Gadgetory

hi this is Brian Bennett for cnet.com and right now we're taking a first look at the blue life play unlocked smartphone at 229 this device is very affordable when stacked up against the other unlocked handsets that you find on the market for example sony cells has xperia z flagship phone for a steep 570 dollars while Google Play editions for the HTC One and Galaxy s4 run 599 and six hundred and forty nine dollars respectfully now that's a lot of money the blue life play even costs seventy dollars less than the venerable LG Nexus 4 so what does the blue life play bring to the table first it comes equipped with a large 4.7 inch 720p resolution screen it's not as sharp as a displays you'll find on the HTC One samsung galaxy s4 or even LG Nexus 4 still it's plenty bright and colorful the blue life play also runs an almost stock version of Android 4.2 jelly bean that means you get many of the performance improvements google has recently added to the OS including the google now personal assistant with it you can initiate voice searches and command the phone to perform various actions including setting reminders in your calendar google now will also automatically present handy information in the form of graphical cards based on your current location time and your past search history the blue life play also flaunts a very slim and modern design its chassis is just a hair thinner than the galaxy s4 in fact the handset is available in the striking electric blue color you see here as well as purple silver and yellow hues above the display is a 2-megapixel front-facing camera and below the screen are three capacitive buttons for menu home and back the only physical buttons on the phone or keys for volume and power lining the devices right side on the top edge are a 3.5 millimeter headphone jack and micro USB port on back is the 8 megapixel camera and LED flash the back panel uses a soft touch coating which makes the surface easy to grip yet repels fingerprints and smudges removing the back cover reveals a removable battery microSD card slot and not one but two sim card slots in mini and standard size the blue life plays camera has a lot of features in extra shooting modes as well you will find modes for HDR panorama lots of color filters and admittedly goofy frames to place around pictures unfortunately the live play which connects to GSM cellular networks doesn't support 4G LTE for fast data access I'm Brian Bennett for cnet.com and this has been a first look at the blue life play be sure to check back soon for a full review