Beau HD unboxes and gives us a first look at the BLU Vivo Air . The Vivo Air is currently the thinnest and lightest smartphone in the U.S. It features an octa-core processor, 4.8-inch 720p HD Super AMOLED display, 8-megapixel camera sensor, Android 4.4 KitKat and a 5.1mm aluminum magnesium alloy frame that weighs just 97 grams.
The BLU Vivo Air currently holds the title for the thinnest phone in America. Before opening the box, its packaging is a reminiscent of Apple’s. It has that very minimal side profile of the device etched into the center of the box with no ink or any sort which makes it kinda hard to see. The name itself is the Vivo Air, which as you know, Apple kinda coined the term Air to represent their slim tablet line.
With a thickness of just 5.1mm, the BLU Vivo Air is about a millimeter slimmer than the iPad Air 2. It also features an octa-core 1.7GHz processor, 4.8-inch 720p HD Super AMOLED display, 8MP rear and 5MP front-facing camera, HSPA+ and Android 4.4 KitKat all for $200 off-contract.
If we slide off the top cover of the box we’ll be greeted with the BLU Vivo Air which is safely wrapped up in plastic. Underneath that is a protective case, which is usually included on other BLU devices. There’s a pair of earphones with mic and music playback support. There’s also a microUSB cable used to charge the Vivo Air along with a wall charger.
Below that, is a SIM card ejector tool so that we can insert our own SIM card into the Vivo Air. The BLU user manual can also be found here along with an included screen protector. Together with the included case, these two can seriously help protect the thin smartphone.
After peeling off all the plastic off the Vivo Air, you’ll get to see the 5.1mm thin device. Taking a look around, you’ll spot the Power/Sleep On/Off and volume up and down controls located on the left hand side. Its SIM card slot can be found on the right hand side. The top is free of any buttons, while the microUSB charging cable and 3.5mm headphone jack are on the bottom. On the front of the Vivo Air is the 5MP front-facing camera with its 4.8-inch 720p Super AMOLED display and few touch navigation buttons for the Menu, Home and Back commands.
Both front and back sides of the device feature Corning Gorilla Glass 3 to help protect it from all sorts of scratches and cracks. The back has the 8MP camera sensor and flash along with the BLU logo and a speaker grill. This model is the 16GB variant.
What I really like about this device is that while it’s crazy thin, it’s also crazy lightweight. It has a weight of just 97g. It honestly feels like I’m barely holding anything in my hand.
I also like how it’s crafted with high quality materials. The phone has an aluminum magnesium alloy frame with chamfered edges. With how the device feels on the hands and how well it is built, it feels just like an Apple device.
Upon turning on, the phone reveals a surprisingly nice display considering it is just a 720p panel. The AMOLED display does help make things appear saturated and vivid. Plus, the phone is equipped with an octa-core processor under its hood powering its software.
I’m definitely going to test it out for my full review to see how it performs and how I like the software since as you can see there is a pretty heavy theme on top of Android 4.4 KitKat. There’s no app drawer so all your apps are displayed on the multiple home screens, and each app icon is square in shape so that’s interesting.
For $200, the BLU Vivo Air looks very promising.
