What’s good?
The Alcatel One Touch Idol 3 has a giant screen. The speakers are commendable and they reverberate the sound in a small room. There are a lot of camera features and settings available and the camera does well in bright light. Most importantly, it has reversible orientation.
What’s not good?
Some small additions are made over the basic Android model, which in some cases aren’t necessary. The camera starts struggling with the picture quality in low light and far away objects seem to lose their identity. At times, the phone do not live up to the expectations from a 1.5GHz quad-core processor (Idol 3 5.5 inch).
The mobile phones produced by Alcatel, like the Idol 2, had not been liked too much; not for the price, but for the performance as they had been termed as inexpensively “cheap”. However, to rescue its reputation and to make its mark by bringing the perfect mixture of price and specs, this time it is the One Touch Idol 3 that has caught the eyes of the reviewers as well as consumers after its show on Barcelona’s stage.
There are two versions of the Idol 3, the 5.5 inch one and 4.7 inch one. This review generally talks about the bigger version i.e. the one with 5.5 inch screen.
Design and structure
Outline:
- 5.5 inch LCD screen with approximately 72.2% screen to body ratio
- Resolution: 1080 x 1920 pixels, 401 ppi pixel density
- Bar shaped
- Smooth edges
- 6 x 3 x 0.3 inches
- 142 grams
- Dual speakers
Taking about the way the handset looks, the user is greeted with a wide 5.5 inch LCD screen whose resolution is only second to the Galaxy S6’s and iPhone 6’s resolution. The colors are bright and do not submerge. The overall look of the set is that of a bar, but with smooth edges. The design does give the impression of an expensive set. The volume rockers are deep and thin, because of which their usage becomes a bit inconvenient as sometimes you wouldn’t even feel them. Speakers are present down on the bottom edge. There is a 13 MP camera on the upper end, which is sometimes inconvenient as it can be blocked by the fingers while holding the phone.
Features
Outlines:
- Double tap screen lock
- Reversible screen orientation
- Other mid-tier smart gestures
The phone comes running the latest version of Android OS 5.0. However, the candy look has been given to the main theme. There is a slight customization to the OS which, for some, creates unnecessary rumble. There are some unique features of this handset that are to be paid attention.
Reversible orientation
What can be better than having to pick up the phone and answer the incoming call despite the wrong position of the phone? In case of the Idol 3, even if you pick up the phone with the logo upside down, you can still have ease doing whatever you want as the screen can rotate right-side-up and upside-down.
Screen double tap
This feature allows turning the screen off or on by simply double tapping, so in case you have the reversible mode on, you wouldn’t have to reach for the screen-lock button.
Slide down menu
The menu which can be attained by sliding downwards from the upper end is of two types: one giving you notifications and the other giving you some menu shortcuts. The other menu can be viewed by pulling downwards twice. There is no automatic brightness option.
Lock screen
The lock screen has been made differently. There are many shortcuts at the bottom. These include camera shortcuts, selfie shortcut, call shortcut and many more. This feature is useful indeed.
Lousy camera app.
In the camera app, the thumbnail of the pictures taken are not shown and instead, the user has to swipe to get to the recent photos. The reversible mode does not work with this app.
Camera performance
Outlines:
- 13MP rear facing
- 8MP front facing
- 1080p video recording
The phone does have the ‘large photo maker’ ability, but there are some reservations to be kept in mind. In sunlit areas, the performance of the camera becomes so good that you’d keep taking pictures, but as you regress to darker environments, the performance seems to struggle with the amount of light. Also, the flash overexposes objects, making the details more whitish and less likable. There are some tweaks which you can manage in the main app and they are mostly common to all Android smartphones.
Hardware functions
Outlines:
- 1.5GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615
- 16GB storage/ 2GB of RAM
- Supports up to 128GB microSD card
You might say that the hardware performance of this handset might be compelling, but what we get from the octa-core processor is a little disappointing. The benchmarks given by it are not the way they should be. The phone responds slowly to special tasks such as the double tap lock and the autofocusing.
Battery performance
Outline:
- Irremovable 2,910mAh battery
Overall the battery performance is average, and like most phones, it lasts only a day. When the screen of the Idol 3 is kept awake for longer periods, the battery drains faster. In airplane mode, the timing increases dramatically.
Call quality
Outline:
- Good call quality, depending upon the location
- Powerful speakers
Generally, the call quality depends upon the location of the caller, and the phone gives you a better call experience if you are in a wave-abundant area. The speakers do make up a suitable pair for a speakerphone.
Should you buy the Idol 3?
Well, for most of the reasons, the answer is yes. Though there are some glitches and setbacks in the performance and features, this phone still does good, considering the $250 price tag. If you are someone who is looking for average performance at a low price, then the Alcatel One Touch Idol 3 should be your choice.
