Cricket Wireless has today announced that it will begin exclusively selling a new smartphone starting from July 21, the Alcatel PULSEMIX. In terms of the price, the Alcatel PULSEMIX will be available to buy from Cricket Wireless for $79.99. Although those who port their number over from another carrier will (for a limited time) be able to pick up the Alcatel PULSEMIX for as little as $29.99 – providing they are signing up to a qualifying monthly plan, and excluding any additional fees and taxes.
As for the phone, while this is being positioned as a super affordable smartphone, it is one which comes with a unique selling point, SNAPBAK cases. These are rear backings which can be attached to the phone and when attached, offer additional functionality. At launch, the Alcatel PULSEMIX will be available to buy alongside a ‘LightUp SNAPBAK’ (which includes flashing LED lights), a ‘Sound SNAPBAK’ (which offers an improved and louder audio output), and a ‘Power SNAPBAK’ (which looks to extend the level of battery life that is naturally on offer). In many ways, this smartphone sounds like the Alcatel A5 LED. As in spite of the different and exclusive branding, its premise and attached backs, seem to be largely the same. In either case, the Alcatel PULSEMIX is also stated to come with a number of software improvements including a Color Catcher (colored-based themes), a Private Mode (to secure sensitive data), and NextRadio (access to various radio stations).
In terms of the specs, the Cricket Wireless announcement does not provide much details on this, other than confirming that the Alcatel PULSEMIX comes equipped with a 5.2-inch HD display, as well as an unnamed quad-core processor. Which is one of the areas where this phone might differ from the A5 LED. As while the A5 LED also comes with a 5.2-inch HD display, the processor powering the unit is a Mediatek MT6753 octa-core processor (clocking at 1.5 GHz). How different the rest of the specs are, remains an unknown. Although they are unlikely to differ too much and for reference, the A5 LED comes loaded with 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, a 2,800 mAh battery, and running on Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) out of the box.