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Alcatel has not been very well-known firm since when it was launched. The corporate did see some fails and flops! It was a tough time for the owners for sure! However quickly sufficient the manufacturer evolved into better makers and improved in such a manner that it quickly was famous and Success! Not too long ago the corporate launched its new device referred to as the Idol 3. Its a afoordable handset and all I can say, IT WORTHS BUYING!
Today’s flagship phones price consumers upwards of $700 without a contract. With $700, it’s best to be able to put some superb hardware in a smartphone and make it look and do amazing things. However what if you are charging only $250 for a smartphone? What would you anticipate for a smartphone with a non-contract price of $250? Not a lot, right? It ought to perform and appear like a ho-hum device from last yr, right? Some do, however the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 performs past my expectations in so some ways. I really feel like Alcatel OneTouch has found out where to appropriately cut corners and produce a design that appears and performs like a premium device with out the bells and whistles that nobody actually wants. It is only a darn good smartphone at a darn good worth.
We have been given the 5.5-inch variant of the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 that was introduced in March at Mobile World Conference. The re’s additionally 4.7-inch version with toned down specifications. The re, Alcatel OneTouch touted the Idol 3 reversible design, however not the worth. Perhaps they thought nobody would imagine them if they stated that they are making one for the Best smartphone you can buy for $250.So let’s have a in-depth review! :-
Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3: Design
At 1st look, I found the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 to look a bit odd. It has a simple slab design with chome corners and a humorous lip on the bottom and prime of the front on the device. Then I noticed why I felt that way: the dual front speakers. Apparently, Alcatel OneTouch has designed the Idol 3 for use right side up or upside down. Aside from the noticeable 8 MP front camera, the device appears mainly similar whether upside-down or not, so why not make it work upside-down? Within the quick settings menu, there is a toggle to permit the “Reversible” use of the device. I feel it is an interesting feature that some might simply find helpful.
The dual front speakers could also be certainly one of my favorite OneTouch Idol 3 features. It is an interesting design option to have the glass finish earlier than the speakers at each end of the front of the device. The device then steps down at each finish for the speakers. I have never seen another smartphone designed this manner, and I am unsure it is the prettiest way to get the job done, however I feel Alcatel OneTouch did the job nicely. The look has grown on me and I would take this look all day if it meant that I would have the dual front speakers.
Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3: Build Quality
Other than the slipperiness and backwards buttons, I am impressed with the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3′s design. The buttons are good and tactile, and utilizing them feels good. The Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 is plastic, however it’s strong as plastic comes. I have not seen any creaking.
The Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 just isn’t made from “exotic” materials, however it feels stable and comfortable within the hand. There is nothing that makes the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 stand out from the crowd, though, so it will get a median grade here.
Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3: Display
The display on the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 is not a 4k or 2k display, but it surely’s additionally no slouch, providing a 1080p resolution on a 5.5-inch display screen. And apart from, who really wants 2k? I personally like the resolution and dimension of the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3. It makes every thing simply readable for my old man eyes (I am not old, but my eyes assume they’re). The display can get super bright and viewing angles are nice. It does well in direct sunlight, too. Alcatel OneTouch credits the display quality to its Technicolor IPS display. The only knock that I’ve against the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3′s display is that the blacks are not fairly black, however that is fairly normal for the IPS LCD technology the smartphone uses. Overall, you would not be disappointed with the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3′s display.
Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3: Software
One other category in which Alcatel OneTouch did things good is software. The Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 comes with Android Lollipop, version 5.0.2. I reviewed the phone with pre-release software and had no complaints. What I like about the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 software is that Alcatel OneTouch stored it easy. Very few modifications have been made to Lollipop: stock app icons just like the dialer and contacts have been themed, however with a easy, rounded corner look. Google apps and pre-installed apps like WhatsApp and Evernote aren’t themed.
A very interesting touch regarding icon themes are with the calendar and clock applications: the calendar icon displays the right calendar day and the clock displays the present time. One other item to notice is that pre-installed applications like Twitter or Fb may be deleted so that they are not caught in your device taking up valuable space if you do not use them. The Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 only comes with 16 GB of memory, and after the operating system and all the other goodies, we are left with about 10 GB of usable space, so do away with these pre-installed apps if you are not utilizing these pre-installed applications. I am already utilizing a lot of the pre-installed apps, like Fb and Dropbox. Alcatel OneTouch additionally consists of some interesting apps of their own, like Mix for some turntable fun times.
Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3: Camera
I’ve mixed feelings about the camera on the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3, and I am going to talk about it from 2 different angles. As a dad of 3 kids which are physically incapable of holding still, I am impressed with the camera on the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3. The shutter speed could be very fast, with little to no lag in snapping the picture after you press the button. I was able to get some nice photographs of my kids with the Idol 3. Coming from the Nexus 5, that is actually impressive. Additionally, the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 has a burst mode that will snap as much as 20 photos if you hold down the shutter button. Unfortunately, it takes a second or 2 to start the burst of photos, so it took some timing observe to get the shots I wished. Still, I like having the burst mode feature, especially while you back up your photos on Google+ and have some great GIFs waiting there for you.
Despite those shortcomings, the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3′s 13 MP Sony sensor is greater than able to taking a good photograph in the right light. Utilizing the camera is easy: you touch the object within view on the display and the camera will automatically focus on that object. If you are close up, you may simply get an attractive photo with the subject in focus and the background blurred. One item to note is that if you are clicking around the display in camera mode to focus on totally different objects, the exposure modifications closely based in your focus area. It is simple to get very over or underexposed images. I seen this mostly with indoor capturing. Simply shooting footage with out focusing on a selected level seemed to do the trick with indoors exposure.
Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3: Battery
As you’d anticipated with a 2910 mAh battery, battery life on the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 is superb. I know I keep comparing to my Nexus 5, however the Idol three blows the Google Nexus 5 out of the water with its battery life. With heavy use that included navigation, phone calls, gaming, and social media searching, the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 lasted from 5:00 am to 7:00 pm with out plugging in. I’ve loads of opportunities throughout the day to charge a smartphone, like while driving and utilizing navigation. After one day of testing the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 with out charging it, I gave it small recharges throughout the day, and it never died on me earlier than bed time around 11:00 pm. If you are not a heavy user, you likely would not even need to have any recharge sessions throughout the day.
Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3: Specification
- Height: 6.01 in (152.7 mm)
- Width: 2.96 in (75.2 mm)
- Depth: 0.29 in (7.4 mm)
- 5.5-inch 1080p (401 ppi) IPS LCD display
- Weight 5.1 oz
- Non-removable 2910mAh lithium ion battery
- 2 GB RAM/16 GB ROM (10 GB usable) with a microSD card slot
- Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 MSM8939 (1.5GHz + 1 GHz)
- 13 MP rear camera, 8 MP front
- Micro SIM, EAP SIM, Dual SIM out the re
- Bands: GSM Quad (850/900/1800/1900), UMTS 850/1700/1900/2100, HSPA+ 42Mbps Downlink, 5.76Mbps Uplink, LTE FDD: B2/4/5/7/12/17
- Dual front-firing JBL speakers
Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3: Verdict
Typically, your phone only comes with extras if you are getting a high-end device. However I feel Alcatel OneTouch has offered a fair share of extras with its budget flagship device, together with each software and hardware. 1st, the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 comes with JBL headphones, which is a nice touch. Many phones do not include headphones at all, and especially not JBL-branded ones. Plus, the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 can be utilized upside down, so it has spreakers and mics on the top and bottom of the device. I am not sure if that is considered additional, however not all phones come with LED notification. Oh, and did I mention the twin front JBL speakers? That is not really an additional, however I just felt like mentioning it again. Apart from those features, the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 is pure smartphone. No IR blaster, no laser focus, no finger print scanner. Just pure, unadulterated smartphone.
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