outstanding for voice and data.
Out of the box my phone had Windows Phone 8.1 and immediately updated to 8.1 Update 1. I believe the Blu phones got Update 1 just before Christmas, 2014 which puts them near the head of the pack of Windows Phones for fast update. This bodes well for Blu supporting the platform and I hope Update 2 comes to me quickly for this handset. Time will tell on that as well as answering the question of Windows 10 coming to this device. I?ve poked around on this phone pretty comprehensively. Blu did not add anything to the OS. There is no ?skin;? no Blu Apps, add-ons or oddities. Think ?AOSP? and you?ll see where the Blu is coming from. They didn?t add any value to the OS, but they also didn?t mess it up by tinkering around?
Snapdragon 200 SOC, 8GB internal memory (but you can expand that via microSD slot) and 1 GB RAM. The phone runs pretty smooth. For every day chores the phone zings along just fine. I do see a bit of lag in my Uphill Racing. I?m not sure why. Maybe I need to try with data off so it isn?t loading ads. I?ve not seen lag anywhere else ? even somewhat high bitrate videos in MoliPlayer Pro. I?ve not done any intense gaming, but I don?t really do that on my high end phones either. Maybe another user will address that area more fully. I wouldn?t expect the world out of the quad core 1.2 GHz CPU and Adreno 302 GPU combo. Great for every day ? maybe not so much for power play. Let?s remember this is a value device.
While we are talking about hardware? The Blue Win HD has an accelerometer, proximity sensor and an ambient light sensor. Not all of these are present on every budget device so take that into consideration when checking specs. There is no compass and while I would like one it isn?t really a deal breaker for me. As I mentioned earlier, no issues with Bluetooth. Also no weird WiFi problems. GPS seems to work without issue and at acceptable speeds (seems faster than my 520 and about the same as my 1520), USB works as expected and there is an FM radio on board (which, of course, needs a wired headset for an antenna). For in App use the speaker actually was pretty loud, yet still clear. The volume in App is a direct contrast to in call where there was not as much range.
It is worth noting that I have not once felt this device build up heat. Kudos to Blu on that...
Let?s talk about the cameras? They don?t have that Lumia firmware tweak to them. They are serviceable QCAM-AA models that are rather generic. I?ve found them to be adequate. Don?t expect too much from them and be ready to work a bit is all. I think their shortcoming is in direct sunlight. There you may have to play with the white balance or exposure via manual settings. Microsoft Camera is the default camera App. Do yourself a favor and get some other camera Apps to help beef up what the 8MP rear and 2MP front cameras are capable of and to expand your editing options.
Here are some sample pics:
Normal interior during the day, 2MP front via Microsoft Camera, automatic settings
Bright daylight outdoors, 8MP rear via ProShot, automatic settings
Early morning shot with snow taken in the shade, 8MP rear with Microsoft Camera, automatic settings
Lastly this was taken on an overcast day with snow, 8MP rear via Camera360 Sight, automatic settings and post shot autocorrect + filter applied
In conclusion: I think the Blu Win HD is a worthy all around for budget shoppers and a good buy for those flagship users who want a decent backup without breaking the bank. I?m very pleased with my purchase and glad I took time to explore this worthy device. I?d buy it again or recommend it to another. This is an especially nice bargain if you can catch it on sale.
Pros:
The screen looks great
The styling is very hip and fresh
Good all-around handling of the no-frills OS
Fast updates (?)
1GB RAM
Sensors included
SD Slot
Battery life and removable battery
Zero heat issues
Dual SIM (active)
Value for the money
Cons:
The firmware is a bit less than Lumia users expect
Cameras need manual love to coax the best out of them
Button placement is a bit awkward
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