There are three phones in alcatel's new 3-series and
each has its own strengths. As with the others, these go all-in on 18:9 screens
and leverage TCL's TV-building know-how. And unlike the alcatel 5, two of the
3-series phones have dual cameras on their backs.
All three models have fingerprint readers on the
back, but also feature alcatel's Face Key feature that can unlock the phone
with a glance in half a second (this feature is based on Android's standard
Face unlock capabilities so don't put your hopes too high).
The 3V is the only one in the new line-up with a
1080p+ screen - a 6" IPS panel laminated with 2.5D glass. This also makes
the 3V the tallest of alcatel's new phones, measuring 162 x 76 x 8.05mm. The
alcatel 3V uses its dual cameras - 12MP + 2MP - for real-time bokeh effects.
The main camera has 1.25µm pixels and f/2.2 aperture and features Electronic
Image Stabilization. On the front, there's a 5MP selfie camera with an LED
flash.
The company pre-loaded its phones with fun camera
features. Photo Booth snaps four photos in a roll (one shot per second) while
Social Square splits the screen in half - one one half is the viewfinder so you
can keep taking photos while reviewing them on the other half.
The 3V runs Android Oreo, giving it a leg up on its
siblings. Its one weak spot is the quad-core processor (MediaTek MT8735A
chipset) and relatively little amount of RAM available - 2GB. On the storage
side there's 16GB or 32GB so you may need to make use of the microSD slot. At
least the 3,000mAh battery will last for quite a while with this chipset.
That aside, the screen and camera are quite good for
a € 190 phone. The alcatel 3V is available immediately in select markets in
Black, Blue or Gold (with a glossy or matte finish, it's region-dependent).
The alcatel 3X is mid-sized with a 5.7" screen
(720p+ resolution), but it keeps the 3,000mAh battery of its bigger sibling.
The dual camera has 13MP + 5MP sensors, but this time around the second cam has
a 120° wide-angle lens. The primary camera (78.4°) offers the same goodies as
the 3V, including EIS and Photo Booth. And you still get a 5MP camera with
selfie flash.
The alcatel 3X runs an older OS version, Android
Nougat, on a similar chipset - MT6739 with a quad-core processor.
Interestingly, you can get more RAM - 3GB on the 32GB model - while the base
version is still 2GB/16GB (and a microSD slot, of course). The 3X is coming out
next month (in select markets) at a price of € 180 (and a similar color scheme).
The base model of the series, yet the alcatel 3 also
runs Android Oreo on the same chipset as the 3X (although the only memory
option here is 2GB/16GB). The 3,000mAh battery is still on board too. This is a
€150 phone (coming out next month), so it loses the dual camera. Instead, it
has one 13MP sensor (1.12µm, f/2.0) on the back (with EIS) and a 5MP selfie cam
with flash on the front.
