ALCATEL OneTouch Idol 3 Global GSM Unlocked 4G LTE Smartphone, 4.7 HD IPS Display, 16GB - Gray

Though it's only been 24 hours, I am super impressed by the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 4.7 inch smartphone (name is terrible though). This is a great time for affordable, mid-range, unlocked, no-contract smartphones. This phone slots in between the two models of the 3rd generation Moto G. Other than the RAM (1.5 GB vs 2 GB), it's very similar in specs to the more expensive Moto G model but at the price of the less expensive Moto G model (for now). I bought the Alcatel instead of the Moto G because it has a smaller, sleeker design (4.7 inch vs 5.0 inch screen and half as thin) and terrific front-facing stereo speakers. The screen is sharp and the speakers are very loud! The Idol 4.7 looks similar to the old Google Nexus 4, which I owned, but slimmer and sleeker (and more plasticy). It's a little smaller than an iPhone 6 despite having the same screen size, and about as thin. The Moto G has much more durable build and is waterproof, and I suspect, better support. Both the Alcatel and the Moto G make great backup or travel phones, and also starter smartphones for teens. They can also be very solid everyday phones for most consumers. As the wireless companies move away from contracts and subsidizing phones, I wonder whether more folks will start moving to some of the mid-range phones. Many folks have been paying $600-800 every two years for new phones without really knowing it. Perhaps Apple will be safe with its high-end clientele--at least for now--but companies like Samsung are very vulnerable. These $200 phones are more than good enough for the typical user--with performance comparable to the flagship phones from two years ago. I worry a bit about durability given the materials it's made out of. I should probably buy a case, but the phone is so sleek and attractive that I kind of don't want to put one on. Five stars for the amazing value! The Quality to price ratio for this phone is terrific.

Update: I just updated my 5 star (!!) review to a 1 star.... This used to be a great phone for a great price (see all the nice details below). Until about a year ago. Then, Alcatel got greedy and started pushing "updates" for individual applications and the entire OS, which turns the normal benign applications like launcher, file manager and calendar, into annoying malware which keep spewing ads, notifications, and installing random applications you don't want. And that's just on the surface - I'm suspecting there's more evil stuff going on that I am not aware of. Stay away from this phone like the plague. You can't imagine how sad I am - I liked this phone so much that I actually bought 5 of them for my whole family, and thought my next phone will be a newer model of Alcatel Idol. Obviously, no longer.=======I'm really happy with this phone. It is packed to the brim with features, has a very modern Android (it updated to 6.0 right after I unpacked it and connected it), has tons of storage space (I added an 32 GB SD card, so I now have about 45 GB of free space to store applications and data - thank's to Android 6's "emulated storage" built-in feature). It looks beautiful, has the perfect size (4.7" is not too small, but also not too large), and the speakers sound great. People are genuinely impressed when I show them my new phone, and even more so when I tell them how little I paid for it - this is definitely NOT one of the crappy half-functioning super-cheap phones - this phone is a rare combination of being great and cheap.

As of late I've been on something of a "phone journey". I first purchased an Idol 3 5.5", but the phone was just too darn big to be practical (at least for me). I returned it, and then picked up the new Moto G 2015 (which I also did a review on). It was an excellent phone, but in the end I discovered it was missing some key features that I really needed in a daily driver device.First, the Moto G was missing a notification LED. Sure, some of you may think "who cares, it has Moto display", but there are times where this just isn't optimal. When the phone was on my desk and I happened to miss a notification (which normally flashed 3 times, but sometimes just once, probably bugged), to find out I even had one I had to either 1.) reach across the desk and wave my hand over the device, 2.) pick it up which would activate the screen (which didn't always work, either), or 3.) physically hit the power button. A notification LED eliminates the need for all of that fuss. That light is going to blink until I check/clear my notifications, for me this is PERFECT!Moto G is also missing a gyroscope. Not overly important to me (most of the time), but this is useful for things such as 360 degree YouTube videos, certain games, etc. Another win for Alcatel!Moto G doesn't include a magnetometer. Wanna use a compass app on the Moto G? Too bad, so sad. Alcatel 3 - Motorola 0.No NFC on the Moto G. Wanna pay using Android Pay in the future? Well, you can't do that with the Moto G! Idol 3 strikes again!Only 8GB internal storage on the similarly priced Moto G. What's that? You want 16GB for 179.99? Don't worry, Alcatel has you covered.Moto G only offers 1GB RAM on the 179.99 model. While 1GB is "sufficient" with careful usage, I'll gladly take 1.5GB for the same price, thanks Idol 3!The screen. While their resolutions are the same (1280 x 720), the Idol 3 4.7" sports a 312 PPI pixel density, while the Moto G only comes in at 294. More pixels? More clarity? Yup! I'll take it!Dual front facing speakers with JBL sound? They sound absolutely amazing. The Moto G at least had the decency to have its only speaker on the front, but there is zero contest here. These speakers sound just as good as the ones from the 5.5" Idol 3!While there are more positives, I just wanted to lay out the comparisons between the Idol 3 4.7" and the Moto G 2015 1GB model, as these are the most often compared devices. In my honest opinion, there is zero contest between the two and I feel that Alcatel did an amazing job on this device. At first I was a bit leery of the 1.2Ghz Quad Core CPU, but I've had zero issues with lollipop and everything is buttery smooth! I fully recommend this to anyone, as it is well worth the price of admission!