I'm also a sucker for display bezels that smoothly curve into the edges, and along with the device's metal trimmings it has an overall polished look. Though its 5-inch display doesn't have the sharpest resolution at 720 pixels, text and icons are still easily readable.

The R1 HD has a solid, pocket-friendly design that's comfortable to hold. Josh Miller/CNET No fuss design, but audio needs work So go ahead and get the R1 HD if you have a specific purpose for it, or you're looking for a throwaway phone - just don't expect much.Ī yoga ad displayed on the lock screen. But for a little more, you have better, more reliable budget options, like the Samsung Galaxy J3 ($110 to $180, depending on the carrier), the $150 Motorola Moto G4 Play (which is also splash resistant - and there's a $100 Amazon Prime version of this, too) and the $100 ZTE ZMax Pro. You seriously can't find that low a price on any modern smartphone. Sixty dollars (or $50 for the 8GB version with ads), however, is cheap enough to justify buying the phone for a kid, or an overseas guest or maybe even as an emergency backup. Its camera is mediocre, its performance is inconsistent, and call volume on audio speaker is too low to listen to comfortably. It'd be a tempting price for Prime members who cast a blind eye to ads with one exception: the R1 HD isn't very good. That's what I wanted to know about the ad-supported Amazon Prime version of Blu's R1 HD phone, which knocks down the original retail price - originally $110 for the 16GB model and $100 for 8GB version - by showing you advertisements on the phone's lock screen.

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