Alcatel’s A5 LED wants to bring disco back
Alcatel’s MWC 2017 lineup is all about the dazzle.
At Mobile World Congress, TCL has already announced one handset, the BlackBerry KEYone, but this is just part of its 2017 mobile strategy. It also owns budget mobile brand Alcatel, and today at MWC it has announced three new Alcatel phones as well as an Alcatel-branded Windows 10 tablet.
The headliner is the Alcatel A5 LED, and the name rather gives away its unique selling point. It features an LED back casing that can be used for notifications, or for simple lighting patterns depending on what takes your fancy.
Alcatel Australia expects the A5 LED to be available in Australia in May for $299 outright.
| Alcatel | A5 LED |
|---|---|
| Display | 5.2in |
| Resolution | 1280x720 |
| ppi | 282ppi |
| Software | Android 6.0 |
| Storage | 16GB |
| RAM | 2GB |
| Battery | 2800mAh |
| Front Camera | 5MP |
| Rear Camera | 8MP |
| Processor | MT6753 |
| Size | 146 x 72.1 x 7.7mm |
| Weight | TBC |
The Alcatel A3 is a slightly smaller handset with a 5-inch display and integrated fingerprint reader as its particular selling points. It’s a definite sign of the times that features like fingerprint readers that were once the exclusive province of premium handsets are now shifting towards much more budget fare.
It should come to Australia in June with an estimated price of $199.
| Alcatel | A3 |
|---|---|
| Display | 5in |
| Resolution | 1280x720 |
| ppi | 293ppi |
| Software | Android 6.0 |
| Storage | 16GB |
| RAM | 1.5GB |
| Battery | 2460mAh |
| Front Camera | 5MP |
| Rear Camera | 13MP |
| Processor | MT6737 |
| Size | 142 x 70.5 x 8.6mm |
| Weight | TBC |
Alcatel’s has long been strong in the budget space, and with the Alcatel U3 it’s rather embracing that ideal. It touts the U3 as the “world’s most affordable 5-inch 4G phone”. Alcatel expects it to be priced at under $150 when it hits the local market in May, but that does buy you a phone with relatively low specifications, especially in the area of screen resolution.
| Alcatel | U5 |
|---|---|
| Display | 5in |
| Resolution | 480x854 |
| ppi | 195ppi |
| Software | Android 6.0 |
| Storage | 8GB |
| RAM | 1GB |
| Battery | 2050mAh |
| Front Camera | 2MP |
| Rear Camera | 5MP |
| Processor | Quad-core, 1.1GHz |
| Size | 140.7 x 71.8 x 9.95mm |
| Weight | TBC |
Alcatel also announced a tablet device in the form of the Windows 10 Home based Plus 12. There’s plenty of choice in the Windows 10 tablet space, although the Plus 12 may mark out its territory based purely on its keyboard. We’re yet to go hands on with it, but it’s an independently smart keyboard with an integrated Cortex A7 1.2GHz processor on board. Amongst other features, the detachable keyboard also acts as a Wi-Fi hub for connected devices via its integrated LTE. That feels like an unusual niche play, but we’d have to be able to test it out to be certain.
It will come to Australia in June for $649.
We’ll go hands-on with the new Alcatel phones and tablet and report back with our hands-on impressions directly.
Latest mobile phones headlines
- Oppo’s Find X will cost $1,099 in Australia
- This week’s bargain phones: iPhone 8, Samsung Note8 and Pixel 2 XL
- Alcatel 1C review: Excellent value for a budget handset
- Samsung users get early access to Fortnite’s Android Beta
- Optus offers free storage upgrades with its Samsung Galaxy Note9 pre-orders
