BLU G90 Pro Review: Beast performance, monstrous battery

Who says high-performing smartphones have to be expensive? Find out about a budget but beastly phone through this Blu G90 Pro review.

Blu G90 Pro smartphone was released in August 2020. The manufacturer markets this phone as an affordable phone with high-end specs. Users are expected to be able to use the phone to its fullest potential.

The trend of releasing affordable with superb performance can be seen lately. Big brands in the market sometimes even release their mini or cheaper option of their flagships. However, the cheaper ones usually come with several trade-offs.

As the mobile games industry has become more competitive, more companies focus on powerful phones. Esports has also become more popular and people of all ages need phones that can run the newest games well.

Will this phone live up to its expectations? Or will it fall short and disappoint its potential users? Read this Blu G90 Pro review thoroughly to find out if the phone is worth buying.

Key Specs

BLU G90 Pro specifications:

• Weight: 215g
• Dimensions: 162 x 77 x 10.2mm
• OS: Android 10
• Screen size: 6.5-inch
• Resolution: 2340 x 1080
• CPU: 2GHz Octa-core, MediaTek Helio G90T
• RAM: 4GB
• Storage: 128GB
• Battery: 5,100 mAh, Non-removable
• Rear camera: 48MP (main), 8MP (wide-angle), 2MP (macro), 2MP (depth sensor)
• Front camera: 32MP

Design

At a glance, Blu G90 Pro looks a lot similar to other smartphones at its price range. It has rounded edges and the bezels stand out. Luckily, they are not as thick as other competitors.

A water drop notch can be seen on the front, making the screen almost cover the entire phone. The notch houses a single selfie camera. You can turn off a portion of the notification bar to make the phone look notchless.

The Blu G90 Pro has one speaker on the bottom part of the phone. There is also a 3.5mm headphone jack and a USB-C port near the speaker.

On the right side of the phone, you can find the power button and volume rockers. The buttons are clicky and responsive.

Not one or two but four camera modules are located on the back of the phone. They are lined up horizontally just right above a fingerprint scanner. A bright LED flash is also available to help you capture photos in dark conditions.

What we like the most about the camera modules is that they do not protrude at all. You can put your phone on a surface without having to worry about scratching them.

Read also: BLU G90 Pro User Manual

Display

This phone has a 6.5-inch LCD display with Full HD+ resolution, 2340 x 1080 pixels. Despite having a large screen, the pixel density is quite impressive which is at 396 pixels per inch.

The display is large and the colors are accurate. Our eyes were drawn into the screen as its huge screen can display a lot of information compared to smaller screens.

The notch can be a bit of a problem because it pretty stands out when you try to watch videos or play games. Luckily, you are allowed to hide it by toggling the Device Cutout menu.

Still, the Blu G90 Pro has an above display quality among other products. The screen is bright and you can still see the interface clearly when you carry the phone on a sunny day.

The interface looks like a stock Android but we noticed some customized menus. If you do not like your phone’s appearance, you can install a third-party launcher. You can totally revamp the whole menus and change your icons as well.

Third-party launchers and icons are available on Play Store. They are very easy to use and will not harm your phone unless you download malware-filled apps.

Camera

Blu G90 Pro has four cameras on the back and a front-facing camera. The four camera modules consist of a 48MP Sony IMX582 sensor, a 8MP wide-angle sensor, a 2MP macro lens and a 2MP depth sensor. Meanwhile, the selfie camera has a 32MP camera module with fixed sensor.

This phone is not marketed as a camera phone and we have to say the results are so-so. The main sensor is actually a powerhouse since it is made by Sony, which is famous for its quality. However, it does not live up to our expectations.

The main lense alone often produced blurry and overexposed pictures. Despite having an auto focus and depth recognition, it struggles to focus on the object.

The photos come out a tad better when you turn on the HDR mode. The white balance is not as extreme as the non-HDR photos.

The macro shots are disappointing as the details disappear as you try to move closer to the object. Strangely, the 48MP main lense takes better pictures when zooming in.

The selfie camera is decent and its portrait mode is slightly better than the rear-facing cameras. The bokeh effect is clean although overexposure is also existent in this camera.

Read also:

• LG Stylo 5+ Review: Budget Phone Equipped with a Stylus
• LG Velvet 5G Review: Triple Rear Cameras and Superb Charging

Storage

This phone only has one variant of storage. Blu G90 Pro comes with 128GB and it is expandable. You can insert up to 128GB microSD. The internal storage is already huge enough for you to add media files and install apps.

Unless you are a data hoarder, you probably will not need an external storage. In case you  need one, we recommend you getting a Class 10 microSD regardless of the brand. It is the fastest microSD to date. You also probably want to back up your files to cloud. Cloud storage is more practical because you do not have to deal with damaged hardware.

Performance

This device has MediaTek Helio G90T with 2GHz Octa-core as its processor and 4GB of RAM. Because the manufacturer touts this phone as a top performer, this Blu G90 Pro review will be more critical of its performance.

First of all, MediaTek Helio G90T is a mid-range processor. It is comparable to Snapdragon 730G, which is praised for its performance.

The Helio G90T can carry out essential tasks easily. It also opens apps quickly without noticeable lags. RAM management in this phone is decent and you can let apps run in the background.

However, some apps may try to reload when you revisit them and some demanding apps may cause your phone to freeze up. The multitasking experience, in short, is similar to other mid-range phones. Basically, it works almost seamlessly but to some extent.

Moving on to heavy duty performance, the Blu G90 Pro is perfect for budget mobile gamers. While it is not on flagship level yet, the phone can play the newest games in the Play Store.

This phone employs Mali-G76 as its GPU. It is a quite decent graphics processing unit but not every game can be played at the maximum settings. Sometimes you have to sacrifice your graphic details to let it run well.

Another plus point from this phone is that it has a proper cooling system. The manufacturer names it the Liquid Cool Technology. This cooling system is able to dissipate heat so your device will stay cool while you compete with people in online mobile games.

The 4GB of RAM is actually sufficient but we believe the phone could perform much better if it comes with at least 6GB of RAM. As a phone that is promoted as a gaming phone, it still has some limitations.

The Blue G90 Pro comes with Android 10. It will at least get two years of update so it may receive Android 11 in the near future.

In terms of security measures, the phone is fully-packaged. It has a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner and a facial unlock. The fingerprint sensor reads quickly that it unlocks your phone in less than a second. The facial unlock depends heavily on the lighting and your surrounding.

This phone is equipped with an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a proximity sensor and a compass. The gyroscope is really useful mobile gaming, especially for first-person shooter games. You can change your device’s screen orientation without having to use your fingers manually.

Connectivity

Blue G90 Pro comes with 4G LTE ready. You can enjoy high-speed internet connection using your carrier’s network. Recently-released phones may have 5G out of the box but we do not think it is necessary now. 5G coverage is still not widespread compared to LTE.

As an alternative, you can connect to WiFi hotspots to connect to the internet. You can also turn your phone into a mobile hotspot in an instant so other devices can use your connection.

The Blue G90 Pro has Bluetooth 4.1 and can help you transfer files from and to your phone quickly. If you have smart devices or Bluetooth speakers, the phone will connect to them without any hassle.

Battery

This phone is equipped with a 5,100 mAh non-removable battery. For a mid-range phone, it is considered huge. Also, as the phone sports the mobile gaming phone banner, the large battery capacity is greatly appreciated.

The Blu G90 Pro can last more than a day for minimum screen usage. If you are into intense gaming experience, it can last 4 to 5 hours.

The phone comes with a 18W fast charger in the box and can charge your phone to 100% in around an hour. This phone can also be charged via wireless charging thanks to the Qi 10W wireless charging technology.

Is Blu G90 Pro a good phone?

This phone is sold at $199 at various retailers. Based on its performance alone, this Blu G90 Pro review believes that this is a good phone. The phone can run demanding games and apps easily. Its advanced cooling system alone is perfect for mobile gamers. You do not have to worry about heating up your phone while playing games.

However, there are several downsides. The rear-facing cameras are below average as they tend to produce blurry and overexposed photos. Meanwhile, the selfie camera sometimes takes blown out photos. Although they are not downright terrible, the cameras could use some improvements.