Alcatel Introduces Affordable Flagship

Alcatel phones are generally not nice phones. Believe me, I have an Alcatel OneTouch, and while it was incredibly cheap and does the job just fine, it’s far from a high-end device. The camera is atrocious and the phone itself is more than a little laggy at times. Oh, and the screen occasionally decides to give up on life and temporarily goes black. Fortunately, it always eventually powers back on, but I’m pretty convinced it’s on the verge of suicide. So, you can imagine my surprise when Alcatel introduced its first flagship phone at the Mobile World Congress yesterday. No, scratch that. I wasn’t surprised–I was shocked and skeptical. But, after reading up on the new Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3, I’m actually a little bit impressed. Don’t get me wrong–the specs still aren’t that great, and this phone isn’t going to be able to match other flagships as far as hardware goes–and fortunately, it doesn’t really try to. There are two versions of this phone: a 5.5 inch and a 4.7 inch. The larger phone is, of course, slightly more impressive. Both phones, interestingly enough, have microphones on both the top and bottom of the phone, meaning that if you’re not paying attention and pick it up wrong, you’ll still be able to make a call. This is especially handy with the symmetrical display on the device. Here’s what the specs look like:

4.7 inch Specs

• Android Lollipop 5.0
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad core processor
• 16 GB storage
• MicroSD card slot
• 1 GB RAM
• 720p resolution
• 13 MP back camera
• 5 MP front camera

5.5 inch Specs

• Android Lollipop 5.0
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 octa core processor
• 16 GB storage
• microSD card slot
• 2 GB RAM
• 1080p resolution
• 13 MP front camera
• 5 MP back camera

What impresses me the most, however, is the expected price point. While the phones are not expected to hit the market until April 2015, they will be sold unlocked, directly to consumers. Reports indicate that the 4.7 inch phone will sell for around $200, while the slightly larger phone will be closer to $250. Exact prices haven’t been announced, but at those prices, you really can’t do much better. Who knows, maybe these devices will become popular and help push for better low-end phones. One can only hope. Once it gets a little closer, we’ll get a better picture of exactly how much these devices will retail for, and what carriers they should be compatible with. Looking at the spectrum, it’s a pretty safe bet that the devices will be compatible with AT&T and T-Mobile. I’m not really sure about Sprint or Verizon, so I’ll update you when it gets closer to launch.]]>