alcatel 3-series phones unveiled: sub-€200 price tag for 18:9 screens and dual cameras

24 February 2018

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).

alcatel 3V

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).

alcatel 3X

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).

alcatel 3

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.