Has BLU Abandoned the BLU WIN HD LTE? - Badly need Updated Firmware

[Codster314]

The BLU WIN HD LTE badly needs a Firmware Update for W10M. However I have lost hope that BLU actually cares about this phone anymore, and starting to doubt we will ever see an update. The phone was released last year (2015-04), and it getting older. A lot of people I see have moved to the new budget phone (Lumia 650, ~$99CAD). What's sad is that the BLU WIN HD LTE is almost better in all the stats (except for the OLED Screen on the L650), and thus could easily be a competitor with a simple updated Firmware release. I'm surprised Microsoft even allows BLU to release this device in such an unpolished W10M hardware state. New W10M customers trying the BLU WIN HD LTE will have a sour W10M experience.

With Windows 10 Mobile maturing with every update, I believe W10M will eventually (slowly) become stable. But worry that these hardware issues on the BLU WIN HD LTE will never be solved. The few updates that should happen to the Firmware are listed below, the top 3 being the big ones:

FIRMWARE UPDATES:
CAMERA DRIVER - The auto-focus for the camera is not functional and needs an updated W10M driver in the Firmware.
SCREEN DRIVER - The auto-brightness for the screen flickers and is not functional. it needs an updated W10M driver in the Firmware.
DEVICE REG SETTING - The "Root Device Category" is incorrectly set (Computer to Computer.Portable), causes UWP to display incorrectly and needs to be updated in the Firmware.

PREINSTALLED SPEECH - 9 "speech" languages are pre-installed by default on the X150Q (US) Version. It should not install all by default and should only install the language chosen during setup (the Lumia 650 has 2 Speech Languages when setting Canada at startup).
AMAZON APP - is discontinued and should be removed from the ROM.

MAYBE (may fix when reg is correctly set):
WIFI DRIVER - Update Network driver to display the outgoing arrow in the notification bar. Update driver to include Static IP assignment, this should be added to the Firmware.
GLANCE + DOUBLE TAP - Maybe add these 2 features to the Firmware if the device allows it (L650 has them with less hardware).
MIC IN SPEAKERPHONE MODE - The BLU has 2 Mics, and it seems in W10M when entering Speakerphone, BLU may be choosing the wrong Mic to use and causes sever muddling/cuting on the other end. Normal Mode Mic works fine. Others notice this? Maybe my speakerphone Mic is just broken. Need to test in W8.1.

KNOWN BUGS (some may fix when firmware is released, confirm these work on latest OS before release):
WINDOWS UPDATE - After updating to the Anniversary Update, you will not receive any more official Microsoft Updates.
INSTALLING NEW LANGUAGE - You can not install new Language Packs/Keyboard/Speech on latest version it'll just error out.

I believe all these errors are BLU's responsibility and not in the W10M OS. Imagine if BLU fixed all these? What would we have left to complain about? All that would be left is waiting or an updated Skype/People Apps and then general stabilizability!

I encourage people to send feedback to BLU, using:
BLU WIN HD LTE SUPPORT PAGE: Win HD LTE Service Page EN
BLU GENERAL SUPPORT PAGE: Contact Service

 

[xandros9]

To be fair, BLU is known for not updating their devices.

 

[abhishek singh21]

Most likely it has been abandoned, if your device did not come pre-installed with windows 10 your device is most likely outdated and will never receive any F/W OTA updates in future. same goes for Lumia devices as well. It is projected on past habits of OEMs.

 

[seeremlive]

Seeing as this phone is no longer even mentioned on the bluproducts.com site, and it is already 20 months old (most manufacturers only support devices for 18 - 24 months) I wouldn't expect any changes or updates.

 

[Codster314]

Yea, it's just the product officially was sold as a Windows 10 Mobile device, and it never really received a real Windows 10 Firmware to make all the hardware work properly on Windows 10. Just a bit deiceiving of them.

 

[SirThoreth]

Wait, what? You can't update at all after AU is installed on the HD LTE? I thought it was just preview builds.

 

[selfxd]

Wasn't this phone sold with the promise of upgrading to 10? I guess it does but.......

 

[xandros9]

They would probably ask: "Does it or does it not run Windows 10 Mobile?"

 

[Ankush V1]

I've stopped using it and moved on to Android . I guess I'll never buy a non branded wp . Will stick to Microsoft next time as I truly like the wp10 eco system .

 

[unichips]

Wait, what? You can't update at all after AU is installed on the HD LTE? I thought it was just preview builds.

You can make the jump from Windows 10 Mobile RTM to the most recent build of Windows 10 Mobile Anniversary Update, whatever build that happens to be at the time. Then, any subsequent builds of AU will not show up.

The next time an AU cumulative update is released, you have to revert back to WP8.1 using WDRT, then repeat the whole upgrade process again.

Personally, I haven't tried, but I don't think any Fast or Slow previews of Redstone 2 are available at all for BLU Win HD LTE devices.

 

[seeremlive]

There were three different firmware updates that were pushed on WDRT after Windows 10 was released.
Yes, you have to wipe your phone to do it, which resets you back to WP 8.1, and then upgrade back to 10. If you don't have the .15013 firmware, you do not have the latest firmware.

 

[gabriel92]

Some of the missing things can be easily added using Windows ICD provisioning packages, like wireless arrow & static IP setting, see screenshots.




As for Glance only possible on AMOLED/OLED screens, otherwise will cause huge battery drain. WIN HD LTE has IPS LCD which makes it sort of incompatible, because lcd would have to stay on all the time.

 

[Codster314]

Thats kinda cool. Is there a tutorial for adding the Arrows and Static IP Windows ICD provisioning packages to the BLU? I do not know where I'd start.

 

[gabriel92]

From another thread:

Also for everyone who is interested to play with functionality of Windows 10 Mobile using Provisioning packages here are few links:

Intro, what provisioning package is and what you can do.

List of settings which can be changed.

However, some settings like capacitive button vibration can be added only when flashing the ROM. More info here.

And I have uploaded wireless arrow customization package here previously, download here.

In W10M simply connect your device through usb, copy it to the device memory and phone should ask whether you want to install it automatically.

 

[JMX777]

Some of the missing things can be easily added using Windows ICD provisioning packages, like wireless arrow & static IP setting, see screenshots.

View attachment 132911
View attachment 132913

As for Glance only possible on AMOLED/OLED screens, otherwise will cause huge battery drain. WIN HD LTE has IPS LCD which makes it sort of incompatible, because lcd would have to stay on all the time.

Can you change the way the phone is labeled to be read like a smartphone, not like a tablet?

 

[gabriel92]

Can you change the way the phone is labeled to be read like a smartphone, not like a tablet?

Also mentioned in another thread - tried to do that using ICD (there is such option as device type), however did not work and device type did not change.

Update: Read here for more info about the ICD option I have tried to change, for the time being I have dumped the default device settings, but I don't have enough time to play with them. Probably some clue as to why the device category shows up incorrectly is there.