TCL hasn't exactly been keeping a tight lip about
its new lineup over the past few weeks. As expected, spearheading the bunch is
the new alcatel 5. A flagship, if you will, although we don't really feel right
referring to it like that, given it's mostly mid-ranger specs.
To reiterate, those include a 5.7-inch, IPS panel,
in the new and trendy 18:9 aspect ratio. TCL seems to have committed to the
ultra-wide concept fully, even providing it in very cheap devices.
Interestingly enough, the alcatel 5 has an HD+ (1440 x 720 pixel) panel, while
its 3V sibling, joining it at the Barcelona unveiling has FullHD+.
The main attraction with the alcatel 5, however,
seems to be the design, featuring minimal side bezels around the display and an
almost non-existent bottom chin. It looks pretty impressive, but could
potentially be an issue with ergonomics, combined with on-screen navigation
buttons.
The body on the alcatel 5 measures 152.3 x 71.1 x
8.4 mm and weighs in at 144 grams. It's plastic all around, but does feature a
metallic finish in gold or black. As for internals, the alcatel 5 is based on
an octa-core MediaTek MT6750, combined with 2GB or 3GB ram and 16GB or 32GB of
expandable storage. The camera setup includes a 12MP, f/2.2, 1.25 μm snapper,
with a dual-tome LED flash and a few extra features, like EIS, Light Trace,
Slow motion and Video story. The camera can also interpolate its photos up to
16MP, if you find the 12MP native resolution insufficient.
Two snappers handle selfies: a 13MP, f/2.0, 1.4 μm,
120-degree main one, along with a supplementary 5MP unit and an LED flash. EIS
is a thing on the front side as well. The Alcated 5 also offers some
interesting selfie effects to play around with, although it should be noted
that both snappers are fixed focus.
Other specs on the alcatel 5 include an optional
Dual Nano-SIM configuration, depending on the model variant and Cat.4 LTE
speeds. Bluetooth 4.2, GPS with GLONASS, Wi-Fi b/g/n, microUSB 2.0 and an FM
radio are also standard on every variant, while NFC will only be available on
some. There is a rear-mounted fingerprint reader. A 3,000 mAh battery keeps the
lights on and a rather dated Nougat ROM is powering the show. alcatel is also
marketing a face unlock feature, it calls "Face Key", which seems to
be a re-brand of the standard Android Face Unlock option.
TCL is promising immediate availability for the
Alcated 5 in select markets. Color options include Metallic Black and Metallic
Gold and the asking price is a pretty competitive EUR 230.
