Alcatel One Touch Idol 3 Smartphone on a Budget

If you are an Android phone user, and you are looking to upgrade to a phone that has new features you might like this fabulous new Alcatel One Touch Idol 3 Smartphone. I find the prices of modern phones sometimes become a barrier to even think of owning one. I like that we can own the Alcatel One Touch Idol 3 Smartphone for a reasonably price compared to the latest smartphones in the market.

Design

Alcatel Idol 3 is very slim, as its thickness is 7.4mm. It has a brushed plastic backing with an "Idol" logo and metallic bezels around the sides. On the right side there is the volume rocker and on the left is the power button and the Sim and MicroSD tray. The Micro-USB charging port is at the bottom. Since the phone is 5.5 inches, I wish the power button could have been an inch or so lower to make it easy to reach. This phone is available only in dark grey.

The Display

The Alcatel Idol 3 has a 5.5 inch Full-HD IPS laminated display panel. This large HD screen is bright and clear. I like that the icons and text are crisp and clear, so there is no need to squint. The 1080p screen is perfect for anyone that wants to watch videos. The excellent display will make you spend more time on watching Netflix and YouTube.

Having the screen brightness at 60% still made the screen very bright. I like having the option of viewing the screen at almost any angle. I am glad that there were no issues with glare when viewing the phone in sunlight.

Daytime pictures using the 13-megapixel camera turned out clear and beautiful. This picture was taken close to dusk and we love the colour and how the image turned out. The camera app has features such as HDR, Manual, and panorama mode and I found it easy to use. I took picture using the automatic mode, and found the images to be solid and not grainy. In low light without using flash the pictures were not clear to my liking. I found the video recording to have good smooth overall quality. 

Software and Sound

The Idol 3 comes with Android 5.02 Lollipop. I like this Operating System because it has lots of features and stability. The software is clean and there is no bloatware taking up space and affecting the performance of the phone. Except for a few customizations such as shortcuts in the lockscreen and some uninstallable third party apps this is a pure version of Google Android, so anyone who has used an android phone in the past will be right at home. If you need more apps you can always choose from the vast selection of apps in the Google play store.

The music and audio sound amazing with the Dual front facing JBL Stereo speakers. This is a luxury for a phone that is under budget. Along with the high definition screen, the dual stereo speakers are a great addition for those who enjoy videos on the phone. I noticed the notification sounds and the speaker phone can be very loud, so it is best to customize the volume to your preference.

Battery, Memory, and Performance

The Alcatel Idol 3 has a 2910mAh battery with up to 13 hours talk time. I was able to use the phone all day and didn’t need to charge the battery until late at night. The battery lasted all day although, I used the phone for a few videos, emails, social media, and browsing. I am sure if I reduce the brightness, I would be able to use it even further.

This phone has 16GB read only memory and if you need more you can add a MicroSD card up to 128GB. This will make it convenient to store a large library of photos and music as high-end phones do not have a MicroSD slot. The phone also has a 2 Gigs of RAM. This helps to multitask and run a lot of graphic intensive apps. I had no issues switching apps and moving from screen to screen as it was smooth. It was slightly jittery when playing fast moving games but it didn’t affect gameplay. It is best to close out any unnecessary apps to clear memory and save on battery life.

Extra features 

There are some unique features on the phone. This phone has a fully reversible user interface, which means the screen adapts to the right side up even if the phone itself is upside down. I am happy with this because we do not have to fiddle with the orientation of the phone, and can pick up the calls even if the phone is held upside down. I found this feature worked great all the time. The other innovative feature is Eye-D, this unlocks the phone by using face recognition. This is a nice feature but it only worked to my satisfaction when I used the option to improve face matching and had to train the phone to match my face in different lighting conditions.

Overall, I think this a great phone for anyone that wants to upgrade to a smartphone with all the features on a budget. It would also be a great starter phone for teens. If you plan on moving to the smartphone world from an old phone I would recommend this. I think it would be useful to invest on a good case to protect the larger screen. For more details visit http://www.alcatelonetouch.ca

The phone does not come with the cover. We can purchase it separate.

Giveaway:
If you are in Canada and would like to win an Alcatel One Touch Idol 3 Smartphone before December 18 then enter the giveaway through the rafflecopter below. Please leave comments and follow my social media networks to be eligible to win.
Update: The winner is Melanie

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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