Gadgetory

the biggest problem with budget phones is that none of you would really call cool or aspirational what you get is a sea of forgettable neat to designs and a long list of compromise that you settle for because that's what you can afford one company is out to reinvent that mentality and it's time to take their new affordable flagship for a review I'm high memory that I will pocket now and let's take a look at the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 Alcatel OneTouch is not new to the US market but its products have only been famous for their affordability still the idol 3 falls in line with a few predecessors that are focused on raising awareness on the company's new plan and building affordable flagships and it's clear that they've come a long way for starters the idol 3 doesn't seem like a budget phone when first glance its matte hairline finish at the back match with a very thin 7.4 millimetre profile and the chrome rings that surrounded give it a very elegant first impression the front actually only makes it look better with its flank stereo speaker is on a recessed design that elevates a display in a way that resembles some of the curved HD TVs in the market the phone also feels extremely light probably too light for my taste the materials that its size actually contribute to not making it feel cheap which is good my only true complaint with its design is the left mounted power button which is rather odd a displacement and also very thin so it's hard to feel for but it also has double tap to wake on a display in case that's uncomfortable for you as well spec wise this doesn't seem like a budget phone either its specs resemble it even better the $500 Oppo r5 in many ways by packing an octa-core 64-bit 1.5 gigahertz Snapdragon 615 processor Nats with an adrenal 405 GPU you also have 2 gigs of ddr3 RAM 16 gigs of expandable storage up to 128 gigs via microSD a large 29 10 milliamp hour battery in we've also got LTE HSPA+ connectivity for all major u.s. GSM carriers dual band Wi-Fi 802 an N bluetooth 4.1 low-energy and have seen in all the 9 yards of a typical flagship we're actually reviewing the larger model which sports a 5.5 inch 1080p IPS display that's also enhanced by Technicolor and that actually shines through even when you compare this with the AMOLED panel of the Moto X great color saturation great viewing angles and deeper blacks than most of the IPS displays that we reviewed in the past more interesting is that probably this is one of the brightest displays that I've ever used where 25 percent brightness on the slider was enough for my needs for example stereo speakers on each side are also enhanced by a known brand this time JBL just like the headphones bundled in our review box it was tough not to draw an immediate comparison it took wearing the watch for over a week to understand what it isn't sound is very crisp and even it's had louder than our experience with HTC's boomsound which is great for watching videos or playing music but that's really not the coolest trick that this phone can do believe it or not there's a microphone and the speaker on each side and the software is enhanced to allow to use this phone upside down if you want to so you can take a phone call from the bottom or take a phone call from the top it doesn't really matter it's a really cool and nifty feature that every manufacturer should consider it's extremely thoughtful and very practical if you're for example driving and you want the headphone jack to be at the top or the bottom it makes no difference speaking of software one of the most positive aspects of this device is that it runs a very light skin on top of android 5.0.2 lollipop if it weren't for the icon pack and the folder animations you really think there's a stock Android and that's really a good thing this allows for a very smooth experience overall you'll notice that the reversible screen controls are within the slider in addition to other enhancements that are a plus for the stock Android experience the company also bundles some of its proprietary applications that instead of providing bloat enhance the user experience services like whatsapp Facebook and Twitter come pre-installed and there's a light bass tune application that enhances selfies there's an office suite and a nicer weather application that provides a very good weather widget for the basics there's even a music mixture that allows you to create turntable scratches your own music overall if you prefer stock Android like we do this is definitely a very good way to go even though software updates in the future are the best judge over time both hiatal Houston and I have been testing the idol three over the course of a week in the US and in Guatemala City and our consensus is pretty much the same when it comes to user experience this may not be the fastest phone by flagship standards but hey those other flagships cost twice as much we do see some negligible stuttering the launch of folders every now and then or some sluggishness and closing down all applications as well but there's also times when you find this thing launching stuff faster than the Moto X so there could be lollipop to blame here this takes some time to launch a game for example but once loaded and handles the graphics well and the combination of the large display with the stereo speakers actually provide a very delightful experience for gaming for the most part bubbly phone call sounded better over the speaker then through the earpiece I'm not saying that sound is bad but it's not a scripts through the earpiece as when you activate the speaker even though it's plenty loud for both usage scenarios itta speeds over my test in Guatemala is HSPA+ for good and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth perception were also good for the most part sadly if it weren't for the cameras my list of cons for the idol 3 would be very slim the 13 megapixel primary shooter is backed by a Sony sensor that provides these in photos during the day there is also a decent amount of shooting modes like HDR panorama and even manual controls but the resulting photos tend to either overexposed or favour yellows at times especially in HDR low-light photography tries very hard to favour light but at the expense of sometimes pixelating darker areas of the photo which is really a problem selfies also suffer from these issues in most cases but that's a common thing even for the best flexions video recording was also good and there's even a time-lapse mode which is very hard to find an Android phones in addition to other modes which were cool again you really won't buy this phone for its camera but then again I could give you a list of very expensive flagships that could offer the same amount of performance anyways now leaving the camera performance aside what's a true shocker for this phone is its battery life I start my day every single day at 5 a.m. and that at 10 p.m. to 11 on average end every time I've ended with 40% of battery life which is really good for a phone in this price range and I've noticed that this performance improves over time and I think that my experience with its battery life is the best way to conclude this review I find it hard to believe that this phone cost only 250 dollars unlocked tell me something how many $650 phones provide you with good stereo speakers all-day battery life and expandable storage and even on the other hand tell me how many $250 phones provide you with LTE connectivity packed on there are very elegant and thin design and a great 1080p display or let's just face it how many budget phones provide users with innovated features like a reversible display bottom line is I think the auto 3 is definitely in a class of its own it does a good job at being both affordable and capable up to the point where I'd recommend this over the Moto G any time this device is definitely a good solution for a first-timer a teenager or even an adult looking for a very elegant solution on a tight budget surely my personal leads would probably require a better camera but hey that's really just because of the bubble we live on as reviewers to get all this for $250 unlocked and complain would simply be unfair overall I do believe that Alcatel OneTouch did a really good job with the idol 3 for more coverage on the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 or even the Alcatel OneTouch watch in addition to more news and reviews make sure you follow us on social media subscribe to our youtube channel as well and you can follow me on twitter hi my underscore Iveta please give this video a thumbs up if you like what you saw I am hi I'm everything up thank you very much for watching we'll see you on the next one