Alcatel 1S: Features | Pricing | Specs

Where to buy

The Alcatel name might not carry the same cachet as Samsung or Apple, but the lesser-known brand has carved out a strong space for itself in the budget smartphone space. Its phones attempt to blend stylish designs with capable hardware and an affordable price tag, often to good results.

This looks to hold true with Alcatel's latest wallet-friendly smartphone, the Alcatel 1S. As the most budget-conscious handset Alcatel announced at MWC 2019, the 1S is aimed at folks wanting modern amenities like a large screen and a dual-lens camera at a price that won't break the bank.

Design

• 5.5-inch 18:9 screen
• Brushed metallic finish

• Read our full overview of the Alcatel 1S' design

  Alcatel does a good job of making its budget smartphones look a lot more expensive than they actually are. The Alcatel 1S continues this trend, featuring a sleek metallic finish and smooth curves that bely the device's affordable origins.

  Its screen, too, is quite decent for a low-cost phone, measuring in at 5.5 inches with a widescreen aspect ratio of 18:9. Resolution clocks in at 720 x 1,440 which is a little low for a phone of this size at this pricing tier. It's not enough to qualify as full HD. That's going to be most noticeable when watching 1080p movies or viewing HD images.

  The Alcatel 1S offers a solid range of other modern smartphone amenities, too. There's a fingerprint sensor on the back for locking and unlocking the device, or you can use Alcatel's Face Key system to unlock the 1S simply by looking into the front camera. There's a pretty big caveat here, though, as Face Key uses simple 2D image-recognition techniques to detect your face. This is far less secure than 3D facial recognition systems like Apple's FaceID and can even be less secure than a standard PIN.

  Like most Android smartphones, the Alcatel 1S features both internal storage and support for external storage. 32GB is built into the device, with the ability to expand that by as much as 128GB with a microSD card.

  On the software front, the Alcatel 1S runs on Android 9.0 ("Pie").

Camera

• Dual-lens 13MP/2MP rear-facing camera
• 5MP camera for all your selfies

• Read our full overview of the Alcatel 1S' camera

  Functional is the word to describe the camera set-up on the Alcatel 1S. At the back, you'll find a dual-camera array combining a 13MP f/2.0 standard lens with a 2MP f/2.8 depth-of-field lens. While nothing spectacular, this combination should suffice for snapping social media shots and documenting your daily adventures.

  The same can be said of the 1S' front-facing selfie camera. At a resolution of 5MP, it's not going to turn you into an instant Instagram celebrity, but it should still be enough to capture your good side without too much effort.

  Beyond the hardware itself, the Alcatel 1S offers additional camera functionality through its "Beautification" mode, which applies a range of image-processing techniques to enhance the quality of your photos.

  Additionally, both the 1S' front and rear cameras benefit from interpolation, an image-processing technique that increases the resolution of photos by inserting extra pixels into the image. Interpolation can have mixed results, though in general it produces a slightly sharper image than an equivalent non-interpolated camera. For the 1S, Alcatel claims its 13MP interpolated camera delivers quality on par with a standard 16MP camera, while its 5MP interpolated camera reportedly matches 8MP.

Performance

• UNISOC processor is designed for efficiency, not raw power
• 3GB of RAM is decent for a budget phone

• Read our full overview of the Alcatel 1S' performance

  While Qualcomm's Snapdragon processors are popular among high-end Android smartphones, budget handsets tend to go with cheaper, more power-efficient CPUs from companies like Mediatek.

  For the 1S, Alcatel has decided to branch out and integrate the SC9863 chip from UNISOC, a lesser-known company in the mobile platform market. As such, it's unclear exactly how the 1S will stack up against the competition. Given the SC9863 features an 8-core CPU (4 1.6GHz cores and 4 1.2GHz cores), though, it's likely to deliver performance in the same ballpark as the MediaTek MT6750, a processor that powers phones like the LG Q7 and the Oppo F1s.

  Combined with 3GB of RAM, this should give the Alcatel 1S sufficient grunt to handle standard smartphone tasks like browsing the web and watching videos, though performance will likely take a hit when multi-tasking or playing 3D games.

Battery

• 3,060mAh battery
• Up to 24 hours of talk time, according to Alcatel

• Read our full overview of the Alcatel 1S' battery

  At 5.5 inches, the Alcatel 1S has room for quite a sizeable battery. That's exactly what you get here, with Alcatel cramming a stout 3,060mAh battery into the 1S' slender frame. 3,060mAh is a decent number, especially when paired with the 1S' low-power processor. Alcatel claims this combination can deliver up to 24 hours of talk time on 3G or 4G, as well as up to 600 hours when left on standby.

  The catch here is that the Alcatel 1S doesn't support any form of fast-charging. Instead, you'll have to wait an estimated 3 hours and 18 minutes for the 1S to charge from dead to full, so you'll probably want to leave it charging overnight to avoid extended downtime during the day.

Pricing and availability

• Price: RRP $199
• Where to buy: Amazon Australia | eBay | JB Hi-Fi

Alcatel 1S specs

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