Sneak Peak at the coming Blu Studio 6.0 HD phablet

UPDATE!

See official press release here

Full Specifications Include:

• Network: 2G (GSM/GPRS/EDGE) 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, 3G (HSPA+ 21Mbps) 850/1900 or 850/2100, Dual Mini-SIM Cards
• Display: 6.0 inch HD 720 x 1280, with OGS and Full Lamination Touch Panel
• Processor: MediaTek MT6582 Quad-Core 1.3GHz Cortex-A7 with MALI-400 GPU.
• OS: Android v4.2 Jelly Bean, upgradeable to 4.4 KitKat (End of May)
• Camera: Rear – 8.0 megapixel, autofocus with LED Flash, Video Record 1080p @ 30fps, Front – 2.0 megapixel
• Connectivity:  WiFi b/g/n, GPS, Bluetooth v4.0 with A2DP, Wi-Fi Hotspot, micro-USB, FM Radio
• Sensor: Accelerometer, Proximity, Gyroscope
• Memory:  4GB internal memory + microSD slot expandable up to 32GB, 1GB RAM
• Dimensions: 168 x 83 x 8.5 mm, 206 grams
• Battery: Non-removable Li-Po 3000 mAh battery
• Colors: Polished Black, Lustrous White

Devices are now shipping for just $249! Full review to come!

The Blu Studio 6.0 HD is shaping up to be a solid budget competitor in the phablet game. This device is everything that the Galaxy Mega should have been; LCD display, AOSP Android 4.2.2, with a quad-core processor. There’s no LTE and while it’s only got 1 GB of RAM as opposed to the 1.5 GB of the Galaxy Mega, keep in mind that the device isn’t running the resource-heavy TouchWiz UI, so it evens out.

The device firmware isn’t quite finished and ready for distribution, so what we’re going to do is a first look at the hardware with which we’re dealing.

Both the black and the white versions are very classy looking. I prefer the black, but even though I don’t generally care for the look of large white devices, I would take either color in a heartbeat.

The front of the device is a nearly bezel-less design around the gorgeous 6 inch 720p display. Rather than waste the screen real-estate on a navigation bar, they gave the bottom bezel to the same buttons which would normally reside on the nav-bar, and bravo to Blu for putting them in the correct order: back, home, recents.

The sides have the traditionally placed volume rocker on the left, power/sleep button on the right. You’ll find the microUSB charging port centered on top of the device and the 3.5 mm headset jack to it’s left. There’s also a very classy silver, metallic bezel which surrounds the device.

The device’s rear is beveled to a very aesthetically pleasing degree. There’s a centered 8 MP camera at the top crowing the LED flash and the “BLU” logo a quarter inch beneath, and a quarter-inch from the bottom center there’s a half-inch speaker slit.

My short experience with the device has been wonderful. This is one of the few devices in the 6 inch range that I would gladly use as my daily-driver. Fair battery life and for a budget device, (price TBA) it performs admirably. See screenshots for battery life and benchmark.

Anyone think you might pick one of these up for satisfy your itch for a phablet? Let us know in the comments below!