Blu has launched another averagely specced, attractive smartphone which can be purchased for a reasonable price without a contract. There’s plenty to like in that sentence, but is the new phone worthy of our attention? It’s called the Blu Life Pure Mini, and it’s Blu’s attempt at emulating hardware wearing a Mini name tag from other manufacturers.
The screen is a 4.5-inch IPS display with a 720p resolution, which gives an iPhone 5S-like pixel density of 326ppi. An 8-megapixel camera is fitted to the rear of the phone, complete with an LED flash, plus there’s a 2-megapixel lens above the screen, which should be perfect for taking a few selfies.
Blu has used a polycarbonate unibody construction for the Life Pure Mini, and talks about hand polished surfaces and smooth edges on its promo website. The phone certainly has a premium weight to go along with all these flashy phrases, and tips the scales at 149 grams. A lot for a phone measuring just 8.9mm thick. One reason could be Blu’s decision to stuff a 3000mAh battery inside the phone. The extra juice should provide 50 hours of standby, and 48 hours of continuous music playback.
At this point, you may wonder where the cost savings come in, so let’s talk about the processor. While Motorola chose a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 for the Moto G, Blu has opted for a quad-core 1.5GHz MediaTek chip to power the new phone. There’s nothing wrong with the processor, but it’s a cheaper option for Blu. It’s joined by 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage space. Android 4.2 Jelly Bean is installed, and covered with a skin which makes it look a little like iOS 7.
The price for all this mid-range goodness is $250 unlocked and without a contract. Price-wise, this sees the Life Pure Mini slot in-between the Moto X and Moto G. We’ll update here when the phone goes up for sale.
