The BLU Studio 7.0 – It’s Big, Cheap and Quite Imperfect
Officially, there is no industry standard with respect to the size of a smartphone – there isn’t a line drawn. If a phone is too big in size it is christened a tablet. But usually, devices that size up between 6-7 inches are referred to as tablets or perhaps phablets (if you can say that term aloud without cringing). But BLU – the Miami based smartphone manufacturer – has blurred the lines even further between phones and tablets by introducing the BLU Studio 7.0, which the company claims is the worlds’ first 7.0 inch smartphone. But while it is grabbing headlines due to its size and the intentional crisis of identity that it faces (is it a big phone or a small tablet?), we take a more in-depth look at the BLU Studio 7.0.
A Budget Phone at A Budget Price
The first thing you need to know about the Studio 7.0 is that apart from the big screen size, what you get for the money you pay is fairly mediocre. At $150, the Studio 7.0 is touted as a budget phone and its hardware and specs are what you would expect from a lower end device. The 7 inch screen, while sufficiently big, has a resolution of only 1024 x 600 which is kind of a disappointment, considering that 720p is the standard for devices of this size. The pixel density of 169 ppi is also on the lower side, which means that although you’ll get a big screen with the Studio 7.0, don’t expect to be dazzled by its display.
No Top Specs Either
The BLU Studio 7.0 is powered by a MediaTek chipset with a 1.3 GHz processor and a Mali 400 GPU which comes along with a 1 GB RAM. Needless to say, the performance isn’t going to be too smooth and crisp. The Studio 7.0 provides 3G GSM connectivity although 4G LTE is missing.
On the back of the phone, we find a 5 MP camera along with an LED flash, with its front-facing counterpart being 2 MP. It has an internal storage space of 8 GB, which can be increased with the help of the Micro SD card slot. Another tell tale sign of its low price tag is the fact that the phone runs on an Android 4.4.2 KitKat OS while almost every other new Android device on the market has at least 4.4.4 version of the OS.
Physically, the phone is pretty big with dimensions of 187.5 x 103 x 9.4mm while weighing in at just under 300 grams. The phone is powered by a massive 3,000 mAh battery. It is available in four colors – white, grey, gold and blue.
Conclusion
The BLU Studio 7.0 is not the hallmark of smartphone technology. The only two things it has going in its favor are its 7 inch screen size and a price tag of $150. But if you think about it closely, even those things aren’t as impressive as BLU will have us believe – we’ve all seen the kind of smartphones Chinese and Indian manufacturers are making these days, and although their screens might not be as large, they do provide some excellent specs at similar prices without compromising on performance.
BLU should at least be trying to compete with the specs that these manufacturers are providing, but instead their focus is on branding the Studio 7.0 as the biggest smartphone. And what is the use of such a huge screen when the display is utterly mediocre? BLU will have to address these issues if it wants to gain some traction in the phablet market. For now, this device is only going to attract those who have a thing for size and cheap prices.