By now, smartphones are more or less everywhere, but for many people, they’re still too expensive to justify a purchase. But a new device, launched in partnership with internet retail giant Amazon, seeks to lower the cost – by serving adverts to its users.
You probably haven’t heard of American mobile phone manufacturer BLU Products – but their serviceable budget Windows Phone and Android handsets have been plugging away at the bottom end of the smartphone market since 2009.
As smartphone technology grows ever more ubiquitous, these low-end devices fill a genuine need, offering web browsing, social media and entry-level photography to users on a budget. Our own perennially popular ‘Best Smartphones Under £150’ article gives you a sense of what’s out there – but the sad fact is, for some users on low incomes even these devices can be prohibitively expensive.
But BLU, in conjunction with Amazon, reckon they’ve come up with a solution. Their BLU R1 handset would normally set you back about $100 – already about as cheap as smartphones get – but if you’re willing to put up with a few ads on your lockscreen, you can have it for just $50, or about £38.
That’s a monster saving on an already cheap device – but it raises plenty of questions. How intrusive are these ads? Is the phone any good? And, most importantly: is it a good deal?
The Hardware
Before we dig into the hows and whys of Amazon’s offer, let’s start with what you actually get for your $50.
The BLU R1 HD is an Android-powered smartphone with a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor, 8 GB of internal storage and 1 GB of RAM for the standard model – although $10 extra will get you 16 GB of storage and 2 GB of RAM.
There’s an 8 MP rear-facing camera and a 5 MP ‘selfie’ snapper. The display is a respectable five inches, although the resolution is limited to 720p, rather than the higher-resolution 1080p.
In the big scheme of things, it’s a fairly unremarkable device – but it certainly does punch above its weight in its price range. The specs are roughly comparable to the much better-known Moto G from Motorola – a device we still consider a bargain at £139.99.
Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get our hands on one for this article, but reports suggest that the device features decent build quality, without the flimsiness that can sometimes plague cheaper handsets.
Purely in terms of the hardware, then, the BLU R1 is a decent little device – but what’s really interesting about it is Amazon’s unusual offer.
The Offer
As mentioned, the ad-supported BLU R1 is available from Amazon for just $50, or about £38. On its own, that offers incredible value – but how exactly does the ‘ad-supported’ bit work?
When we first heard about the concept, some of the older Geek Squad Agents were reminded of the ‘Free PC’ offers of the late 1990s internet boom. These were invariably low-powered, bottom-of-the-barrel machines, bloated with adware: many of them featured a permanent ‘frame’ of ads around the monitor, or forced you to sit through several minutes of ads for every hour you used the machine.
Ultimately, the model didn’t catch on. The ads were simply too intrusive, and the ‘free’ hardware too rubbish, for it to be worth bothering with. As PC prices tumbled around the turn of the century, the offers disappeared.
So, to get it right this time, Amazon need to get two things right: firstly by offering decent hardware and secondly by ensuring the ads aren’t too invasive. They’ve clearly got the hardware right – but what about the ads?
Thankfully, they seem to have learned from the mistakes of the past. While the Amazon-subsidised BLU R1 will display ads, it’ll only do so on the phone’s lock screen. This is quite a canny move: you glance at your lock screen every time you pick up your phone, but you’ll never actually be interrupted by an ad while you’re using your phone for something else.
That’s it for the ads. But there’s another way Amazon hope to recoup the cost of the subsidy: by bundling their own native apps, and making them impossible to uninstall. Amazon’s own app store and Kindle app will permanently reside on the phone, with the aim of encouraging users to make purchases there.
Of course, every user has a different tolerance for this sort of thing, and for some purists nothing but an entirely ad-free experience will do. But for bargain-hunters willing to compromise, the ad-supported BLU R1 could be the perfect option.
Agent’s Verdict
Personally, I doubt I’ll be trading in my iPhone for the BLU R1– but then, I’m not its target market. If price is your main consideration when buying a smartphone, Amazon’s offer is almost perfect.
But the key word here is ‘almost’. There’s one aspect of the offer which, to my mind, undermines the whole concept: it’s currently only available to Amazon Prime subscribers.
From Amazon’s perspective, I can see why they’ve made the decision: if you’re already a paid-up Prime member, you’re probably more likely to use the other paid-for Amazon services they’re promoting through the R1. And it’s conceivable, given the savings on offer, that some might sign up for Prime just to get their hands on a subsidised R1.
But for many budget-conscious consumers, a Prime subscription – which clocks in at £79 per year – is an expensive luxury. Yes, it can save you money in the long run, but only if you buy a ton of stuff from Amazon.
It’s still a good offer. But for it to really offer an inclusive, affordable and accessible way into smartphone ownership, it needs to be more widely available.
Are you in the market for a subsidised phone, or does the thought of ads on your Lock screen seem like an invasion of privacy? Let us know what you reckon in the comments below! And for more great articles from our Agents straight to your inbox each month, get your name down below for the Geek Squad newsletter!