Hands On: Alcatel Series 5, 3, 1 Phones, 1T Tablets, Linkzone Hotspots

BARCELONA—The show flooring hasn't opened however, but Alcatel might officially win the laurels for most new devices announced at Mobile World Congress. Five phones, two tablets, and two new hotspots should ready the Chinese manufacturer upwards for 2022 quite nicely. Nosotros got a chance to cheque out all the new gadgets at the show, and then let's run down the list from high end to low end, from phones and hotspots to tablets.

Alcatel 5

MWC Bug Art An 18:nine aspect ratio ways the Alcatel five has a tall, narrow body, similar to the Accolade 7X in some ways, simply in a much smaller form cistron. At vi.0 past ii.8 by 0.3 inches (HWD) and 5.1 ounces, it's a bit narrower and lighter than the 7X (6.1 by iii.0 past 0.3 inches, 5.8 ounces), with a 77 percent screen-to-trunk ratio.

The design looks and feels premium, with a plastic, metal-like coating in black or golden. At that place's a three.5mm headphone jack, a USB-C charging port, a rear fingerprint sensor, and a microSD card slot that tin have an additional 32GB of storage.

The 5.7-inch, ane,440-by-720 brandish dominates the front of the device, curving slightly to meet the sides. It's a standard IPS LCD, and so viewing angles and color reproduction are generally skillful, merely the resolution is a bit low for the size. We had an opportunity to employ it exterior and in directly sunlight, and constitute that the screen washes out easily, even at maximum effulgence.

The phone is powered by a MediaTek MT6750 processor clocked at one.5GHz. There are two configurations, one with 16GB of storage and 2GB of RAM, and i with 32GB of storage and 3GB of RAM. It will ship with the older Android 7.0 Nougat, which is a bit disappointing. Fortunately, we didn't notice any software issues. In that location's a little bit of latency when opening apps or switching between them, only the phone doesn't feel sluggish in general. In that location are some visual changes due to Alcatel's skin running on top, only for the most part things remain unchanged.

There's a 3,000mAh bombardment under the hood, which Alcatel says can last for 18 hours of 3G talk time. Connectivity protocols includes Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/one thousand/due north. The phone supports Cat 4, 4G LTE, allowing 150Mbps downwardly and 50Mbps upwards.

The most compelling feature is the dual 12MP/5MP front end-facing camera. The two sensors allows for a 120-caste wide bending lens that can capture more of your environment in selfies. It will automatically aggrandize to the wider angle once it detects multiple faces in the shot, which is cool.

Face Fundamental is essentially face up unlock, only don't expect the same accuracy every bit the iPhone X. At that place are no advanced sensors here to map your every profile, the camera is but using points on your confront to identify you. It can potentially exist fooled by a picture.

The rear sensor is a 12MP shooter that took reasonably good and articulate shots in the sunny easily on area, but nosotros don't wait that to acquit through for lower-low-cal shooting. There's no optical image stabilization, but yous practise get electronic image stabilization, HDR, and other standard photographic camera modes, including a new Social Mode that has built-in editing tools and sharing to put your images on social media as quickly every bit possible.

Naught physical has been announced for North America, but an Alcatel representative I spoke with expects much of the new lineup to brand its manner to the US. Pricing for the Alcatel v is estimated around $300.

Alcatel 3 Series

Alcatel's 3 serial comprises three new phones. Starting from the bottom, we have the Alcatel 3, which is the most affordable of the bunch at less than $200.

It has a 18:nine aspect ratio with a 5.v-inch, 1,440-by-720 display. The dorsum is covered in a glossy, metal finish. Information technology's plastic, like all the phones in Alcatel's lineup, but information technology feels good in the hand, despite picking up some fingerprints. A fingerprint sensor is embedded in the heart, and colour options include blackness, blue, and aureate.

Hardware is pretty standardized beyond the family. For the Alcatel 3 you accept a MT6739 processor clocked at i.28GHz, 16GB of storage, and 2GB of RAM. A microSD carte slot allows expansion up to 128GB. The telephone comes running Android 8.0 Oreo, with Alcatel's UI layer on top. There's a 3,000mAh battery under the hood.

The rear camera is a single 13MP rear sensor. Alcatel uses some software trickery to upscale to 16MP, just the hardware is 13MP. There's a 5MP selfie photographic camera that similarly upscales to 8MP. Both are pretty boilerplate shooters, taking clear pictures in good lighting. The camera app is a petty sluggish, and nosotros don't look quality to concord up in lower light, but that'south to be expected for the price range.

Connectivity protocols include Cat four LTE, Bluetooth 4.2, and 2.4GHz Wi-Fi. The surprise hither is NFC, which is available for certain regional models, allowing for mobile payments.

Moving upward a notch you have the Alcatel 3X for a little over $200.

It too has a eighteen:9, tall and narrow grade gene but with a larger 5.7-inch, 720p display. Hardware is the same as the base model in terms of processor. Configurations include 16GB storage/2GB RAM and 32GB storage/3GB RAM. A microSD bill of fare slot allows for expansion upward to 128GB. A 3,000mAh battery is under the hood and charges through micro USB.

Left to right: Alcatel 3V, 3X

Performance is similar to the base of operations model Alcatel 3, simply strangely, the 3X runs Android 7.0 Nougat rather than Oreo or Android Go.

Dual camera sensors (13MP and 5MP) allow for wider-bending shots. The angle isn't as well dramatic, so I didn't notice equally much barrel distortion as you sometimes go with wide angle lenses. The 5MP camera on the front end is your standard fare.

The Alcatel 3V is the by and large plush of the iii series at nigh $240.

The differences between the 3V and 3 are apparent just from the await. The 3V is a much taller phone, boasting a 6-inch screen in the eighteen:nine aspect ratio. The back is curved, with a sleek metallic finish that's like shooting fish in a barrel to grip and picks up less fingerprints. Colour options include black, blue, and gold.

The screen is where the 3V really stands out. You get a 6-inch, 2,160-by-1080 TCL IPS display. Alcatel calls this 2K, but actually it'southward more 1080p. Still, information technology'due south a higher resolution than the residue of the lineup, including the Alcatel 5. The college resolution is noticeable placed next to the other devices, and pays off with more than conspicuously defined text and sharper graphics.

Hardware is beefed up with the MT8735A processor clocked at 1.45GHz. There'due south a 16GB storage/2GB RAM configuration with microSD card slot expansion for an additional 128GB. There'due south also a 32GB storage/3GB RAM option. Both come up with a 3,000mAh bombardment.

Cameras include a 12MP and 2MP rear sensor, letting you shoot in bokeh mode to focus on an object and blur out the groundwork. It worked fairly well in my demo, though the blur effect seems a piddling forced. The front 5MP sensor is standard, but it does support the Face Key facial unlock.

Connectivity protocols are a bit more advanced with 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi. In that location'due south Bluetooth iv.2, but no NFC this time.

Availability for the Alcatel three, 3X, and 3V volition be announced in the coming month, though it's still unclear if whatsoever or all of them will hitting the U.s. market.

Alcatel 1X

The Alcatel 1X is the to the lowest degree expensive phone in the new lineup, at around $120. By all appearances information technology's nothing special, but turning on the screen and taking a await at the software, you'll see that it'south running Android Go, a special lightweight and optimized version of Android Oreo.

The hardware and design are pretty bones. You have a soft-touch on plastic body bachelor in black, gold, or rose gilded. There's a 5.3-inch, 960-by-480, which is a bit on the grainy side.

Using the 1X, I found it to exist a bit swifter than the other entry-level phones, including Alcatel's own A30. It's powered by a MT6739 MediaTek processor clocked at 1.28GHz. Configurations include 16GB of storage and 1GB or 2GB of RAM. A microSD carte du jour allows for expansion upward to 32GB. In that location'south an 8MP or 13MP rear camera, a 5MP front camera, a 2,460mAh bombardment, and Cat 4 LTE with 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, and NFC in some markets.

Although the specs and operation are nothing to write home about, the Alcatel 1X looks similar a good phone non just for developing markets, but potentially for anyone looking for an affordable, elementary smartphone in full general.

Alcatel Linkzone

Alcatel's Linkzone hotspot is seeing an upgrade with two new models. The Linkzone Cat 12 is a glossy plastic puck with a capacious iv,3000mAh battery that lets it double as a portable power banking concern. The Cat seven Linkzone is a smaller, more than grippy matte puck with a 2,150mAh cell.

We weren't able to exam data speeds in the demo surface area, but obviously the True cat 12 model will be faster, with a potential download speed of 600Mbps and uploads of 100Mbps. Cat 7 maxes out at 300Mbps downloads and 100Mbps uploads. Both hotspots support 2.4GHz and 5GHz dual-band Wi-Fi, and share the aforementioned LTE bands 1/37/viii/20/32 with carrier aggregation.

For pricing, the Linkzone True cat 7 will start at roughly $120, while the Cat 12 will run almost $220. Carrier availability for the US isn't known yet, only T-Mobile may become one or both of the hotspots to replace the existing Linkzone it currently offers.

Alcatel 1T Series

Last but not least are the 7-inch Alcatel 1T7 and ten-inch 1T10 tablets.

Both slates feel tough and durable, though they aren't officially ruggedized. Y'all're getting a 1,024-by-600 display for the 7-inch model and 1,280-by-800 on the x-inch. Both are IPS panels, so viewing angles are reasonable, simply they aren't that crisp and have a generally filmy, look like they're covered in a layer of plastic (they aren't).

Screen sizes aside, both tablets employ a MediaTek MT8321 processor clocked at 1.3GHz with slightly different configurations of 8GB storage/1GB RAM for the 7-inch model, and 16GB storage/1GB RAM for the 10-inch. Both have a microSD card slot that allows expansion up to 128GB. A ii,580mAh battery is in the Alcatel 1T 7, and a 4,000mAh cell is in the 1T ten. Both take forepart and rear cameras, but exam photos looked soft. Connectivity protocols include Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/due north and Bluetooth iv.2.

In terms of performance, there's not much divergence between the two. They can handle running one or two apps at a time, simply you lot're not getting any serious multitasking done. The overnice part is that both run the latest Android 8.1 Oreo with Alcatel's skin on height.

The 10-inch 1T tin can be purchased with certain accessories like a keyboard case, which could give it a leg upwards over Amazon's Fire tablets, which don't really excel at productivity.

The Alcatel 1T vii volition cost effectually $85, while the 1T will become for around $125. Nosotros'll take a deeper dive with each of the new devices if and when they come to the U.s., so check back for full reviews.