UPDATED 04:49 EDT / SEPTEMBER 09 2015

NEWS

New unlocked ‘premium’ smartphones under $400: Blu Pure XL vs. Moto X Pure Edition

If you are in the market for an unlocked flagship-quality smartphone but not quite ready to blow $600+ on a Samsung Galaxy S6, Galaxy Note 5, LG G4 or iPhone 6, there are two new alternatives that deserve your attention.

The Blu Pure XL (pictured above) from Blu Products and the Moto X Pure Edition from Motorola are both available for pre-order and will set you back less than $400.

As far as build quality (in terms of materials), design, and processing power goes, both devices hold their own against premium brands and even manage to outclass them in the camera department. And did we mention both come with microSD slots?

Blu Pure XL vs. Moto X Pure Edition: Design, specs, price, more:

Design and dimensions

Blu Pure XL: A simple aluminum metal unibody with polished chamfered edges measuring in at 164×82.2×9.6 millimeters and weighing 202 grams.

Moto X Pure Edition: Slightly smaller and lighter than the Blu Pure XL – yet not as thin – measuring in at 153.9×76.2×11.06 millimeters and weighing just 179 grams. The glass screen panel curves down the side edges to join the curved back. Motorola’s M-dimple is smaller than on previous phones and embedded in a metal strip that also houses the camera lens.

As with previous Motorola handsets, users can customize the device by combining different colors for the speaker grilles, the metal strip on the back and the back cover. Motorola claims over 1000 color combinations.

Display

Blu Pure XL: 6.0-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED display with 2560×1440 pixels at 490ppi delivering four times the resolution of an HD display. Covered with Corning Gorilla Glass 3.

Moto X Pure Edition: 5.7-inch Quad HD display with the same 2560×1440 pixels (2K) resolution.

Processor and storage

Blu Pure XL: 64-bit MediaTek Helio X10 2.0GHx Octa-core processor with LTE, 3GB of RAM and 64GB onboard storage expandable to 128GB via microsSD.

Moto X Pure Edition: Motorola Mobile Computing system with a 1.8GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 hexa-core processor, 600MHz Adreno 418 GPU, natural language processor, contextual computing processor, 3GB of RAM and 16GB/32GB/64GB onboard storage options expandable to 128GB via microSD.

Moto X Pure Edition

Moto X Pure Edition

Camera

Blu Pure XL: The BLU Pure XL has a 24-megapixel main camera featuring, second-generation Optical Image Stabilization, F/2.0 aperture, 1/2.3 inch sensor with Sapphire + 6P lens, real-time HDR, True Dual Tone LED Flash, and Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF) with Fast Focus between 0.08-0.2 seconds. A dedicated camera button provides fast access to capturing the ideal shot. Additional features include:

  • Magic Focus, which allows you to choose the focus point after shooting.
  • AE/AF separation while taking the picture.
  • Video recording in 4K Ultra HD.
  • An 8MP Autofocus Wide-Angle Front Camera.

Moto X Pure Edition: Both the 21-megapixel rear-facing camera and the 5-megapixel front-facing camera come with flash and a “night mode” shooting mode for low-light environments. Aspect ratios range from a wide 16:9 to an almost square 4:3. The cameras also have HDR shooting, a touch-focus module with exposure adjustment, a digital zoom, timer and geotagging.

As for video capabilities, both units can shoot 1080p HD and slow-mo at 720p and allow you to take still images while recording.

The rear camera also has ultra-HD (4K) shooting capability and can take panoramic shots.

Battery

Blu Pure XL:  Blu Products claim an all-day battery life from the 3500mAh battery and HD video playback for more than seven hours. The phone comes with a 9V/2A quick charger and a 10-minute charge will get you four hours of talk time.

Moto X Pure Edition: Motorola also claims all-day battery life from the 3000mAh unit with TurboPower charging delivering up to 10 hours of use from a 15-minute charge.

Operating system

Blu Pure XL: Android 5.1 Lollipop

Moto X Pure Edition: Android 5.1.1, Lollipop

Price and availability

Blu Pure XL: Goes on sale exclusively on Amazon.com on September 29 at a price of $349.00, unlocked, with 4G LTE support on T-Mobile and AT&T networks.

Moto X Pure Edition: Starts at $399, available for pre-order now, and will work on AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Sprint. Playing with the options on Moto Maker, a 64GB version with leather back cover came up to $524.99.

Bothe devices feature dual stereo speakers and integrated fingerprint sensors and the Moto X Pure Edition has a water repellent nano-coating.

Images via Blu Products, Motorola

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