Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

SUPPLEMENTAL USER GUIDE for BLU Pure XL BLU's official User Guide for the Pure XL is rather skimpy. I have made so many additions to this review that it now qualifies as a supplemental user guide. Please feel free in the comments to add additional features I may have missed. I have two BLU Pure XL's (mine - Grey color, received 8 Nov 2015) (wife's- gold color, received 11 Dec 2015) I am very impressed with the package -- even the box it comes in is impressive, with thick walls all around. It is the kind of box one keeps, rather than discards. It all adds to the premium aura of the phone. What's inside the box is even more impressive - 1) Phone -- The phone sets in a tray in the top of the box, with all the accessories underneath. This a very executive-looking phone, especially the grey color, and especially with the flip-top battery cover installed (see below.) --- Phone size & weight – This a big phone straddling the line between a phone and a tablet. Yet for all its size, it is fairly trim and compact – very high class and/or executive appearing – more “high class” in the gold color, and more “executive” in the grey color (in my opinion.) It is a two-handed phone for the most part, as most people will not be able to work it with just one hand – especially if the flip-top battery cover is used. I have always been a two-handed user, even for much smaller phones, so this is not an issue for me. The phone also weighs a lot. In your shirt pocket, or in the inner pocket of jacket – at 202 grams, you will feel it sag your clothing. In a pants pocket (if the pockets are big enough), or a travel vest, it rides easier. But for ordinary clothing it is much better suited for a holster. There is not much choice in aftermarket cases and holsters, but there is a good vertical holster on Amazon (which is what I use.) 2) Accessories included are more and better than what normally comes with a phone: --- Battery cover - normal: The phones comes with the normal battery cover attached. You are going to have to take the battery cover off to insert the SIM card(s) and the microSD card, so you might as well take it off and insert those items. (You can't access the battery -- is not user replaceable) --- Flip-top Battery cover - The 2nd battery cover choice has an integrated flip-top. It is not a case that goes over the battery cover -- it is the battery cover - with a flip-top attached. I have always thought that combining a battery cover with a flip-top would be a good idea (even thought of making one once,) so it was a pleasant surprise to find out that is exactly what BLU created especially for the Pure XL. This isn't some cheap flip-top -- it is a well thought out, quality cover that deactivates the screen when closed. In addition, the flip top has a little window that activates a little screen display especially sized and positioned to show through the opening in the flip-top – which only appears when the flip-top is closed. So this feature only works with this flip-top battery cover. I haven’t found any way to customize what is displayed in the flip-top window, other than it displays a digital clock, and you can change the background by sliding a fingertip down the little screen. In addition, the native music player app (just labeled “Music”) will display in the flip-top window while playing, and the native alarm clock will also display there when the alarm is sounding -- so you can tap the controls with the flip-top closed.. I initially thought maybe the edges of the flip-top would be magnetized to stick to the metal frame of the phone to stay neatly closed, since there is no clasp. But it appears that just the weight of the flip-top closes it when it is lying flat, and swings open for you just by turning it on its edge. As you probably already guessed, I opted for the flip-top -- very cool - very thin, understated, and very executive! I really like this solution. I hold the phone lightly and hook my thumb through the flip-top’s window for a more secure hold on the phone when I am cradling it in my hand. --- Gel case - transparent - this gel case does fit over the normal battery cover and phone edges. But it will not fit completely over the flip-top battery cover (interference from small bulge on the side due to the hinge), so I don't use it, For those who use the normal battery cover, the gel case provides extra protection. And because it is transparent, you hardly notice it on the phone. --- Fast 5v/9v charger with detachable USB to micro USB data/charge cord – This is a fast charger – 25% in 25 minutes or less. And, according to some reports, you are going to need it. That big 6", ultra-high resolution screen, combined with some powerful processors, can be battery hogs – especially if you turn on all the cool features. Note that this is a 2 amp charger, and the charger cord is also designed for 2 amps. Don't use a smaller charge cord on it. I normally keep my cell phones on a charger, every chance I get, and leave it on the charger when I am stationary at my desk. However, I deliberately left the phone off the charger all day and night, just to see how fast it would deplete under my normal use -- and it got down to 25%, which isn’t bad for a phone this powerful. The one thing that is not included is an automobile fast charger version - for when you are traveling by auto. But if you can find a 5v, 2 amp auto charger, will work -- just not as fast. --- Screen protector - for those that want one, it is included, with a cleaning cloth. I don't use them (I can never get all the air bubbles out.) I think with the flip-top battery cover, another screen protector is not needed. --- Ear buds headset with phone/music button, and mic and volume control -- The ear buds fit in your ear canal. They provide a much better sound then do the type that fit outside your ear canal. The phone/music button allows you to switch between a phone call and your music. The mic allows you talk with the headset on. And, of course, the volume control allows you to raise or lower the volume. This is a high quality headset, and comes with two extra ear-bud gels (smaller and larger) to custom fit to your ear canal. --- OTG adapter - "OTG" stands for “On The Go.” It looks like a very short USB to microUSB cable. But it is wired to allow you to attach devices you otherwise couldn't, such as a USB flash drive, or a USB SD card adapter, both of which are a much faster way to transfer files than Bluetooth. If you don't have a USB flash drive, or a USB-SD adapter, get one -- they are only a few bucks on Amazon or eBay, and are very handy with OTG capability. --- Instructions - a very basic small-print user manual is included, as well as a small SIM card installation guide. BLU has included a Help app on the phone, which has a link to download a digital version to your phone. You can also get the digital version on-line at [...] The digital version is much easier to read on the phone’s screen than trying to read the physical printed one. PHONE FEATURES For the well-ilustrated features in BLU Sales Info (downloadable), go here: phone [...] --- PROCESSORs - - - - Mediatek Heliox10 MT6795 OctaCore @ 2MHz - - - - PowerVR G6200 GPU - - - - RAM 3GB Trendemous computer power in the above three, well-matched components of central processor, graphics processor, and on-board memory. This machine is very fast, with no noticeable lag in any operations, from fingerprint recognition, scrolling thru menus or lists, or playing 3D games. It is awesome by itself, and when you consider the price, it is astounding. --- Screen – The first thing one sees is the large 6” screen made of Gorilla 3 glass. But what makes it a premium screen is the quad HD resolution of 2560 x 1440 (490 pixels per inch). Only the really high-end phones and tablets have that kind of resolution. The super amoled screen is just that – super. You can easily run full web pages on this screen without having to zoom and pan. The smallest details are really sharp and clear. Even with a magnifying glass you can barely discern there are pixels. The colors are vivid and you can adjust the color scheme from warm (slight red cast), to normal to cool (slight blue cast). --- The 'Pure' in Pure XL – The “pure” might stand for “pure Android,” because there doesn’t appear to be much of an added “skin.” But that might just mean it is well integrated into the OS. You will have to add any wanted functionality yourself that is not pre-installed, such as an app drawer (typical of Lollipop not to have one). But that is good if you want to customize the hell out of YOUR phone, without leaving a trail of manufacturer’s bloat of useless (to you) features, apps and widgets you can’t delete. --- User Interface (UI) – The native launcher is a skin called Carefree. Personally, I can’t tell what in the UI is native Lollipop, or BLU’s overlay. In either case it isn’t customizable enough for me, and I don’t particularly like the native themes, lack of an app tray, and limited options available. So I installed Nova Launcher (free) and Nova Launcher Premium ($5) – you will need both to unlock all the options -- which restores the app tray and allows me much, much greater flexibility in customizing – such as adding an app tray, resizing the app icons, decreasing the space between icons, increasing how many icons will fit on a screen, different shapes for folders than icons, etc., etc.. Also the Nova Launcher’s quick access app tray (at the bottom of the screen) allows more than just four apps, which are in addition to the app tray’s launch button. If you don’t have an alternate launcher, get one. --- OS – The Android 5.1 (Lollipop) operating system (OS) is sufficiently different from Android 4.4 (KitKat) that a small learning curve on your part will be suffered while you learn some new navigation methods. But generally it is mostly intuitive, and quickly learned. If you are coming from an even earlier OS, then the learning curve may be steeper. While I heard a lot of bad things about Lollipop, I, for one, like it. - - - - - Notifications and Settings -- The Notifications bar pulls down from the top of the screen separately from the Settings Shortcuts, which pull up from the bottom of the screen. For more setting shortcuts (hidden), tap the ... at the bottom right of the Settings bar. Not all settings are collected here, nor in the settings list, - - - - - Phone Settings -- There are additional settings under Phone which are not duplicated elsewhere (such as "noise reduction"). PHONE (tap the phone icon on the bottom tray) > ... More (bottom right of call screen) > Settings > Call Settings > Advanced Settings - - - - - Screen capture -- Normal full-screen capture is by simultaneously pressing volume down and the on/off buttons on the side bezel. Or a partial screen can also be captured using the Customize Screen Capture function in the Settings bar (it's icon is an S inside a box) -- A box appears on screen which can be resized by dragging any corner. - - - - - Home Screen Edit function: - - - - - - 1) On any home screen, squeeze two fingertips together to get to the Edit Home Screens display. - - - - - - 2) You will see all the home screens in miniature, which you can drag to rearrange their order. - - - - - - 3) To set the main Home Screen tap the little house on top the home screen you want to be the main. - - - - - - 4) Below the Home screens you will see three Icons: - - - - - - - - - Wallpapers . . . Widgets . . . Settings. - - - - - - - - -Wallpapers - - - - - - 5) Tap the wallpaper icon to bring up the Wallpaper select function. - - - - - - 6) You can pick any graphic or photo for a wallpaper - - - - - - - - -Widgets (this is the only way to access widgets) - - - - - - 5) Tap on the Widgets icon to bring up the widgets list - - - - - - 6) Tap and hold the desired widget and drag it to the home screen and position you want, then release it. - - - - - - - - Contacts (Placed on the Home Screen using the Contacts widget) - - - - - - 5) Tap on the Widgets icon to bring up the widgets list - - - - - - 6) Tap and hold the Contacts widget and drag it to the home screen and position you want, then release it. - - - - - - 7) The contacts menu will automatically open – tap the contact you want to display. The contact icon will display on the home screen. - - - - - - - - Settings - - - - - - 5) This brings up the settings menu for your default User Interface Launcher. That would be the Carefree launcher for stock, or the launcher you installed (if you installed one, and made it the default.) --- Internal Memory – the phone comes with 64GB of internal memory, which is an enormous amount. I can’t see anyone with a legitimate gripe on internal memory, especially at the phone’s price point. --- microSD card – I installed a 64GB microSDXC card. I had put some files on it before I inserted it into the phone, but the OS did not (or refused to) see the files and wanted to format the microSD card – so I let it format the card. After the format, I had no problems with it. So don’t bother putting any files on it before installing it, as the phone may refuse to acknowledge their existence. Lollipop seems to be particular on how files are put on the microSD – seems like it wants to process them through its OS. The only things Lollipop wants to allow on the microSD is data, pictures and music. Some users have reported moving some apps to external storage (microSD card), and some have reported problems with that. But with 64GB of internal memory, there should not be a need to move apps to external storage on this phone. --- Camera – The rear-facing camera is 24MB, and the front-facing camera is wide angle 8MB. Lots of native settings to ease your photo taking workload. Automatic is not necessarily your best setting, so you will want to experiment a little. You have separate settings for front and rear cameras, and also separately for Photo and Video. - - - - Front Camera -- I have taken a few selfies with the front camera, and they come out really good – great even, showing all your warts and wrinkles in sharp detail. Resolution and aspect ratio choices are as follow: PHOTOS . . . . . VIDEO 8MP (4:3) . . . . 720p high 6MP (16:9) . . . 480p medium 2MP {4:3) . . . . QCP low VGA (4:3) - - - - Rear Camera -- Video at full resolution can run up some huge files -- easily 100MB or more. The picture quality is very good, depending on the resolution you choose.The resolutions (picture sizes), are as follows: PHOTOS . . . . . VIDEO 24MP (4:3) . . . . . . . 4k - superfine (for display on an ultraHD screen) 18MP (16:9) . . . . 1080p - fine (for display on a 1080 HD screen) 12MP (16:9) . . . . . 720p - high (for display on a 720 HD screen) 8MP (16:9) . . . . . . 480p - medium (for display on a low resolution screen) 5MP (16:9) . . . . . . QCIF - low (for display on a very low resolution screen) --- Magnetometer / Compass – BLU does not list it, but there is a magnetometer, and I believe a pre-installed a compass app is on the phone (at least I don’t remember installing it.) But if there isn’t a compass app pre-installed, then install one – it will work. NOTE: Magnets around or close to the phone can screw up the magnetometer, so if the compass function is important to you, don’t use case covers with magnetic clasps or use magnetic phone holders. --- Music Player (native) – The native music player has a neat feature that, when the flip-top battery cover is used, the player will re-size itself to fit in the little window in the flip-top (that feature doesn’t work for other music player apps, though it likely is a Lollipop feature they could make use of.) The native music player also has an Equalizer, color themes, HiFi or DTS options, and settings for different types of earphones or speakers, including Bluetooth. (DTS stands for Digital Theater Systems, if you want to pursue further info on it) --- FM Radio – There is no FM radio ne in this US version. So if you want FM music, you’ll have to install a streaming app to pull it off the internet. --- Sound – The sound through the rear-mounted stereo speakers on this phone is simply amazing – loud, clear, deep, and distortion-free throughout its frequency range. It is by far the best sound I have ever heard on a small device. Some reviewers have lambasted the fact that such powerful speakers are rear mounted. But you could just turn them to face you, or, better yet, set the back an inch or so from a hard surface to reflect the sound and also get a little “reverb.” If you lay the phone down flat on a table or desk, the sound will attenuate a little – just raise it off the surface and inch or so to get the full effect of the reflected sound. Do that in a tiled bathroom, and it really gets in the reverb. And if you want my secret music reverb chamber plan -- well it is just an empty 32 oz. tub of yogurt -- eat the yogurt, wash out the container, dry it, set it on your desk or table, start the music, and set the phone in the tub -- voilà, deeper, richer music. --- Fingerprint Scanner – very conveniently located on the back of the phone underneath the camera. Setting it up, it wants to take several readings of your fingertip before that finger is accepted. It is pretty quick, and my preferred method of security. You can store up to five fingers. You can choose which fingers you use, such as your middle finger(s) instead of your index finger, which will make it even harder to break into. --- NFC – NFC stands for Near Field Connection. “Near” means touching another NFC device, or an NFC sticker, or within an inch of it. It is the new connectivity “thing,” though the technology is not new. If your old phone had NFC, you could put the new phone and old phone back to back, and all your personal data would transfer to the new phone. I tried this with my Pure XL and my wife's new Pure XL, and as soon as I put them back to back, I got a beddle-beedle-boop, and near everything personal was transferred -- very fast. Unfortunately, none of my other devices have NFC, but it is something you definitely want to migrate to eventually. If you were with a business contact or client who had NFC on their device, you could exchange business cards by merely touching phones together (assuming you programed a business card into the NFC sticker affixed to the inside of the battery case.) You can also program NFC stickers, which you can place wherever you want, which, when touched by the phone, causes some pre-programmed action or activity on your phone (such as turn on/off an alarm, or activate airplane mode, or shut the phone off, or wake it up.) --- WLAN Direct -- This is the Pure XL equivalent implementation of WiFi Direct (also called WiDi). You access the control through the settings menu [SETTINGS > Wireless & Networks > ...More > WLAN Direct > (click on Peer Devices to find compatible devices in range)]. Once you find a compatible device, and pair with it, you can save it to Remembered Groups. I managed to pair to my Galaxy Tab Pro, Tab S2, and my PC, but couldn't transfer a file until I installed Super Beam Pro in all machines. Once SuperBeam was installed, the transfer process was easy, and very quick. --- Bluetooth -- v4.0, A2DP, EDR -- If you are transferring from another device with Bluetooth v4, transfer is extremely fast; from/to Bluetooth v3, pretty fast; and from/to Bluetooth v2, pretty slow. I transferred 100 songs at a time and from my Galaxy Tab Pro (Bluetooth v4.0) and it only took a few minutes for each 100 song set. --- Blacklists -- Both the native text app and the native phone app have a Blacklist option. Set a number in the Blacklist, and your phone will not ring or answer. Not sure exactly what it does SMS, as I have not tested it yet. --- Lockscreen -- You won't find a lock screen setting. Lollipop did away with a separate lock screen image. Whatever image you pick for a Wallpaper will also display on the lock screen. And you can't put widgets on the lock screen, at least directly. There are some apps that can be used to alter the lockscreen however, all the ones I tried either disable the fingerprint sensor, or you get a double lock. There are also some apps to put widgets on the lockscreen by simulating them as a persistent notification. --- Daydream -- Daydream is not new to Android, having been enabled in KitKat. It is a completely useless feature that only works while your phone is charging. You access it through Settings > Display > Daydream. The stock Daydream engine is a slide show, which allows you to choose the folder, but not individual images within the folder. The stock engine will not run animated GIFs. There are apps that allow more options, including animated GIFS. I use GIF Player HD, which will install itself as a Daydream engine option, and also the default animated GIF player in File Explorer. --- Cast Screen -- The BLU Pure XL has native support for wireless screencasting. But there is no support for wired screencasting (the microUSB port is not MHL compliant.) To use the native wireless screencasting, you enable it through the Settings [Settings > Display > Cast Screen]. There are several ways to effect wireless screencasting. You have to have a target screen identified to cast to -- one that has chromecast or miracast built-in, or, for casting to a PC, an app that can grab the wireless signal, or, for non-Miracast compliant device, an HDMI dongle that is Miracast compliant. - - - - MIRACAST RECEIVER BUILT-IN -- If you are casting to a device that is already chromecast or Miracast compliant, you are (should be) home free. - - - - REFLECTOR 2 -- This is a screencast receiver software that installs on a PC that is not Chromecast or Miracast compliant. It works by processing the wireless signal broadcast by the Pure XL. It follows, of course, that your PC must have wireless capability activated, either internally, or on a wireless network. There are no dongles required for this solution, but the software costs $7. I have cast from the Pure XL to Reflector without any problems. - - - - DONGLES -- ChromeCast and MiraCast compliant dongles exist to provide non-compliant devices with receiver capability. They plug into an HDMI-in port on your receiving device (normally a TV.) - - - - CAST SCREEN QUALITY -- You are very likely to be disappointed with the quality of the cast picture. But this is not the fault of the phone. You will be casting from a 1440x2560 2K screen image to at most a 1080x1920 screen image, with a loss of 50% of the original pixels. While most screen casting software allows you to enlarge the image, that just makes the quality worse. This is just the state of the arts in screen casting technology. What is needed is the ability to cast a 2K or higher image. Maybe next year. HOT SPOT / TETHERING The BLU Pure XL can serve as a Hot Spot by tethering other devices to it for access to the internet. You set this up through settings: [Settings >> "... more" >> Tethering Or Portable Hotspots >> (then you have choices of Bluetooth tethering or WiFi tethering)]. I tether my Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.7" to the BLU Pure XL by WiFi because the Tab S2 is WiFi only, and I need the Pure XL's 4G LTE data link to use the GPS Tracking console when I am not near a WiFi source. Yes, I can also do GPS tracking on the Pure XL, but the Tab S2 gives me much wider view at the same map scale. Tethering works seamlessly -- very handy for giving 4G LTE Data capability to WiFi only device. BATTERY The battery is a 3500 mAh, semi-permanent type, not intended to be user serviceable. It has a fast-charge circuitry that uses a 9 volt battery charge system that can recharge the battery completely in less than two hours. Every ten minutes on the charger provides an additional 10% recharge. While the back cover is removable, that is only to allow access to the two SIM card slots and the separate microSD slot. BATTERY LIFE Battery Life is very much a user variable as well as a function of the processor size and speed, screen size and resolution, and battery size. No phone with this much processing power, screen size, and resolution is going to have battery life comparable to a low performance, low resolution phone. It takes a high battery drain to run all that power. That is just a fact of life – all the super phones (and this is a super phone) are going to have this problem – and the only way around it is for the user is to manage battery consumption, or choose a lower performance phone. Battery size is also a design tradeoff between capacity and weight – the higher the capacity, the higher the weight. At 3500 mAh, the battery is already big, and heavy. Making it any bigger is going to increase the weight of the phone, which in turn could adversely affect sales. Complaints of poor battery life on this phone is comparable to a VW buyer buying a Hummer, and complaining because the Hummer only gets 10 mpg instead of the 40 mpg they got in their tiny bug. It just isn’t a rational comparison. All that said, you can significantly increase battery life by adopting these user-controlled functions and procedures: 1) The highest battery drain is the screen. Adopting a dark wallpaper, or even better, an all-black wallpaper, very significantly decreases battery drain. And that has the added benefit that your screen items will be more visible – actually pop out at you, which allows you to turn down screen brightness even more. 2) The higher the screen brightness, the higher the battery drain. Turn down the screen brightness to just above what you need to read it. 3) The next biggest battery drain is the octa-core CPU. Yes, it so fast that you can run all the apps simultaneously without a lag, and impress your friends. But running it fill bore by having every app open and running is comparable to running your car with the “pedal to the metal” full throttle -- it is going to greatly increase your fuel drain and drastically decrease your mileage. Turn off features you are not actually using. Use the NFC stickers to turn on necessary features that are location dependent – such as Bluetooth for your hands-free system in your vehicle. Back completely out of apps you are finished with so they are not running in the background. One day, scientists and engineers will bring us a tiny battery that can run our whole house for years – but that isn’t here yet. Until then, you’ll have to manage your battery yourself. NATIVE APPS Flashlight/Torch – The native flashlight app is called “Torch,” and it is a Lollipop feature (I’m told). It uses the camera flash LEDs as a light source. It will also flash on and off SOS style. Flappy Android: (Lollipop's equivalent of Floppy Bird.) This is a “secret” game put in by the Lollipop development team. To access it, go to: [Settings > About Device > Android Version > (tap on “Android Version” four times quickly) > (An “Easter Egg” appears) > (tap on the Easter egg and it turns into a Lollipop) > (tap on the lollipop and it changes color) > (long-press the lollipop and it activates the Flappy Android game) > (To activate the Flappy Android, tap the screen each time)] MAINTENANCE, REPAIR, & PARTS BLU has maintenance and repair facilities in the US, supposedly stocked with parts. However, in general, BLU does not sell parts to individuals or unapproved repair shops. So if you are having problems with your phone, resign yourself to service by BLU, contact them and make arrangements to send your phone in for repairs. (www bluproducts com)* Within the warranty period – You should make a warranty claim on any malfunction that occurs within the warranty period. However, don’t expect that everything that goes wrong will be approved for free warranty service. The following items will generally be ruled to be user abuse, and not be covered by warranty – - - evidence of being dropped (broken or cracked screen) - - evidence of force (broken or loose microUSB port) - - evidence of water damage (clouded and/or pixilated screen), and - - evidence of tampering (broken seals, missing screws, pry marks, etc.) Outside the warranty period, or warranty claim denied, BLU will still make repairs. But will likely require payment first. There are alternate sources for parts. The Gionee Elife E8 is an exact clone, and almost all parts are interchangeable with the BLU Pure XL. However, most part sources for the Gionee are in India. [...] [...]* Extra chargers and cords – If you want an extra charger and cord (one for home and one for the office), there are usually some used ones available on eBay for about $10. [...]* * replace the interior spaces with a “.” to make the link work WARRANTY BLU Products, Inc. ("BLU") warrants that BLU's handsets and accessories (the "Products") are free from defects in material and workmanship under normal use and service for the period commencing upon the ate of purchase by the first consumer purchaser and continuing for the following specified period of time after that date: - - Handsets 1-year - - Batteries 6-months - - Accessories 6-months What is not covered? (j) Products used or purchased outside the United States. Get full BLU warranty here: [...] THIRD PARTY INSURANCE Bad experience with BLU Support argues strongly for 3rd party aftermarket cellphone insurance -- Some sources are: Square Trade -- https://www.amazon.com/SquareTrade-3-Year-Electronics-Protection-350-400/dp/B001N82KO2/ref=sr_1_8?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1464776396&sr=1-8&keywords=squaretrade+warranty] Canopy -- http://www.amazo