TCL divided up its stand between the Alcatel products and the BlackBerry area.
We started by looking at the Alcatel area and the first new product was the Idol 4 Pro. However, a bit of checking and we found that this is just the European release of the Idol 4S, but with a different name. The 4 Pro is a Windows phone and has a 5.5″ FullHD IPS display. At the show, Alcatel was showing how the smartphone could be used with a keyboard and monitor to run Windows applications.
Alcatel’s Idol 4 Pro is a Windows phone that can use a monitor. Image:Meko
A genuinely new product is the Alcatel A5 LED which is a 5.2″ 720 x 1280 IPS LCD using a Mediatek MT6753 and with 2GB of RAM and an 8MP camera. This is a mid-range device, but an unusual feature is an ‘LED’ back that can be fitted and has an array (9 x 4) of coloured LEDs that light up for notifications or when music is playing or with preset patterns. Alternatively, an extra battery or a speaker/kickstand combo.
Alcatel’s A5 LED has a coloured LED module on the back. Image:Meko
We reported on the Plus 10 2-in-1 Windows PC that was shown at IFA and CES, but at MWC, there was a new version, the Plus 12 which has an Intel Celeron n3350 processor and runs Windows 10. It has an 11.6″ FullHD IPS display with 10 point touch. Memory is 4GB and storage 64GB of storage (up to 128GB via microSD) There is a 6900mAh battery in the tablet and a further 2580mAh unit in the keyboard. The device is very light, at 599gms (tablet only) and the unit has a Type-C connector and a microHDMI for displays. The tablet has a 4G radio in the keyboard for mobile broadband.
BlackBerry Phone Has a Keyboard
A separate part of the booth was dedicated to BlackBerry products and TCL has appealed to those that appreciate a physical keyboard. The new KeyOne has a QWERTY keyboard that is also touch sensitive so can be used as a touchpad for swiping, etc. To keep the phone to a reasonable size, the display is just a 4.5″ IPS LCD unit with 1080 x 1620 resolution (443 ppi) and is fitted with Gorilla Glass 4. The system runs Android v7.1 on a Snapdragon 625 with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. The primary camera is a 12MP unit, with an 8MP secondary unit and the battery is a 3505mAh unit. The phone, which has a number of BlackBerry security features, will ship in April.
