I bought a $30 Smartphone ! Tracfone Blu View 2 Review
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- Опубликовано: 2 авг 2024
- Find one at Walmart - lon.tv/lpet6 (compensated affiliate link) - Tracfone has a fully functional Android smartphone for $30 - while it's locked to Tracfone's network it doesn't have to be activated in order to be used. See more smartphones: lon.tv/smartphones and subscribe ! lon.tv/s
VIDEO INDEX:
00:00 - Intro
00:56 - Hardware Overview
01:07 - Processor, RAM and Storage
01:54 - Removeable Battery
02:36 - Display
02:55 - Tracphone Network
03:26 - Android Version
03:41 - 4G and Wifi
04:07 - Cameras
05:22 - Performance
05:50 - Web Browsing & RUclips
06:54 - Speaker
07:07 - Ports
07:45 - Gaming
08:56 - 3DMark Slingshot Benchmark
09:07 - Conclusion
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This is the world we live in where an Android Smart phone can cost less than Dinner for two at Applebee's
I think phone like this is replacing a basic phone. Not that I hate Keitai Docomo flip phone and I think it’s very cool phone but most people want a smartphone although they can’t afford an iPhone or even Samsung Galaxy A series.
Thank you for taking a look at low end phones. Most of us do not need even the mid range of cell phones let alone a flagship version. It is really rare to find reviews on low end phones. Love your views and comments on all things tech!
What? 30 dollars smartphone is a waste too, at this price point just buy non-smartphone.
Whilst these phones do work, i do not recommend them, as apps get more and more features, and therefore use more processing power over time, and this phone is weaker than an iPhone 7, a phone from 2016, which means that it will get very slow very quickly, I would recommend that you keep what you have now, then save up about 50 a month and get a Pixel 6/6a or a similar 300-ish phone with decent specs, you will thank yourself for it.
I appreciate your disclosure. It would be funny if this was a loaner from Blu and you had to send it back 😂
Shipping back and forth would cost more than the phone!
the problem with these low price phones is always the limited ram and later the emmc that becomes slow after like a year, and never recovers
As someone born in the 70s and seen all the iterations of tech since then it's amazing what we consider garbage now. In the 2000s this would have been a killer phone.
It's an excellent smart phone in the present.
I really like Lon's reviews. Down to earth, and totally relatable and honest. A couple of years ago I bought a small, 11.6 inch Lenovo chromebook based on Lon's review and I have not been disappointed. With regards to this Blu View 2 phone, I got a great deal on it about 18 months ago on Tracfone. (1 year service, 1500 mins/1500 texts and 1.5 mbs total for the year) Tracfone has very obtainable ways to get an additional 2 mbs of data by posting comments on FB and Twitter. Also, once you have the phone for at least 2 months, it can be unlocked. My total money spent was about $40 or so. Essentially, I just used this phone as a back-up to track my mileage when I jog or bike via Google Fit. Also kept it in my glove compartment in my car as an emergency phone. I was very happy with it. Once I had the phone unlocked, I got the $30 a year Ebay/Red Pocket cell phone plan and this phone works fine on that cheap, GSM plan as well.
These cheap phones just keep getting better and better. Obviously Tracfone is subsidizing this phone, but still - $30 for a phone that does all this so well, it's extraordinary.
They do get ya with the bill though, which is why I put my family on Cricket Wireless for $100 a month for 4 lines with unlimited talk/text/data, and I just buy my phones unlocked when possible to get what I want, or get a Cricket branded phone off eBay, or off the peg at Walmart to avoid their "upgrade fee" if I buy it off their website, or one of their physical stores.
Having said that it is very impressive how far cheap phones have come, as I remember selling people some really horrible prepaid phones in the past when I worked for DG as a 2nd job in the late 00's/early 10's, and I would always ask when unlocking the cage, are you sure this is the phone you really want, because it can't be returned, and it's really not that great of a phone, and I had a few come back complaining how bad the phone was trying to get their money back, and would tell them no returns you are stuck with it, and I did warn you!!
@@CommodoreFan64 Yeah I agree I think Cricket is probably the best way to go for most people. Tracfone can be good for people who rarely use their phones though.
@@RoastBeefSandwich For a single person who does not use their phone a lot, or is mostly on WiFi, and has good Verizon tower coverage in their area, then it's alright long as you get the right phone, and If I was stuck on Tracfone, and on a tight budget, then I would go for the Nokia C100 over the BluView 2, as it's only $40, and you might not get as high a megapixel count on the camera, but it has near stock Android 12, 3GB of RAM, and a slightly better overall SOC with expandable storage.
I bought one of these from tracfone for $15 and its served me well as a work phone. Calls are clear and the display is high resolution enough to be usable for maps and such. Video and photo quality is more than good enough for work use.
Lon mentioned that the WiFi is only 2.4GHz (and no 5GHz) and that will be most noticeable if you are in an area with lots of WiFi, Bluetooth and/or microwave ovens (all of those use 2.4GHz) because of interference. If you are in a single family home with a decent WiFi router, that won't matter too much, but if you're in a college dorm, it will be almost unusable.
I love that you did this review Lon. I need a new one of these for my kids to use for their smartphone toothbrushing app ("Philips Sonicare for Kids" in the app stores). Since the phone doesn't need any cell service, I've been using an old phone with an old android version. The battery isn't lasting very long on that phone and the old version of android is extremely slow, so something with a fresh battery and new android version will likely be much better.
One thing to note about your review, according to GSM arena, the specs on this phone says its wifi is 802.11 b/g/n. 802.11n supports multi-channel utilization and dual band support for both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies with a maximum data rate of 600 Mbps. So it is unlikely that the phone's wifi capabilities are what is slowing it down. It's probably just the low level CPU and GPU.
When you say the phone doesn't have 5 GHz, I think you mean to say the phone doesn't have 5G. It only has 4G LTE.
Back in 1990, I bought a Novatel "Transportable" phone for $100. It came in a purse-type carrying case. The battery for it was also $100, and had a 12v cigarette-lighter socket for the phone. I was the first person on the PLANET to have a cell phone (ok, slight exaggeration, but I was the first person I knew who had one). I would take it hiking, and sit in a tree in the woods, and make phone calls. It was the COOLEST thing ever. Now it's "Meh". I feel old lol.
Love it! They were on clearance at Kroger for 15 dollars. I appeciate the back case material and the USB-C port, big step up from the Blu View 1.
USB C everywhere!
Best thing about such phones is low weight and compact size (display size) so for reading books such cheap phones are best .. I've such phone which I use for only reading books ...
@@didntaskg770 You probably see better then me but small screens are no good for my bad eyes now. The screens I thought looked great before are terrible now. 🥸 I was very disappointed with what I saw when I pulled out my GBA advanced. I did read on those small screens back in the day though so I know what you are talking about. I always grabbed the replacement batteries so I had one charged.
I really miss replaceable batteries. I never plugged my phone in back in the day. I just kept a couple of batteries charged and I’d switch it out. Back then it was a necessity because most phones would not last all day with moderate use but I can’t help dreaming about having a modern all day smartphone in which I could change the battery every night.
Definitely love this phone is only one that I use now because It can take a beating and still remain in awesome condition
I bought a Tracfone Motolola Moto e6 for $40 back in 2021. I'm happy with it.
Cool idea. Why don’t you do a review of some unlocked widely available lowest cost phone’s available at places like Walmart, Best Buy, Amazon.
Great review. Most of us don't want to take out a mortgage for a flagship phone.
These burners keep getting better and better
Used one for a year for many reasons, eventually breaking. Could have replaced, but with the monthly phone card it was not that budget friendly. I ended up buying a better more expensive phone which was more balanced with the monthly phone plan. The apps were slow to work but overall it was an ok minus phone.
I love that theres affordable options that are actually very decent.
I have a blue view 3 and view 2 the view 2 is super great came to 100 something and still using it and it's way more brighter then the blue view 3 I really love my phone!!!! From TracFone internet music and my shows download for the go I'm really shocked the blue view 2 has a more hd screen and more color contrast then the view 3!!!!! Great review from you as well and pics are hd love the camera and all also this goes for all phones!!!!! All are gunna have some blurry to it.....use remini all that can boost the pic resolution¡!!!!!! It really works!!!!! Very worth it!!!!!!
5:07 Why are you pointing at me like that? What did I do? 😂
Wow, just 10 years ago, $30 would barely get you a prepaid flip phone. I remember my first cell phone from walmart for $30, a samsung sch-u350 on tracfone.
With the exception of the photo/video clarity, my Blu View 2 is better than my $1,000 iPhone. Did you know you can choose to send a text at a later date and time? Yes, if you’re concerned you may forget to send a Happy Birthday text to a friend in two weeks, you can prepare it now to be delivered in two weeks. It comes with a nice blue wallpaper and you can change the background to black. The weather in your area is nicely displayed on the opening page along with other notices. It’s an exceptional phone with a lot of bells and whistles. I love it!
Everything that flagships lack: SD card, 3.5mm jack, removable battery. If only some manufacturer had the balls to put higher end hardware in this form factor (ahem Unihertz).
Hookup controller on it and you have a portable snes handheld 😊. It can also be used as a burner phone, if you visit USA for a week and need sim card for calling someone…
Is it a unlock n can you put it on any phone
I got a tracfone or similar $50 cheap phone at family dollar about 7 years ago. It was just awful, even for then. What you can get now for that is pretty darn impressive.
Great story. Totally irrelevant.
@@witness1013 Yep, and your comment added tons of nuance and depth to the conversation. Thank you so much for the insightful feedback on my comment.
I'm watching this on that same phone , first phone, had it for a few months, and it pretty good
Awesome review! Do you know if this can play war thunder mobile, world of warships blitz, world of tanks blitz?
That would be a great baby phone. WiFi calls with what's or whatever and emergency calls it needed anywhere.
What is protection like...if I can bank and keep my calander straight it sounds great.
Why can’t mines text ?
It says unable to send a text message due to a device restriction or insufficient funds…
I just picked one up, at the thrift store the other day, for 6 dollars. I was like, dang, if this thing plays Boobs in the City smoothly enough, on top of having a removable battery, I'll be tickled pink to have it, at the price. My iphone x is pretty long in the ears, so this could make a decent backup, and pocket game android platform, for 6 whole dollars. 😂 It's decent and snappy enough. I expected the camera to suck, way worse than it does, even, to boot.
Do a review on the Blu view 4 fein TracFone also $29.99 is it worth it?
I like to buy the ones from eBay directly from TracFone that have 1 year service. Perfect burner phones! I don't trust Blu. Seems like there was something shady they did. I can't remember what but I wouldn't touch them. You can unlock TracFone phones for GSM use after a ?1 year? Don't quote me. Verizon buyout might change that. Bonus: Military users can unlock early for deployments.
I listen to audiobooks so these low end phones don't work well for me. I use audio too much. Moto E/G/Pure/play series are the lowest I find acceptable for audiobooks and they are just barely.
They lied constantly. One of the big things was they constantly said they made these phones when in fact they just bought them from OEM's and put there badge on it. They also promised updates on their phones and didn't deliver which was expected because updates are something the OEM wholesaler provides. Also it seemed very suspicious how tech influencers always were talking about their phones and how great they were.
You're probably thinking of the Blu phones collecting data and sending it to wherever it was in China. That was the big thing Blu got in trouble for. Supposedly, they corrected that and are under some kind of oversight agreement. Of course, everyone has to decide for themselves if they can trust Blu, or any brand, really. But I get why some would not trust Blu after that, but I know they're not alone in that sort of thing.
@@ravagingwolverine That's probably what I was thinking of. Good to know it's supposedly corrected. It's hard to rebuild consumer trust. I'm so frustrated with everyone at this point I've considered de-googling my phone altogether.
iPhone 6? That’s a comparison I haven’t seen in a long time!
I see RetroArch, we’re you able to test that? Love to see Bluetooth Controller linked with RetroArch, maybe RUclips short 😊
emulators work great on the bluview 2 but the screen is so bad and bland looking you wont enjoy them
Is the new Tracfone Blu View 4 better? Worse? The same?
I bought this phone for my husband. It has not been able to receive photos in messenger, any advice?
I just picked one up for $18 on sale at CVS. It was part of Verizon Total and got the lowest prepaid card, $30/month for unlimited talk, text and data for one month. You get 5 Gigs of high speed data but then it slows to 2 Gigs speed after you consume the 5 Gigs of data. Mint Mobile is half the price, but you need either an unlocked phone compatible with their network or buy one of their phones. The lowest price phone they offer is the CAT rugged flip. $79 bucks. I runs a limited version of Android. So, it's semi smart, like me!🥴
Games with good graphics like you said. Makes it crash shut down completely or resets......incentives to upgrade
Ty btw helped my game choices now
Beautiful dog !
Sir, good review but this is not “a super low end phone” compared to what Assurance Wireless distributes for free to their ACP client base.
Might make a good iPod device
can't get the radio to work does anyone have a answer.
Use earbuds
Actually good little phone as back up or travel ph
Thanks!
Thank you for your support!! Glad it helped.
If it had 5GHz it could have been a really cheap cloud gaming device.
Yes you could buy spare batteries but they probably cost as much as the phone 😂
This size and lightness also make it a good game boy emulator 💪🏽
Can you buy it for just Wifi use and not get a Tracfone plan?
Yes, I have a similar Tracfone on clearance for $4 and I never activated it. I just wanted to get it to be able to help people who have Android phones and it was on clearance. I have noticed that occasionally, I get a random busy signal sound coming out of the speakers for about 30 seconds and I'm guessing that is because it isn't activated, but otherwise it works.
Huh! was just talking about this exact phone with my partner a few days ago and wondering if it would be worth trying.
Thank you for the walk through and review!!
Feeling much better about likely using this as a possible backup phone.
What about google o
Phone ?
Might be good as a cheap travel phone for a kid. If it gets lost or damaged, not a big deal.
Are if someone steal it from you
Is this device compatible with most of the streaming apps like Netflix, Hulu, and so on?
Yes its running Android
This is my personal phone and another review is that it will run Roblox you just have to turn for the graphics quality
WOW, good price phone for a kid or grandmom
That's really the phone I have right now
Your dog is cute is that a Husky? What's his or her name?
Does it do phone calls?
Yes, he just did not activate it on the Tracfone service.
you are asking if a smartphone can make calls, seriously?
The camera on this is better than the camera on my 1 year old $1200 MacBook lol
You can unlock your TracFone after 60 days of service.
You should try reviewing the Blu view 4 way better
Good news is that terms of service probably isn't legally actionable. Not that I care about the network much. I really just care about the amount of spyware on modern operating systems and the horribly slow and buggy Android operating system.
30 bucks ? solid !
Samsung Galaxy A13
Tracfone is funny. You can get a decent budget phone with a year service and 1500 everything for as much as just one year service. I guess they figure people don't want to go through the hassle of setting up a new phone.
It's nice to see a video where you are not bashing cable companies. CATV employed me for 41 years. Thanks.
That's a good point, the CATV industry has given a lot of people the opportunity of an honest living. Something we often lose sight of.
@@RoastBeefSandwich
Yes the cable companies gave you a good living. But you were giving your customers absolute crap!
They started out as a part of the community. Sadly as they consolidated their regional monopolies profits came first.
@@LonSeidman roast beef sandwich
Lon's reply should tell you all you need to know.
@@Palosrob Yes once the giants consolidated it was no longer the small local co-op type of industry it started as and became all about profits. You have to agree with that because it's the truth.
I have that one I got Android 11
I am watching this on that same phone
done do business with them.
My work issue phone is a £150 Samsung and it's absolutely terrible so I dread to think how living with something that costs $30 is
the problem with lower end Samsung phones is the fact they don't use stock, or near stock Android which in turn makes the phone more laggy with all the Samsung custom UI elements, and services. I have an Alcatel Glimpse on Android 10 GO with only 2GB RAM, and 16GB internal storage with a 32GB Micro SD card as my backup/hiking phone, where the Android 10 GO ROM is near stock, and it's still really quick, and snappy with a minimal app loadout and for the $40 I paid for it. So you can get decent dirt cheap phones, and they can be good as long as you keep your expectations in check.
Daa bluu phone
I got mine on sale for 19.99 at family dollar 😄
It's a good phone
@@ptproductions3582it’s not
You probably pay with your privacy data, i.e. trackphone.
They can atleast bump the price to free
tracfone use to be good cellphone CO. but any more they can't do any thing right and wen i ask to speak to a manager i get hung up on. i got hug up on over 5 times befor my wife talked to some one there now mind you i have been with tracfone for over 30 plus years but now it looks like i am going to go to mint where i will not get hug up on wen i ask to speak to some one that could help me. if this is what you are looking for Eduardo Diaz Corona then you are doing a very good job of it and tracfone will be no more in no time
I could by 4.3 blue view 2s for the same price of filling my Toyota tundra with 87 octane American gasoline.
Me watching it on that phone
It’s not a bad phone, I know some close loved ones who have it and love it
TracFone, another T-Mobile rebranding. TracFone really uses T-Mobile towers, so its calls and data is always in 2nd place or 3rd place. If you can get signal, you won't get speed. Several years ago TracFone was the Walmart bargain phone, but after 5G came out, TracFone's simple old tech was phased out or you had to buy a new phone all over again. Thanks T-Mobile for dropping calls and spotty service areas!
Bruh Roblox worked for you, WTH every time I try to load into a game it crashes
i bought a blu view 2 phone through trac fone in 2021 it absolute garbage
screen is terrible its low resolution looks blurry all the time plus the screen looks dark if not viewed from the side when trying to google search something it auto fills after like two words that it predicted you were going to type then searchs what it predicted and auto filled try as i might i never could find a way to turn this off
then the trac phone version of this has trac phones device pulse app. not sure what the app. is supposed to do but what it does is is download game apps presumably from the playstore and installs them at first i could disable the app. but for some reason that is unknown to me that option is now blocked it should be noted that device pulse hasnt been updated since 2021 and now that trac fone has been sold to verizon it may no longer appear on tracphone devices it should be noted that i only had the the blu view 2 for a week before switching to another phone the the predict auto fill and auto search thing was just far to annoying
Can u get Snapchat on it
replaceable battery feel like my pinephone
I have a Cricket branded Alcatel Glimpse running Android 10 GO as my backup phone (snagged it for $40 on sale), it has a removable back with a removable battery, but the problem is trying to find a new battery, as even Cricket Wireless itself does not even stock them in their stores, nor a site like Aliexpress where I find all kinds of oddball electronic parts. So yeah while an easily removable battery is nice, it's meaningless if you can't get a replacement!
@@CommodoreFan64 Yeah can be a problem, the phone I have atm. The company sell the battery off the web site not sure if it's the be same one any other phone that use the same kind. but right now there out of stock.
🚩🚩🚩🚩
My iPhone is lagging after the recent update. 😭
First one here
bad company had bad service and charge me when had lifeline service that free internet and phone. mean government free program.
Even free is to much for a blue device
There’s 666 likes 👹👹👹
Do anybody want to accept Jesus christ as your savior he want to give you love peace and happiness and salvation and eternal life if u confess your sins
My wife bought one of these yesterday and we can not find a keyboard for texting, the only option is via. voice, did we miss something ?
I think the replacement battery is more expensive than the phone itself.
Cheap plastic phone
Trap phone it drop 1 time your done cheap shittttttt straight out of jail phone
Junk, this phone will be practically useless on a network. He's using it on wifi. You can get much better 4g phones for like 50 bucks.