BLU VIVO 5 GSM unlocked Smartphone review

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BLU VIVO 5 GSM unlocked Smartphone review

BLU was kind enough to send their VIVO 5 GSM unlokced smartphone over for review. Coming in under $200 USD it packs quite a punch. Let's get deep into a video review of the BLU VIVO 5 here. The BLU VIVO 5 is an excellent under $200 USD unlocked phone if you are on the right networks for usage. It comes in 3 colors, but we look at the gold version. The phone looks amazingly like high end phones and many people asked what version of iPhone or Galaxy I had when testing this around town.
BLU VIVO 5 smartphone
The specs are excellent in this phone with 8oz weight
- Dual Sim card (or one SIM and one micro SD card)
- Gorilla Glass 3
- 5.5 inch AMLOED display
- 1.3 Ghz octacore processor
- 3GB of on board RAM
- 32GB of internal storage (or use a slot in the dual SIM tray for more)
- 13MP rear and 5MP front facing camera for good quality pictures
- 1350mAh battery (non removable)

Now that we covered most of the specs let talk function of the BLU VIVO 5. Overall, this is another great quality phone from BLU (we previously reviewed the BLU Studio 5). While it has bit more bloatware in the Android OS, they always stay close to stock with their software loads. Look for an Android update to Marshmallow after you get this phone.

Being unlocked you can get a SIM from a lot of networks. Keep in mind it is missing two bands on the US LTE networks so you get much better coverage in metro and urban areas than you will way out. We had limited issues with calls dropping or connecting on the first try. As much as any phone in our opinion.

This phone does use the new USB C type adapter (included) so make sure anything you get as an add on has that as well. Even extra chargers. I wish the BLU VIVO 5 had Qi charging ability, but we don;t count off for wishes. The toggle buttons on the side are easy to feel and work with. The headphone jack worked well and took every headphone we tried.

We fired up Bluetooth, wifi and GPS with no issues. NFC is not present in the VIVO 5 however. So no tap to pay ability support.

Guest mode on the VIVO 5 is a hidden feature allowing you to hand this phone off and protect your personal data. I think they need to promote that a lot more as many phone do not have this. Dig into other features for the UI like themes on the fly, fake calls and the numerous security lock options.

Overall, this is another good quality, knocked, dual SIM phone from BLU. For the price point, body look/feel and the guts inside the phone it is a heck of a deal. Get it today at

You can get your hands on the BLU VIVO 5 today from Amazon right here at http://idonot.es/bluvivo5 and their website. See my review video on the Amazon page.

Please see all the product reviews here on the IdoNotes blog and subscribe to the SpikedStudio channel or product review playlist on YouTube