That crazy $50 Amazon phone has just been rooted, de-bloated and TWRPed

The BLU R1 HD – probably better known as the $100 phone you can get for $50 if you’re willing to live with Amazon lock screen ads – has just stepped up its desirability a few notches. Thanks to the ever-resourceful gang at XDA Developers, the BLU R1 HD has received a makeover that turns it into a phone you actually want. Like, really want.

We’d all like to have a spare phone lying around, whether as a backup, loaner or tinker toy, but that’s not always financially possible. However, when there’s a $50 phone on offer (or $60 for the 16 GB ROM/2 GB RAM version) that changes things. And when you can now root it, unlock the bootloader, de-bloat it, flash a custom recovery and install Xposed on it, well, things only get more attractive.

When I wrote about the launch of the BLU R1 HD I said it redefines what you can expect for under $100. Cut that price in half and take away all the (bad) reasons it was half price in the first place and this is a pretty exciting turn of events. Kind of like winning the lottery on a public holiday that also happens to be your birthday.

Keep in mind too that if XDA is behind this phone as heavily at it seems to be, the likelihood of a ROM scene springing up around it is more likely too. Of course, don’t count on any kind of support or warranty from Amazon if you gut its features from the R1 HD, but the efforts of the XDA community might just make increase sales of the BLU R1 HD.

• We’ll have our full BLU R1 HD review out this Friday, so stay tuned!

Would you consider buying a BLU R1 HD now? If so, just hit the button below (Prime membership required).