Alcatel on Tuesday announced refreshes of its three Android smartphone lineups, having revealed new additions to the Alcatel 5, Alcatel 3, and the Alcatel 1 series. The company’s CES 2018 announcement largely revolved around handsets with 18:9 displays as it has now decided to embrace the tall image format which gained significant traction in 2017. The Alcatel 5, Alcatel 3V, and Alcatel 1X are all targeted at different price categories ranging from the upper mid-range to entry-level segment of the market.
The phone maker has yet to detail the specs of its newly unveiled devices but has shared some renders that can be seen in the gallery below and show that its move to 18:9 screens didn’t lead to a significant reduction in bezel size, though the Alcatel 3V and Alcatel 5 boast edge-to-edge panels. The former is also equipped with a dual-camera setup entailing two vertically arranged sensors accompanied by an LED flash on its back panel, whereas the latter has a two-lens imaging system on its top bezel. All three are equipped with circular fingerprint scanners mounted on their rear plates and lack a physical Home button despite having the space to accommodate it. The company says its Alcatel 5 lineup is meant to compete in the “affordable premium” segment and should be able to take on its flagship-quality peers at a much lower price point. Based on a recently spotted UAProf listing, the Alcatel 5 will sport the MediaTek MT6750, a mid-range chip that’s already been commercialized by the likes of the LG X Power 2, Honor V9 Play, and the ASUS ZenFone 3S Max, being somewhat comparable to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 625. Unlike the Alcatel 5 and Alcatel 3V, the Alcatel 1X will feature a conventional 16:9 display and is the most affordable model of the trio.
No specific availability windows have yet been attached to any of the newly announced devices which are also yet to receive firm price tags. Alcatel said more details about the products will be announced in late February at this year’s iteration of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Based on the phone maker’s previously employed product practices, its latest Android offerings are likely to be released on a global level come spring.
