BLU R2 budget smartphone now available for preorder

BLU is known for their budget-oriented smartphones, and that trend will continue with their latest release. The BLU R2 and R2 LTE are now available from Amazon, starting at $80.

So what will four Jacksons get you? Here are the specs for the base model BLU R2:

• 5.2-inch HD (720P) display
• Quad-core MediaTek 6580 CPU (up to 1.3 GHz)
• Mali-400 GPU
• 1 GB RAM
• 8 GB onboard storage
• MicroSD support (up to 64 GB)
• 8 MP rear camera
• 8 MP front camera w/ flash
• Fingerprint scanner
• Android 7.0 Nougat

Unfortunately, the base R2 only supports 3G bands on GSM networks, so users will have to tolerate the slower data speeds over the network. An extra $30 will net you the R2 LTE ($110 total), which bumps the specs quite a bit. The R2 LTE doubles the RAM and onboard storage and packs a quad-core MediaTek 6737 CPU with Mali-T720 graphics. The rear camera is 13 MP, which is a significant boost over the base model. And, owing to its namesake, the R2 LTE is compatible with 4G LTE bands on GSM network.

The R2 LTE definitely looks to be the better buy, but both phones look lackluster when compared to other budget devices (specifically Motorola’s Moto E4). Still, if you’re looking to get a phone for dirt cheap, this may be an option for you. Just be wary that BLU has recently been called out for dodgy data collection practices, although that matter seems to have been resolved.

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