Mobile phones

A simple starter smartphone

The Alcatel OneTouch Pixi 3 is available in different versions, and the 3.5 inch is the cheapest and most basic. It's a very dinky smartphone, with a tiny 3.5 inch screen.

3.5 inches seems impossibly small by modern standards, but it's the same size as the screen of the iPhone 4, so it's not unusable by any means. The screen has a low resolution of 320 x 480 pixels, which equates to a very low pixel density of 165ppi, so everything looks a touch blocky. It's the most basic screen you'll find on any smartphone.

However, the advantage of such a small phone is that it weighs hardly anything and is easily pocketable.

Android KitKat

The Pixi 3 runs Android KitKat 4.4 and is designed to be a starter phone, with a user-friendly setup wizard to guide you through getting your contacts set up, and logging in to social media.

Popular social media apps like Facebook, Twitter, Viber and WhatsApp are already installed on the phone, as well as a small selection of games. You also have access to the Google Play apps market.

Performance

The Pixi has some very basic hardware at its core. The processor is dual-core but runs at a sluggish 1GHz, and there's just half a gigabyte of RAM available. This makes the phone slow to respond, with delays opening apps, and a tendency to freeze. So although its marketed at young users, kids may find it a frustrating experience.

The 4GB of storage is enough for storing a few apps, and you can always upgrade the memory with a microSD memory card if you want to store more.

Basic camera

The phone has a 2 megapixel camera on the rear, and it's really just a toy camera. It does have a flash, but don't expect to take anything more than quick snaps. It can record very low resolution, murky video clips too.

Connectivity

We can't really complain about the connectivity of the phone. As well as 3G, you'll find Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and USB support.

Battery life

Not surprisingly for such a tiny phone, the battery capacity is very limited. You won't get more than a few hours of continuous use before the battery is exhausted. However, on standby, the phone will certainly last all day, and a battery saver option lets you stretch this further.

Conclusion - a cheap starter phone

The One Touch Pixi 3 is obviously intended to be a first phone. It's cheap, compact and limited, but includes all the smartphone essentials. Centered around calling, texting, social media, and with a few games thrown in, it does what you need from a first phone. The only problem is that it's seriously underpowered, so lagging and freezing are unfortunately part of the experience.

There are other cheap smartphones available, and some are notably more capable than the Pixi. You should also take a look at the Huawei Y360, and the Microsoft Lumia 435.

Alcatel OneTouch Pixi 3 (3.5) features include:

• Operating system: Android KitKat 4.4
• 2 megapixel camera with flash, plus 480p video
• Display: 3.5 inch TFT colour screen, 320 x 480 pixels
• Music player
• Handsfree speaker
• GPS, A-GPS positioning
• Processor: Dual-core 1.0GHz, 512MB RAM
• Memory: 4GB plus microSD card slot (32GB)
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB, 3.5mm headphone jack
• Networks: 3G, quadband GSM
• Size: 112 x 62 x 12 mm
• Weight: 100g
• Battery: 1,300 mAh
• Talktime: 6 hours

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Alcatel OneTouch Pixi 3 (3.5) user reviews

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