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Consumer Reports joined Into Tomorrow this week to tell us about the Blu Vivo 5:
Are you in the market for an unlocked smartphone? You’ve probably never heard of the Blu Vivo 5, but it might be the phone for you, so says Consumer Reports. Their electronics spokesman James McQueen is here to explain why.
You may have never heard of Blu, but this smartphone maker has been selling quite a few phones in the burgeoning unlocked-smartphone market. Unlike most phones, you can take an unlocked smartphone to a new carrier with little fuss, provided the phone has radios that are compatible with the provider’s network. Blu’s phones are ultra-cheap by smartphone standards, yet they have many compelling features.
The Blu Vivo 5, for instance, which costs just $200, has a very good—and very large—5.5-inch HD display, yet is one of the thinnest and lightest phablet-sized models we’ve seen. And it’s actually two phones in one, thanks to its dual SIM-card slot that allows you to have two phone accounts—even from two separate providers.
That makes the Vivo 5 an appealing option for anyone who needs a second smartphone but only has the budget—or pockets—for one. There is one downside to this capability: The slot for the second SIM card is also the slot for the microSD memory card, which means you can’t have expanded phone storage when you’re using two accounts.
For more info on this story, visit ConsumerReports.org.
Rory recommended an app he’s been playing with:
Slide is an app that lets you create a 3D like GIF with your iPhone. Just tap your screen, slide your phone from side to side and then tap your subject. Slide will then analyze the high-speed video it just took and create a GIF that looks like it’s in 3D. You can then share that GIF as a short video wherever you tend to share photos. Slide is iOS only and available for $1.99 on the App Store. It also requires a newer iPhone, one that’s able to record high frame-rate video, in order to perform its magic.
