Review: Alcatel 5- The Budget Phone that will surprise you.

 Available from Argos for £179.95

With Christmas coming up you might be looking for a new phone one to consider is the mid-range Alcatel 5. The Alcatel 5 is an affordable and easy to use phone that does not have the special features something like an S9 or iPhone X does but for £179 are you expecting that.  I think Alcatel have done well in creating a budget handset.

The Alcatel 5 has a 5.7-inch screen with a 3GB of RAM and a MediaTek MT6750 chipset.  It also has a single 12 Megapixel lens on the back and a 13 Megapixel dual-lens on the front.

Here the Specs of the Phone in more detail:

Weight: 144g
Dimensions: 152.3 x 71.1 x 8.4mm
OS: Android 7.1
Screen size: 5.7-inch
Resolution: 720 x 1440
CPU: MediaTek MT6750
RAM: 2/3GB
Storage: 16/32GB + microSD
Battery: 3,000mAh
Rear camera: 12MP
Front camera: 13MP + 5MP

Now as you can see the specs on this phone does not blow you away but as it’s in the lower cost bracket the specs are not the worst we have seen. As for the design of the phone, I like it very stylish and it has everything you come to expect like USB-C and does not look like a little knock and it will fall apart.  It also has a chrome top and bottom and the back of the phone although plastic does not look cheap. 

The main selling point in terms of design on the Alcatel 5 is the screen size 5.7 inch, 18:9 and it’s hard to argue it’s an impressive addition as it makes everything look vibrant.   Something clever I did notice is the camera will automatically switch to a wider lens when you have a lot of people in the picture/selfie.

Also in regards to the design your notice nothing on the left side apart from the sim-tray its the right-hand side you have both the power and volume control so taking a screenshot is a lot more simple to do. On the bottom of the phone, you have the USB-C port and 2 speaker grilles making the look of the phone look classy.

As for the camera, it’s not a bad performance for the price remember the phone only £179 so you need to keep this in mind.  The back 12-megapixel camera does the job and comes with a decent level of accuracy. The rear camera has the bonus of HDR Mode but it’s only worth using for wide shots. As for both camera taking low light images is where this phone just can’t handle it but as I have said before this is a budget phone not something like a Pixel 3 or OnePlus 6T.

We used this phone to watch a film and listen to music the standard things most of use our phones for and firing up the apps work fine and the viewing quality on the screen is great.  Audio quality could be better but with most us using wireless headphones or speakers, this is not something that concerns me. The only thing is to have a powerbank with you on the move as the battery does go fast.

The negatives when it comes to this phone are things like the phone not waterproof and the face unlock is very basic. Also with only 16GB of storage, it’s not loads but if you buy a MicroSD Card you can increase that so not a major issue but does come with an extra cost.

Another negative has to be the battery if you are considering playing games this is not the phone for you which is odd considering the battery is 3,000mAh but for everyday use, this is a good option, however, keep a charger nearby as it does lose power quick compared to others in the price range.

Overall for a phone with this price range, it’s not bad you get a great design as well and a decent camera and interface you can’t really ask for much more. If Alcatel wants to step up with this phone then need to improve the battery as I feel it affects the performance of the handset. However, if you use the phone for its intended use some calls, texts and a little web browsing you get on well with this phone. So if your looking for a budget phone the Alcatel 5 has to be considered at £179.

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