May 05, 2024 | Updated: 11:35 AM EDT
May 02, 2017 08:44 AM EDT
It is midway 2017 and BLU seems to forget the timeline completely. Best known for producing midrange and low-range Smartphone, BLU's latest R1 is powered by Marshmallow. The price is set at a nominal $160 and it looks above par at best.
BLU has been relatively new to the market and hasn't been able to cause too much stir with its lowly capped mobile prices. Their latest product, R1 should have like any other release in 2017 been powered by Nougat at least. The Verge has smacked the specifications of R1 and rightly so.
Coming in with a display of 5.5-inch and 720 resolutions, R1 runs on 3GB RAM. MediaTek 6737 processor along with 1.3 GHz quad core makes this phone noteworthy. With a 13MP rear snapper which BLU insists will take high-quality pictures is paired with the 8MP front camera. The battery life is perhaps the best part of the phone and will sport 4000 mAh battery.
However, this is where it all goes wrong. In 2017, BLU somehow manages to blow it by powering the phone with Android Marshmallow, a version which is at least two years old. After the release, Reddit's comment string was completely destroyed by many claiming that this might be BLU's attempt to go back in time and set things right. There is no reason whatsoever regarding BLU's mishap and the price tag might be the only alluring factor.
At $160, users might think of availing it, but even if one is not tech savvy the incorporation of Android Marshmallow would do more harm than good. Users might have to run to BLU's service centers to fix their phone after new software update can cause hellish problems.
One expects a lot out of BLU after making a positive impact since its inception. There is no way BLU can challenge the Smartphone market especially in 2017 and if they stand firm on their use of Android Marshmallow.
