Today Blu Products let the cat out of the bag on their new Life series phones, the Life One and Life 8 XL.  Blu has been making a name for themselves over the past few years with low-cost, bang-for-your-buck offerings.  They’re getting aggressive with this launch, having partnered with Amazon for an exclusive 9 day pre-sale.
Blu Life One (2015)
The retail price of the new Blu Life One will be $149.00. Â However, if you pre-order on Amazon through June 19th, you can grab the Life One for $50 less, at $99.00.
One would not expect much for this price, but Blu believes it packed in all the important factors to make this device great.  Let’s look at what you get:
- 5.0″ 720p (294 ppi) IPS LCD display
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 SoC (quad-core, 1.2 GHz, 64-bit, Mali-450 GPU)
- 1 GB RAM
- 8 GB internal storage with support for micro-sd expansion (up to 64 GB)
- 13 MP rear (Sony IMX135 sensor) and 5 MP front cameras
- 2820 mAh battery (non-removable)
- GSM-only network capability with LTE
- Android 4.4.2 (KitKat), upgradable to Android 5.0 (Lollipop)
The two red flags I spot in the spec list are the 720p resolution and 1 GB RAM. Â More so the latter, because low RAM can lag the OS. Â But at just $99, this is a killer deal! Â Bear in mind that there is no CDMA network support, so if you’re on Verizon, Sprint, Boost, or Virgin, you need to look elsewhere.
Blu Life 8 XL
The Life 8 XL is a larger successor to the Life 8.  A lot of the specs are the same as new Life One, with the following exceptions:
- 5.5″Â display (same 720p IPS LCD, at 268 ppi)
- MediaTek MT6592 SoC (octa-core, 1.4 GHz, Mali-450 GPU)
- 8 MP rear  and 2 MP front cameras
- 2920 mAh removable battery
Interestingly, the larger Life 8 XL runs $20 cheaper than the Life One (maybe due to the lower-costing MediaTek processor and inferior cameras), at a retail price of $129.00.  The pre-sale on the Amazon product page will run from June 22nd through June 30th, at a price of just $79!
These devices should most definitely be on your radar if you’re on a tight budget and need a new Android phone.  But you’d be silly not to expect some cut corners.  These phones are meant to get the job done, without burning a hole in your wallet.
