Alcatel (the brand used by TCL for its smartphones) used CES to launch three new devices, the 5, 3 and 1 series in the premium, mid-range and entry level segments, respectively, all use 18:9 displays which are reported to have been sourced from TCL subsidiary CSOT in China. The 3C, which was announced before CES, also has an 18:9 720 x 1440 IPS LCD and is based on a Mediatek MT8321 with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. It is expected to cost around $150 when it launches in Q1. The 1X, 3V and 5 were previewed as prototypes in Las Vegas. The 1X is expected to be less than $100 even though it should include a fingerprint sensor. The 3V is a bit bigger and has a dual back camera and should be less than $200. The 5 should be under $300, even though it has dual front cameras as well, including a wide angle lens and the company expects to release more details at MWC.
Alcatel’s 2018 range will all have 18:9 aspect
Cat, the Caterpillar brand, was showing its new S31 and S41 rugged smartphones which have, respectively a 4.7″ 1280 x 720 IPS LCD and a 5″ FullHD display. The S31 has Gorilla Glass 3 and the S41, Gorilla Glass 5, with touch which works with wet fingers and gloves and both are described as ‘SuperBright’, but with no specifications. . Cat surveyed users and found that battery was the key issue, so the phones have 4000 mAh and 5,000 mAh respectively, which gives the S41 a standby life that is claimed at 44 days! One of the features is that Cat phones can charge each other and there is a new app to allow finer control of this feature. The S41 phone is rated to survive 2m under water for 60 minutes.
The S41 uses a Mediatek P2- MT6757 octacore processor running at 2.3GHz and with 3GB/32GB of memory. The S31 uses an MSM8909 quad core processor with 2GB/16GB of storage.
Pricing is $329 and $449.
Cat’s S41 Smartphone has a bigger battery. Image:Meko
Huawei used the CES event to launch the Mate 10 Pro and View 10 phones in the US. The Mate 10 Pro was launched in other markets in 2017 (Huawei Mate 10 Uses LCD, Mate 10 Pro uses OLED) The company will take pre-orders from 4th Feb and shipping will start on 18th Feb at $799. The View 10 will be sold under the Honor brand and has a 5.99″ 18:9 1080 x 2160 18:9 IPS LTPS LCD and uses a Kirin 970 from Huawei subsidiary, Hisilicon. Memory is 4GB or 6GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of Flash memory. The main camera is a 16 megapixel + 20 megapixel with f1.8 and the secondary is a 12 megapixel unit. Connections are via USB Type-C and there is a non-removable 3750 mAh unit. The phone will cost $499.
Huawei will sell the View 10 under the Honor brand. Image:Meko
ZTE was on the show floor at evening events with its folding dual-screen Axon M phone which was being launched in the US and will be available in Europe later this year. (ZTE Adds Dual Screen Phone) . Staff showed us how different apps could run in single, double or shared screen modes, depending on the software support for the different modes. The dual screen mode, for multi-tasking, seems quite useful to us. The phone, however is quite thick as the additional display also means a need for more battery power, we think.
When folded, the ZTE Axon M dual screen phone is quite thick. The dual app mode looks quite useful to us. Image:Meko
