TCL announces dual Android Go-powered Alcatel smartphones
MWC may not officially start until next week, but that hasn’t stopped companies from getting a head start. Yesterday, we saw Lenovo announce some new Chromebooks, and today, TCL has a few announcements of its own.
Kicking things off, we have the Alcatel 1 and 1L Pro, both of which are firmly planted in the budget segment of the market. The Alcatel 1 features a 5-inch display with a quad-core chipset and just 1GB of RAM. You’ll also find 16GB of RAM and a microSD card slot capable of housing up to a 32GB card.
The Alcatel 1 also makes use of a 2,000mAh battery, complete with the good ole’ microUSB charging port. Additionally, we have a 2MP selfie camera and a single 5MP rear-facing camera capable of recording 720p video at 30fps. This spec sheet may not sound all that impressive but that’s because it’s running Android 11 (Go Edition), which aims to provide a slimmed-down and more basic version of Android for these super-budget phones.
Next up, the Alcatel 1L Pro is also coming later this year and features a 6.1-inch display with a V-Notch cutout at the top for the 5MP selfie camera. Powering the device is the octa-core UNISOC SC9863A processor paired with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage. The 1L Pro adds a fingerprint scanner for security, along with a dedicated Google Assistant button.
Power is handled by the 3,000mAh cell, rated for up to 20 days of standby time, and using a microUSB charging port. On the back, TCL added an additional camera, bringing the total up to two, with a 13MP primary lens and a 2MP depth sensor. And like the Alcatel 1, the 1L Pro offers Android 11 (Go Edition) instead of the full version of Android.
TCL plans to launch the Alcatel 1 sometime in August in Europe and Latin America, with pricing coming in at €59. Meanwhile, the Alcatel 1L Pro will come to Latin America and a few other regions for a little less than $130.