Design, Features, and Quality Call
The X Studio Plus even look and feel like the Moto G, with a gently curved back and grippy rubberized finish. It is obvious that larger 6.12 by 3.02 by 0.42 inches (HWD) and 6 ounces, but not completely unwieldy by today's standards. A pretty convincing fake-metal rim runs along the perimeter of the phone, neatly integrating the Power button and Volume of the left and right sides, respectively. Design is not awake, but it does not scream generic as many low-cost competitors.
A 5.5-inch, 720p IPS LCD dominates the front of Studio X Plus. At first glance, it appears bright and sharp with a wide viewing angle, but closer inspection reveals some defects. I noticed some strange vertical striations, as well as off-putting color banding in the image with any kind of color gradient. Going from a bright screen in a dark screen, such as from the Home page of the Settings menu, could also display some ghosting, which is never a good sign. Backlighting is even, though, and these issues are not apparent to many users. However, clear that Motorola uses a higher quality panel or with better quality control.
Unlocked and equipped with two SIM card slots (one and one Mini Micro), supports the Studio X Plus GSM (850/900/1800 / 1900MHz) and HSPA (850/1700 / 1900MHz) network. In the US, that means T-Mobile, AT & T, or a GSM-based MVNO, although it lacks 2100MHz band T-Mobile. I tried to call quality and network performance using an AT & T SIM, which worked without issue or any additional setup the APN. Call quality is acceptable in my testing, but far from perfect crystals or natural-sounding. Earpiece becomes strong enough for outdoor use, but it has no voice tone and renders harsh. The caller on the other end reported clear transmissions through the mic, but again the voice does not apply to the particular natural. Noise cancellation appears to be common, by allowing some surrounding noise without letting it drown out conversation. Quality noise canceling and call Motorola are both more sophisticated.
Rounding out the connectivity features 802.11b / g / n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and GPS. Unfortunately Wi-Fi network is limited to 2.4GHz only, with no support for faster, less-crowded 5GHz band.
Performance and Android
Studio Plus X features a quad-core, 1.3GHz MediaTek MT6582 processor with 1GB RAM. It is a popular choice for companies to budget-minded like Blu or Yezz, and more or less match up almost ubiquitous Snapdragon 400. synthetic benchmark results Qualcomm is virtually indistinguishable between two, with a slight edge going to Qualcomm's chipset. Real world performance is responsive and reliable, but is still suffering from mild stutters and lag. For example, the X Studio Plus takes a few beats too long to summon virtual keyboard after tapping the bar of the browser Chrome. Playing performance is only average, as the Studio X Plus has had trouble maintaining a smooth frame rate in Asphalt 8 with maxed out graphics settings.
Blu makes a good bet with near-stock Android launcher build and load up Google Now by default. The Studio Plus X runs Android 4.4.2, but as it is designated as "upgradable" in Android 5.0, I'm not holding my breath for a quick update here. However, all moving along smoothly for the most part and this experience is far preferable to a clunky third-party launcher.
8GB of internal storage, 5.67GB is available to users outside of the box. That is a good generous amount considering the price, and it is also refreshing to see the full bloatware included. There is also a microSD card slot under the back cover, which accepted the card up to 64GB.
On a battery rundown test, in which we streamed a video on YouTube over HSPA with screen brightness set to max, take the Studio X Plus 4 hours, 7 minutes. It was a solid result, and a great deal more than 2 hours Moto G, 26 minutes in the same test.