Alcatel Idol 4 Smartphone with VR Support to Launch in India for Rs. 16,999

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Alcatel is a well-known brand in the Western markets for its affordable smartphones. However, it is part of the Chinese smartphone manufacturer TCL which also manufactures Blackberry smartphones like DTEK 50 and DTEK 60. The DTEK 50 is actually the rebranded variant of the Idol 4 smartphone. While Blackberry is selling the DTEK 50 for Rs. 21,990 in India, now the Alcatel Idol 4 with the same specifications will be launched here in India for Rs. 16,999. The company also sent out press invites for the launch of its Idol 4 smartphone on December 8th in New Delhi, India. The USP of the device is its Virtual Reality (VR) support; the company came with a unique idea where it used the VR headset for packaging the smartphone and its accessories.

It sports a metal frame featuring glass on front and back of the device. Just like any glossy finish smartphone, the Idol 4 also catches lots of fingerprints. Apart from the power button and volume rocker, there is one more physical button called as ‘Boom Key.’ It can be customized to create shortcuts for apps or doing certain tasks with a different number of clicks. This can also be used as the panic button which Government of India made mandatory on all smartphones. With the recent Oxygen OS update on OnePlus 3, the company added the panic button features which will be activated by pressing the power button thrice. The Idol 4 comes with decent specifications though there are smartphones from other Chinese manufacturers like LeEco Le Max 2 and Lenovo ZUK Z2 Plus which offer even better specifications at slightly higher price.

It sports a 5.2-inch IPS display with Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) resolution and a 2.5D Dragontrail glass protection on top. Under the hood is the Snapdragon 617 octa-core processor clocked at 1.7GHz and coupled with Adreno 405 GPU. While the company has 2GB and 3GB RAM variants, the variant that will be launched in India comes with 3GB of RAM and just 16GB of internal storage. There is also a MicroSD card slot for further expansion of storage. The only disappointing feature is that it comes with a hybrid SIM slot where the user can opt either for a MicroSD card or the secondary SIM but not both. It runs on the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow and offers stock Android experience. The device also comes with front facing stereo speakers that are mentioned to offer a total audio output of 7.2 Watts.

The Idol 4 comes with a 13MP rear camera with f/2.0 aperture and PDAF. For selfies, it is equipped with an 8MP front camera with 84-degree wide angle lens. Both the front and rear cameras are equipped with LED flash for capturing better images even in low light conditions. It is backed by a 2,610mAh nonremovable battery that is rated to deliver 15 hours of talk time and lasts upto 520 hours on standby. Connectivity options include 4G, Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, GPS, OTG, and MicroUSB 2.0 port. It measures 147 x 72.5 x 7.1 mm and weighs just 130 grams. Along with the VR headset, Alcatel is also offering a transparent back case and screen guard for free. The device is already listed on Flipkart and comes in Gold, Metal Silver, and Dark Grey color options. Stay tuned on Phone Radar for more details since the official launch is just two days away.

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