The Alcatel Pixi 3 4.5 Smartphone is an entry-level smartphone that was released back in May of 2015. It was actually announced about a couple of months prior to the final launch in January of that same year. The Alcatel Pixi 3 4.5 has a 4.5 inch sized screen, when measured diagonally. It is designed to work on GSM, HSPA and LTE networks. That being said, although it’s an entry-level phone it can be considered a world phone because of the number of networks that it is compatible with which in my mind is an added bonus.
So, who would this phone be recommended for? What is a target market? To be honest I think that this phone would be perfect for kids, teenagers, students, blue collar workers or pretty much anyone who just needs a simple basic phone that also has access to the hundreds of thousands of compatible Android apps from the Android store.
So let’s look at some of the key features of this cute new phone. For starters, it does have a cute name “Pixi”. Looking at the 4.5 inch screen in a bit more detail, the touch screen technology is capacitive and it can display up to 16 million colors on the screen. The Alcatel Pixi 3 has a screen resolution of 480 x 854 pixels which equates to a pixel density – commonly known as PPI or pixels per inch – of 218.
More on the screen’s capabilities, it does support multi-touch, meaning that you can use up to 2 fingers at the same time while browsing the web or using your applications. From an operating systems perspective it comes with is Android KitKat which is version 4.4.2.
Okay enough about the screen, let’s look at the guts of this thing. The Alcatel Pixi 3 4.5 comes in two flavors: a 3G and 4G model. Now although this is an entry-level phone it does have its own GPU (graphics processing unit) which is the mali-400 chipset. Therefore playing most of the moderately graphic intensive games downloaded from the Google Play Store on this phone should be an easy task.
The main processing engine of this phone, in other words, the CPU, is a dual-core, 1.0 gigahertz, Cortex A7 which is available in the 3G model. However if you have more cash to squander you could splurge for the quad core 4G model, which has a 1.1 gigahertz Cortex A53 processor.
One of the great features of this phone is the fact that the memory can be upgraded via the microSD card slot which can accommodate memory cards up to a maximum capacity of 32 gigabytes. The Alcatel Pixi 3 4.5 smartphone also comes with 4 gigabytes of onboard memory as well as 512 megabytes of RAM.
From a dimensions perspective the Alcatel Pixi 3 4.5 weighs a mere 125 grams and is 5.2 inches long, 2.56 inches wide and about 0.39 inches thick.
From a wireless connectivity perspective, the Alcatel Pixi 3 4.5 does support Wi-Fi 802.11 b,g and n modes. There is also Bluetooth support and GPS capabilities come with the device as well. So you can use Google Maps on your phone when trying to find the nearest drug store or McDonald’s when you have a hankering for that greasy burger and strawberry milkshake.
In my personal opinion I think that the biggest differentiator that this phone has when compared to the plethora of other phones out there in the market is the fact that it does have a built-in FM radio. One point to note though is that you would have to listen to the radio application via a set of wired headphones or ear buds since the headphone cable will act as an antenna.
There is a rear-facing camera that gives you decent quality 8 megapixel photos, and for you guys who love taking selfies and being on video calls there is also a front facing camera that can give you up to five megapixels. Not bad for an entry-level phone.
The 3G version supports 480p video at 15 frames per second and the 4G model can give you up to 720p quality video.
The Alcatel Pixi 3 4.5 smartphone does come with a removable lithium-ion battery rated at 1400 mAh which is available in the 3G model. The 4G model comes with a larger battery rated at 1780 mAh designed to give the phone more juice to transmit and receive on the faster 4G LTE wireless networks. Alcatel claims that you can get up to 480 hours of standby time on a 2G network and up to 300 hours of standby time on a 3G network. They also claim that you can get about 9 hours and 30 minutes of talk time on 3G Networks.
So in summary some of the pros are:
- It is a relatively cheap phone, retailing for under $100
- It also comes with a pretty decent Android OS (KitKat) which gives you access to the hundreds of thousands of apps on the Google Play Store.
- You also get a dual-core processor which is pretty powerful on the 3G model and a quad-core processor on the 4G model which is pretty good for an entry-level phone.
Some minor cons are:
- The only thing I can think of is the phone’s aesthetics. For an entry-level phone it feels like cheap plastic when held in the hand. But then what would you expect for a sub $100 phone?
All in all it’s a pretty decent entry-level phone that I would recommend for anyone who needs a cheap smartphone.