Alcatel 1C review – At $89 through Telstra it’s basically theft it’s that good

When you look just at the design and construction of the Alcatel 1C you’d be impressed, then you see the price and you’re assuming someone has made a mistake.

This thing is available at Telstra for just $89 for prepaid phone users.  That means it’s locked to Telstra, but who cares – take a look.

The metal body is not just a premium look it’s a premium feel. The curves between the metal edges are a sweet design, and they’ve dropped the camera lens, LED flash and fingerprint in circles one under the other on the back which looks great too!

Out front Alcatel have achieved a large 18:9 ratio screen following the current trend – which looks great, though is still surrounded by a large edge to the phone so it could hardly be described as “full screen” – but lets again remember – it’s $89!

At 5.34 inches the screen is a solid size – resolution isn’t premium at 960×480 but it’s as good as you’ll find sub $100.  On its own in your hand it’s unnoticeably different to anything else, though of course when you set it alongside another smartphone $399 or more it looks washed out and lacking in resolution.  Again – $89.

Front camera is 5MP, rear is 8MP and while it’s there, its not a camera to write home about – though I reckon the shots I took indoors were quite adequate for the price, its when you introduce bright sunlight or dark areas that the results start to degrade.

Battery life is impressive, a full day no doubt, and while it’s a “quad-core” processor it’s hardly snappy – though on the benchmark testing I did, I’d say it’s around iPhone 5 class speeds, at worst iPhone 4S, so again – for most users, you’ll not be complaining.

This is not a phone to “upgrade to” from any previous smartphone other than Alcatel’s own Pixi or some other similar low cost phone.  But as a first smartphone at any age, especially for kids – it’s an outright winner.

Locked to Telstra, it runs on their 3G network and is a simple $89 purchase.  Throw in a prepaid SIM and you’re good to go!

Remember – it’s $89.  That’s right – $89.

Web: Telstra