advertisement
Facebook
X
LinkedIn
WhatsApp
Reddit

Stripped down and smiling, Alcatel’s Pixi 3 is great

Feature phones are terrible.

Is that a bit harsh? Perhaps, but the functionality they offer is very basic and doesn’t give users very much more than the ability to make a few calls, send messages and access very basic mobile websites. Simply put, they are frustrating in their limitations.

We could just declare that everyone should use smartphones, but there’s a big problem with that: smartphones usually cost a lot of money.

And that’s where Alcatel comes in.

Who? you may say. Alcatel hasn’t been the most visible company in the country so you may be forgiven for thinking that, but it’s still very much alive and set for a bit of a revival thanks to a relaunch scheduled to happen later this year.

But before that relaunch is complete, Alcatel is still up and running in the country, and they sent over something special for us to take a look at.

Please welcome, ladies and gentlemen, the Alcatel Pixi 3 (4.5), a smartphone that’s as cheap as a feature phone.

Alcatel Pixi 3 (4.5) Review: Come see the show

Right out of the gate you’ll notice that the Pixi is not just a cheap phone for cheap phones’ sake. For one, the display is really good. mages appear crisp and well-rendered; it’s one of the best cheap phone display’s we’ve yet to see.

Looking closer, we did spot the odd pixel making a dash for the border of an icon and the viewing angles aren’t that great, but this 4.5inch TFT display is better than some TN-based displays we’ve seen, though we won’t dare say it’s on par with IPS panels. That way madness lies.

We've seen displays that are way worse than this before. Nice job Alcatel.
We’ve seen displays that are way worse than this before. Nice job Alcatel.

The overall look of the phone is plain. Audio ports are at the top and the microUSB charger is at the bottom. We would have really liked a more pronounced volume rocker and unlock button but that’s really the only layout problem we have.

Alcatel Pixi 3 (4.5) Review: The prestige

Underneath the surprisingly good display sits a Mediatek MT6572M chipset which runs a dual-core Cortex A7 CPU running at a clock speed of 1GHz, while a Mali 400 chip handles graphics duties.

In all fairness, this phone has low specifications because of its price, and while everyday tasks like messaging and browsing the web are fine, our benchmarking tools pushed the phone beyond its limits.

Our PC Mark benchmarking tool wouldn’t make it past the first test, and while Antutu did complete one run, that’s all it managed.

Does this mean the phone is bad? Well, that all depends on what you want to do with it. For those who want to browse the web, send messages, use IM services and that’s pretty much all, then treat yourself to a Pixi. If you plan on running very demanding games like Injustice, give this one a miss.

For purposes of clarity, Antutu gave us a score of 11 427 which is the lowest score we’ve seen in a very long time. Still, that’s not bad for R899.

Internal storage is tiny at just 4GB. Once the OS is accounted for, that space dips to a little over 2GB. We’ve sung the praises of this handset so far but this is where we need to draw a line.

Keep in mind that this limits the amount of apps you’ll be able to download though thankfully there is a microSD card slot so photos, videos and other content you want to store has a space. Once you’ve bought an SD card, that is.

Connecting the Pixi to the world is a bog-standard 3G module, but when you consider that this will be an upgrade from GPRS for some people, it’s a decent connection that we never had any problems with. There’s also a WiFi module rated at 802.11b/g/n, and of course Bluetooth.

Alcatel Pixi 3 (4.5) Review: No test too tough for this battery

Alcatel has fitted a 1 400mAh removable battery in the Pixi. That doesn’t sound very big but it’s decent enough to play a 480p video on loop, with screen brightness at 100%, WiFi switched on and a headset plugged in for just over four hours. In relative terms this isn’t as good as some batteries we’ve seen. It’s serviceable, but not great.

The Pixi boasts a smaller 1 400mAh battery but it is removable.
The Pixi boasts a smaller 1 400mAh battery but it is at least removable.

The Pixi 3 does have a removable battery, so given its low price you could buy a second phone battery and simply swap them out when one runs out of juice.

Alcatel Pixi 3 (4.5) Review: Lights, Camera, Action!

The cuts continue. At the back of the phone you’ll find an 8MP snapper with autofocus and an LED flash. The results are okay, but just okay.

The images are muddy and aside from the autofocus there is no focus. Trying to get the foreground to look sharper? Nope. Trying to make sure you can see your friends face clearly? Nope. It’s just not a very good camera.

The rather small 8MP primary camera takes photos but they aren’t all that good.

The front snapper is classified as a VGA grade camera, which is worse than the rear camera and won’t be making anybody look to glamorous anytime soon.

Alcatel Pixi 3 (4.5) Review: As we come to the end of our show

So if everything is okay, does that mean this phone is “just okay”? Actually no; in fact for this price, Alcatel has done damn well. You won’t get a premium smartphone experience out of the Pixi but you do get a great smartphone experience. And that’s definitely worth the R899 they’re asking for it.

We can’t help but feel that this handset is going to open more people than ever up to the wonders of technology. And more importantly, the internet.

Thinking about it, the Pixi is the ultimate gateway smartphone to get people online and exploring what possibilities the internet holds, and for that reason alone we recommend buying one for somebody you know that can’t share photos on a social network or access sites like Wikipedia.

We’re pretty sure they’ll love the Pixi 3. We sure did.

 

advertisement

About Author

advertisement

Related News

advertisement