If Android is the platform that you prefer to use the choice of smartphones is huge at all price levels, and for those that don’t want to spend a lot of money on a handset there is still a number of good devices to be had. Today we have an Alcatel One Touch Idol S hands on review that brings Android 4G on the cheap.
The Alcatel One Touch Idol S can be picked up for around £130 and for your money you get a stylish looking smartphone that features 4.7-inch 720p touchscreen display. This is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro dual core processor clocked at 1.2GHz.
Other features include 1GB of RAM running the Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean operating system with 4GB of internal storage that is expandable up to 32GB via microSD card. Camera wise you are met with an 8MP rear shooter with autofocus and LED flash that is capable of Full HD video capture at 30fps, and around the front is a 1.3MP unit.
As soon as you open the box and take the Idol S out you realise how light the smartphone is, it measures 133.5mm x 66.8mm x 7.4mm while weighing 110grams. The device is nice and slim but I would want to use some kind of case or bumper to offer some protection, and a screen protector wouldn’t be a bad idea either as the display is prone to finger prints.
The device does feel great in the hand and the buttons are positioned nicely for one handed operation and near the power button you have the flap that opens up for the micro SIM and microSD card.
In use the display for a more budget smartphone offering is pleasing to the eye and is pretty responsive. For a smartphone novice the device offers lots of onscreen instructions when first being set up, and the device comes bundled with the full version of the SwiftKey keyboard which is a great touch and normally needs to be paid for.
Among the other services bundled with the handset is Asphalt 7 and there isn’t a lot of bloatware on top of the Android OS which is nice. The handset rarely lags unless pushed with some power hungry tasks but we are not talking about a flagship smartphone that costs flagship money.
Camera performance was average for an 8MP unit but did struggle a little with low light situations, but the biggest hang up that I found with the Idol S was battery life. It comes with a 2,000 mAh battery and for power users it would struggle to last all day from a single charge, but the average user it should be enough.
On reflection the Alcatel One Touch Idol S does offer a worthy handset for the money and it has to be remembered it also offers 4G LTE connectivity and microSD card support, which are hugely important for a lot of mobile users.
