BLU Studio 5.0 C HD Smartphone - Unlocked - Orange

I should start of by saying wow... WOW BLU! This phone is amazing!!Specs of this phone:Mobile Features:3G networkBluetooth 3.0GPRS: class 12EDGE: class 12microUSB 2.0Internal memory: 4GBmicroSD card slot, up to 32GBWLAN: 802.11 b/g/nAndroid 4.4 (KitKat) OS1.3GHz Cortex-A7 quad-core processor8MP camera with LED flash2MP secondary camera1080p Full HD videoBrowser: HTML5Java MIDP emulatorDocument viewerPhoto/video editorAccelerometer, proximityMP4/DivX/Xvid/WMV/H.264/H.263 playerTechnical Profile:Talk time: up to 10 hStandby time: up to 720 hBattery: Li-Ion 2000mAhDisplay:5" IPS touchscreen16M colorsResolution: 720 x 1280~ I will tell you not-so-briefly why this phone is golden:1. The phone's screen is a perfect size! It was bigger than I thought it would be, so be prepared! It's not too big, though, and it fits perfectly in any pocket.2. The screen's resolution is top-notch. Even though the PPI (pixels per inch) density isn't that high (294 ppi, the same as the Moto G 2014 Version), the screen is very high-def. I tried watching 1080p on YouTube and it was wonderful!3. The camera is just as good as any Samsung Galaxy phone out there. Don't let the offsetting 8 megapixels fool you, it takes great pictures and videos! My friend has a Galaxy Note 3, which has a 16 megapixel camera, and we both took almost identical pictures. There was barely ANY difference. Megapixels determines the size of the photo (resolution), but when the photos are zoomed out, they look the same. TWO THINGS you can do on the camera are take panorama photos and multi-angle photos, which is yet another plus!4. Android 4.4 KitKat is wonderful on this phone. The selection of apps on the Google Play Store is great.5.Even though the processor's Ghz isn't that high, it's fine for virtually any game/video. For those of you that don't know, a processor determines how much of a beating your phone can take at one time. I think a 2.5-2.7 ghz processor has never been used to its full potential by everyday users, so this phone's processor will suffice. Again, this phone is $140!6. The phone comes in sturdy packaging and a case, earbuds, and a screen protector are included! Most phones come in a cheap plastic box that is 70% empty, but this packaging is a hard, lightweight plastic, in which all of the space is used. The case is a good, sturdy material and the earbuds would sell around $15 MSRP if they were in a store, good quality! The screen protector is OKAY, but hey, it's free with the phone.The only things I have found to be okay about the phone are the battery life and the in-call volume. You should get through a day with moderate usage (a few games, some video streaming, etc.). The in-call volume is fairly quiet, even at the highest level.---TIPS IF YOU ARE BUYING:A. You may want to be cautious if you are wearing sweatpants, basketball shorts, etc. because the phone will slip out of your pocket if you have the case on. This has happened to me a few times, and it can be resolved by buying a different case (not a big selection) or putting your phone some place other than your pocket.B. I recommend putting the screen protector on as soon as you get the phone because it reduces the amount of fingerprints and grease that gets on your screen (it attracts a lot).C. Turn your screen brightness all the way down most of the day. This gives you at least a 25% longer battery life! The lowest screen brightness can still be seen easily.D. Some people are complaining that this phone says it has 4G speeds when it actually doesn't. The truth is, it doesn't have 4G speeds. A phone doesn't determine the internet speeds, your carrier does. Just thought you should know!The only other phone even close to this quality under $400 is another BLU phone, the Life Pure XL, which is still $379.Overall a FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC phone from BLU! Best-performing phone I've ever had.. HANDS DOWN!UPDATE,10/22/14:I have found out a few more things about this phone, so I'll give some more tips.1. With some of the money you save buying this phone, if you do buy it, I HIGHLY recommend you get these two things:A. 16 gigabyte SD card. The phone's internal memory is supposedly 4 GB, but it's actually about 2.3 GB. This is probably because Android 4.4 takes up a lot of space. When you get the SD card, in the settings, make the default write disk the SD card, so all of your music, videos, and MOST, not all, of the apps you download will go to the SD card, saving you some internal memory for the apps that don't go there.B. A portable charger. This is totally up to you, but it can come in handy on long road trips or even if you just don't want to stretch the charger cord from the outlet. I bought the K-Max 11200 mah portable charger, and it works just great! It can charge this phone 5 times on a single use. You can find it here: http://www.amazon.com/KMAX-806-Flashlight-Generation-SGH-T959V-BlackBerry/dp/B00BN42G5Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414002547&sr=8-1&keywords=kmax+portable+charger2. Something else I discovered: how to take a screenshot. Hold down the power button and the volume down button and the same time until the phone takes the shot.Also, sometimes the default browser crashes on me so I have started to use Chrome (surprisingly). It works fine, so I recommend that too.This phone is still running like it did out of the box on day 1, after almost 2 weeks of use. I think I'll have this phone for a very long time.ANOTHER UPDATE, 5/31/2015:I recently broke this phone by accidentally sitting on it, and the whole device broke and the screen stopped working. Now I'm moving onto a different phone that isn't BLU, after realizing there are better deals out there. The phone was fantastic while it lasted though!

-----------------UPDATE FEBRUARY 2015 ------------------Since Blu pushed down a firmware update for the phone, GPS on this device works like a charm. As I mentioned previously, it's now 5 stars and worth every penny.5 - 6 months in and the phone is rockin'.------------------------------------------------------------------I've used this for about 4 months now, and I love this phone. I would have rated it 5 stars if GPS worked on it. Let's look at the nitty gritty:------- Pros -------Takes 2 sim cards, so if you're a business owner or you use a work phone that's an extra phone you don't have to carry.Add on micro SD can take up to 32Gigs. I read somewhere that it could take a 64gig but I haven't experimented with it. Writing speed to the micro SD is fair, and the phone has a built in music app that works surprisingly well.Fast - Plays games, runs everything smoothly, no freezes. I'd pair the speed to an S2 or S3, which for the price is amazing. Running multiple programs shows no freezing (with the exception of GPS, explained below).LOUD - the ringer on this is probably the loudest one I've ever owned. Seriously, it's shockingly loud. I tend to keep it on vibrate so my coworkers don't jump when I get a text.Very bright screen - If you like a nice monitor tan, this phone is for youGood camera - Works great, no lag. The resolution is good and low light shots turn out great. The flash is quite bright. I know some reviews have been displeased with the camera, but personally it does exactly what it should do. Granted, I'm not a photo snob or a professional photographer, so take this with a grain of salt.Wifi's fast - I've had issues in the past with phones staying connected to the wifi, for whatever reason. This one latches on like a remora and stays put.Runs KitKat - not bleeding edge but close to it.Comes in wonderful fruit flavors - Think 80's neon...my phone is bright yellow and it's actually pretty awesome. I've had quite a few folks ask "what kind of phone is that?"Comes with swag - specifically, a screen protector, a case, headphones w/mic, and a charger. Free's always good.Cheap - Seriously, I could buy 4 or 5 of these for the price of 1 Nexus 6------- Cons -------No LTE - as I live in the sticks and never get LTE, this doesn't bother me. Those of you with real connections might get uptight about it.Headphones work, but won't stay put - The earpieces must have teflon in them or something because I can't get them to stick in my ears. The phone comes with 3 sizes but none seem to stay put. Again, this isn't really a big deal for me since I connect via the bluetooth in my car, but for some of you it might.GPS is broken - This is a big deal for me. I'm not sure whether it's related to the version of Android it's running (KitKat), something in the firmware or it's my phone specifically but I can't get GPS to work without bouncing out of the app I'm in. For example, Google Maps pops up, GPS comes on (and apparently works), and as soon as I search for something the app crashes. Bang! No GPS love. Sometimes it'll run for a few seconds before crashing. Additionally, I've found apps that extensively use GPS for posts (Twitter, FB, etc) will have a tendency to crash also. I've tried a few things (reinstalling apps, mucking about with the many power settings, etc) but no luck. Searching for the resolution hasn't yielded any fixes either. If you guys at BLU can figure out how to get this working for me let me know...this is really my only large issue.------- Overall -------Totally worth the money. With the exception of the GPS issue I'm quite happy with this phone. When this gets fixed I'd recommend it to anyone needing a phone and would rate it 5 stars.