Earlier this year, Alcatel OneTouch announced the Idol 3. It was announced in two sizes, a 5.5-inch and a 4.7-inch version. The 5.5-inch version of the Idol 3 has been available for a few months now, and it has arguably been one of the best smartphones under $300 in 2015. And that is in the midst of steep competition from ASUS, Motorola and many other manufacturers. Now, Alcatel OneTouch has finally released the Idol 3 4.7-inch, and it’s in our hot hands right now.
Many have been asking for a smaller smartphone, that isn’t just terrible at everything. And that’s what Alcatel OneTouch has brought to the table here with the Idol 3 4.7. It’s on sale right now on Amazon for just $179. Which makes it the same price as the Moto G, and makes it a very exciting market right now. The specs of the smaller version are a bit different than the 5.5-inch Idol 3. Here we are looking at a 4.7-inch 1280×720 resolution IPS display, powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor, 1.5GB of RAM and 8GB of storage. There is also a microSD card slot that can support up to 128GB microSD cards. For cameras, we’re still looking at a 13MP rear-camera and a 5MP front-facing shooter. Powering the Idol 3 4.7, we have a 2000mAh battery. That seems a bit small, but we have to remember this is a smaller screen with a lower resolution than we see on many smartphones. So we’ll likely see battery life similar to the Moto G 2015.
The Idol 3 4.7 is really small. But we still have front-facing speakers here from JBL, as well as having earbuds included from JBL. I’ve been a big fan of the speakers on the front of the Idol 3 before, and that’s because they are relatively small and out of the way, but still has some amazing output. As expected, the Idol 3 4.7 can still be used upside down, like it’s bigger brother. The 4.7-inch display looks pretty good actually, even though it’s just a 720p display. Not that, that is a bad thing. In my opinion, I feel that 720p is perfect for displays at 5 inches and below.
We’ll be putting the Idol 3 4.7 through its paces in the next few weeks and put together our full review very soon. So far it’s looking like it’s going to be a pretty amazing smartphone, especially for under $200.
