Alcatel, a US-based company, launches Alcatel Streak, an entry-level budget smartphone priced at $ 29.99. Alcatel had recently launched its flagship device the Idol 4 with VR experience which competes with OnePlus 3 and other devices ranged between 20,000 to 30,000 INR. Having a 4.5-inch screen and rounded edges, it can be navigated with one hand easily. It can be purchased from Cricket Wireless, where Alcatel usually starts selling its devices.
Alcatel Streak features a 4.5-inch FWVGA display with 854×480 resolution which can fit comfortably in your palm and pocket. It comes with Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 SoC clocked at 1.1 GHz Quad-core processor. It has 1GB of RAM and 8GB of inbuilt storage. And the storage can be further expanded up to 128 GB, that’s something we rarely see in a budget smartphone priced at just $29.99, but keep in mind that it comes with monthly plans, the basic plan starts at $40 per month and the unlimited data plan costs $70 per month. There are also two other connection plans as smart and pro. And we speculate that it won’t come to India.
It has 5MP rear and 2MP front cameras with HD Video recording which can shoot good quality videos as it claims. The 5MP rear camera has fixed focus with High Dynamic Range to capture multiple snaps at different exposures. It also has the classic Polaroid editing software which comes integrated with it and helps to add frames, borders, and filters to the images. While the screen is off, one can instantly open the camera by pressing the power button twice. It also packs with FM Radio and Google Voice Search. It supports 4G LTE, and it comes with Dual Sim Dual standby mode. And it has Bluetooth 4.1 andWiFi connectivity, which supports Hotspot and Tethering and it comes with Micro USB port and 3.5mm Audio Jack.
It has the latest Android Marshmallow 6.0 out of the box which is again great to have for an entry level smartphone. And it is not backed with a powerhouse, only 1780mAh capacity which can give talk time of 6 hours on 3G network and standby time can go up to 180 hours on 3G as the company claims. But a little bigger battery would have been great because these days battery capacity is a primary concern while selecting a smartphone. As it is being sold at Cricket Wireless website, it has Cricket Wireless apps pre-installed, and few apps are being sold as optional Add-on features, you can choose while checking out. What do you think of this kind of business strategies from the companies? Do you want to get similar services in India? Leave your opinions in the comment section below.
