Alcatel Flash is a quad-camera smartphone with a ten-core processor. Alcatel Flash: the first smartphone with two dual cameras Who bought Alcatel Flash 2

Affordable model on Helio P10, with a metal body and a fingerprint scanner

The Chinese company TCL, which produces its mobile products under its own brand and also under the Alcatel brand, introduced an update for its Flash mini-line of smartphones in late spring. This small family, which even has its own separate website, has been replenished with the Flash Plus 2 model, which is quite capable of attracting close attention. The device has very good technical characteristics and is also very affordable. In this regard, the new product may even be able to compete with products from Meizu and Xiaomi, which traditionally attract with a combination of low prices and advanced characteristics. Today we will look in detail at what this interesting device is actually capable of, which is already available for order in foreign online stores.

Main characteristics of Alcatel (TCL) Flash Plus 2 (FL02)

• SoC MediaTek Helio P10 (MT6755M), 8 cores ARM Cortex-A53: [email protected] GHz and 4@1 GHz
• GPU ARM Mali-T860 MP2 @550 MHz
• Operating system Android 6.0
• Touch display IPS 5.5″, 1920×1080, 401 ppi
• Random access memory (RAM) 2/3 GB, internal memory 16/32 GB
• Support Micro-SIM (1 pc.), Nano-SIM (1 pc.)
• microSD support up to 128 GB
• GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
• WCDMA/HSPA+ networks (850/900/1900/2100 MHz)
• LTE Cat.4 FDD Band 1, 3, 5, 7 networks; TDD Band 38, 40, 41
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n (2.4 GHz)
• Bluetooth 4.1
• GPS, A-GPS, Glonass
• USB 2.0, OTG
• Camera 13 MP (OV13853), autofocus, f/2.2, video 1080p
• Front camera 5 MP, f/2.2, fixed. focus
• Proximity sensor, lighting sensor, magnetic field sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, fingerprint sensor
• Battery 3000 mAh non-removable
• Dimensions 153×76×8.2 mm
• Weight 157 g

Scope of delivery

Alcatel Flash Plus 2 goes on sale in a rather large box that does not correspond to the volume of contents. Such a set of accessories could well be placed in a much smaller package.

The kit consists of a variable current charger (5 V/2 A or 9 V/1.67 A) and a Micro-USB connecting cable, nothing else was found in the box.

Appearance and ease of use

Flash Plus 2 has a metal body, which is the exception rather than the rule for TCL/Alcatel smartphones. The device does not look flashy or expensive, but neat and practical. The matte surfaces on the aluminum lid are stylized to resemble rough-polished metal. The plastic inserts on the ends use the same effect to ensure they are indistinguishable from the lid. They do this poorly; differences in materials are noticeable even at a quick glance, but this does not spoil the design as a whole.

Most of the body is made up of a trough cover; it is a prefabricated structure of plastic and metal parts fastened together. The lid completely covers the entire frame of the case; there are no separate panels or beautiful rims. The buttons are fixed directly on the lid itself.

The smartphone is quite large in size, but it lies comfortably in the hand due to its not too large thickness and weight, as well as narrowed side edges. The assembly does not raise any complaints: despite the removable cover, nothing creaks, plays or bends, the casing is firmly held on by its latches. However, it cannot be said that all the parts, in particular the segments of the back cover, fit perfectly together.

But from the point of view of practicality, there are complaints about both surfaces. The metal back turned out to be quite slippery to hold in the hand, and the front is equipped with glass with a poorly defined oleophobic coating, if any. As a result, the façade of the smartphone quickly becomes covered with fingerprints and is difficult to wipe off. Because of this, the smartphone sometimes looks “neglected”.

The lid can be removed by prying it with your fingernail into a special notch. Hidden inside are two separate slots for SIM cards in Micro-SIM and Nano-SIM formats, as well as one slot for a microSD memory card. Cards up to 128GB are officially supported, and in practice our 128GB test card was recognized by the device. The memory card can be mounted so that applications can be installed on it; this requires formatting and loss of previous data. Hot swapping of SIM cards is supported. But the battery, despite its accessibility due to the removable cover, turned out to be not replaceable; it is firmly fixed in its socket.

The camera module on the back of the smartphone protrudes slightly beyond the surface of the case, causing the lying device to sway unpleasantly every time you touch the screen. Using a smartphone in this position is not entirely convenient.

The flash consists of two multi-colored LEDs, it is not too bright, and can be used as a flashlight.

The main speaker is located at the bottom of the back cover, which, of course, is far from the best option, and most manufacturers have long ago moved the speakers to other places in the case.

The front side of Alcatel Flash Plus 2 is “rich”. There is no newfangled 2.5D glass with beveled edges, the glass is absolutely flat, but under the screen there is a mechanical hardware key with a fingerprint scanner embedded in it. The scanner is not bad in response time (0.5 s) and recognition quality. Of course, mistakes happen, but in general, using the fingerprint sensor in Alcatel Flash Plus 2 for authorization is convenient. The button must be pressed, then the screen is simultaneously activated and unlocked. You can place your finger on the scanner at any angle.

In addition to sensors, in the upper part above the screen there is also such a useful element as an LED event indicator. It shines with a dim, small milky dot, notifying you of the charging status and incoming messages.

I didn’t like the location of the side buttons: why, one might ask, bother users and change the already established order? Most modern smartphones have the power key on the right side closer to the middle, and the volume is located higher above it. Here everything is the other way around, so, naturally, confusion arises. The keys themselves are quite pleasant in size, travel length and elasticity; they would be comfortable to use if it were not for the confusion with their relative position.

The Micro-USB connector was installed not in the middle of the bottom end, but closer to the edge. It supports connecting flash drives and other devices in USB OTG mode.

Another familiar connector, a minijack (3.5 mm) for headphones, is embedded in the top end. The hole for the second, auxiliary microphone is located right there; the smartphone is equipped with a noise reduction system, which is why this additional microphone is needed.

In terms of colors, the buyer has a choice of only two options, and all options are light. There is no black or even a dark shade; only light gray and gold are available (Luna Silver and Venus Gold), although this certainly cannot be considered a minus. The smartphone in both versions looks original; both of these colors suit it. One thing is upsetting: the front panel under the glass always remains black, which strongly contrasts with the back. White and golden panels here would clearly look more harmonious; they would match the overall color of the body.

Screen

Alcatel (TCL) Flash Plus 2 is equipped with an IPS touch display with flat protective glass, the manufacturer of which is not indicated. The physical dimensions of the screen are 68x121 mm, diagonal - 5.5 inches, resolution - 1920x1080 pixels, pixel density is approximately 401 ppi. The frame around the screen looks quite wide, although its thickness on the sides does not exceed 4 mm, and on the top and bottom - 15 mm.

The display brightness can be adjusted manually or automatically adjusted based on the ambient light sensor. The AnTuTu test diagnoses support for 5 simultaneous multi-touch touches. When you bring the smartphone to your ear, the screen quickly locks using the proximity sensor, there are no problems with this. Activating and deactivating the display by tapping on the glass are the only gestures supported by the hero of the review.

A detailed examination using measuring instruments was carried out by the editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections Alexey Kudryavtsev. Here is his expert opinion on the screen of the sample under study.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface that is scratch-resistant. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are no worse than those of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) screen (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photograph in which a white surface is reflected in the switched off screens (on the left - Nexus 7, on the right - Alcatel Flash Plus 2, then they can be distinguished by size):

The screen of the Alcatel Flash Plus 2 is only slightly brighter (brightness according to photographs is 116 versus 114 for the Nexus 7). The ghosting of reflected objects in the Alcatel Flash Plus 2 screen is very weak, this indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen (more specifically, between the outer glass and the surface of the LCD matrix) (OGS - One Glass Solution type screen). Due to the smaller number of boundaries (glass/air type) with very different refractive indices, such screens look better in conditions of intense external illumination, but their repair in the case of cracked external glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be replaced. On the outer surface of the screen there is a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating, which is approximately equal in effectiveness to the Nexus 7. Therefore, fingerprints are removed much easier and appear at a lower speed than in the case of regular glass.

When manually controlling the brightness and displaying the white field in full screen, the maximum brightness value was about 370 cd/m², the minimum was 15 cd/m². The maximum brightness is low, but given the good anti-glare properties, something on the screen will be visible even on a sunny day outdoors. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable value. There is automatic brightness adjustment based on the light sensor (it is located to the right of the front speaker slot). In automatic mode, as external lighting conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases. The operation of this function depends on the brightness adjustment position. If it is at maximum, then regardless of external conditions, the brightness remains unchanged at the maximum - 370 cd/m². If the brightness slider is at half the scale, then only in complete darkness the brightness decreases to 15 cd/m² (normal), and in an artificially lit office (approximately 550 lux) and in a very bright environment (corresponding to lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or a little more) increases to 370 cd/m² (which is bright for an office). If the brightness control is set to minimum, then for the three specified conditions the results are 2.4, 370, 370 cd/m² (the first value is underestimated, and the second is already overestimated). It turns out that the auto-brightness function does not work quite adequately. At any brightness level, there is no significant backlight modulation, so there is no screen flicker.

This smartphone uses an IPS matrix. The microphotographs show a typical IPS subpixel structure:

For comparison, you can see the gallery of microphotographs of screens used in mobile technology.

However, the subpixels themselves are arranged in an unconventional way: in the horizontal direction (in landscape orientation) there are typical columns, but in each column the subpixel triads are shifted by one subpixel vertically, first up and then down.

Note that we have already seen a similar arrangement of subpixels in the case of HTC 10 and a number of other smartphones. As a result, the ratio of horizontal columns to vertical triads is 3 to 2, that is, the actual vertical resolution is 1/3 less than horizontal (hereinafter we mean landscape screen orientation). Thus, the dots (RGB triads) on the screen are actually only 1920 by 720, and not 1920 by 1080. The resolution is high in any case, and these matrix features practically do not appear in any way when viewing text, photographs and videos, but test worlds are displayed with visible artifacts.

The screen has good viewing angles without a significant color shift even with large deviations of the view from perpendicular to the screen and without inversion (except for the very darkest when deviating along one diagonal) of shades. For comparison, here are photographs in which identical images are displayed on the screens of Alcatel Flash Plus 2 and Nexus 7, while the screen brightness is initially set to approximately 200 cd/m² over a white field in the entire screen, and the color balance on the camera is forcibly switched to 6500 K. There is a white field perpendicular to the screens:

Note the good uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field.

And a test picture:

The Alcatel Flash Plus 2's screen is a little dark, and the color balance between the two screens is clearly not the same.

Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen:

It can be seen that the colors did not change much on both screens, but on the Alcatel Flash Plus 2 the contrast decreased to a greater extent due to the strong brightening of blacks, and it also began to show signs of inverting dark shades.

And a white field:

The brightness of the screens at an angle has decreased (by at least 5 times, based on the difference in shutter speed), but the Alcatel Flash Plus 2 screen is still a little brighter. When deviated diagonally, the black field is brightened greatly, but remains approximately neutral gray. The photographs below demonstrate this (the brightness of the white areas in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the screens is the same!):

And from another angle:

When viewed perpendicularly, the uniformity of the black field is good:

The contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) is high - about 1400:1. The response time for the black-white-black transition is 24 ms (12 ms on + 12 ms off). The transition between halftones of gray 25% and 75% (based on the numerical value of the color) and back takes a total of 34 ms. The gamma curve, constructed using 32 points with equal intervals based on the numerical value of the shade of gray, did not reveal a blockage either in the highlights or in the shadows. The exponent of the approximating power function is 3.56, but in this case it does not matter, since the real gamma curve is not at all similar to the power dependence:

This device has an aggressive dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness depending on the nature of the displayed image and the time at which this image is displayed. As a result, the resulting dependence of brightness on hue (gamma curve) does not correspond to the gamma curve of a static image, since the measurements were carried out with sequential display of shades of gray on almost the entire screen. For this reason, we carried out a number of tests - determining contrast and response time, comparing black illumination at angles - (however, as always) when displaying special templates with a constant average brightness, and not monochromatic fields in the entire screen. In general, such a non-switchable brightness correction does nothing but harm, since constantly changing the screen brightness can at least cause some discomfort, greatly reduce the visibility of gradations in shadows in the case of dark images and the readability of the screen in bright light, since in not the lightest images on average In images, the brightness of the backlight is greatly reduced, but there is not too much of it anyway.

The color gamut is slightly different from sRGB:

The spectra show that the matrix filters moderately mix the components with each other:

However, the deviations of the coordinates of the primary colors from the vertices of the sRGB triangle are small, so visually the colors on this screen practically do not differ from natural ones. The balance of shades on the gray scale is poor, since the color temperature is significantly higher than the standard 6500 K, and the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) is more than 10, which is not considered a very good indicator even for a consumer device. However, the color temperature and ΔE change little from hue to hue - this has a positive effect on the visual assessment of color balance. (The darkest areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since color balance there is not very important, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

This device has a fairly advanced system of profiles and settings, which provides the ability to adjust color balance, etc. It’s called MiraVision.

The curves in the graphs above Without corr. correspond to the results without any color balance correction, and the curves Warm— data obtained after shifting the color temperature correction slider to its extreme “warmest” position.

It can be seen that the change in balance corresponds to the expected result, since the color temperature approached the standard value, although ΔE also increased significantly. It doesn't make much sense to make a correction.

To summarize: the screen has a low maximum brightness, but has good anti-glare properties, so the device can somehow be used outdoors even on a sunny summer day. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable level. The mode with automatic brightness adjustment does not work adequately, it is better not to use it. The advantages of the screen include an effective oleophobic coating, the absence of air gaps in the layers of the screen and flickering, as well as high contrast and good uniformity of the black field. The disadvantages are low black stability to deviation of the gaze from perpendicular to the screen plane, poor color balance, as well as non-disabled dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness. Even taking into account the importance of characteristics for this particular class of devices, the screen quality cannot be considered high.

Sound

Flash Plus 2 received an advanced sound system. Alcatel (TCL) smartphones have recently paid a lot of attention to this characteristic. It uses both the NXP9890 driver, which is responsible for increasing the speaker volume, and the AKM4375 DAC. However, the sound quality cannot be compared with the flagship: yes, it is loud and quite clear, but there are not enough lows, which is why the sound cannot be called bright and rich. However, in its price segment, Alcatel Flash Plus 2 undoubtedly has a higher level of sound equipment than most competitors.

The music player in Alcatel (TCL) smartphones is always equipped with DJ and Mix modes. With their help, you can not only play soundtracks and streaming audio, but also combine them, adding effects on the DJ console that appears in the landscape position of the smartphone. Here you can synchronize tracks, make smooth mixing, add audio effects, delete and record your compositions again.

There are no special complaints about the conversational speaker and microphone; the sound of the voice of a familiar interlocutor is a little muffled, but loud and intelligible. Interlocutors on the other side also do not note any noticeable problems with sound during telephone conversations.

The smartphone comes standard with an FM radio, and there is also a voice recorder. The radio can record from the air; it does not work without headphones connected as an external antenna. The sensitivity of the microphone is not satisfactory, the speaker's voice is recorded quite clearly on the recorder, and the noise reduction system, apparently, also copes with its tasks quite successfully.

Camera

Alcatel (TCL) Flash Plus 2 is equipped with two digital camera modules with a resolution of 13 and 5 megapixels. The front module has a 5 MP sensor and a wide-angle lens (84.4° Super-Wide) with f/2.2 aperture and fixed focus without its own flash. The quality of the shooting turned out to be quite modest even by the standards of a selfie camera: the field sharpness except for the central part of the frame is low, and the detail and color rendition are also imperfect at best. However, it will do for Instagram.

The main camera has a 13-megapixel sensor and an f/2.2 aperture lens. Autofocus is quite fast, using hybrid autofocus that combines phase and contrast focusing systems. The dual flash is not very bright. There is an electronic stabilization function for photo and video shooting.

The control menu here is standard for systems on the MediaTek platform; it is simple in appearance, but it has everything you need. You can manually adjust and set exposure, ISO, white balance, brightness, contrast, you can select additional modes like night, sports, or even a separate mode for shooting children. You cannot transfer control of camera settings to third-party applications using the Camera2 API, and there is also no possibility of recording in RAW.

The camera can shoot video in resolutions up to 1080p, there are no 4K and 60 fps modes. Electronic stabilization is present, but it doesn't help much when shooting on the go. And in general, the camera copes with video shooting in general, the detail is quite low, the picture is faded, the color rendition is not the best, although there are no special complaints about the sharpness. The microphone records sound well, there is a noise reduction system, it generally copes with its tasks.

• Video No. 1 (40 MB, 1920×1080@30 fps, H264, AAC)
• Video No. 2 (20 MB, 1920×1080@30 fps, H264, AAC)

	The license plates of nearby cars are distinguishable.
	Good sharpness across the frame.
	Small details suffer even in the foreground.
	As the shot is removed, the sharpness drops quite quickly.
	The camera is not good at macro photography.
	The text is well done.

There's not a lot of good things to say about this camera. It works well on close and large objects. It can be seen that rough software processing is “sharpened” to emphasize details, such as text and license plates, and the camera copes with this task. Thus, it is quite possible to use it for documentary shooting. But nothing more.

Telephone and communications

The smartphone works as standard in modern 2G GSM and 3G WCDMA networks, and also has support for LTE Cat.4 FDD networks. True, the model we tested has support for only two of the three most common bands among domestic operators (B3 and B7), and the frequency of 800 MHz (B20), better than others, meets the requirements for communication indoors, as well as in sparsely populated areas, this the device does not support. That is, for some residents of regions outside large populated areas, this may become a problem.

In practice, with SIM cards from domestic operators in the Moscow region, the smartphone was registered without problems and worked in 4G networks, and the LTE connection speed was generally fine. The quality of signal reception does not cause any particular complaints; the device supports communication indoors and does not lose the signal in areas of poor reception. The full list of supported frequency bands is as follows:

• FDD-LTE: B1/B3/B5/B7
• TD-LTE: B38/B40/B41
• WCDMA: 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 MHz
• GSM: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz

The rest of the network capabilities are standard for the Chinese average: there is no NFC, but two Wi-Fi bands are supported (2.4 and 5 GHz), there is Wi-Fi Direct, you can organize a wireless access point via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth 4.1 channels. The Micro-USB 2.0 connector supports connecting external devices in USB OTG mode.

The navigation module works with both GPS (with A-GPS) and the domestic Glonass. There are no complaints about the operation of the navigation module; the first satellites during a cold start are detected within the first tens of seconds. The smartphone is equipped with a magnetic field sensor, on the basis of which the digital compass of navigation programs usually operates.

The smartphone supports dual SIM cards. The standard interface allows you to select a specific card for each function in advance or directly upon connection. Work with two SIM cards is organized according to the usual Dual SIM Dual Standby standard, when both cards can be in active standby mode, but cannot work at the same time - there is only one radio module.

OS and software

The device uses the 64-bit Google Android software platform version 6.0 as a system. There is no full-fledged alternative interface here, but there is its own launcher, which slightly changes the appearance, although the internal structure of the system remains virtually unchanged. With its help, small cosmetic improvements are achieved, which can be useful. This applies to the distribution of icons, changing themes, displaying messages on the screen, working with gestures, organizing program menus, recently opened applications, and the like.

Gesture support is limited only to the ability to double-tap to activate and put the screen back to sleep. There are no other gestures, like multi-window modes, virtual multifunction buttons, and the like.

As for additional programs, there are almost none. Only a file manager, a news widget and a utility for system management have been added. You can not only authorize the launch of programs using a fingerprint sensor, but also assign the application of a specific finger to a specific program. That is, for example, you can set your smartphone to open a locked gallery with photos with your middle finger, and mail with your ring finger, and so on. Applications can be installed on a microSD memory card. In general, the interface remains light and concise, because in general there are practically no differences from the original Android OS version 6.

Performance

The Alcatel (TCL) Flash Plus 2 hardware platform is based on the MediaTek MT6755M SoC, also known as Helio P10. The Helio P10 configuration includes a 64-bit octa-core True8Core processor based on the ARM Cortex-A53 architecture, operating at up to 2 GHz, and an ARM Mali-T860 graphics processor, operating at 700 MHz. True, in this version of the MT6755M the maximum frequency of 4 processor cores is reduced to 1.8 GHz, and for the other 4 it is even lower.

The RAM capacity of the younger version of the smartphone is 2 GB, the older version is 3 GB. Similarly, the younger one has a built-in flash memory of 16 GB, of which about 10.5 GB is initially available to the user for his needs, and the older one offers 32 GB of internal storage. This volume can be increased using microSD cards. It is also possible to connect external flash drives to the USB port in OTG mode. MicroSD cards are supported up to 128 GB in capacity; in practice, our review Transcend Premium microSDXC UHS-1 128 GB card was recognized by the device, but the system scolded it for being “slow.” Installing applications on a memory card is supported; to do this, it must be formatted and all data will be lost.

Judging by the comparative tables with test data from other current mobile platforms, it can be stated that the SoC MediaTek MT6755 (Helio P10) is noticeably ahead in all respects of the mid-range MT6753, which was extremely popular among manufacturers last season; it is very close in capabilities to the former flagship Mediatek MT6795. That is, today's average level of mobile platforms turns out to be better in their capabilities than the top level of last year.

Based on the testing results, we can confidently say that the Helio P10’s level is not top-end, but quite confidently average. This SoC has enough capabilities for all modern tasks, and it can also cope with demanding games. You can comfortably play World of Tanks at fps values ​​close to the maximum; heavier games also do not suffer from a lack of performance.

Testing in the latest versions of comprehensive tests AnTuTu and GeekBench:

For convenience, we have compiled all the results we obtained when testing the smartphone in the latest versions of popular benchmarks into tables. The table usually adds several other devices from different segments, also tested on similar latest versions of benchmarks (this is done only for a visual assessment of the obtained dry figures). Unfortunately, within the framework of one comparison it is impossible to present the results from different versions of benchmarks, so many worthy and relevant models remain “behind the scenes” - due to the fact that they once passed the “obstacle course” on previous versions of test programs.

Testing the graphics subsystem in 3DMark game tests,GFXBenchmark, and Bonsai Benchmark:

When testing in 3DMark, the most powerful smartphones now have the ability to run the application in Unlimited mode, where the rendering resolution is fixed at 720p and VSync is disabled (which can cause the speed to rise above 60 fps).

	TCL Flash Plus 2 (MediaTek Helio P10)	TP-Link Neffos C5 Max (Mediatek MT6753)	Huawei P9 lite (HiSilicon Kirin 650)	Sony Xperia X (Qualcomm Snapdragon 650)	Xiaomi Redmi Note3 (Mediatek MT6795)
3DMark Ice Storm Sling Shot (more is better)	415	182	367	871	—
GFXBenchmark Manhattan ES 3.1 (Onscreen)	5 fps	2 fps	5 fps	10 fps	4 fps
GFXBenchmark Manhattan ES 3.1 (1080p Offscreen)	5 fps	2 fps	5 fps	10 fps	4 fps
GFXBenchmark T-Rex (Onscreen)	17 fps	11 fps	19 fps	33 fps	22 fps
GFXBenchmark T-Rex (1080p Offscreen)	17 fps	10 fps	19 fps	31 fps	23 fps

Browser cross-platform tests:

As for benchmarks for assessing the speed of the javascript engine, you should always make allowance for the fact that their results significantly depend on the browser in which they are launched, so the comparison can only be truly correct on the same OS and browsers, and this is possible during testing not always. For Android OS, we always try to use Google Chrome.

Thermal photographs

Below is a thermal image rear surface obtained after 10 minutes of battery testing in the GFXBenchmark program:

It can be seen that the heating is more localized in the upper part of the device, which apparently corresponds to the location of the SoC chip. According to the heat chamber, the maximum heating was only 37 degrees (at an ambient temperature of 24 degrees), which is not very much.

Playing video

To test the omnivorous nature of video playback (including support for various codecs, containers and special features, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats, which make up the bulk of the content available on the Internet. Note that for mobile devices it is important to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is most often impossible to process modern options using processor cores alone. Also, you shouldn’t expect a mobile device to decode everything, since the leadership in flexibility belongs to the PC, and no one is going to challenge it. All results are summarized in a table.

According to the testing results, the test subject was not equipped with all the necessary decoders that are needed to fully play most of the most common multimedia files on the network, in this case, audio files. To successfully play them, you will have to resort to the help of a third-party player - for example, MX Player. True, it is also necessary to change the settings and manually install additional custom codecs, because now this player does not officially support the AC3 sound format.

Format	Container, video, sound	MX Video Player	Standard video player
BDRip 720p	MKV, H.264 1280×720, 24fps, AAC	plays normally	plays normally
BDRip 720p	MKV, H.264 1280×720, 24fps, AC3		The video plays fine, there is no sound
BDRip 1080p	MKV, H.264 1920×1080, 24fps, AAC	plays normally	plays normally
BDRip 1080p	MKV, H.264 1920×1080, 24fps, AC3	The video plays fine, there is no sound	The video plays fine, there is no sound

Further testing of video playback was performed Alexey Kudryavtsev.

We did not find the MHL interface, like Mobility DisplayPort, in this smartphone, so we had to limit ourselves to testing the output of video files on the screen of the device itself. To do this, we used a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see “Methodology for testing video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices) 720/24p

Fine No

Note: If in both columns Uniformity And Passes green ratings are given, this means that, most likely, when watching films, artifacts caused by uneven alternation and frame skipping will either not be visible at all, or their number and visibility will not affect the viewing comfort. Red marks indicate possible problems with playback of the corresponding files.

According to the frame output criterion, the quality of playback of video files on the screen of the smartphone itself is good, since frames (or groups of frames) can (but are not required) be output with more or less uniform alternation of intervals and without skipping frames - with the exception of files with 60 fps, in in which case about 3-4 frames per second are skipped, and often in pairs in a row. The reason is the atypically low screen refresh rate, 56-57 Hz. When playing video files with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels (1080p) on a smartphone screen, the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly along the border of the screen, one to one in pixels, that is conditionally in original resolution. Let us remember that this screen does not have a physical resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels (see screen testing above), so artifacts appear on the test worlds: for example, instead of horizontal (in landscape orientation) stripes, some kind of color pattern is displayed through the pixel. The brightness range displayed on the screen corresponds to the standard range of 16-235: in the shadows only a couple of shades merge with black, but in the highlights all gradations of shades are displayed.

Battery life

The non-removable battery installed in the Alcatel (TCL) Flash Plus 2 has a decent capacity of 3000 mAh. According to the test results, the device demonstrated a good level of autonomy, but with such a battery the autonomy could have been higher. The smartphone lasts until evening charging, but you certainly shouldn’t expect longevity records from it.

Testing was traditionally carried out at the usual level of power consumption, but the smartphone also has a standard power saving mode.

Continuous reading in the Moon+ Reader program (with a standard, light theme) at a minimum comfortable brightness level (brightness was set to 100 cd/m²) with auto-scrolling lasted until the battery was completely discharged for about 12 hours, and when continuously watching videos in high quality (720p) with the same brightness level via a home Wi-Fi network, the device lasts up to 10 hours. In 3D gaming mode, the smartphone lasted 4 hours.

The smartphone charges quite quickly from the standard charger, within 1 hour 45 minutes, since the device is equipped with the Flash Charging fast charging function.

Bottom line

As for the price, at the moment Alcatel (TCL) Flash Plus 2 can be ordered in online stores at a price of about $160 for a regular version and $180 for an advanced modification with an increased amount of RAM and ROM. It's inexpensive, but the device isn't good at everything. The smartphone has a fairly recent hardware platform with good performance and a decent, albeit not top-end, sound system. But the screen, of course, let us down - there are complaints about both the quality of workmanship and the secretly reduced resolution. In other aspects, the smartphone is not a failure, although its camera and battery life are also not particularly praising.

Smartphone Alcatel (TCL) Flash Plus 2 you can buy
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Hi all. Today we are reviewing the excellent music smartphone Alcatel Flash Plus 2, which was unfairly deprived of customer attention. This is one of those smartphones that did not receive a wide advertising campaign in our region and therefore remained, as it were, left out of the main sales.

And it’s a real pity, I want to tell you. Alcatel Flash Plus 2 turned out to be an interesting smartphone that is definitely worth the money. The version with 3/32 GB of memory can be purchased for $150. If you use coupons, points and cashback, you will get about 130.

For the same money you can buy Xiaomi RedMi Note 3 Pro or Meizu M3 Note. But the hero of our review is better than its competitors in some respects and, accordingly, will be a more worthy choice, especially if you are a lover of good sound in headphones.

To start, I will immediately list the strengths of Alcatel Flash Plus 2 and its main features:

• excellent bright and juicy FHD 5.5" screen, 401 ppi
• MediaTek Helio P10 MT6755 processor
• slim aluminum body in gold or silver color
• 3 GB RAM and 32 GB internal memory
• advanced musical hardware consisting of an AKM4375 DAC and an NXP9890 amplifier
• fast fingerprint scanner built into the central button
• main 13-megapixel camera on OmniVision OV13853 sensor with hybrid autofocus
• support fast charging (charge 50% in 30 minutes)
• The OS uses bare Android 6.0 (and it's great!)
• there is a separate slot for a memory card with hot-swappable support

As you understand, the Alcatel brand, or even more correctly TCL, is directly related to the origin of the smartphone, although you won’t see the names of these brands on the packaging. The phone is simply called Flash Plus 2.

Once upon a time, the Chinese giant TCL bought the dying French brand Alcatel and breathed new life into it. Thus, the same models began to be sold in China under the TCL brand and in Europe, respectively, under the Alcatel brand.

Some time later, the manufacturer decided to abandon such duality and released a new line of devices under the new Flash brand. The hero of our today's review is, in fact, the top smart in this line.

And, as often happens, in order to promote a new brand, the manufacturer is forced to compromise and partially sacrifice its profits. In order for the phone to sell well and the brand to become recognizable, they set the lowest possible price for it, right up to the cost limit.

Packaging and accessories

The phone comes in a black box. A golden heart and green Flash Plus 2 inscription are the whole decor.

Inside the package there are numerous pieces of paper (instructions, guarantees, cardboards with community advertisements), a charger, a USB cable, as well as the smartphone itself.

Despite the fact that the smartphone is clearly promoted as a music gadget, headphones are not included in the package. Perhaps this is correct, because... good ones will increase the price too much, and bad ones will only compromise.

Appearance and ergonomics

The smartphone is well built, there are no complaints against the manufacturer. A kind of strong and even monolithic metal block to the touch. At the same time, despite the use of metal, the weight of the device is light; 157 grams feels quite comfortable in the hand.

The back cover is removable, under it you can access the SIM card slots (1 micro, 1 nano) and the micro SD card slot. The phone supports hot swapping of memory cards, but as someone who has already lost a dozen cards on other phones, I’ll say that it’s better not to take risks. Cards do not like this attitude and burn without a twinge of conscience...

The battery itself is non-removable. A 3000 mAh battery is installed. This is not as much as we would like, but thanks to bare Android 6.0 (this OS is highly optimized), the charge easily lasts for one and a half to two days with moderately intensive use.

The Flash Plus 2 smartphone supports fast charging technology, which means that it can be charged 50% in 30 minutes, and 100% in 1 hour 15 minutes.

The phone feels comfortable in the hand, although the aluminum body is somewhat slippery. It might slip out of your hand, if anything happens. But this applies to all smartphones clad in metal.

There’s not much to say about the buttons; everything is clear in the pictures. Where the camera's eye is and where the flash is is also clear.

The only thing I want to say is that the central button is equipped with a fingerprint scanner. The sensor works very quickly, the manufacturer claims 0.5 seconds. This is probably true, I can’t check. The scanner can be programmed for each finger separately and can be assigned to launch different programs for different fingerprints.

It's very convenient. For example, you unlocked it with your index finger and got to the main desktop, unlocked it with your middle finger and launched the camera, and with your little finger launched the audio player.

Screen and graphics

As I wrote above, the device has an excellent Full HD screen measuring 5.5 inches with a pixel density per inch of 401. There is enough brightness even in sunny weather, the viewing angles are excellent, and the auto-brightness sensor works correctly. There is nothing to dig into here.

The Flash Plus 2 phone has the ability to adjust color using MiraVision. Those. You can adjust the contrast, sharpness, saturation and hue to suit you. There is also such a feature as Bluelight defender - eye protection. Using this function, you can remove the blue spectrum and enjoy evening reading.

As for performance, the smart device is powered by a MediaTek Helio P10 MT6755 processor. The power is quite enough for modern games, although you understand that this is not the most productive solution possible. Meizu M3 Note, by the way, also uses this chip. But Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro is a little more powerful in this regard, as it uses Snapdragon 650.

In synthetic tests, Flash Plus 2 performs above average. For example, the phone scored 45,600 points in AnTuTu Benchmark. Competitors scored approximately the same amount. Meizu - 46900, Xiaomi - 47100. As you can see, the difference in performance is very relative and difficult to feel in real life.

Camera and sound

Let's start with the camera. The smartphone uses a 13-megapixel camera on an OmniVision OV13853 sensor with autofocus and dual flash. During the daytime, you can get excellent quality pictures; when shooting in low light conditions, the quality will of course drop.

The flash installed is tricky. The phone itself determines how much power is needed and connects one or two diodes as needed. It does this quite correctly.

There is an interesting double photo function, when with one click you take a photo with the main and front cameras. Well, and of course there is support for standard scenarios: HDR, panorama, QR, Beautify (improving skin and face shape).

As you remember, the main feature of Alcatel Flash Plus 2 is its music content. Under the metal casing there is an AKM4375 DAC paired with an NXP9890 amplifier.

I listened to it on Superlux hd668b monitor ears and Xiaomi Piston 3 earplugs. I chose songs simply according to my mood, without any audiophile guides. I listened to the albums by Adel “21”, ColdPlay “A Head Full Of Dreams” and a bunch of other songs by other groups.

Objectively, I liked the sound, although I would not call it HiFi. On the other hand, I am already a little spoiled by the home stationary Hi-End amplifier and I most likely have inflated demands. At least, none of the smartphones that I had in my hands before could boast of such sound.

Flash Plus 2 plays the mids and highs well. The bass needs to be boosted with an equalizer. But, if you listen on active ears like , then the bass will be through the roof even without boost. In general, it all depends on what ears you will use it with.

The sound of the external speaker was also pleasing. It's not that it's very loud, but rather correct. Doesn't squeak, wheeze or irritate. Good mids and there's even some bass.

Guys, are you tired of reading? Watch a quick video review!

Flaws

Somehow the review turned out to be very saccharine. Now let's go over the shortcomings. They are of course insignificant, but still...

• poor oleophobic screen coating, smart collects fingerprints well
• the main camera protrudes slightly from the back, so if you put the smart phone on the table, it will touch the camera
• The speaker is located on the back cover, if you put it on something soft, it will sound muffled
• I would like a larger battery, at least 4000 mAh

Buy Alcatel Flash Plus 2

The Alcatel Flash Plus 2 smartphone is sold both on Aliexpress and in the Gearbest store. At the time of purchase, the price in the latter was 20-30 dollars less, so that’s where I ordered it. It was even a pre-sale; we had to wait two weeks for it to be delivered to the warehouse.

Now, the situation has changed dramatically and on Ali you can buy the 3/32 GB version for 149.99 usd. So, if you are planning to buy, then in any case it is worth checking where there is less.

We tested a smartphone with the laconic name Flash 2. Before moving on to studying it, it’s worth understanding what the Flash brand is. It is one of TCL's many brands, along with TCL itself, Alcatel and the unused Palm. Flash did not immediately become a separate brand; the first two models (Flash and Flash Plus) came out with Alcatel OneTouch logos on the back panel. They are remembered for little, except for a very funny promotional video of the very first device. However, Flash is now a separate and actively promoted brand. However, realizing the low brand recognition, Flash's PR service cautiously recommends placing Flash next to Alcatel. While the ten-core Flash 3 is on the way, we'll take a look at Flash 2.

We thank the GearBest.com store for the Alcatel Flash 2 sample.

Technical characteristics of Alcatel Flash 2:

• Network: GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), UMTS/HSPA+ (850/900/2100 MHz), FDD-LTE (Band 1, 3, 7), TDD-LTE (Band 40)
• Platform: Android 5.1 Lollipop
• Display: 5", 1280x720 pixels, 294 ppi, IPS LCD, 5-point multi-touch
• Camera: 13 MP, phase detection autofocus, 5 lenses, f/2.0, Samsung S5K3M2 sensor, dual LED flash in different tones, 1080p@30fps video recording
• Front camera: 5 MP, f/2.2, pixel size 1.4 microns, OmniVision OV5648 sensor, video recording 1080p@30fps
• Processor: 8 cores, 1.3 GHz, 64 bits, MediaTek MT6753
• Graphics chip: Mali-T720MP3
• RAM: 2 GB
• Internal memory: 16 GB
• Memory card: microSD (separate slot)
• Bluetooth 4.0
• Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n)
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• microUSB 2.0
• Two micro-SIM slots
• LED indicator
• Battery: non-removable, 3000 mAh
• Dimensions: 145.8x70.4x8.99 mm
• Weight: 144 g

Equipment and design

Flash 2 comes in a green and white box. Its creators did not even try to hide the brand’s connection with TCL and Alcatel, so they included on the packaging the inscription “Flash products are manufactured by TCL Communication Technology” and the model index in the Alcatel nomenclature – 7049D. Inside the box you can find the smartphone itself, documentation for it, a protective film (initially there is only a transport film on the case), a USB cable and a charger (5 V, 1 A). Minimum required.

Flash 2 comes in three different colors - Volcanic Grey, Mica White and Rose Gold. We got the most classic first option, which for simplicity can be called black. The back panel is made of a rough, rough plastic known as Sandstone. It feels more like sandpaper than plastic. The material, as they say, is not for everybody. But it is so rough that it is not slippery at all, so it is almost impossible to accidentally drop Flash 2. The cover is removable, but the 3000 mAh battery hidden under it cannot be removed. The ends are made of metal-like plastic, and the camera rim is actually metal. The speaker is loud, with BesLoudness it is even louder, and there is almost no overlap.

Thanks to the rounded ends, the back cover beveled towards the edges and the not-so-large screen diagonal, the smartphone fits perfectly in the hand. Even the lock key, located almost at the very top of the right side, does not force you to reach for it. For those who are used to holding the phone in their left hand, placing all the keys on the right side will not be very convenient, but it will not bring much discomfort either. The smartphone is not assembled very tightly; the lid bends a little when pressed hard. But you can’t call it flimsy and falling apart, of course.

Flash 2 is equipped with a 5" screen with a resolution of 1280x720 pixels, pixel density is 294 ppi. Individual pixels can be seen if desired, but for everyday use people with normal vision will be quite comfortable. The panel is made using IPS LCD technology, and it is a fairly cheap panel with a noticeable inversion even with small diagonal tilts. There is a MiraVision image correction system, but in this case it is not an assistant. The screen can simultaneously recognize up to five touches.

Software

Flash 2 is based on the Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system and supports over-the-air updates. The system is given almost in its pure form, all TCL's efforts to improve it were limited to installing many applications from third parties and adding a few functions. Fortunately, almost all available third-party applications - Notes, Weather, Twitter, AntiVirus, Facebook, JD.RU, TouchPal and WhatsApp - can be removed using regular tools. Only “File Manager”, FM station, “Click Clear” and “Startup Management” are firmly stuck. The last utility allows you to prevent applications from launching when you turn on the smartphone, the penultimate utility allows you to close third-party running applications.

Additional functions include waking up the smartphone by drawing letters on the screen, displaying the charge level as a percentage in the status bar, and the aforementioned MiraVision and sound enhancements BesLoudness, BesAudEnh and BesSurround.

Camera

Judging by the name of the brand (Flash translates as “flash”), the camera in a smartphone should be a strong point. A module with a 13-megapixel Samsung S5K3M2 ISOCELL sensor, phase detection autofocus, five-element optics, 80-degree field of view, dual two-color LED flash and f/2.0 aperture is used. The photography application has been slightly redesigned; I can’t call the changes drastic. The camera can be launched by double pressing the camera button, the same button can be used to release the shutter, here a single press is enough.

without and with HDR

without and with flash

The Flash 2 camera is truly better than the average for an inexpensive smartphone. It copes well with macro, landscapes, and medium-distance photographs. One can only complain about noise and very strange HDR performance. Instead of expanding the dynamic range, it creates oversharpening.

without and with HDR

Flash 2 panoramas are made with God knows what resolution - 1.6 megapixels. But they look quite tolerable, it seems to me. Although the algorithms for joining fragments could be better.

The front camera Flash 2 has a resolution of 5 megapixels and is also equipped with a flash. It is based on the OmniVision OV5648 sensor with a pixel size of 1.4 microns. Other parameters include an 84-degree capture angle and f/2.2 aperture. There is nothing interesting here in terms of photo quality, the level of most Chinese phones. Unless the flash here is good, really capable of illuminating you and the background, and not fake, as in Bluboo Picasso, for example. You can record Full HD video with a frame rate of 30 fps on the front camera and take photos with HDR if you need it for some reason.

The video is recorded at 1080p@30fps – like most budget smartphones. But the picture quality is superior to many competitors, which is good news. The sound is captured sensitively, but unrealistically; it is almost impossible to recognize yourself by your voice. Digital stabilization only partially smooths out shaking.

Performance and tests

Flash 2 is based on the already very familiar MediaTek MT6753 chipset. We will probably be testing gadgets based on it one by one for a long time, although models based on the Helio P10 that replaced it are already appearing. The amount of RAM is 2 GB, built-in memory is 16 GB. The user initially has access to 1.5 GB and 10.5 GB, respectively. Thanks to the low screen resolution, the smartphone behaves wonderfully in games: Asphalt 8 can be played quite comfortably at maximum settings, and Unkilled at medium settings (after the Full HD update, models on the MT6753 began to stutter there). The numbers in the tests are:

AnTuTu showed that the smartphone has throttling, but it is not severe: in three runs, less than a thousand points were lost. The scores in the GFXBench long-term performance test dropped noticeably: 846.6 frames versus 1068 frames in the regular test. The main operating frequency of the smartphone processor is 1144 MHz, according to Stability Test and CPU Spy Reborn. The smartphone does not like to work at high speeds at all. The device gets quite hot; during testing in Asphalt 8, the battery temperature reached 48 degrees. You can hold it in your hands, the main thing is not to touch the metal rim of the camera.

rank in the game

video discharge

The Flash 2 battery has a capacity of 3000 mAh. We can say that this value is becoming a standard; many modern models are crowded around this mark. In an hour, Asphalt 8 lost almost a third of its original charge, and playing a movie drained the battery by 19% in the same hour. That is, you can play for three hours, no more, and watch the video for five hours. With average use, Flash 2 needs to be charged daily.

Conclusions

TCL has gotten good at making smartphones, and Flash 2 has a lot of features. Mainly, these are cameras: the rear one just takes good pictures, and the front one can be proud of a high-quality flash. The advantages of a smartphone can easily include excellent ergonomics and powerful hardware that reveals its potential thanks to its low screen resolution. At the same time, the screen itself does not suffer from low resolution, but suffers from inversions under diagonal tilts, which are very unpleasant. Also, not everyone may like the material of the back cover. But, in my opinion, the advantages significantly outweigh the disadvantages, and for its $120-130, Flash 2 seems like a pretty good buy.

You can purchase the Alcatel Flash 2 smartphone in the online store

Alcatel has long been known in Russia for its affordable phones: first conventional push-button devices, and then smartphones. At some point, the company's products disappeared from sale, but then returned again in the form of the Idol line of Android smartphones. Of course, today this is not the same Alcatel: the brand was bought by the Chinese company TCL, whose products are familiar mainly to fans of Chinese technology and engineers specializing in telecommunications.

Despite this, the company's products have only gotten better. In the Chinese market, TCL is one of the largest smartphone suppliers. Today we will get acquainted with the Flash 2 camera phone, produced for sale in China (and freely sold in online stores), and make sure that products for the domestic market are superior to the equipment we are familiar with. For the hardware camera launch button and hidden photography, I already adore this gadget.

Scope of delivery

The small white box with the Alcatel Flash 2 logo and graphic contains:

• a tray with a smartphone in a bag (a film is glued to the smartphone);
• branded charger;
• USB cable;
• instructions (including in Russian) and warranty card.

The packaging is of high quality and allows the device to survive the misadventures of the postal journey.

Appearance and ease of use

Alcatel Flash 2 is available for purchase in two versions: black and white. The first one not only looks more interesting - it is more practical, since due to the material of the case, scratches are almost invisible on it.

The smartphone is compact and fits comfortably in the hand thanks to its small thickness and rounded edges of the back cover. At the top there is a protruding camera and a two-color flash.

The surface of the rear panel is pleasantly rough and does not peel or scratch. This is plastic that perfectly keeps your hands warm even in cool weather. Due to the good air gap between the lid and the filling, Flash 2 does not heat up as much as other Chinese devices on a similar platform.

The cover is removable, under it there is a non-removable battery and three slots: two for microSIM and one for memory cards (microSD up to 128 GB is supported).

The front surface of the gadget is almost completely covered with Gorilla Glass 3 protective glass, framed on top and bottom by a metal-look plastic frame. At the top there are sensors, speaker, flash and camera.

At the bottom of the front panel there are touch control buttons. When the backlight is off, only the central key, highlighted with a green circle, is visible. All three are visible with backlighting: “Back”, “Menu”, “List of open applications”.

The screen is also protected by small glass sides, so you don’t have to worry about the safety of the display.

There are no controls on the left side of the device; they are all compactly located on the right. The power button is located on top, and immediately below it are the volume keys. At the bottom there is a hardware button to launch the camera (found only in a few smartphones), which we will talk about in more detail a little later.

At the top end there is a jack connector and another microphone used for noise reduction during conversations.

At the bottom end there is a microUSB slot shifted to the left. Next to him is a speaking microphone.

The assembly of Flash 2 is of high quality, the cover fits very tightly, can be removed with force and a fair amount of bending, so it is not recommended to open the device often. No backlash or squeaks were found.

Characteristics

CPU:	MTK6753 (Cortex-A53, 8 cores at 1.3 GHz)
Screen:	5.0 inches (1280 × 720), IPS, OGS
Memory:	2 GB RAM, 16 GB permanent
Cameras:	main 13 megapixel with phase detection autofocus (sensor - Samsung ISOCELL), front 5 megapixel
Wired interfaces:	microUSB, 3.5 mm jack, 2 slots for SIM cards, microSD slot (up to 128 GB)
Wireless interfaces:	Bluetooth 4.0LE, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n
Cellular connection:	4G (Band 1, 3, 7), 3G (2 100 MHz, 1 900 MHz, 850 MHz, 900 MHz), GSM (850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 1,900 MHz)
Battery:	non-removable, 3,000 mAh
Sensors:	gyroscope, accelerometer, proximity sensor
OS:	Android Lollipop 5.1
Dimensions:	145.8 × 70.4 × 8.99 mm
Weight:	144 g

Screen

Alcatel Flash 2 is equipped with a 5-inch HD screen with a resolution of 1280 × 720. The display does not have an air gap between the protective glass and the screen (OGS). The touch screen supports 5 touches. The stated viewing angle is 178 degrees. No color inversion was noticed, brightness remains within normal limits. Pixels are almost invisible.

There is support for MiraVision technology, which, by analyzing the brightness and saturation of the picture and lighting conditions, sets the optimal intensity of the screen backlight.

Hardware platform and performance

The basis of the gadget's performance is the 64-bit MediaTek MT6753 processor. It has 8 Cortex-A53 cores at 1.3 GHz. Video accelerator - Mali 720.

RAM - 2 GB (LPDDR3), 1,400 MB available to the user. The permanent memory is 16 GB, with only 11 GB remaining for data storage, the rest of the space is occupied by system files. The microSD slot allows memory expansion with a card up to 128 GB.

The results of synthetic tests show sufficient performance. Popular games such as World of Tanks and Asphalt launch without lag.

Communications and wireless interfaces

The user has access to 2 slots for microSIM, both support 3G/4G. Wi-Fi can even work through a couple of concrete walls.

Only GPS is supported, GLONASS is not supported. Cold start in open areas - 5–10 seconds, indoors - up to 20 seconds.

Photo and video

According to the manufacturer, photography is exactly what Flash 2 is designed for. And for good reason. Although the smartphone belongs to the budget segment, the main module is equipped with a 13 megapixel matrix with a Samsung S5K3M2 ISOCELL sensor. When installing third-party applications, the camera takes pictures with a resolution of up to 5,632 × 4,224. The camera aperture is also very decent for a budget device - f/2.0. The angle width is 80 degrees. The optical part of the main camera uses 5 lenses and a blue filter. The flash is two-color, warm and cold shades.

Shooting takes place using a standard Android application. There is phase autofocus, the stated focusing time is 0.3 seconds (focusing is almost instantaneous). The functions of tracking focus (allows you to lock the focus on an object and recompose the frame by moving the phone), time-lapse shooting and creating two-dimensional and three-dimensional panoramas are implemented.

Clap your hands “shovel-phobes”, here is a smartphone with a five-inch display, with good characteristics and at an affordable price.

For a long time my Bluboo X5 asked for a well-deserved vacation, then the microphone was changed, then the battery, then the speaker falls off, although I must admit, this smartphone falls on me with constant stability, perhaps because of this everything in it breaks. One fine day I received an offer to write a review of a budget smartphone, this device turned out to be Alcatel Flash 2. I didn’t think for a long time, I agreed to the offer for several reasons, firstly, I needed a replacement for the already tired Bluboo, and secondly, I had little experience in operating what something like a budget Alcatel, which turned out to be not such a “dark” thing, and I wanted to see what the French came up with this time together with their Chinese colleagues, and thirdly, a new smartphone is always useful.

Smartphones sold in Russia under the Alcatel logo are manufactured at the plant of the Chinese manufacturer TCL, so to speak, a Franco-Chinese concern. I can’t say anything more about the roots of the brand, and this is superfluous for a review of a smartphone, because even a completely “no name” can shoot out and win the hearts of consumers, I had this happen with the ECOO AURORA E4 smartphone, I still remember it with warm words. Enough of the lyricism, it’s time to look at the dry numbers of the smartphone’s characteristics.

Specifications:


The smartphone came in a branded cardboard box with bright spring accents.


The delivery set is quite simple: smartphone, charger, micro-USB cable, instructions in Russian, the film is already pasted.


The instructions are completely in Russian, which indicates that the smartphone is aimed at the Russian consumer.


1A charger with our native EU plug. The cable is ordinary and nothing memorable. The original cable in conjunction with the original charger produces the stated characteristics of 1A, but nothing more.

Appearance
When choosing a smartphone, where should its appearance and design stand for us consumers? I think it was one of the last ones, at least for me. Perhaps someone has a different opinion, and in any case, aesthetic pleasure has not been canceled, this is exactly the case with this smartphone, it has a couple of memorable design solutions that I really liked.


What can I say, handsome. The chrome edging on the front side extends to the sides making the smartphone visually lighter and more expensive.


Taking your eyes off the top chrome edge and looking a little lower, you can find the earpiece mesh, the front camera, and a pair of standard sensors. What surprised me is that this smartphone has an LED flash for selfie lovers. Also, not every state employee can find an LED event indicator, but on this device everything is fine, the white LED is located in the right corner.


The lower part of the front side is equipped with three standard buttons. The central button has a light green border in the form of a circle, which gives the smartphone that very memorable touch.


On one side the smartphone is completely deprived of buttons.


But on the other side there are already three of them, which is not quite according to the standard recently adopted in the “smartphone industry”.


If we look in more detail, everything becomes clear. There is a button to turn the smartphone on/off, adjust the volume, and again, for those who like to take pictures with a smartphone, there is a separate button responsible for quick access to the camera and it is also responsible for releasing the camera shutter. The protection against accidental turning on of the camera is that the camera turns on by pressing the button twice.


On the top side of the smartphone there is a hole for connecting headphones, and on the bottom there is a micro-USB hole for charging the smartphone and a microphone hole.


Let's move on to the back of the smartphone.


The lid is made of plastic and has a deep gray color that is very pleasing to the eye. The coating is very similar to some kind of powder coating with a deep texture, traces of greasy fingers are completely invisible on the coating, it is very pleasant to hold the phone in your hands, and the functionality of such a coating includes the fact that it does not slip in your hands.
The equipment on the reverse side, again, does not quite correspond to the budget segment. In addition to the rear camera with a pleasant-looking rim, there is a flash equipped with two LEDs with different glow temperatures.


Going lower along the body and not taking into account the chrome Flash inscription, we find the speaker hole.


Down with the back cover. We expose the holes for two SIM cards (micro) and a slot for a memory card. The smartphone's battery is non-removable, with a stated capacity of 3000mAh.


To complete the picture, it remains to compare with something similar in size; last year’s hit Xiaomi Redmi 2 with a diagonal of 4.7 inches is available. The actual size of the Alcatel was 151x72x10mm. It fits perfectly in the hand, it is convenient to work with one hand, without problems, it does not slip in your hands thanks to the deep texture of the back cover. Also available for sale.


This five-inch smartphone weighs 145 grams. Afterwards, Bluboo feels very light and doesn’t even weigh on your pocket.


The appearance definitely passes in all respects. Five points out of five.

Display
Reading comments on reviews of smartphones with a diagonal of 5.5 inches, I understand that many really want a smart phone with a diagonal of just under 5.5 inches, so this copy is exactly what you need, well, at least diagonally.
The smartphone is equipped with a 5-inch display with a screen resolution of 1280×720, IPS matrix and a stated 294PPI. The display is not the richest, I compared it with Bluboo X5 and Redmi 2, but the reviewed Flash 2 is inferior to all of them in terms of picture richness.
For clarity, I took a photo of three smartphones. Bluboo X5 / Alcatel Flash 2 / Xiaomi Redmi 2.


A little, but still inferior in terms of picture richness and brightness, but as it turned out later, this disadvantage can be easily corrected in the screen settings using MiraVision, which I used for further work with the smartphone. What about the display when working in sunny weather?! The answer is in the photo below. I will say on my own that the display is easy to read at maximum brightness.


The display is readable from different angles, there are no problems here. Multi-touch supports up to five touches.

The display is good after adjustment via MiraVision.

Shell. Android.
I don’t like it when a smartphone is crammed with various unnecessary software, optimization utilities, etc. The firmware of this device is empty, without unnecessary garbage, with the exception of a couple of applications that were apparently installed for testing before shipping; it is also unclear why the JD application was installed. So, the interface itself is bare android with modified standard icons.
In the screenshots below you can see what was on the smartphone when it was first turned on and the shell itself.


One of the pleasant little things that the firmware of this smartphone was awarded with was the function of waking up the smartphone by touching the screen. I think everyone knows how it works, that is, on a “sleeping” smartphone we draw some symbol on the screen and voila, the smartphone wakes up and opens the application that is tied to this symbol. There is also a utility that limits the autorun of applications.


The “Click Clear” icon remains a not entirely clear icon for me; I mean that this application “kills” applications running in the background.


I can’t help but mention such a feature as MiraVision. Of course, MiraVision could be written about in the section on hardware, since MiraVision is a hardware product for improving display image quality inherent in MTK 67xx processors, but its implementation in the form of a graphical interface forced me to leave this item in this section.
I wrote above that the display lacks rich colors, and this was true until I got into the settings of this application. Now I'm completely satisfied with the display.


The manufacturer awarded the smartphone 16Gb of built-in memory; in fact, a little more than 11Gb is available to the user. This may seem strange to some, but 16Gb is enough for me and I have never used an additional memory card. The store's website contains information about updating Android to version 6.0; to track updates, an application for updating smartphone software over the air (OTA) is integrated into the firmware. But while OTA is silent about new firmware versions, let's cross our fingers and wait for an update.


To complete the information about the firmware, I provide two screenshots below.

Iron. Performance. Tests.
The MTK6753 east-core processor, announced at the end of 2014, controls and gives life to the smartphone; mass production of smartphones based on this processor began in mid-2015. So, this smartphone is not equipped with the latest fashion, but for a device that costs $120, it’s not a bad option. Let's add to this two gigabytes of RAM, a Mali-T720 III video accelerator, and we'll end up with a good balance of price and power. If you count in parrots, then the smart knocks out 37,350 parrots.


37,000 parrots, in my opinion, is the most optimal solution for me and my needs. For everyday use, this power is enough for the eyes.
Detailed information about the system from AIDA.


Next up is the Epic Citadel test, tested in two modes.


Geekbench 3 test result.


Vellamo test.


The set of sensors in this smartphone is minimal, but they all work fine and do not cause any complaints.

Navigation.
It was simply impossible to use navigation on MTK processors before; satellites were not caught or were caught and constantly lost, and there was no need to talk about positioning accuracy. I remember with horror a couple of trips when I had to use GPS on my smartphone. I thought that this was an eternal “sore” of MTK processors, but I was wrong. A cold start of GPS from the balcony showed that not everything is so bad with this device. After no more than a minute, 5 satellites had already been found and used, and after waiting a couple more minutes their number increased to 10, and this on a balcony in a big city. And then Saturday comes and while moving towards the dacha, we turn on Yandex Navigator and after 20 seconds the navigation picks up the satellites and determines my position. During the trip, I periodically monitored the number of working satellites and I was very pleased with the result.

As you can see from the screenshot, the smartphone works not only with GPS, but also with Russian GLONASS. I have to admit, there were a couple of departures from the track.

Connection. Mobile Internet.
The smartphone supports work with two SIM cards, and the hardware provides the ability to use fourth generation networks (4G/LTE). Fourth generation data transfer standards support work with Russian telecom operators, so that problems with high-speed Internet should not arise, at least in big cities for sure.


Another plus for me was the implementation of work in 3G and 4G networks with any of the slots. Usually 4G is tied to only one slot, this really infuriated me on Bluboo, the second slot on it only supported data transfer via EDGE. The implementation of this feature allows you not to swap SIM cards, say, at the dacha or in another region of Russia, but simply switch data transfer from one SIM card to another in the settings, which is very convenient. I have two SIM cards and if the Internet package ran out, I had to swap SIM cards in order to be able to use high-speed Internet.

Speaking of data transfer speeds, I get 4G at home and sometimes I forget to turn on WiFi since it’s basically not needed, see for yourself.

I use a long-lived product from the company Bluboo, I often had to ask the interlocutor again and I had to repeat previously spoken phrases, the situation with Alcatel Flash 2 is completely opposite to what I had with Bluboo. The interlocutor hears me perfectly, sometimes hears even more than necessary, so keep this in mind, even a whisper, a working TV or an echo in the room is clearly audible to the interlocutor, in turn, I can also hear my interlocutor perfectly well, there’s no fault here.

WiFi.
I am completely satisfied with WiFi operation at home; the signal is good, at the same level as all other devices. Below are measurements of the signal level depending on the distance from the router. The first measurement was a smartphone a meter from the router, the second was a distance of about 10 meters through a concrete wall and a balcony opening.

Sound. Speakers.
There’s not much to say about the sound on a budget smartphone; for me, the main criterion is a loud speaker so as not to miss a call and hear the alarm. The volume of this smartphone is okay, of course there’s no need to talk about the bass, there’s not enough of it, but the speaker can’t be called a “squeaky” speaker either.

Camera
There’s a lot to write here, since there are gadgets for those who like to take pictures with a smartphone.
The first thing that caught my eye was the protruding light green bezel on the main camera, which prevents scratches on the camera glass. The flash has two LEDs, one cold-emitting diode, the second warm, which should provide more natural lighting.
According to the manufacturer, the 13 megapixel Samsung S5K3M2 sensor is used as the basis. AIDA provides the following information on this matter.


An addition to the front camera is an additional flash for selfie lovers; interestingly, the brightness of the flash is adjusted with a slider. The shooting selection menu is slightly different from the stock menu; I like this menu better, it’s beautiful and clear.


At first I was skeptical about the hard button on the side of the smartphone, but after a couple of hours of testing the camera, I realized that it’s still very cool that it’s there, because sometimes it’s not convenient to click on the display, but here comes quick access to the camera and the ability to use The camera is held with only one hand while fixing it with all fingers.
For example, a series of pictures taken with the main camera.






A couple of shots on a selfie camera (without flash in cloudy weather, with flash, plus artificial refreshment).


The original photos and videos can be downloaded in one archive from.

Games.
I’m not a fan of playing on the phone, just one light toy without serious graphics is enough for me, but the review would not be complete without playing with at least a couple of toys.
Asphalt 8. The game runs smoothly at maximum settings.


GTA San Andreas. The toy runs smoothly, the textures are all drawn, and it’s comfortable to play.


This concludes my journey into the world of games. The smartphone can handle decent 3D graphics, and since I’m not good at games, I won’t talk about anything more.

Battery.
It makes no sense to talk theoretically about battery autonomy. We can only say with confidence that 2000mAh is not enough for a smartphone, 5000mAh is very good and you can be sure that if desired, the smartphone will last more than three days, but we won’t know what to say about a capacity of 3000mAh until we test it.
The smartphone is equipped with a non-removable battery with a stated capacity of 3000mAh. The Antutu test gave a result of 3758 units.

What does this mean in everyday use?! An application called GSam Battery Monitor will help me answer this question. The screenshots show what I did with the phone and how long this action took.


Let me explain a little about the intensity of using the phone in this mode. The day turned out to be hot, a lot of short calls, negotiations, add to this surfing the net, social networks, and before bed, a little Youtube. As a result, the battery lasted only a day. Judging by the information that the application provided, the main consumer of energy is the display and this saddened me a little, because the brightness of the display was only a little over 50%. Something needs to be done about this... but there’s nothing special to do, I lowered the screen brightness to 30% and the result became a little better. But to be honest, I wanted a little more.


Bottom line: the battery will easily last a day without recharging. If you try and start saving battery, you can increase the life of your smartphone without recharging.

Conclusion.
Let's summarize my review and rate the device under review.
I am completely satisfied with the appearance, for me there were no flaws in it, everything is beautiful, a couple of pronounced elements give the smartphone an unforgettable look. The display turned out to be very good after setting it up through MiraVision, it’s a pity that the screen is not 5.5 inches, although it depends on who... The screen resolution completely suits me, it would be cool if the display had a resolution of 1920x1080, but that would be another money. Two SIM card slots operating in 4G networks will be useful for people who often use the mobile Internet and are not in their native region. Good GPS and GLONASS performance will be useful to car enthusiasts. A smartphone can give you the opportunity to kill a couple of hours with your favorite toy. The only drawback of this device is its autonomy.

That's all for me, I hope the review was useful and interesting.

The product was provided for writing a review by the store. The review was published in accordance with clause 18 of the Site Rules.

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