Slowly but surely, BLU has made a name for themselves when it comes down to unlocked phones. The company that started off with entry level phones has now expanded towards mid range phones that are giving major manufacturers a run for their money.
Today we tackle one of the companies latest flagships, the BLU Vivo 5R, an attractive octa core phone running Android 6.0 on top of a 5.5 inch display at a spectacular price. But all that's just the tip of the iceberg, without further ado, let's get cracking as we review the pros and cons of the BLU Vivo R5 to see if it's actually worth all the fuss.
Pros and Cons of the BLU Vivo 5R
Cons of the BLU Vivo 5R
Forget about mobile payments
While the BLU Vivo 5R comes packed with interesting features, an NFC chip is simply not one of them. Specifically this means you can wave good-bye to mobile payments using this method or even using it to quickly exchange pictures and data amongst NFC compatible devices. Sure, it's not a huge disadvantage for the BLU Vivo 5R but it's worth a mention.
b/g/n WiFi connectivity
Again, this con will vary and many people might not even care nor notice it. That said, we do appreciate when budget phones pack a solid WiFi connectivity and this simply isn't the case. On the case of the BLU Vivo 5R, you've got a standard WiFi 802.11 bgn WiFi support, which is a pretty old standard nowadays. Just so you know, you should expect a WiFi ac antenna, which delivers up to three times faster download speeds when using a compatible router.
MediaTek instead of Snapdragon
This is rather usual for budget smartphones. Most of them pack a MediaTek processor to cut costs and the Vivo 5R is no exception to this. MediaTek processors aren't bad, they just aren't as good as Qualcomm Snapdragon processors which you'll find on pretty much every high end Android handset. Again, this is a question of preference and chances are you'll hardly notice any difference if you're an average user.
Non-replaceable battery
This is an ever growing trend amongst all manufacturers. It used to be something exclusive to the high end flagships but as of late it seems as though all new phones come with a unibody design that locks you out of accessing the battery by your own means.
Sure enough a unibody design is in fact more attractive to the eye but I'd much rather have a less attractive phone that gives me access to the battery than a more attractive one where I can't change up the battery when I'm running low.
Pros of the Blu Vivo 5R
A great price point for a high end smartphone
Despite it's drawbacks, the Blu Vivo 5R has way more pros than cons and certainly one of its most prominent advantages is its low cost price point. Available at a fraction of what most high end phones cost, this smartphone is incredibly cost effective while also delivering a premium experience with (most) of the bells and whistles that current customers are looking for on a smartphone.
Awesome specs
Sure enough "awesome specs" doesn't sound very "formal" yet that's how we'd define the specs placed on the Vivo 5R. For starter we've got an octa core processor working at 1.3GHz, couple that with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage and you've got yourself an extremely "fluent phone" with no signs of the much dreaded lags.
You've also gotta consider that while this phone does pack some bloatware, the Android 6.0 version that comes along with this BLU smartphone is pretty clean and therefore you get a very pure Android experience, something that always comes in handy when looking for a fluid handset.
Great display
Another big pro of the BLU Vivo 5R is the display. Specifically, we've got a 5.5 inch Full HD display with curved glass technology that provides an even cleaner-leaner experience. In case you where counting pixels, that amounts to just over 400 pixels per inch on this phone. That's more than enough pixels to enjoy a movie or playing high quality games without loosing out on any details.
Surprising battery life
Add this to the list of advantages we didn't expect to see on this phone. With a 3150mAh battery one would expect a battery life of barely one day of usage considering the display resolution and all that. However, somehow it seems as though BLU ignored that and managed to manufacture a phone that can easily withstand over 10 days in standby mode and a couple of days uf usage under "average usage".
Surely if you spend every waking minute of your day with the display on you'll drain the battery before nightfall but if you're an "average user" you'll quickly notice that charging this phone every day is not actually a requirement.
Verdict: What say the people?
After reviewing the pros and cons of the Blu Vivo 5R we find the accused smartphone guilty of being an excellent option at a smashing price. Just kidding, but seriously, this is pretty much a great phone.
Sure, it's got a couple of cons like the lack of an NFC chip which might affect you if you where ready to jump onto the mobile payment bandwagon but other than that the disadvantages seem quite minor compared to everything you're actually getting out of this phone.