TCL has both the Alcatel and Blackberry smartphone brands. At the show, the emphasis was on the Alcatel brand and there are there were three low end smartphone ranges introduced at the event, the 5 series, 3 series or 1 series. Each of the new ranges uses an 18:9 IPS LCD display.
The Alcatel 5 is available now. Image:Meko
The highest level is the 5 series which has a 5.7″ 1440 x 720 display and with a number of special features for photography including an auto switch to the wide angle mode where more than one person is seen in a picture. The 5 is based on a Mediatek MT6750 octacore processor with 2GB/16GB or 3GB/32GB. The camera is a 12 mp unit and the selfie unit has dual 13mp and 5mp sensors. Pricing will be €300 and the 5 is available now. The 3 and 1 series will be available from April.
The Alcatel 3x has an 18:9 display. Image:Meko
The 3 Series has four versions, the 3, 3c, 3x and the 3v. The 3 and 3x have 1440 x 720 displays in 5.5″ and 5.7″ diagonals with pricing at €150 and €180, respectively. The 3v and 3c have 6″ displays, with the 3c at the same resolution as the 3 and 3x, while the 3v goes up to 2160 x 1080 format. The 3v will cost €190. The 3 and 3x processor is a Mediatek MT6739 and the rear camera is 13mp, the front at 5mp, for the 3 and a dual main camera on the 3v. RAM is 2GB/3GB and storage is from 16GB to 32GB. The 3v has a dual rear camera with a 12mp and 2mp device, and 5mp for selfies. It uses the Mediatek MT8735A.
The 3c is based on the MT8321 with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage.
The 1 series is the first 18:9 smartphone from a major brand at (just) less than €100. The display is a 5.3″ unit with HD and the rear camera is a 16 mp unit.
The Alcatel 1T 10 and Alcatel 1T 7 are new compact tablets that run Android 8.1 (Oreo). The 1T 10 has a 10.1″ IPS display with 800 x 1280 resolution and uses a Mediatek MT8321 processor with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. It has two 5mp cameras. The battery has a capacity of 4,000 mAh. There is an optional dedicated wireless keyboard. The tablet costs €100.
The 1T 7 has a 7″ display with 600 x 1024 and with the same processor and just 8GB of storage. The battery is a 2580 mAh version and it has a 5mp and a 2mp camera. The 1T is very good value at €70.
There were no new Blackberry smartphones, with the Blackberry Motion, which was launched in October, as the most recent unit. Many expected a new version of the KeyOne, which has a touch sensitive keyboard. The company’s executives are quoted as saying they are happy with sales, but IDC data quoted by the Verge suggests that the total of all Blackberry phones last year was just 850K. The company said last month that there will be a dual SIM version of the KeyOne with a new colour, will ship later this year.
An interesting comment from the Verge interview is that TCL still finds resistance from those that don’t understand that the Blackberry OS is no more, the phones now use Android, so there are now lots of apps, which was not the case before.
The Blackberry Motion is the most recent new smartphone. Image:Meko
