Alcatel's new smartphones bring flagship features to budget buyers

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Smartphone maker Alcatel has launched three new smartphones (and a tablet) at MWC 2019, as it looks to bring high-end features right down to the budget end of the market.

The most interesting of the three new arrivals is the Alcatel 3 (2019), which features a tall 19.5:9, 5.94-inch HD+ display complete with teardrop notch, octa-core Snapdragon 439 chipset, either 3GB or 4GB of RAM, the choice of 32GB or 64GB of storage, dual rear cameras, 8MP front camera, fingerprint scanner and face unlock.

The 13MP and 5MP rear cameras come with the ability to recognize up to 21 different scenes and automatically adjust settings accordingly.

That's an extremely strong spec sheet for a phone which will set you back just €159 (around $180, £140, AU$250) for 3GB/32GB and €189 (around $210, £165, AU$300) for the 4GB/64GB model. You'll be hard pushed to find another smartphone offering this amount of storage and RAM for the money.

The Alcatel 3L is very similar, with the only differences between it and its more expensive sibling being its quad-core Snapdragon 429 chipset, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, lack of a fingerprint scanner and less premium rear design.

It will cost €139 (around $160, £120, AU$220) when it goes on sale later this year.

Both handsets offer AR emoji, allowing you to become one of three animals on-screen, or a simple man or woman. The front facing camera tracks your facial movement and mimics your face, mouth, eyes and brows on the digital character on screen.

Lots of memory for not much money

The Alcatel 1S is an entry-level offering, with a 5.5-inch HD+ display, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, fingerprint scanner, face unlock, dual rear cameras and a 5MP selfie snapper for just €109 (around $120, £95, AU$170). You won't find another phone with this much storage at this price.

Finally, there was also an Android tablet on show in the form of the Alcatel 3T 10, an affordable big screen slate with a price tag of €179 (around $200, £155, AU$280).

It offers up a 10-inch display, 4G connectivity, dual front facing speakers, 4,080mAh battery and Android 9 Pie.

MWC (Mobile World Congress) is the world's largest showcase for the mobile industry, stuffed full of the newest phones, tablets, wearables and more. TechRadar is reporting live from Barcelona all week to bring you the very latest from the show floor. Head to our dedicated MWC 2019 hub to see all the new releases, along with TechRadar's world-class analysis and buying advice about your next phone.

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