Alcatel One Touch Star 6010D review
Alcatel is mainly known as a manufacturer of simple and cheap prepaid phone calls. The company, now officially Alcatel One Touch, also makes Android smartphones.
The recently announced models are even doing very well with the competition, look good and are also competitively priced. Could this be the recipe for success that everyone is looking for today?
This Alcatel One Touch Star is a nice example. The device looks stylish, is not overly large, inexpensively priced and yet is equipped with modern specifications. Alcatel has even created a special website to emphasize the possibilities; www.alcatelonetouchstar.com. And although you'd suspect that this phone is exclusively for the ladies on the market, this phone especially in this gray color is actually a unisex phone. The biggest competitors for the One Touch Star are the Optimus L5 II Dual by LG and the Samsung Galaxy S Duos.
What's with the device?
The One Touch Star comes in a white oblong box. Inside you will find an in-ear headset with controls, USB cable and a charger. All are individually packaged. Finally, there is a quick start guide with a card with phone numbers of the service department. There is nothing to haggle over on the contents of the box, all supplies are there and look good. We tested the grey version with support for two SIM cards (type number 6010D). There is also a white version which is white on both sides. The white/pink version doesn't seem to be available here. Finally a single SIM version has been announced (the One Touch Star 6010) but that also seems to be unavailable here.
Appearance
The One Touch Star is playfully designed and looks nice and modern. This is partly due to the clever use of materials. For example, the rear (depending on the model) looks like brushed aluminium. Appearances can be deceiving, the whole device is made of plastic. Also the rim around the device resembles aluminium. We really don't blame Alcatel, for that amount of money you shouldn't expect metal. Moreover, the device feels robust and premium enough.
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The screen protrudes slightly as it appears and has a small notch at the top in front of the speaker. There is a notification light with a second camera right next to it for video calling. At the bottom there are three touch-sensitive control buttons; back, home and a button to open the active apps. If you press the latter for a long time, it works as an option button. This can seem a bit confusing here and there. It's a pity that the backlight of the buttons cannot be adjusted and is turned off too quickly in our opinion. The left side offers space for the volume buttons, which itself consists of one long button.
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The right side is button-free. On top is the socket for the headphones with on the other side the snooze and on/off button. On the bottom you will find the microUSB connector to charge the device and connect it to your computer. The small dot on the right is the microphone.
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The backside is a bit convex at the edges and of course accommodates the 5 megapixel camera that is accompanied by a single LED flash. To the left of the camera module is an external loudspeaker that has a nice metal-look grill. Nothing tells you that the One Touch Star is a budget phone. The only exception is the notch at the bottom left to remove the back. It is quite large so you can literally look 'inside' the device. That could have been a bit more subtle.
Once the backside is removed, your eye falls directly on the two existing SIM card slots. One supports 3G in addition to 2G, while the second slot only supports 2G cards. In practice, this means that you can be called on one number and on the second, in addition to calling, you can also use the internet. To change the cards, the battery has to be removed first. This does not apply to the memory card.
Endurance
Inside the unit is a 1,500 mAh battery. That doesn't sound much, but with a screen of 'only' 4 inches it should be enough. However, it is smaller than its big rival the Optimus L5 II Dual; 1,500 mAh versus 1,700 mAh. Fortunately, we find a CPU energy saving mode in the settings menu. This limits CPU performance in order to save battery power. As an additional advantage, it makes the device less hot during operation.
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There is also a separate app called 'Save battery'. This informs the user how to deal with certain settings and what effect this has on battery consumption. There is also a setting to automatically disable certain settings if the battery charge drops below a certain level.
Call quality
There is a function in the device to quickly stop the device in case of an incoming call; simply put it on its screen. We see this function more and more often on smartphones and honestly, it's quite handy.
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When you use a second SIM card in your device, the device will ask you from which SIM you want to make a call. However, you can also use the SIM management program to set whether there is a default SIM and which one it is. You can assign each SIM card its own color so that you can keep them well apart.
Display
The One Touch Star features a 4 inch AMOLED panel. That means you have a screen with relatively high contrast and bright, bright colours. At the same time, the disadvantages of AMOLED are a somewhat bluish haze. Something that is hardly noticeable in practice, unless you put it next to an IPS+ display. Another drawback is the PenTile layout. We are not fans of it, but there are plenty of people who don't even notice it.
The screen is also provided with a scratch-resistant layer of Corning and a fingerprint-resistant (Oleophobic) layer. We found the screen to work well in practice. In addition, AMOLED ensures that the screen is also easy to read outside. In the end, a 4-inch screen appears to be just big enough to work with.
Menu
The lock screen of the One Touch Star looks a bit unusual. Unlock it by placing your finger on the clock and swiping it down. There are also three shortcuts to go directly to a specific item; camera, text messages and phone. It is not possible to change these three options. However, you can choose another way of unlocking such as a pattern or through facial recognition.
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Once unlocked, the One Touch Star resembles a typical Android phone. The home screen consists of 5 screens that can be customized with widgets and shortcuts. The bottom line consists of 5 icons that are always visible and of which the middle one provides access to the menu. You decide which apps are on the bottom line. Handy is that you can even put folders in it so that it doesn't remain up to four fixed apps.
The menu consists of a grid of apps through which you can browse horizontally. The device has some difficulty when you start scrolling from outside the screen. Scrolling through the menu may result in unintentional opening of an app. Opening the notification bar can also cause problems. If you quickly swipe from outside the screen, the device will not recognize this action. Slower or real starting on the notification bar will work. On the other hand, the device is nice and fast.
Phonebook
The address book shows three tabs at the top; groups, contacts and favorites. Contacts are neatly sorted and are provided with a photo if available. If you click on this you will get a small popup with a summary. Click on someone's name to open his full details. It all sounds a bit skinny but it's enough, and more important, it works.
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Messaging
The One Touch Star has possibilities to send text messages and e-mails. When you compose a text message, the device lets you know how many characters are left in a message and how many messages you have in total. After adding an attachment, the message is automatically converted into an MMS message. You can also receive a delivery report and a reading report.
In addition to a Gmail app, there is also a generic e-mail application on the device that can be used to set up Hotmail, Yahoo, Live and other accounts, for example. Once set up, you can set the sync frequency, for example every 5 minutes. But also downloading headers only to save data when you are on the road. On top of the icon of the email app you can also see how many unread messages you have.
Connectivity
There is of course the possibility to connect to WiFi networks as well as other Bluetooth devices. You can set up a WiFi hotspot and a VPN connection can also be set up.
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However, what distinguishes the Alcatel One Touch Star from many other mobile phones is its ability to use two SIM cards at the same time. There are many situations in which this is useful. If you have a phone for both business and private use, only this One Touch Star will do. Even if you have a separate data plan and a prepaid card to make sporadic calls with is a good possibility to consider the Star.
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Camera
The camera app gives you some standard controls, for example to take a photo or video. Also, the button to switch cameras (rear or front) is directly at your disposal. Under settings we find the possibility to turn on the grid, change the shooting mode (Normal, HDR, Scene auto-detec, Nice face, Smile shot, Best shot, EV limited shot...), 360 mode, Panorama mode), adjust white balance (Auto, Incandescent, Daylight, Fluorescent, Cloudy, Twilight, Shadow and Warm Fluorescent.), adjust exposure and choose the scene mode (Auto, Night, Sunset, Party, Portrait, Landscape, Night Portrait, Theater, Beach, Snow, Stable Photo, Fireworks, Sports and Candle). You can shoot photos in up to 2560 by 1920 pixels (5 MP), but you can also choose between 3 MP, 2 MP, 1.3 MP and VGA resolution.
That's a lot of options and there are a few that stand out. For example, there's a 360 mode that differs from panorama mode in that you can navigate in a shot of 360. However, the term 360 is somewhat misleading because we didn't get more than 90 degrees in a photo that was often out of focus. Usually, shots taken were often out of focus, even in Stable mode. On the screen of the One Touch Star it quickly seems a lot, but once on the computer it is disappointing. What do you actually want from 5 megapixels?
Video camera settings include Time-lapse interval, white balance, exposure, and scene mode (Auto and Night). Especially the time-lapse is an eye-catching feature that only seems useful when attached with a tripod, unless you want to make an amateur stop motion. Unfortunately you can put up to 10 seconds between two images so the usefulness is somewhat limited. In that respect, the filter is more fun. It adjusts someone's face so that you enlarge the eyes or nose, for example, in real time. Guaranteed laughter and fun for in the pub or on the schoolyard.
Existing programs
We find the following apps on the One Touch Star; Battery Saving, Calendar, AntiVirus, Messages, File Management, Browser, Calculator, Camera, Cloud Backup, Downloads, Wireless Keyboard, Email, Gallery, Gameloft Live, Sound Recorder, Gmail, Setup, Setting Wizard, Clock, LED Flashlight, Litte Big City, Maps, Movie Studio, Music, My Tracks, Notes, OfficeSuite, OI Shopping List, One Touch Radio, OnetouchManager, Individuals, PicSay, Play Music, Play Store, Radio, Shark Dash, SyncML Client, System Updates, Tasks, Phone, Tethering, Video Player, Weather and Wi-Fi.
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In addition to the usual Android apps fall on the Cloud Backup and Movie Studio. With onetouch cloud backup, the entire phone can be backed up to a Box.net or Dropbox account. You can also make a backup on the memory card. Then you can restore this backup if necessary. With Movie Studio you can paste different video clips and/or photos together and put a nice piece of music underneath. It is also possible to use text and filters to make the necessary adjustments. The end result can be exported in up to 960 at 720p.
There's a funny option on the One Touch Star, which is that you can have it turned on and off at set times. Handy for people who are worried about radiation, for example, when it's on the bedside table.
Conclusion
We are actually quite positively surprised by this Alcatel One Touch Star. It proves that there is nothing wrong with compact phones. It is nicely finished, has nice details and is very usable in daily use.
In addition, Alcatel has adapted a lot to the Android operating system to make it simpler for novice users without taking away existing user options. The design in many apps is the same; simple and contemporary. Despite the non-distinct specs, the operation can still be called smooth.
Our only real drawback would be the PenTile layout of the screen, which is clearly visible with small text. However, again, some people don't notice it so you may wonder if this is a drawback for everyone. The device is just a few euros more expensive than LG's competitor, the Optimus L5 II Dual, but its beautiful design should make up for that. As far as we are concerned, it has succeeded well.
