Alcatel OneTouch POP S3

Alcatel OneTouch POP S3

 the cheapest 4G smartphone

  With many different color variations including an entire selection of vibrant flip covers, this beautiful and powerful mobile phone offers a ton of features and style for under $300.  The Alcatel OneTouch POP S3 is an Android 4.3 smartphone with a 4-icnh WVGA display, LTE connectivity, 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of storage and a 5-megapixel autofocus camera.

As an advanced warning, one flaw with this device is the amount of EE and Amazon bloatware it comes pre-installed with.

This will either mean you will spend a fair amount of time deleting the apps you don’t want or re-shuffling them in order of importance. It will ultimately depend on how much you use both Amazon’s integrated shopping services and EE’s account services.

If, like us, you just want to concentrate on using apps, playing games and surfing the web, then you might be a bit peeved with the amount of icons that stand in your way.

Technical Details:

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• Price: $250 estimated
• Specs:
• OS Android  4.3 (Jelly Bean)
• Processor 1.2 GHz quad-core
• Screen 4 inches
• Resolution 480 x 800-pixels
• Memory 1GB RAM
• Storage 4GB
• Camera 5MP rear-facing, 0.3MP front-facing
• Video 1080p
• Connectivity 4G, 3G
• Dimensions 123 x 64.4 x 9.9 mm
• Weight 130g
• Battery 2,000 mAh
• Micro SD compatible? Yes

Performance:

  The low resolution on the POP S3 was a crippling factor when watching videos, viewing images and playing games.

  Despite turning the brightness up, the display still looks dull and images lack detail. It really is a major flaw and no longer what should be expected from entry-level phones. It is especially visible when you compare the device to recent affordable handsets that have raised the bar, such as the Moto E (540 x 960 pixels) and Lumia 630 (480 x 854 pixels) – both of which have superior display resolutions.

  Therefore, watching videos or looking at images on the POP S3 pales in comparison to those same devices. They aren't as cheap as the 4G smartphone, but what’s the point of having high-speed mobile broadband when the tasks you will use it for are debilitated by a poor display?

  Consequently, although videos loaded quickly on YouTube (and will do the same on the go, thanks to 4G), they only went up to the 480p resolution and not the maximum 720p available.

  The device’s UI, on the other hand, is smooth and fast. Swiping between screens is swift and does not suffer from lag. Meanwhile, apps such as Twitter and Facebook both work fine. And, let’s face it, neither require an immaculate display. That only comes in to play for image-centric apps such as Instagram and Tumblr. Meanwhile, web browsing was surprisingly fast – although nothing like it would be on a high-end device such as the LG G3, but satisfactory to say the least.

  The same, however, cannot be said for gaming on the POP S3. Certain powerful titles including Real Racing 3, Dead Trigger 2 and Sonic Racing Transformed aren't even compatible with the handset. Whereas, a large game file will inevitably hog your device’s limited amount of storage. All the more reason to immediately exclude any apps you don’t need. Smaller titles such as Jetpack Joyride and Disney’s Tsum Tsum both worked fine. Hardcore gamers would therefore be advised to steer clear of the device in favor of something more robust in terms of processing power.