Blendr Review – Can Over 310 Million Users Be Wrong?

What you need to know about Blendr dating

I ended up doing this blendr review not long after another cheeky night out with friends. I slumped into my BFF’s couch (we’ll call him Toots) and did my “why can’t I ever find someone” routine. Toots nodded every now and again, barely looking up from his phone the entire time. I snatched his phone away, preparing to demand all of the attention a girl should have. Just before I tore him a new one for being so rude, I saw what was on his phone screen. Yet again, he was busy on grindr. Several glasses of wine and a few dramatic scenes later, I arrived home. At that moment I started to wonder, what if there’s a version of that for girls who want to meet guys? After all, Toots was always getting plenty of attention. I wanted me some of that cake!

This was how I found the Blendr dating app. There’s quite a bit of confusion about who it’s meant for, but my Blendr review will sort you out, don’t worry!

Blendr review – The Stats

Just because I’m nice, I’ve included all the helpful little facts you’ll need before trying Blendr dating.
Blendr has been around since late 2011. It’s got over 310 million members so far, is pretty popular across the UK and USA, and the huge variety of languages makes me think it’s got more than a few users all over the world. It’s worth mentioning that the bigger the city you live in, the better Blendr works. You can get it on iOS, Android and Windows phones. You can’t really check out the entire membership base to see what they’re like as a whole. The company wouldn’t tell me, but judging from the pictures on the website, it’s definitely aimed at younger users. Can you imagine someone your dad’s age saying he was “off to meet some girl from Blendr?” It’d be so embarrassing.

I should point out in this Blendr review that the app IS technically free. It almost feels like a “pay to win” game. Users who use the premium features (and there are A LOT of premium features) get much more exposure than those who don’t. It felt a little dishonest of Blendr. It’s this sort of thing that made to want to write a Blendr review in the first place just because of how much it annoyed me to find out the ‘free’ app wasn’t what it claimed to be on the face of things.

What it packs

This wouldn’t be a full Blendr review if I didn’t tell you how it worked, so here’s the basics on what you’ll need to get started.

Blendr dating starts with ‘encounters’, which is just a list of pictures. If you like them, and that person likes you then you can start chatting to each other. The pictures you see are of people with similar interests, and you’re more likely to see the ones who’ve paid for the privilege of being bumped to the top of the list.

Blendr is a ‘geosocial’ app. Whenever you open the app on your phone it’ll start broadcasting your location. This is where the app gets a bit creepy. If you click on the ‘People nearby’ menu, then it’ll show you a list of other users and their approximate location.

The app is packed with premium features. You can buy ‘credits’ to get shown on more people’s encounter list, send gifts (which are just a waste of money) and connect with more people.

There’s a popularity rating for each profile, which is fairly self explanatory. Unfortunately, anybody can pay to have their popularity increased.

Making a profile isn’t very different from any other dating site or app. You put up some pictures, and mention a few hobbies and interests and you’re good to go.

I should point out in my blendr review that it has some helpful privacy features. They should be the first thing you look at. The app is constantly telling everyone around you where you are, which made me feel really vulnerable. The whole point of the app is being able to connect with the people around you, but when you don’t have any control over who that is, it quickly feels creepy rather than fun.

The Last Word

After trying Blendr dating for a while, I have to say I was creeped out. It felt like there was a big target on my back. Especially when I forgot to turn off the location settings and went to sleep. Flurries of messages woke me up more than once.

The other problem with the Blendr app was that it wasn’t what I actually wanted it to be. I thought it would be a fun way to meet other singles around me and instantly bond over coffee or a cheeky wine. What it turned out to be was a bunch of dick pics, bland “heys” and the terrifying “I had no idea you lived on the same street” messages. Nobody seemed to know if you were supposed to try and go straight for sex, like on grindr, or if you were actually supposed to be making friends based on your hobbies.

Rating

For my Blendr review I have to say I was let down. I give the Blendr app a 2 star rating. There’s a lot of good ideas, and the big user base means there’s probably a lot of people out there who’ve had some success with it. Even if you don’t use it for dating, it can be kinda fun to see your own friends on it and hang out spontaneously. If you really need a fast hook up, there’s probably a better option out there for you. In case you just want new friends with common interests, then joining a club would be better. If this still wasn’t enough to make you want to ditch the Blendr dating app and find something better, just remember that you’ll end up paying through the nose just to get seen by other people.

Download from

App Store 3.5/5

Google Play 4.0/5