Alcatel continues to aggressively chase the lower end mobile market in Australia with high-quality budget-friendly devices this time bringing two ‘U’ series handsets to Australia through Vodafone.
The U3 and U5 are the latest handsets to land, with the U5 available through Vodafone now for $99, while the U3 will be hitting Vodafone in August for just $79. The budget focused devices are still well designed and packed with features says David Vieira, Product and Marketing Director, Alcatel Mobile:
We are passionate about delivering well-designed, feature-rich phones that don’t break the bank, especially when purchasing your very first phone. With the launch of the U3 and U5, we are continuing our mission to make smartphone technology more affordable, accessible, and fun for young Australians.
The U3 and U5 are affordable 4G Smartphones aimed at the first time smartphone owner. They come with a ‘simple mode’ that allows for easy navigation on the Android 6.0 (Marshmallow).
Both phones have a front facing cameras that include an LED flash to capture the selfie taking trend. Alcatel also bundles application Face Show with the U series, which allows users to create ‘share-worthy animations, and organise their shots in the handy Selfie Album’.
U3
When it arrives next month, the entry level U3 will hit the market running. The phone has a 4″ 800×480 resolution display powered by a 1.1 GHz Quad core Mediatek processor, 1GB RAM and 8GB of on-board storage (which can be expanded with a microSD card) the phone fits well into its price range.
The U3 includes a 5MP rear camera with LED Flash and a 1.3MP front camera with LED Flash. It’s not going to win awards, but you could get some interesting effects with the Face Show app.
The phone has a slightly smaller 1,680 mAh battery, but with the smaller, lower resolution screen it could be fine for all day usage by a casual smartphone buyer.
U5
The U5 has a slightly larger 5″ 480×854 resolution display, and is powered by the same Mediatek MT6737M Soc, 1GB RAM and 8GB storage (with microSD card slto) as the U3. The U5 also has the same 5MP rear camera as the U3, but gets a slightly better camera setup though going up to a 2MP camera.
The battery also sees a bump to 2050mAh which again if used sparingly, could give you a decent battery life.
The U5 also comes with a “Simple Mode” allowing the first-time smartphone user to easily navigate and use their phone to its capability. Once again the phone comes with Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
Wrap
The Alcatel U3 will be available in Cocoa Grey when it hits Vodafone next month for $79, while the U4 is available from Vodafone now in Grey for $99. Head in to your local Vodafone store to check one out.
