Blu's Pure XR brings 3D Touch to Android for $299
With a 2GHz octa-core processor, 16-megapixel camera and a fingerprint sensor to boot.
Right on schedule, Blu has followed up last year's Pure XL with its latest affordable, feature-heavy (and unlocked) Android phone: the $299 4G LTE Pure XR. On its face, the XR version sports a curved, 5.5-inch 1080p SuperAMOLED screen with a (possibly trademark infringing) "3D Touch" feature similar to the iPhone 6s, but at about half the unlocked price. Under the hood, the XR runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow driven by a 2GHz octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 processor, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of memory (plus microSD expansion).
Blu doesn't skimp on the rest of the features either: Although it's a bit of a downgrade from the XL's 24-megapixel sensor, the XR sports a 16-megapixel rear camera and an 8-megapixel selfie shooter. Rounding out the specs are: a home button fingerprint sensor, dual SIM slots, USB Type-C port and a 3,000 mAh battery that just edges out the iPhone 6s Plus battery in terms of raw capacity. (According to Blu, the 2-amp quick charger can add an hour of talk time with a 10-minute charge.) The handset has a full metal, unibody design available in Grey and Gold and is on sale now from Amazon and Best Buy. Although the Pure XR is unlocked right out of the box, it's still a GSM-only device, so users will be limited to AT&T, T-Mobile, metroPCS and other GSM networks.
