BLU has announced a new 'iPhone 5c-esque' 5.5-inch, quad-core smartphone that will be hitting the U.S. in a few weeks. It will be unlocked and retail for $179.00.
The company is launching a 5.5-inch unlocked smartphone with some decent specs and a reasonable price tag. BLU Products also seems to be taking some design cues from Apple's iPhone 5c and Nokia's Lumia series by shipping the handset in various bright colors. Unlocked smartphones have become more popular in the last few years as increasingly more consumers want to be able to upgrade to the latest and greatest without having to sign a new 2-year contract with carriers. The privilege of owning an unlocked handset comes at a price, however. Unlocked smartphones can retail cost as much $749 for a 32GB unlocked iPhone 5s, for instance. Blu's new Studio 5.5 is bringing an unlocked 5.5-inch phablet to the market at a low price of $179.00, something the company is hoping will attract consumers who are price-conscious, especially when trying out a new smartphone or phablet.
"We love making big phones, and making them affordable to the mass market," said Samuel Ohev-Zion, CEO, BLU Products. "We believe in the trend for larger screens, it lets you see and do everything on your smartphone as a heightened experience, and at the same time it's becoming a fashion statement. We are doing it in style with plenty of colors for our loyal fans to choose from, in addition to our dedication and focus on performance."
Running on stock Android Jelly Bean v4.2, The Studio 5.5 smartphone will be available in 5 different colors at just $179.00, as the company focuses on assisting the "Bring Your Own Device" (BYOD) no-contract movement in the U.S. and will be sold unlocked at major retailers such as Amazon.com and Best Buy, as well as thousands of Operator and MVNO Dealer stores throughout the U.S.
The unlocked BLU Studio 5.5 features a 5.5-inch 480 x 854 capacitive touchscreen display and runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. It is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, a PowerVR SGX544 GPU (graphics processing unit), and 1GB of RAM. The handset has 4GB of internal storage accessible to the user and also has a microSD expansion slot that supports up to 32GB microSD cards. Its camera capabilities include a 5-megapixel rear camera with flash and 1080p video recording and a front facing VGA camera. It also contains a non-removable 2.250mAh battery.
Blue Studio 5.5 will be available in the next few weeks for $179.00 in choice of Slate Grey, Cyan-Blue, Neon-Yellow, Fashion-Fuchsia, and Ceramic-White.
