Selfie, and the BLU Studio C 5+5. In this video, we’re going to take a look at the BLU Studio C 5+5 to see if it’s worth its $89 off-contract price tag here on PhoneDog.com.
This is the BLU Studio C 5+5, a smartphone with a pretty odd sounding name (that’s what really strikes me first). It’s also a very affordable smartphone costing just $89. BLU’s also selling the same phone but with support for LTE for $10 more. While we know it’s pretty cheap, the specs obviously aren’t going to be anything spectacular. We do have a 5-inch FWVGA IPS display, a 1.3GHz quad-core processor, 8GB of internal memory, a 5MP rear-facing camera sensor and 5MP front-facing camera sensor, 1GB of RAM, 4G HSPA+, and it does run Android 5.0 Lollipop which is pretty impressive.
So to get inside this box, all we need to do is just simply slide off the top cover and we will find the C 5+5 sitting right on top which I will set off to the side for a moment. Underneath that, we have an assortment of accessories. We have a 2000mAh battery that we’ll have to install later, a standard micro USB cable, a US wall wart, a pair of earphones with removable tips, there’s a SIM Card Removal Guide and a Quick Start Guide. And we do have a screen protector and a protective silicone case here as well. So for less than $100, you get a pretty good number of accessories.
If we take a look back at the C 5+5 and remove the plastic, the first thing I did notice is that it’s definitely thicker than the other two devices I recently reviewed and we do have this fake leather back cover that’s plastic but does provide some pretty nice grip with the texture here on the back so that’s pretty cool. We have nothing on the left hand side, there is a small circular Power/Sleep On/Off button above the volume rocker on the right hand side, a 3.5mm headphone jack up top and a micro USB charging port on the bottom. The front is home to a 5MP camera sensor and a 5-inch IPS display. The back features a 5MP camera sensor as well with a flash with a speaker grille and that plastic back cover which is removable. It’ll give us access to the dual SIM card slots and microSD card slot for expandable storage as well as that removable battery.
For a 5-inch VGA IPS display, it doesn’t look as bad as I thought considering it’s not HD. It’s really bright. Viewing angles aren’t absolutely terrible but they aren’t the best. They’re definitely better than the past BLU smartphones I’ve reviewed in this price category. It’s pretty pleasing to look at considering its price of less than $100.
The C 5+5 runs a very pure stock Android experience most similar to the Vivo Selfie as many of the Material Design animations are still present and the notification panel and the settings drawer remain unchanged. The newest update for this device allows you to uninstall the Amazon bloatware on here but there’s really not a ton of bloatware, just a few apps.
Out of the 3 BLU smartphones I recently reviewed, the performance of the 5+5 is the least impressive. Performance is okay at best but many of the Material Design animations found in Android Lollipop are a little bit choppy, they’re not smooth or fluid. And yes, you will notice some stuttering and hiccups when using this device. It’s kind of something that you can expect with a sub $100 smartphone. If that’s going to be an issue for you, you might want to spend an extra $50 for the Vivo Selfie or the Energy X Plus. If not, then you can save some money with this device.
Overall, the BLU Studio C 5+5 is a pretty darn good device for $89 off-contract. If you consider its 1/7th the price of a flagship smartphone like the Galaxy S6, it’s actually kind of impressive to see what BLU is able to do here with $89.
Let me know what your thoughts are. Do you think it’s worth its price? I’m always curious to hear your thoughts.