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Review on πŸ“± BLU G91 2021 3-Day Battery Unlocked US Version with Warranty 4/128GB Blue by Mike Davan

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Great value for money that just works

I am familiar with BLU products and have used them for several years. Overall I'm satisfied with their design, quality and (Android) implementation. They were more of a secondary device for a Galaxy S or Note, but once set up properly they just work. This device is no different. It was bought for a friend and over the past week I've had time to set it up and get a good feel for it (without the usual rooting and switching launchers). The 1.8 GHz octa-core SoC is adequate and the system never felt laggy. That apparent smoothness is also due to the generous (at this price point) 3GB of RAM. In terms of storage space, 64GB is still sufficient in most cases. I have an old 32GB phone that's loaded with apps - around 145 - and only around 60% is being used. Expanding storage isn't bad either. The phone supports Micro SD XC (extended capacity) which means you can now - May 2021 - add a chip up to 1TB for pure storage bliss. I grabbed a 128GB card and she happily processed all the photos and videos I sent her. A problem with external or extended storage: BLU has changed something for the better. On older devices, when inserting an SD card, the system asked if it should be used as the default recording drive. This way you can reset almost everything - photos, videos, downloads from the browser and email, music. everything - directly to the SD card, not to the internal memory of the phone. This way the phone doesn't fill up as quickly and you don't get those annoying "out of memory" messages. Perhaps the increase in internal memory influenced their decision to remove this option, but this greatly simplifies the task and is necessary, especially for slow users. I can't tell how many times I've had calls to fix storage issues like WhatsApp or the camera app filling up the phone's storage. Previously it was very easy for the user to fix this - for example with BLU Studio XL. Just insert your 64GB, 128, 200 or other SD card, click yes and the system will do the rest. Now you need to manually set SD as save location and this usually only applies to images and videos. WhatsApp and other media hogs still use internal storage without an easy switch. It has to be seamless. The aforementioned grievances are not minor or insignificant; B. their storage and management or the increasing creation/use of data, this will remain a challenge. Google is best placed to sort this out, and ultimately it's their responsibility. The big BUT is that BLU already implemented it as a workaround but then removed it again. Anger aside, this device is a great value. The camera performs very well in bright outdoor light. Low light is a minor issue, but the optics to stand out in it doesn't fit the $120 budget. Other things work well enough not to be mentioned - these days it's mostly about your software and how things are set up in general. Battery life seems excellent so far. I noticed minimal power consumption throughout the week installing and setting up apps, books, games, etc. A few days of standby after a full charge left a substantial charge, and an hour or so of FHD video didn't make much of an impact on battery life (hard numbers are all that count, I know). 5000 mAh battery life is serious and it shows. The Mediatek Helio isn't a power-hungry chip, and with a decent 50-60 percent screen quality, this phone's mileage has been great most of the time. RAM, internal storage and battery life are the strengths of this phone. They combine well with nominal SoCs and optics as well as aggressive pricing to create an attractive product. SDXC support and 5Ah battery for under $120.

Pros
  • Powered by the latest 12nm processor Mediatek Helio A25 | Octa core processor | 1.8 GHz
Cons
  • Legacy