Alcatel kicked off this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) by announcing the new Idol 4 and Idol 4S smartphones with an emphasis on “BOOM” and Virtual Reality (VR) features. We are happy to say that Alcatel just announced that the Idol 4 would be making its way to Canada’s Videotron stores on September 30. It will be a Videotron exclusive for a while before it makes its way to other Canadian carriers. To sweeten the deal, Alcatel is throwing in a pair of their Virtual Reality goggles. The Idol 4 will come pre-loaded with Alcatel’s VR launcher and Littlstar app, which allows you to explore the world of videos and photos.
The Alcatel Idol 4 looks very similar to the Samsung Galaxy S6 – it uses 2.5D glass on the front and the back, connected by a metal frame – and is very smooth and comfortable to hold. It features a “Boom Key” that can be ‘programmed’ to carry out many one-touch functions such as using it to unlock your device or a camera button to take pictures. For a phone in this price range, it surprisingly comes with Hi-Fi audio and dual front-facing stereo speakers.
The Idol 4 sports a 5.2-inch IPS LCD FHD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and 424 pixels-per-inch (PPI.) It is packing a 64-bit Snapdragon 617 octa-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz and 1.7GHz. It has 2GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable (128GB) internal storage. A 2610mAh non-removable battery provides the power and uses Quick Charge 3.0 for rapid charging. The primary camera is 13MP with an aperture of f/2.0, phase detection autofocus (PDAF), and a dual-tone LED flash. The front-facing camera is a nice 8MP wide-angle lens and even includes an LED flash – perfect for selfies and video chatting.
The Idol 4 has the usual suspects – WiFi, Bluetooth v4.2, GPS, NFC, an FM radio, and a microUSB v2.0 port for charging and data transfer. Only the US version comes with the fingerprint sensor – the international versions do not support one. The Alcatel Idol 4 measures 147 x 72.5 x 7.1mm and weighs in at 135 grams. It is running Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow – which is almost vanilla Android except for a few twists thrown in. No word on pricing at Videotron, but in the US it is running for $200 USD on Cricket Wireless.