Last year, the local mobile brands dominated the bang per buck smartphones under the Php10K price range. Early this year, international brands stepped up, challenged and even managed to beat our homegrown brands (in terms of affordability: price x specs) with the released of extremely budget-friendly mid-ranged devices such as the Meizu M1 Note, Lenovo K3 Note, Lenovo A7000 and etc. Last March 2015, Alcatel dropped the bomb and surprised everyone (including their competitors who seemed to be left off guard) with the announcement of the much talked about budget camera super phone called Alcatel Flash Plus which costs PHP 6490 only! And yes, you've read the price right! I'm really excited to share with you my thoughts about this very promising handset. Fortunately, we were able to secure a unit. Special thanks to Lazada! :)
For those who are not aware of its specs yet, the handset packs a 5.5 HD display, Dragontrail Glass protection, MeditaTek MT6752 processor, Mali T760 GPU, 2 GB of RAM, 16 / 32 GB of expandable internal storage, Dual LTE Connectivity, 13 MP of Sony IMX214, 8 MP selfie camera, 3,500 mAh battery and Android 4.4.4 Kitkat that's update-able to Lollipop.
What's in the box?
The most exciting part is... UNBOXING! :) The handset comes with the usual accessories:
Build Quality
The Alcatel Flash Plus has a simple design and is made of out plastic, with curved edges and flat rear. For me, the design is a little bit old school and generic which reminds me somehow of the old Samsung models. It may seem flimsy to hold at first but it's still solid compared to other local plastic phones. The front panel is equipped with Dragontrail Glass with navigation buttons at the bottom. One down side of this phone is its physical capacitive buttons don't light up.
The back of the phone has a slate grey color. Its texture may seem to have a matte finish but it's rather smooth. It is where the slightly protruded camera and speaker are located.
The physical controls (power button and volume rocker) are located on the right side of the Alcatel Flash Plus alongside the SIM 2 slot. You will find the microSD slot and SIM 1 slot on the left side of the handset. Unlike other smartphones, users won't need a SIM ejector to insert and remove their SIM cards and microSD. Just simply open the covers...
The 3.5 mm audio jack and microUSB port can be found on the top and bottom edge of the Alcatel Flash Plus, respectively.
Photo Teaser
Since we dubbed it as a "budget camera super phone", I decided to give you a photo teaser. You'll see more sample shots (using the Alcatel Flash Plus) on our Full Review. Expect us to publish it next week! :)
AnTuTu Benchmark
Tah dah! It scored pretty high at 40185... How can you go wrong with this phone? We'll be testing this handset further. Watch out for our full review.
Specifications
We're not done with our review yet. Watch out for our full review next week! What to expect?
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| Alcatel Flash Plus: A Budget Camera Super Phone | Review Part 1 (Unboxing and Impressions) |
What's in the box?
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| Alcatel Flash Plus and its box |
- Data Cable
- Adapter
- Stock Earphones
- Accessory Pouch
- Warranty Certificate
- Quick Guide
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| Accessory pouch, charger, stock earphones |
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| Warranty certificate and quick guide |
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| Alcatel Flash Plus' Display Panel |
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| Alcatel Flash Plus' Rear |
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| Alcatel Flash Plus' Rear Camera (Closer look the the cam) |
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| Alcatel Flash Plus' Bottom Edge and microUSB Port |
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| Alcatel Flash Plus' Left Edge: SIM 1 and microSD slot |
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| Alcatel Flash Plus' Right Edge showing the volume rocker and power button |
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| Alcatel Flash Plus' Top Edge and 3.5 mm Audio Jack. |
Photo Teaser
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| Photo Teaser |
AnTuTu Benchmark
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| Antutu Score |
Specifications
- Display: 5.5 inches IPS LCD at 720 × 1280 pixels (267 ppi)
- Processor: 1.5 GHz Mediatek MT6752M octa core
- GPU: Mali T760 MP2
- RAM: 2 GB
- ROM: 16 GB expandable via microSD card slot
- Rear Camera: 13 MP Sony IMX214, f/2.0, 1/3.06-inch CMOS sensor, LED flash,
- Front Camera: 8 MP selfie camera, f/2.0
- Battery: 3,500 mAh
- OS: Android 4.4.4 Kitkat update-able to Lollipop
- Connectivity: WiFi, 3G, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS w/ aGPS / Dual-SIM, Dual-LTE, FDD /TD-LTE
- Price: PHP 6,490
We're not done with our review yet. Watch out for our full review next week! What to expect?
- Display
- Rear and front camera shots (different lighting)
- Video sample
- Audio
- Other benchmark
- Gaming
- User interface
- Performance
- and more....
