BLU Vivo 4.3 D910a Unlocked GSM Dual-SIM Android Smartphone - Black | 4.3" HD Display, 8MP Camera | Perfect for Travel & Business Use

This is an excellent phone but watch out for the build quality.I originally ordered one in mid-October as I was about to leave on an international trip and Verizons Intl roaming rates are ridiculous. It worked out well a $7 SIM from Claro plus some airtime at 5 cents per minute in country and about 50 cents per minute to USA, no data, but used the Wi-Fi at the hotel which worked great with this phone.I received it and was very pleased, here is what was most remarkable:1. The large Super AmoLED display is awesome, blacks are truly black, video looks great, text is very readable, and it does not wash out in sunlight although it is tougher to see and read than in normal light. I compared it under the same conditions to my iPod Touch 4, I could not see anything in bright sunlight with the iPod where on this phone when taking a picture I could see the subject well enough. The display alone alone is reason to buy this phone over other unlocked phones. You have to go to high end Samsung at >$600 to get this same feature.2. The Wi-Fi range is excellent and the Wireless signal quality seems quite good. Tried it with both AT&T and Claro.3. Has Android 4.0 which has many more features than Android 2.X which many inexpensive Android phones are still based on. The web browser with Android 4.0 is much better than the one with Android 2.X.4. All the misc sensors seem to work well, the accelerometer, the compass, the GPS, and the camera takes excellent picture and video although a bit noisy when it is a dark scene which is common for phone cameras. Did have a problem here though see below.5. Fast enough CPU. It seems responsive in all apps I tried including 3D games.6. Is lightweight and just the right size so you can feel comfortable carrying it in your pocket all day.I did have two problems though with my first unit first the battery seemed to drain quickly and if I took a photo that needed the built-in flash the unit just shutdown. After this shutdown I had to remove the battery to get it operating again. This repeated the next time I took a flash photo a few days later while away and this time it was even harder to get back up. Following this it would just shutdown for no obvious reason every few hours. Tried full battery charge, airplane mode, etc and still problematic. After returning from my trip I RMA'ed it as defective and quickly got the same model from Amazon.So far so good it is working great. I can take flash photos with no problems and the battery drain appears nominal.As far as what you should expect for battery life with both a Wi-Fi signal and a wireless signal it drains the battery in about 2 days even if you only use it minimally. To extend this disable one or the other radio except when needed and you will probably get 3-4 days. Using the phone for light activity seems to draw the battery at about 10% per hour. Talking is about the same. Playing a 3D game draws the battery at about 20% per hour. I am not sure if these numbers are good or bad it seems like everyone I know is charging there smart phones daily and this unit is no exception.Most people would remove a star or two for the problem I experienced with the initial phone but as an engineer I am aware that ALL electronic devices are subject to what is known as early failures, typically in the first few days of operation. This occurs at a rate of 1-5% depending on component and build quality. Used to be electronics were burned it at the manufacturer but no more it just costs too much to do even for the big (expensive) players. The phone like most is made in China but to the specs of Blu (supposedly an American company based in Miami) so I think they should work on component and or build quality even if it raises the price by $20.Before I bought the phone I read the other reviews which were also generally positive. The one reviewer mentioned a continuous repetitive background sound when using headphones, good sound was important to me as I use it as a music player also. Soon after getting it I tried it with three sets of headphones and no such issue. Again being an engineer this is typically caused by a bad capacitor in the audio output section allowing internal electrical noise to come though. To the other reviewer who had this problem just RMA the phone and get a new one. It is another example of a build quality issue and is not endemic of the phones design.So BOTTOM LINE THIS IS A GREAT PHONE for the price. If you purchase this phone though try out all the device features, camera with flash, other sensors, and try it with headphones as soon as you get it and if anything does not work right or causes a shutdown or other issues just RMA it and hopefully the next one will be fine. This is a nice advantage of using Amazon they do not give you hassles about returns or try to convince you a problem is not really a problem. This is particularly important in light of other reviewers (no personal experience) reporting that Blu has poor customer support. Hopefully they will improve this.BTW: There is no form fit case at this time for the phone. To protect it I bought a small thin lightly padded camera case at Sears that fit it well. Other small camera cases may also work but you have to try them so it makes it hard to order one online, like Shoes. This case is less convenient as when I get a call as it takes 10 seconds to get it out of the case but is better than nothing. Hopefully Blu will work with a case vendor or two to create a form fit case in the coming weeks and post on there web site the make and model of the case options.