Brazil is one of the largest markets for Windows Phones these days, so it is great to see another manufacturer jump into the scene. BLU, based out of Miami, Florida, is now selling two of its Windows Phone offerings direct to customers.
The Win HD and Win JR, both released late last year, are now being sold on their website.
The dual SIM Win HD features a 5-inch 720p display, Snapdragon 200 processor, 1 GB of RAM, 8 MP camera and a 2 MP front-facing camera. It is a sharp looking device, and BLU have been great about updates, including GDR1. The price for Brazil is R$ 580.00 ($195 USD).
Here is our unboxing and hands-on of the Win HD.
Likewise, the smaller and cheaper dual SIM Win JR 4-inch 800x480 display, 512MB of RAM and the same Snapdragon 200 Quad Core 1.2GHz processor. It also has a 5MP rear camera and a VGA front-facing one. The asking price for that phone is R$ 379.95 ($128 USD).
See our hands-on of the Win JR for more information.
Unfortunately, the newer Win HD LTE and Win JR LTE are not yet available, but it is likely just a matter of time before those show up as well.
Source: BLU Brazil; Thanks, Guilherme M., for the tip!
Reader comments
BLU begins to sell Win JR and Win HD Windows Phones in Brazil
Could be great for my mother-in-law. She's in need of a budget smartphone and this would make a nifty little gift.
There are 4 countries in the world: US, India, UK and Brazil.
The camera sucks peepee. Other than that, it's not bad.
Peepees Waterpark?
Sticking peepee is supposed to be a bad thing? Many people seem to like it. :-P
Finally, since the owner is Brazilian...
Wen in Portugal?
I think it's great there is a company that is giving Lumia a run for its money.
When in Indonesia?
*half trolling half serious... :3
My understanding is that it's been rebranded and sold in other countries via third parties. Not sure about Indonesia, however.
Yeah. Most WP I have seen here are Lumias... And a little of Ascend W1 (cmiiw). My choice are so limited. :3
Be careful what you wish for. I bought a Blu Win HD LTE. I like it, but:
- the second SIM appears to be only 2G
- it has none of the Lumia customizations like Glance, double-tap to wake, etc.
So I've ordered a dual-SIM Lumia 640 LTE. Glance will be back, both SIM slots will be LTE, and it supports more frequencies. (The Blu Win HD LTE supports everything I need on my current carrier where I live, but not everything I need for other carriers in Canada, it doesn't have Band 38 for Sasktel, or everything I'd need for U.S. roaming. The Lumia 640 LTE DS supports all those additional frequencies.)
I'm using 4g on my second sim. Cricket Wireless USA
By 4G do you mean HSPA+ or do you mean LTE? Interesting. What are you doing with the first SIM?
Well... I only need one SIM, specially for data usage. Even if I use dual SIM, only my main SIM will have data plan. So it's not really a big deal.
Though I'd love to use glance, I can live without it. Heck I have never use glance for my entire life. My 520 doesn't have it.
As for double tap to wake, I already activated it on my 520, yet rarely use it. Pushing power button already became a habit of mine. It's simpler for me because when I take it out from my pocket, my thumb already on the power button. A slight click already wake the device. :)
My only concern is price. Don't get me wrong. 640 family are quite affordable and may be my next target for an upgrade. But with that price point, I can get a better spec'ed devices on Android from the like of Asus, Lenovo, Xiaomi, etc.
I could tempted to switch if I'm on a tight budget. That switch means I switch from WP as daily driver and Android for test device to Android as daily driver and WP as test device, where test device will likely less usage and rarely need hardware upgrade so often... :3
You've never used Glance. Before I used it, I would have thought I could take it or leave it. After having it for a while, and now losing it, I have a stronger appreciation for how many dozens/hundreds of times a day I reference it. So much so I'm going to retire the Blu Win HD LTE for a Lumia 640 LTE DS.
BTW, the dual-SIM variants of the Lumia 640 and 640 XL are better than the non-DS variants in other ways (such as better frequency support).
I guess we have different reasons regarding glance. I simply doesn't care about it because I rarely check notifications nor appointment reminder. When looking for time information at a glance, I just see my watch and get it done.
As for GSM radio support, I don't think it matters to me. There are no nation wide LTE yet in Indonesia and my HSPA (and HSPA+) still more than enough for now. Heck, even Microsoft didn't sell LTE phones variants here. No 735 on sight. So I don't think it's necessary for me.
or pure trolling if it was the guy who thought indonesia=india
I misread the original message, caught the error, and I corrected my comment already. :-)
Hahaha. Nope. Still half trolling. That half trolling was for the famous "when in India" phrase. The serious part is that when these OEM start targeting bigger audience.
Please come to Nigeria
Is there any chance of launching in India ?
Go away.
Good for the platform. Alright.
I just don't understand why the htc one m8 for windows is not available everywhere.
I don't understand why it's not being sold unlocked via http://Microsoftstore.com. I had to buy my Lumia 1520 from Omegacell, and my Lumia 640 LTE DS from Expansys. Why Microsoft, why?
I think tha's because the HTC for Windows is like a beta program for HTC, just to see if they can sell phones with WP on it, I hope thy did well so they might present a hew phone for all carriers and all cuntries
Because HTC is crap and they halfway don't care about the platform.
Got my aunt a blue win HD when she was here in December. Surprised to see the price translates pretty closely and Brazil isn't charging an arm and a leg for it.
That's very surprising because Brazil tends to overcharge everything. A new iPhone here goes for around 1.100 dollars.
Wen in Portugal?
Availability is key. It's been one of Windows Phone's problems in the past (One M8), so they should be - and are - releasing the newer phones in other countries where intrusion from carriers is minimal (ie. Brazil, India etc). Don't let up MS.
Crap
Super...their new LTE versions are just too good...especially the HD one...just love the design of it...pity it isn't available widely...but I understand they are a regional manufacturer and are slowly expanding...but very heartening to see them gaining such good momentum with Windows phone...if only the bigger OEMs had shown some more interest...hope Win10 can change that
Which show to Huawei that they can sell well if they support they device in the platform.
That's correct, I don't undertand why OEM's are so afraid of Google
I'm really happy BLU found success with Windows Phone. Only OEM that has pretty much.
They saw a gap in the market and took a chance. Sooo many Droid OEMs , this is what it takes to stand out
Crappie specs in my opinion...
Dude its a budget phone and their 1st gen devices...u cant get a nexus for 100 bucks..can you??
That processor tho..
l640 is getting launched under 100 na, has far better sprcs
My sister has a Win HD and it's actually a really nice phone, terrible camera and all.
WIN JR is plenty of phone for my mom and mother in law. They can skype, take pics, check a bit of email.... one of them plays sudoku and music... all on wifi, no data plan. LOUD. :)
Very happy.
In the specs page the Win HD states that it has 4G support. :S
It does have 4G just not LTE
On Brazil 4g is LTE.
Good!
Meh