REVIEW: Alcatel (TCL) Flash 2 - an unexpected rival Xiaomi Redmi 3

Alcatel has long been known in Russia thanks to its affordable phones: first the usual push-button devices, and then smartphones. At some point, the products the company has disappeared from the market, but then returned again in the form of Android-smartphone Idol line. Of course, today this is not the Alcatel: the brand was bought out by a Chinese company the TCL, with production which mostly familiar lovers of Chinese technicians and engineers specializing in telecommunications.

Despite this, the company's products have become only better. In the Chinese market, TCL is one of the largest suppliers of smartphones. Today we look at cameraphone Flash 2That is produced for sale in China (and freely sold in online stores), and make sure that the products are for the domestic market exceeds the familiar technique. For a hardware button and run a hidden camera photographing I love this gadget.

Contents of delivery

In a small white box with a logo and a graphic representation of Alcatel Flash 2 are:

• smartphone tray into a bag (to smart tape stuck);
• brand charger;
• USB-cable;
• instruction (including in Russian) and warranty card.

Packaging quality and allows the device to survive the mishaps in the postal journey.

Appearance and ease of use

Alcatel Flash 2 It is available for purchase in two versions: black and white. First, not only looks interesting - it is more practical, because due to the material body on it almost invisible scratches.

The smartphone is compact and fits comfortably in the hand thanks to a small thickness and rounded edges of the back cover. In its upper part there is a protruding camera and two-tone flash.

The surface of the rear panel pleasantly rough without peeling off and not scratched. This plastic, which perfectly holds the warmth of the hands, even in cold weather. Due to the good air gap between the cover and filling, Flash 2 is not heated so much as other Chinese phones on a similar platform.

The cap is removed, it is a non-removable battery, and three slots: two for the microSIM and one for the memory card (supports microSD up to 128 GB).

The front surface of the gadget is almost completely covered by a protective glass Gorilla Glass 3, top and bottom plastic frame is flanked "under the metal." In the upper part there are sensors, speaker, and the camera flash.

At the bottom of the front panel are touch buttons. With backlight OFF is visible only the central button marked in green circle. With light visible all three "Back", "Menu", "The list of open applications."

The screen is also protected by a small glass bumpers, so for the safety of the display, you can not worry about.

On the left side of the device there are no controls, they are compactly located on the right. Placed on top of the power button immediately under it - the volume keys. Below is a hardware button to start the camera (occurring in only a few smart phones), of which more later describe.

At the top there is a jack connector and another microphone used for noise reduction during conversations.

At the bottom end is offset to the left slot microUSB. Next to him - Elementary microphone.

Build quality Flash 2, the lid sits very tightly, removed from the stress and decent bend, so it is not often open the device is recommended. Backlash and squeaks found.

Characteristics

Screen

Alcatel Flash 2 equipped with a 5-inch HD-TV of 1280 × 720. The display has no air gap between the protective glass and the screen (OGS). The touch screen supports 5 touches. Claimed viewing angle - 178 degrees. Color inversion is not seen, the brightness remains within the normal range. Pixels are practically invisible.

Present MiraVision technology support, which, by analyzing the brightness and saturation of images and light conditions, exhibits optimum intensity of the backlight.

Hardware platform and performance

Gadget performance basis is 64-bit processor MediaTek MT6753. It has 8 cores Cortex-A53 at 1.3 GHz. Video Accelerator - Mali 720.

RAM - 2 GB (LPDDR3), available to the user 1400 MB. Volatile memory - 16 GB, while the storage remains only 11 GB, the rest of the volume occupied by system files. microSD card slot allows for memory expansion cards up to 128 GB.

Synthetic test results show sufficient performance. Popular games such as World of Tanks and the Asphalt, run without lag.

Communication and wireless interfaces

User 2 slots available for microSIM, both support 3G / 4G. Wi-Fi can be operated even in a couple of concrete walls.

Supports only GPS, GLONASS support is missing. Cold start in open terrain - 5.10 seconds in the room - up to 20 seconds.

Photo and video

According to the manufacturer, the photo - is exactly what is Flash 2. And not without reason. Although smart relates to low-end segment, the basic module is equipped with a matrix 13 Mn with Samsung S5K3M2 ISOCELL sensor. When installing third party applications camera takes pictures with a resolution of up to 5632 × 4224. The aperture of the camera is also very decent for a budget device - f / 2.0. Width angle - 80 degrees. In the optical part of the main camera lens 5 is used and a blue filter. The flash is two-tone, warm and cold tones.

Shooting takes place using the standard Android-application. Present phase autofocus claimed focusing time - 0.3 seconds (focusing virtually instantaneous). Implemented the tracking focus function (allows you to lock focus on the subject and recompose the shot by moving the phone), taymlaps-shooting and creating two-dimensional and three-dimensional panoramas.

With shooting quality can be found in the pictures below. For the Chinese budget-more than good. In addition, the hardware camera button allows you to shoot not only when on the screen: double-click launches the camera app from the lock screen.

The front camera is equipped with a 5 megapixel sensor on. There are light, auto focus, shooting function on a smile.

When shooting video autofocus works, noise is practically absent. You can put the video on pause, change the scene and continue shooting. Maximum resolution in the standard application - 1080p, 30 fps.

Sound

The main speaker is quite loud and you can hear an incoming call in a noisy public transport. Speakerphone does not distort the voice of the caller.

When calling using a standard speaker volume is high enough, there is no distortion. Callers to interference or poor audibility not complain.

The sound quality of the headphones is standard, as with all devices on MediaTek, but certainly better than the older smartphones.

Software

The operating system Alcatel Flash 2 uses the standard Android 5.1 Lollipop without any add-ons. A set of pre-installed applications is minimal, but it's for the best.

Working hours

The Alcatel Flash 2 is non-removable battery capacity of 3000 mAh. Charging current of 1 A. Charging time - about 4 hours. Due to quality optimization system charge is enough for a full day of work, with an average activity. When viewing video mode "in plane" and when the average luminance working time is about 10 hours. play an hour in World of Tanks takes up about 20-25% of the charge.

With the ever-enabled wireless interfaces (all at once) battery is stable enough for 2 hours of music playback, Half an hour of calls, 2:00 correspondence messengers, and surf the Web - all this can stretch the 10 hours of the day and go home with a 5-10% charge.

conclusions

Alcatel Flash 2 was one of the best budget gadgets on the market. The device is devoid of many of the disadvantages of devices costing up to $ 200: it has a good camera with a fast focus, quality build, user-friendly format. Not superfluous and would be a separate memory card slot, which is lacking in many of the more expensive models. The presence of a hardware button for shooting photos at all unusual for these gadgets.

Adds pros Flash 2 and excellent autonomy, comparable to stand-alone devices with more capacious battery, such as Xiaomi Redmi 3. In this case, the smartphone from TCL (Alcatel) is significantly cheaper for Russian consumers. At the moment, its value does not exceed $ 120While the popular budget smartphone by Xiaomi is still worth at least $ 135 in a minimum configuration. In addition, in Russia there are official services, Alcatel serving device.