Alcatel products occupy a specific niche in the Russian market, as well as in the CIS countries. These are mainly middle-class youth smartphones. But there are exceptions. Each model is unique in its own way, each has its own audience of admirers. And, of course, everywhere there are flaws.
Alcatel: a bit of history
Initially, this company had French roots. It got its name in 1985. Its main task was to compete worthily and even squeeze giants such as Siemens and
General Electric on the market
. The production of mobile phones has become one of several areas of activity of the French company.
In 2004, the Alcatel brand was acquired by the global electronics company TCL. Today it can be called the largest Chinese manufacturer of machinery with a main office in Huazhou.
Alcatel is currently working with such well-known Russian companies as MegaFon and MediaTek. Therefore, in the lineup of the manufacturer appeared not only individual, but also joint samples of smartphones.
In addition, expanding the lineup, the creators do not forget about the technical characteristics and new systems. Therefore, many buyers choose this particular brand of mobile phones.
Customer reviews and main problems at work
Like any modern phone, the Alcatel One Touch smartphone has its own strengths and weaknesses. And after the purchase, many users find a number of problems and shortcomings. Among them, one can single out the standard ones, which are found in almost all modern smartphone lines, and the individual ones, which are mainly inherent in Alcatel models. The most common include:
- Software problems or delays. This is a system crash, SD search, problems with the Internet connection, the inability to configure one or another option, application errors, etc. Such shortcomings, according to the owners, can be due to both factory defects and inept use of a smartphone.
- Problems connecting individual modules or devices. Often this is GPS or Wi-Fi, as well as working with a computer or laptop via USB. Those who purchased Alcatel One Touch leave reviews that these modules do not work quite stably and are constantly turned off.
- Problems playing music files and applications. What could be caused, among other things, by using the wrong format or damaged tracks. Try to fix this by installing a new player.
Key Competitive Advantages of Alcatel Smartphones
Now in our electronics market there is a huge amount of various equipment. In this case, you can find models for every taste. What makes consumers choose Alcatel One Touch products among many other smartphones?
The main advantages of these models include:
- Competitive cost. The presented models are distinguished by an optimal ratio of price and quality. Here you can find many quite budget options for smartphones and phones with good filling and design.
- Time-relevant specifications and features. Despite the fact that the phones are in the middle price segment, they have all the qualities of modern models of large and well-known manufacturers. There is Wi-Fi, support for SD cards of various formats, etc.
- Ergonomic design. Chinese manufacturers, unlike many competitors, pay great attention to the appearance of Alcatel One Touch smartphones. Customer reviews talk about the functionality and convenience of all the keys and the phone as a whole.
Otherwise, for each individual buyer there are pros and cons. After all, this is a deeply individual matter.
The lineup
To date, Alcatel has released more than 7 series of popular smartphones. There are both representative and youth models. One of the most popular, according to Alcatel One Touch buyers, is:
- Series Idol. This flagship phone has conquered not only the Chinese, but also the Russian market. It was he who became the founders of such models as Ultra, Mini, X and X +.
- Hero These are smartphones with a huge screen of 6 inches. It is on him that the whole bet is made. It is bright, fast and responsive.
- Scribe Pro and HD. This gadget was released in 2013. It can be called, rather, musical, because the sound quality and volume are up to standard here.
- Star Well-equipped and quite budget smartphone. A version with two SIM cards is also available.
- Fire This Alcatel One Touch phone is special. Instead of the usual Android and Windows operating systems, it has a completely new, unique Firefox OS installed.
- Pixi This is an inexpensive, but quite reliable and functional smartphone. It is perfect for children, because it has a screen with a low resolution and is easy to manage.
One Touch Idol X: specifications and reviews
Let's start with the claimed benefits and functionality. Firstly, this is the first Alcatel smartphone with a Full-HD screen. Its main differences are the MTK processor and the thinnest display frames. They are even less than 2 mm. The case itself is also distinguished by subtlety - only 7 mm. For its value, the smartphone is pretty well made and multi-functional.
Now let's take a closer look at this Alcatel One Touch. Customer reviews speak of several positive points:
- Dimensions and weight. With such a large screen, this smartphone weighs only 120 g.
- Build quality. Despite the low cost, this smartphone is made in good faith.
- Sensitive sensor. The screen responds quickly and easily to any action. Virtually no braking when scrolling windows.
- Loud speakers and good sound quality.
Also worth noting in this Alcatel One Touch smartphone are specifications. Here 2 Gb of RAM, a good camera and a fast processor.
There are several disadvantages:
- When recording video, autofocus constantly jumps, and therefore the clarity is significantly lost.
- Volume control often fails.
- The minimum screen brightness is too high.
Otherwise, the phone is quite competitive.
One Touch Idol Mini
This, one can say, is a mini version of a regular branded smartphone with a recognizable design. From the name it’s clear that it is quite miniature. The width of the smartphone is only 8 mm. And it weighs 97 grams.
Alcatel One Touch Mini runs on Android OS and, of course, like all Alcatel, it uses exclusively its interface. They release two versions of this gadget - with one or two SIM-cards. This phone has its advantages and disadvantages. Its positive qualities include:
- Recognizable corporate identity. At the same time, all the buttons are located quite conveniently, despite the size of the smartphone.
- Good sound quality and volume. The speaker is located in such a way that even when the phone is on the table, it does not overlap at all.
- Great display. It takes up to 5 clicks simultaneously. The brightness on the screen is automatically adjusted. Viewing angles are wide enough.
If you study the Alcatel One Touch reviews about this, then there are several main disadvantages:
- The smartphone shows average results of autonomy. Therefore, with active use, it discharges in a few hours.
- A small amount of memory - only 512 MB. At the same time, the phone has a lot of pre-installed programs.
- Weak front camera - only 0.3 megapixels.
Alcatel pop
A good budget multifunctional gadget. You can choose a model with two SIM cards, which is quite convenient. The most popular representatives of the series can be called Alcatel One Touch C5 and C3. Their main difference is in cameras, display size and dimensions.
Models of the Pop series have a bright, cheerful shell. Despite the quite affordable price, they are assembled quite qualitatively. The design of these smartphones is simple and recognizable.
Like many other models, Pop phones have their pros and cons. Good qualities include:
- The optimal ratio of functionality, performance and price.
- High-quality assembly - nothing crashes anywhere, does not stagger and does not creak.
- Built-in working GPS module, which facilitates the work of travelers.
There are several tangible disadvantages:
- The cameras do not meet modern requirements. Agree, 3.2 and 5 megapixels weakly compete with 12 megapixels or more.
- Low quality display. This applies to brightness - they look pretty dull.
One touch ultra
Another representative of the Idol family. Ultra is the thinnest smartphone in the Alcatel line. Its width is only 6.5 mm and weighs 115 g. The company introduced it at CES-2013 as a flagship, along with the Idol model.
Smartphone Alcatel One Touch Ultra is endowed with the following advantages:
- Large (4.65 inches) and bright screen. The picture is colorful thanks to AMOLED technology.
- Good battery capacity. The 1800 mAh battery lasts almost the whole day.
- Decent sound quality and volume. However, it is solely on a hard surface.
Despite the fact that the manufacturer positions this gadget as a flagship, its only competitive feature is a slim body. Otherwise, this is a very standard budget smartphone, which has a number of disadvantages:
- The lack of a standard headphone jack. This is due to the same subtlety.
- There is no flash card slot. There is only built-in memory, which sooner or later may still not be enough.
- Pretty slow smartphone. Despite 1 GB of RAM, the device constantly slows down, even when taking pictures.
Alcatel Star: review
Very compact budget smartphone. Externally, almost completely copies the famous iPhone. Introduced by manufacturers in 2013 as a good budget gaming smartphone.
Let's move on to the main characteristics and features. The small size and weight of 119 g are encouraging. The screen surface is perfectly protected by a special Gorilla Glass, and the display itself is made using Amoled's unique technology, which provides it with bright colors and a good viewing angle.
Alcatel One Touch Star runs on two processors of the MediaTek chipset. The RAM is only 512 MB. Implemented the ability to work two SIM cards, there is a slot for a flash drive.
From the pros, you can distinguish:
- Convenience and ergonomics. Thanks to its compact size, it fits perfectly in the hand, and the buttons are arranged so that they are quite comfortable to control.
- Good sensitive sensor. Thanks to the technology used, the screen responds to the slightest touch.
- Bright and rich colors that are visible even in the sun.
Now you can pay attention to the main disadvantages of this gadget:
- Quite quiet speakers and vibrating alert. It is heard only if the phone is very close.
- There is not enough battery charge for a long time. With active use - a maximum of a couple of hours.
One Touch Idol Alpha
This smartphone was a pleasant surprise for the mobile device market, not only in terms of an extraordinary and very attractive design, but also in terms of modern technical stuffing and capabilities.
The main advantages of this device include a 4.7-inch HD display, a fast 4-core processor and a 13 megapixel camera. RAM is a whole gigabyte, and in stock there is 16 GB of constant.
In this Alcatel One Touch review allows you to identify several nice features:
- Unusual, but very interesting and ergonomic design.
- Decent high-quality display with bright colors and large viewing angles.
- Great build quality.
It should also be said about several features that are unpleasant for the average user:
- The inability to expand the memory due to microSD.
- Using a non-standard audio jack.
- No USB OTG support.
Alcatel fire
This series uses a unique operating system. Fire C, E, and S models are managed by Firefox. If we talk about technical specifications and functionality, then these smartphones can be attributed to the budget segment.
The main difference between these three models is the screen size, RAM and permanent memory, as well as support for networks of different generations. For example, the S series supports the fourth, unlike other Alcatel One Touch. Characteristics speak of quite decent stuffing and capabilities.
The main advantages of the series:
- Interesting design.
- Large bright screen.
- Support for additional memory cards.
The main disadvantages:
- Raw OS. Usually with new systems there are much more problems than those that have served a certain period.
- Weak cameras.
- Many pre-installed programs.
Scribe HD Series
These are budget smartphones using an auxiliary stylus. Therefore, the possibility of handwriting input of information and its recognition is fully realized here. The main
competitive advantage in this Alcatel One Touch is its price. It is quite affordable for a smartphone of this level and is in the range of 8,800 rubles. up to 10 250 rub.
The main advantages of this model are the following features:
- Nice and functional design.
- Good performance.
- Used high-quality materials for the body.
- Good build quality.
- Extended equipment.
Disadvantages:
- The stylus design is incomplete. It is inconvenient to manage it, and the smartphone does not always adequately respond to working with it.
- Pretty weak camera. With the claimed 8 megapixels, you can take high-quality pictures only in good, bright light. In addition, autofocus is often lost.
One touch hero
This smartphone is presented as a continuation of the flagship Idol X. This is its enlarged version with some improvements. The screen of the Full HD model is 6 inches. Thanks to the thinnest frames, the display seems simply huge. Positive and negative points can be identified for buyers of this Alcatel One Touch model review presented in this article. Among the advantages of the gadget are the following:
- Quality materials and assembly.
- A huge bright display that supports Full HD and a stylus.
- Pretty decent speaker volume.
- Good battery capacity.
- Multi-window mode.
Negative points include:
- Weak main camera. Pictures are dull and expressionless.
- No memory card slot.
- Animations and videos are sometimes played in jerks, not as smoothly as we would like.