Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is a large format smart phone that can be used with the phone carrier(s) of your choice. It runs on the Android operating system, an open source variant of Linux adapted for mobile touchscreen devices. Android is developed by Google, and there are numerous apps (application software packages) available to add capabilities to your phone, from games to navigation to social media like FaceBook. The phone ships with Android version 4.4, nicknamed KitKat. Here is what some of the other specs mean: --6.0 refers to the screen size. The screen is a full 6 inches long and 3 inches wide. This makes it considerably larger than a phone like the iPhone 6. Thus, the Blu 6.0 has a bigger screen and is easier to read than an iPhone 6, but you might find it bulkier to carry around. --Snapdragon 400 is the make and series number of the processor, the brains behind the smartphone. Besides Blu, other manufacturers using Snapdragon 400 chips include Samsung, Motorola and Nokia. The Snapdragon 400 is a good fast chip for an Android phone, though there are some faster chips out there if you want to pay a premium for having the fastest phone on the market. --1.6 GHz quad core processor is the rated speed of the processor. This speed is plenty fast enough for most utilitarian uses of an Android phone, such as navigation, web surfing, or using social media. --13.0 Mp refers to the image quality of photos taken with the camera mounted on the back of the phone. With 13 Mp, pictures you take with this phone can be printed and enlarged to 8x10" or larger without graininess. In comparison, the standard camera on an iPhone takes only 8.0 Mp (rear), while high end point-and-shoot digital cameras may offer 18 Mp. The front facing camera on this Blu phone (for taking selfies or using for Skype video calls) is rated at a full 5.0 Mp, which far outshines the 1.2 Mp offered on the front-facing camera of an iPhone 6. --2Gb RAM refers to the size of the working memory for the phone's computer. 2Gb of RAM is a lot of working memory for a phone, but it's necessary to run the large high definition video display. --4G LTE [up to 150 Mbps] is the latest wireless communication standard. LTE itself stands for Long Term Evolution, which is often referred to as 4G. LTE networks are supported throughout most of the Americas, Europe, and Asia and provide for the fastest voice and data communications currently available. Speed of communications is measured in Mbps; it is determined by the type of communications network. 150 Mbps is currently the fastest network speed available in North America. --Up to 32Gb MicroSD refers to the size of optional data card that can be added to the phone for additional storage. The MicroSD is an itty bitty pinkie-nail sized card which comes in a variety of storage capacities. If you are using the phone just for communications and social networking, you may not need to add a data card, since the 16Gb built in storage on the phone is already quite generous. However, if you'd like to carry around a large music or video library, or if you'd like to shoot a lot of photos or videos with this phone, the ability to add a MicroSD chip for extra storage is a great feature. The phone ships with a small protective plastic case that fits around the back of the phone, and a tailor-made transparent screen protector with cut outs for the front camera lens and speaker, as well as a small cleaning cloth. In addition, you get a 5.0 V 1 A output charger with micro USB cord and a set of ear buds with a built-in FM antenna and extra protective plastic tips for the buds, plus a small paper booklet with instructions about the very basics of using this phone and Android (they forgot to explain how to open the phone to insert the batter however!). Preloaded software is minimal, with basic Android email, calendar, camera, gallery, contacts, and browser. You can download other apps, such as FaceBook, DropBox or Skype from the Google PlayStore according to your needs and interests. The phone has a standard 3.5 mm headphone jack and slots for 2 SIM cards (to connect to phone carriers) as well as a MicroSD (for extra storage capacity). It also has full WiFi and Bluetooth connection options. I was interested in this contract-free phone because I live in a rural area where there is no cell service, so a phone contract makes absolutely no sense for me. Still, when I leave home, I need a phone to use for emergencies and to keep in touch with family, friends, and colleagues, and these days, I'm finding a smart phone is essential for navigating large cities. Since this phone comes without a contract, in order to use it, you need to add a SIM card from a communications carrier so that you can access their networks. As soon as I got this phone, I took it and my old GoPhone down to my local AT&T store. The clerk at the store transferred my GoPhone SIM chip and account to this smart phone, together with my GoPhone balance at no cost. Instant service (as long I stay in the city where there is cellphone coverage)! Well, actually, my old SIM card was too big to fit in this phone, so the clerk destroyed it and replaced it with a smaller SIM card for this phone at no charge. I also had the option of signing up for a variety of AT&T plans, or going down the street to TMobile and looking at their plans. With 2 SIM slots in this phone, I could even do both--get an AT&T SIM and TMobile SIM, although I think a better use of the second SIM slot will be for an international SIM when I'm traveling out of the country. I found the sound quality on this phone quite good, a great improvement over my old flip phone, which could only access older communications networks. Even though the screen is a little large, the phone feels comfortable for making calls. Note, though, that under current AT&T policies, with GoPhone (pay as you go) service, you can't access data on a smart phone via the AT&T network unless you buy a separate data package, starting at $5/month. Yes, on an old flip phone, AT&T allows you to use data services for a few cents a Mb, but the interface was clunky, so they knew you wouldn't do it. On a smart phone like this one, data services are easy to use, so they won't let you use them unless you pay extra for a data plan. Don't you love phone companies? If you don't want to pony-up for data services via the phone networks, you can still access data over WiFi networks at no extra cost on this phone. I migrated to this smart phone from a Samsung 7 tablet that I have been using for 18 months. Although I liked the tablet a lot, the sharper screen on this phone has made the new Blu phone my go-to device for reading and social media. Until seeing the action on this new Blu phone, I never noticed how slow the Samsung tablet was. I've read a few reviews about this phone and how there are other phones on the market that are faster. I guess if you absolutely must have the fastest phone on the market this week and money is no object, you might look elsewhere. But for the money, this phone is more than adequate, plenty more. With its sharp display and speedy Internet browsing, it is a pleasure to use. Speaking of the display, this phone makes a good book reader. I've tried reading books on an iPhone and other similar-sized small devices. No fun--either the print is too small to see, or just 3 words can appear on the screen at once. With the 6x3 inch display on this phone, you can get a full column of text, even with large print. The Kindle app works well on this phone; so does the Bluefire reader, for borrowing ebooks in epub format with Adobe rights management from libraries. The Audible app for recorded books also works well on this phone, better than on my Samsung tablet (where it would turn off every time I drove over a bump or tried to use it on a treadmill). Typing is also easier on this phone than on smaller phones since the keyboard is proportionately larger. So what's not to like? I've had a few issues getting used to the power button and how it works. When passing around the phone to show friends, they kept hitting the power button on the side, and that would cause a delayed restart without warning. I had a similar thing happen when I tried to turn off the screen while listening to an Audible book. On my tablet, I'm used to just getting my book going, then hitting the power button to turn the screen off to save the battery while I listen. But when I hit the power button to turn off the screen on this phone once I got my book going, the phone did a delayed restart. Pressing the power button and holding it in just started a cycle of delayed restarting. I had to take my hands off the phone and let it restart a bunch of times before I could get it going steady again. So when I listen to Audible books, I've found I just have to let the screen time out on its own--the book keeps going even after the screen turns off. I've also noted that the standard email program oddly updates only about every 12 hours, even though I've changed the settings to every 5 minutes. (On the other hand, FaceBook on this phone grabs dozens of stories, while FaceBook on my tablet only lets me have 10 stories an hour--odd application-specific limits). I had to reset the screen brightness to Auto on this phone about 5 times before it finally stayed there for good. Still, when I'm reading the screen in a quiet room with steady illumination, with the brightness set to Auto, every few minutes, the brightness setting cycles through dim to super bright, before resettling back to the appropriate brightness. Annoying, but not impossible to live with. Battery life is about comparable to my tablet--I can usually get through an entire day on a single charge on this phone, unless I'm doing a lot of reading. If I'm using the phone just as a phone with minimal screen time, a single charge can last several days. I'd like to get a hard leather case for this phone to protect it, but such cases are not yet available. On the other hand, I've found that a Ghirardelli 3.5 ounce chocolate bar wrapper box is a perfect fit for a temporary case. I might even just stick with the chocolate bar wrapper even after proper cases become available for this model, if only for the shock factor when people see me pull what appears to be a chocolate bar out of my bag or pocket and begin talking on it! And if my homemade Ghirardelli case wears out, I can always eat more chocolate to get a new one. Overall, though, this is a great phone, especially for folks who prefer to talk to the phone carriers on their own terms. If you really want a phone contract, you can take this phone to your carrier of choice and get a discount price on their contracts, or you have the freedom to pay by the month, or pay by the use as I do. If you take the time to run the numbers, you would never, ever sign a contract that includes a phone, since you will end up paying 1.5 to 2x as much as the phone is worth over the length of the contract. Pay the money up front for this contract-free phone, and you'll be far better off, with a phone of your choice instead of one dictated by your carrier. Plus, with 2 SIM card slots on this phone, you can easily access 2 different phone networks, such as one for domestic calls and one for traveling (with no expensive roaming surprises!). The large sharp screen makes this phone a great choice for readers, making it possible to carry around just one device for calling, texting, emailing, and reading. Yes, this phone has a few quirks to get used to, like that odd power button and the random cycling brightness issue, but once you get used to these minor quirks, you will really like the phone.