Alcatel Idol X+ review: 8-ball game

Display

The Alcatel Idol X+ features a 5" IPS LCD screen of 1080p resolution, for a pixel density of 441ppi. It has an oleophobic film to minimize smudges and Gorilla Glass 2 for scratch protection.

5" IPS LCD of 1080p resolution

The screen is quite sharp and with good viewing angles despite some minor contrast shift when not looked head on. The colors are not the punchiest we've seen, but many people rail against the oversaturated look of AMOLEDs so this might be more to your taste.

The OGS panel did not do much to improve or detract from the contrast ratio compared to a standard IPS display. It provided middle-of-the-road numbers when it came to contrast at both 50% and 100% screen brightness.

It does, however, result in some excellent sunlight legibility, coming in fifth in our all-time rankings, just behind the Galaxy S5.

Sunlight contrast ratio

• Nokia 808 PureView
  4.698
• Apple iPhone 5
  3.997
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  3.997
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  3.549
• Alcatel Idol X+
  3.527
• Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
  3.419
• Nokia Lumia 925
  3.402
• Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4
  3.352
• Samsung Omnia W
  3.301
• Samsung Galaxy S
  3.155
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  3.127
• Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom
  3.118
• Nokia N9
  3.069
• Samsung Galaxy Note
  2.970
• Sony Xperia Z1
  2.950
• HTC One S
  2.901
• BlackBerry Q10
  2.856
• Samsung Galaxy S II
  2.832
• Samsung Galaxy S II Plus
  2.801
• BlackBerry Z30
  2.790
• Huawei Ascend P1
  2.655
• Sony Xperia ZR
  2.672
• Nokia Lumia 900
  2.562
• HTC One Max
  2.537
• Nokia Lumia 720
  2.512
• HTC One
  2.504
• Sony Xperia Z
  2.462
• Samsung Galaxy S III mini
  2.422
• Motorola RAZR i
  2.366
• Samsung Galaxy Note II
  2.307
• Apple iPhone 4S
  2.269
• HTC Desire 600 dual sim
  2.262
• LG Nexus 5
  2.228
• HTC One X
  2.158
• Nokia N8
  2.144
• Oppo Find 5
  2.088
• BlackBerry Z10
  2.051
• Apple iPhone 4
  2.016
• HTC One mini
  2.003
• LG G2
  1.976
• Sony Ericsson Xperia ray
  1.955
• Samsung Galaxy Camera
  1.938
• HTC Butterfly
  1.873
• Huawei Ascend P6
  1.865
• Sony Xperia V
  1.792
• Sony Xperia U
  1.758
• Meizu MX3
  1.754
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  1.691
• HTC One V
  1.685
• BlackBerry Q5
  1.682
• LG Optimus Vu
  1.680
• LG Optimus GJ
  1.666
• HTC Desire V
  1.646
• Samsung Galaxy Ace 3
  1.622
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  1.578
• Samsung Galaxy Core
  1.563
• LG Optimus G Pro
  1.552
• LG Optimus 3D
  1.542
• Nokia Asha 302
  1.537
• Sony Xperia M
  1.473
• Nokia Lumia 610
  1.432
• Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo
  1.393
• Gigabyte GSmart G1355
  1.361
• Samsung Galaxy Grand
  1.321
• HTC Desire C
  1.300
• Nokia Asha 501
  1.270
• LG Optimus L7
  1.269
• LG Optimus L9
  1.227
• Meizu MX
  1.221
• Sony Xperia E dual
  1.203
• Samsung Galaxy Pocket
  1.180
• Sony Xperia tipo
  1.166
• Samsung Galaxy mini 2
  1.114

The actual arrangement of the pixels hasn't changed much compared to Alcatel's latest smartphone, the Hero. It's a standard RGB pattern which we've shot using our digital microscope.

The screen matrix of the Alcatel Idol X+ next to the Alcatel One Touch Hero

Battery life

We ran our traditional battery test on the Alcatel Idol X+ and the results turned out good. The Alcatel Idol X+ pulled an overall rating of 45h hours. That's how long it will last on a single charge with an hour each of calling, browsing and watching video daily.

It did pretty well in all tasks that didn't require the screen to be on, such as talking and standby power consumption. In web browsing and video playbackthe results were far from stellar.

For a more detailed breakdown of the Alcatel Idol X+ battery performance check out our blogpost.