The Bluboo Xfire 2 comes with a metal body and fingerprint reader for $60

As with any other great tech advancement in history, smartphones have developed rapidly from luxury to a necessity and as such are constantly becoming more and more affordable. OEMs, especially those operation out of China are always pushing the envelope on what is possible on a shoestring budget and it is an undeniable fact that you can now get a decent mid-range Android device from a major brand for around $200 and enjoy a modern Android experience. But what if you want to go cheaper still? A quick search online revels that you could opt for a no-brand device or a very outdated one for as little as $40. Blueboo's latest model, the Xfire 2 definitely goes one step beyond. We don't typically dip our foot into the vast sear of obscure Chinese brands, but this one is definitely an eye-catcher, at least on paper that is. For $59.99, the handset offers a metal unibody design, with a nice-looking arc and even complete with a 2.5D glass and a back-mounted fingerprint reader. That is definitely great value. The rest of the specs sheet is also decent with a 5-inch HD panel and powered by an MTK6580 quad-core processor and Mali 400 GPU. Memory is set at 1GB for RAM and 8GB for internal storage, but there is also a microSD card slot for up to 32GB more. The camera setup includes a 5MP main shooter with AF and a single LED flash and on the front there is a 2MP unit, which it also has an LED flash of its own. Powering the show is a 2150 mAh battery and the Xfire 2 boots Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box, so you are really getting an up-to-date experience for your buck. The only real, obvious, downside of the Bluboo Xfire 2 specs-wise is the Lack of 4G LTE, but perhaps such handsets will also become reality in the sub $100 price range soon, thanks to MediaTek's latest line of ultra-affordable chips. According to the manufacturer's website, the Bluboo Xfire 2 is currently in pre-sale for the special price, which will later be raised to $69.99, still an amazing value. Both GearBest and Geekbuying currently have the dual-SIM variant listed for $73.86 and $79.99, respectively and shipments are expected to begin in February. Source |...