The quality of a smartphone is primarily determined by its parameters. According to them, you can talk about how long the device will last you and whether it is worth buying such a smartphone at all. But what do the specs say about the idol 2 mini?

Visual component

At Alcatel one touch idol 2 mini characteristics run into visual data. Based on them, the developers collected all the other components of the device. Its weight is only 110 grams when considering the thickness of less than 8 mm. Impressive, isn't it?

Before you is a standard candy bar with three touch-sensitive keys on the bottom. Its unique feature is the metallic silver frame, which gives the phone a touch of elegance. The body is made quite solidly. Finding fault with any backlashes or other problems is simply unrealistic. The device gives the impression of a premium class, although, in fact, it is a budget employee.

On the right there is a power button, and above the volume rocker. It is also used to block the sensor of the device. On the left is a SIM card slot covered with a flap. Below are the USB connector and microphone. The charger and headset jacks are very cleverly separated. Many users noted this as one of the brightest advantages of this device.

The rear plastic cover houses the main camera, diode flash and an additional microphone for high-quality sound in video recordings. The front part of the device, in addition to touch keys and a screen with an oleophobic coating, has a speaker grill and a front camera.

Camera

If we talk about cameras, then the idol 2 mini's characteristics are more than acceptable. The main camera takes pictures at 5 megapixels, and video at 1280x720. All this is complemented by a fairly high-quality autofocus and elegantly integrated flash. At the same time, the pictures are obtained in quality noticeably higher than that of smartphones of other brands, whose cameras, according to statements, reach eight or even 13 megapixels.

The front camera in such a smartphone is a disadvantage for a modern person, since it is not intended for selfies, but only for communication and has a very modest resolution by modern standards - only 0.3 megapixels. If you are not a fan of photographing yourself, then this unit is the very thing.

Battery

The battery in the smartphone is lithium-ion and non-removable. Its volume is 1700 mAh. The manufacturer promises that the battery is capable of autonomously spending at least 400 hours of waiting and 5 hours of active use. An excellent result for a budget smartphone. Taking into account one SIM card and a minimum set of applications, the battery consumption is really low. And not too productive "hardware" contributes to even greater savings.

Memory and performance

We can safely say that the idol 2 mini's memory characteristics are not encouraging, but not upsetting either. These are the standard 1 gigabyte of RAM and 4 gigabyte of non-volatile or random access memory... Based on the latest technical innovations, these are not the best indicators. Although, if you remember that the device was released in 2014, there is nothing to be surprised at.

As for the "iron" component, one should not expect any special miracles either. The device has a processor capable of overclocking each of its four cores to a frequency of 1.2 GHz. These indicators are sufficient for working with simple programs like instant messengers, but no more. Do not forget that the device is primarily positioned as a fashion and at the same time budget. And in the case of an attractive appearance at a low price, you can rarely find more or less productive hardware.

To improve performance, you can root the device and remove some built-in applications. This will allow, in addition to reducing the load on the processor, to unload a certain amount of non-volatile memory, which is not too much here.

conclusions

The Alcatel one touch idol 2 mini smartphone is a 4.5-inch rugged touchscreen phone with IPS-matrix. This is a low price smartphone, 4 nuclear processor and "Android" 4.4 made thousands of people fall in love with him. It will become a suitable option for those who value lightweight and Among the minuses, one can note a slot for just one SIM card, which may not be enough in today's conditions of tough competition between operators, and not the most productive hardware that lowers the comfort of use. It will ideally fit into the role of an additional gadget for use in rare cases, as the main smartphone, it will not be able to provide the full range of possibilities provided by the modern electronic world.

Inexpensive 4G model

When mentioning the Chinese company TCL and its Alcatel trademark, this year we first of all recalled the very noticeable top model of the TCL Idol X + smartphone, whose work is based on the latest platform Mediatek with a maximum frequency of eight processor cores. However, the company did not limit itself to the release of one flagship model in the new season: at the beginning of the year, during the MWC 2014 exhibition in Barcelona, ​​TCL presented a whole line of new mid-range smartphones, including Alcatel OneTouch Idol 2 and OneTouch Idol 2S and their various modifications. In accordance with the originated on mobile market tradition, the company could not help but release a version of the smartphone with the word "mini" in the title.

Such a device for the company has become a smaller smartphone from the aforementioned line, which received a rather long and inconvenient name for pronouncing: Alcatel OneTouch Idol 2 mini S. as well as its "full-size" brothers in the line mentioned above. The domestic operator Beeline, for example, a few days ago presented the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 2 mini S to the market as an exclusive offer: the smartphone itself is offered in the operator's salons at a "tasty" price of 7990 rubles, and in addition to it, three months of free mobile internet... However, the buyer will have to sacrifice something: the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 2 mini S model bought in Beeline stores is locked to work only with SIM cards of this operator and will not fully function with any other cards. In addition, the phone is stuffed to the brim with additional proprietary Beeline applications, as is usually the case, but this issue, just, is completely solved by standard methods. But in order to make such a device work with SIM-cards of other operators, it will be necessary to seek unconventional means - if someone is interested in such an option at all. Be that as it may, it is the modification of the smartphone offered by Beeline (6036Y) that is the maximum and best configuration of this model - it even has support for LTE networks, which, at such a low price, makes the Idol 2 mini S one of the most inexpensive devices with 4G on our market. In any case, the described smartphone seemed to us a device interesting enough and worthy to make a full review of it.

Key features of Alcatel OneTouch Idol 2 mini S (model 6036Y)

	Alcatel Idol 2 mini S	Huawei Ascend G6	Asus Padfone E	LG G2 mini
Screen	4.5 ″, IPS	4.5 ″, IPS	4.7 ″, IPS	4.7 ″, IPS
Permission	960 × 540, 245 ppi	960 × 540, 245 ppi	1280 × 720, 312 ppi	960 × 540, 234 ppi
SoC		Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 (4x ARM Cortex-A7) @ 1.2GHz	Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 (4x ARM Cortex-A7) @ 1.4GHz	Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 (4x ARM Cortex-A7) @ 1.2GHz
GPU	Adreno 305	Adreno 305	Adreno 305	Adreno 305
RAM	1 GB	1 GB	1 GB	1 GB
Flash memory	8 GB	4 GB	16 GB	8 GB
Memory card support	microSD	microSD	microSD	microSD
Operating system	Google android 4.3	Google Android 4.3	Google Android 4.3	Google Android 4.4
Battery	non-removable, 2000 mAh	non-removable, 2000 mAh	non-removable, 1820 mAh	removable, 2440 mAh
Cameras	rear (8 Mp; video - 1080p), front (2 Mp)	rear (8 Mp; video - 720p), front (5 Mp)	rear (13 Mp; video - 1080p), front (1.2 Mp)	rear (8 Mp; video - 1080p), front (1.3 Mp)
Dimensions (edit)	130 x 64 x 8.5 mm, 116 g	130 x 65 x 7.5 mm, 115 g	140 x 70 x 9.1 mm, 126 g	130 x 66 x 9.9 mm, 121 g
average price	T-10724720	T-10724716	T-10686990	T-10833941
Offers Alcatel OneTouch Idol 2 mini S	L-10724720-10

• SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 (MSM8226), 1.2 GHz, 4 ARM Cortex-A7 cores
• GPU Adreno 305
• Operating Android system 4.3
• Sensory IPS display, 4.5 ″, 960 × 540, 245 ppi
• Random access memory (RAM) 1 GB, inner memory 8 GB
• Support for microSD memory cards up to 32 GB
• Communication GSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
• Communication 3G 850, 900, 2100 MHz
• Max 4G LTE data rate up to 150Mbps
• Bluetooth 4.0
• Wi-Fi 802.11b / g / n, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Display, dot Wi-Fi access
• GPS / A-GPS, Glonass
• Camera 8 MP, autofocus, LED flash
• Camera 2 MP (front)
• Battery 2000 mAh
• Dimensions 129.5 x 63.5 x 8.5mm
• Weight 116 g

Contents of delivery

In our case, we received a test copy of the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 2 mini S without packaging and, accordingly, a set of accessories, so we can only judge the richness of the smartphone package by the description on the company's website. It states that in the box with the smartphone you will find a universal compact charger, a Micro-USB connection cable, in-ear headphones and a user manual.

Of the additional accessories purchased separately, we can note a case-book with a kind of built-in event indicator made in the form of perforated backlit icons - it looks nice and probably not too energy-consuming. Without opening the covers, the user can receive information about incoming SMS messages, mail, incoming calls, etc.

Appearance and usability

By design and shape Alcatel smartphone OneTouch Idol 2 mini S resembles previous Idol series products, most of all it is similar to the first flagship Idol X, which users liked so much at one time. To a lesser extent, it is similar to the updated Idol X +, although common design features can be traced here.

The smartphone received a rather medium-sized, elegant and slim body, which fits perfectly into the average hand. The device has rather slippery glossy side edges, however, due to the matte non-slip back surface, as well as small dimensions and weight, the smartphone is comfortably held in the palm of your hand. The size of the device is slightly larger than Apple iPhone- more similar to another compact modern model, Sony Xperia Z1 Compact.

The entire body of the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 2 mini S is entirely made of plastic, there is no metal here. The case has a monoblock structure, the back cover has a slight bend and a matte non-marking surface, which favorably affects both ergonomics and neat general view devices. The side faces are made in the form of chrome-plated metal, but this is not real metal, but just a sputtering on the same plastic. The edges of the case have practically no bevels, they are wide enough and slippery to the touch.

The corresponding way of installing the SIM-card follows from this structure of the case: the card, just like in the previous models of the Idol series, is inserted into the side slot, which is covered from above with an unusual cover. This cover does not need to be removed with a special needle-clip, it opens in the manner of a hinged door. To open it, you need to press on one end of the lid, push it inward. In principle, this opening method was quite convenient for the full-size representatives of the Idol series, however, in the smaller model, all these elements also turned out to be reduced in size, which made it not very convenient to manipulate these miniature lids. In this case, you have to use something sharp to press in one end of the lid. You have to act the same way with the card itself - the usual length of the nail is not enough to drown the SIM-card to the depth necessary for capture.

The adjacent slot for installing a memory card has exactly the same structure - microSD cards up to 32 GB are supported. Both caps have short leashes, they can be pulled out quite a bit so that they do not interfere with the installation of cards. In general, the whole process is quite uncomfortable, the method of installing cards in the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 2 mini S is far from the most convenient.

On the back of the smartphone, all the elements are familiar and are arranged in the traditional order: on top - the camera and LED flash eyes, on the bottom - a row of holes for sound out of the ringing speaker.

The speaker grill is covered by the table surface, which makes the sound of a lying smartphone partly muffled. The one-section LED flash comes with pre-installed software to control it as a flashlight.

On the front surface, almost the entire front panel is covered with a flat protective glass without rims, a hole for a large shiny chrome grille of the earpiece is cut out in it, the eyes of the front camera and sensors are visible next to it.

Below the screen, there is space for hardware buttons to control the system and applications. These buttons are touch-sensitive, have a whitish backlight of medium brightness, for which there was no item in the menu to adjust.

There are only two mechanical hardware keys on the sides of the device, and both of them are located on one - the right side, one next to the other. The volume and lock keys have a fairly short stroke, are small in size and stick out quite a bit outside the body. In general, the implementation of the controls is not the best, but you can get used to it.

The Micro-USB connector is located here at the bottom end - next to the microphone hole. The headphone output is implemented on the upper end, you can see the hole of the second auxiliary microphone nearby.

The connectors of the smartphone are not covered with any plugs and covers, because the device is not protected from water and dust. Not found on the case and a hook for attaching a strap.

The product traditionally goes on sale in several color options at once: there are options for light gray and dark gray shades, as well as options for pink and chocolate. IN different options the front panel under the glass of the smartphone also turns out to be of different colors: for example, in the chocolate version it is black, while in the others it is white.

Screen

The Alcatel OneTouch Idol 2 mini S smartphone is equipped with an IPS sensor matrix. The physical dimensions of the display are 56 × 99 mm, the diagonal is 4.5 inches. The screen resolution in dots is 960 × 540, the density of dots per inch reaches 245 ppi.

The brightness of the display has both manual and automatic adjustment, the latter is based on the operation of the light sensor. The smartphone also has a proximity sensor that locks the screen when you bring the smartphone to your ear. Multi-touch technology allows you to handle 5 simultaneous touches.

Alexey Kudryavtsev, editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections, conducted a detailed examination using measuring instruments. Here is his expert opinion on the screen of the test sample.

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

The screen of the Alcatel Idol 2 Mini S is even slightly darker (brightness in the photos is 84 versus 92 for the Nexus 7). The doubling of reflected objects in the Alcatel Idol 2 Mini S screen is very weak, which 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 type screen - One Glass Solution). Due to the smaller number of boundaries (such as glass-air) with very different refractive indices, such screens look better in conditions of strong external illumination, but their repair in the case of cracked outer glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be changed. On the outer surface of the screen there is a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (very effective, similar to that of the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are much easier to remove, and appear at a slower rate than in the case of ordinary glass.

At manual control brightness and when displaying a white field on the whole screen, the maximum brightness value was about 500 cd / m², the minimum - 42 cd / m². The maximum brightness is very high and, given the excellent anti-glare properties, readability even on a sunny day outdoors will be at a high level. In complete darkness, the brightness can be lowered to a comfortable value. In the presence of automatic brightness control by the light sensor (located in the upper left corner on the front panel). In automatic mode, when the ambient light conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases. In total darkness in automatic mode, the brightness is reduced to 42 cd / m2 (acceptable), in an office lit with artificial light (approximately 400 lux), the brightness is set to approximately 500 cd / m2 (this is maximum and excessively bright), in a brightly lit environment (corresponds to outdoor lighting on a clear day, but without direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or slightly more) - rises to the same 500 cd / m². As a result, the automatic brightness adjustment function does not work adequately for external conditions, and the whole point is in the software implementation, since the light sensor itself shows quite plausible results. At any brightness level, there is practically no backlight modulation, so there is no screen flickering either.

This smartphone uses an IPS-type matrix. The micrographs show the typical IPS subpixel structure:

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

The screen has good viewing angles without a significant color shift even with large gaze deviations from the perpendicular to the screen and without inverting (except for the darkest when looking to the right) shades. For comparison, we present photographs in which the same images are displayed on the screens of Alcatel Idol 2 Mini S and Nexus 7, while the brightness of the screens was initially set to about 200 cd / m2 (along the white field in the entire screen), and the color balance on the camera was forcibly switched to 6500 K. Perpendicular to the screens white field:

Note the good uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field. And the test picture:

Color reproduction is good and colors are saturated on both screens. Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen:

It can be seen that the image quality at this angle for the screen of the Alcatel Idol 2 Mini S has noticeably deteriorated. And white box:

The brightness at the angle of the screens decreased (at least 6 times, based on the difference in exposure), but the Alcatel Idol 2 Mini S screen is noticeably darker. When deviated diagonally, the black field is lightened to a medium degree and takes on a purple tint. The photos below demonstrate this (the brightness of the white areas in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the screens is about the same!):

And from a different angle:

When viewed from a perpendicular view, the uniformity of the black field is average, since there are areas with increased black brightness along the edge of the screen:

The contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) is not the highest - about 680: 1. The response time for the transition black-white-black is 24 ms (13 ms on + 11 ms off). The transition between gray tones of 25% and 75% (by the numerical value of the color) and back takes 38.5 ms in total. The gamma curve, plotted using 32 points with equal intervals in terms of the numerical value of the shade of gray, did not reveal a blockage in either the highlights or the shadows. Indicator approximating power function is 1.86, which is below the standard value of 2.2. In this case, the real gamma curve strongly deviates from the power dependence:

Such a deviation is usually a sign of the presence of a dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness in accordance with the nature of the displayed image (since the measurements were carried out with sequential display of gray shades on almost the entire screen), but we did not receive additional evidence of its existence. But just in case, we carried out a number of tests - determining the contrast and response time, comparing the black illumination at angles - when displaying special templates with invariably average brightness, and not single-color fields across the entire screen.

The color gamut is close to sRGB:

The spectra show that the matrix filters moderately mix the components together:

As a result, the colors visually have a natural saturation. The balance of shades on the gray scale does not cause much enthusiasm, since the color temperature is noticeably higher than the standard 6500 K, the deviation from the spectrum of a black body (ΔE) is less than 10, which is considered a good indicator for a consumer device, however, ΔE changes significantly from shade to shade - this negatively affects the visual assessment of the color balance. (The darkest areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since the color balance there is not very important, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

To summarize: the screen has a high maximum brightness and has good anti-reflective properties, so the device can be used outdoors without any problems even on a sunny summer day. In complete darkness, the brightness can be lowered to a comfortable level. The mode with automatic brightness adjustment is practically useless, since already in a lit room it increases the brightness to the maximum, which, of course, leads to unnecessary energy consumption. The significant advantages of the screen include an effective oleophobic coating, no air gap in the layers of the screen and no flicker, as well as sRGB color gamut. The rest of the characteristics are not outstanding, but not a failure either. In general, taking into account the importance of characteristics for this particular class of devices, the screen quality can be considered high.

Sound

In terms of sound, the smartphone is nothing special. Both speakers emit a fairly clear sound, but without a noticeable presence of low frequencies, and besides, they are not loud enough. However, this does not really affect the perception of sound during a conversation - the voice of a familiar interlocutor, timbre and intonation remain recognizable. From the settings - the standard features of the equalizer with preset values ​​and some additional effects.

The device is able to use the built-in tools to record a conversation from the line, while both talking parties are recorded, and the recorded files are automatically added to the appropriate folder. Equipped with a smartphone and built-in FM radio, which traditionally works only with headphones connected as an external antenna.

The main rear camera here has an 8-megapixel module and shoots with a maximum resolution of 3264 × 1836. The quality of the images is average, most often the photos come out overexposed and slightly blurry. The settings are clearly arranged and conveniently arranged, but the possibilities laid down here are quite modest.

The video camera can shoot at a maximum resolution of 1080p (30 fps), examples of test clips are presented below.

• Movie # 1 (35 MB, 1920 × 1080, with daylight)
• Movie # 2 (33 MB, 1920 × 1080, indoors)
• Movie # 3 (18 MB, 1920 × 1080, at night)

Examples of photos with our comments are presented below.

	The sharpness in the distant shots is not bad.
	The camera cannot fully resolve the foliage, but overall it works well.
	Sharpness across the frame is fairly uniform.
	In the background, foliage practically does not merge.
	The noise in the shadows is not that strong, and, apparently, is well processed.
	The camera behaves relatively well indoors.
	Even when shooting at night, the camera does not show such a bad result.
	The camera copes well with macro photography.

Before us is exactly what can be safely called a balanced camera. Let's start with the fact that the camera simply does not have any significant drawbacks. With its 8 megapixels, it copes, perhaps not perfectly, but very well. The camera got a good sensor, good optics and moderate software processing. It is all these three parameters in symbiosis that give the camera that very balance. The sensor does a good job in the shadows, so the noise reduction does not need to be processed. The optics work well for the image in the field of the frame and according to the plans, so there is practically no sharpening in the pictures. Oddly enough, the camera's merits are not limited to this: it works very well in low light. The camera resorts to sensitivity values ​​above ISO 100 only when absolutely necessary, but even a night shot (ISO 232, 1/17 second) demonstrates relatively good performance.

As already mentioned, the camera is good and balanced and will be fine for most scenes.

Telephone part and communications

The smartphone works as standard in modern networks 2G GSM and 3G WCDMA, and there is also support for networks used in Russia fourth generation(4G). With the SIM-card of the domestic operator Megafon, the smartphone in practice confidently finds and works with the LTE network. The data transfer rate, respectively, in theory can reach up to 150 Mbps of incoming traffic. Support is available from additional networking capabilities. Connection mode external devices to the USB port (USB Host, OTG), unfortunately, is not supported here, so flash drives connected via the OTG adapter will not be recognized. The navigation module supports both GPS and domestic Glonass and works very clearly and quickly, there are no problems with this.

Spontaneous reboots / shutdowns during testing were not observed, as well as slowdowns or freezes of the system. The LED warning sensor here modestly shines with a small whitish dot in the upper left corner of the front panel, unobtrusively signaling various incoming events. The light sensor adjusts the brightness level in automatic mode, but it does not do it quite correctly.

Drawing letters and numbers of virtual keyboards is rather small and not very comfortable to operate. The layout and arrangement of the keys are standard: here you can switch languages ​​by pressing a special button with a globe, there is no separate row with numbers - you need to switch the layout every time. The phone application supports Smart Dial, that is, while dialing phone number the search in contacts is carried out immediately.

OS and software

Alcatel OneTouch Idol 2 mini S is currently running on the Google Android software platform, not the most recent version 4.3. Branded shell stretched over standard interface Android, here has a rather heavily redesigned and expanded functionality: sections have been added to the settings menu, there are rudiments of gesture support, even such an opportunity as unlocking the screen by tapping has appeared. In general, everything is very familiar from the previous models of the Idol series. Application menu in this user interface is present, most of the already preinstalled applications are carefully arranged in thematic folders by the developers themselves. Creation of folders / groups is supported on desktops.

As mentioned above, a modification of a smartphone, branded specifically for the Beeline operator, with all the ensuing consequences, visited our test laboratory. The interface of the smartphone has not only special themes with the familiar black and yellow coloring, but also crammed with a mass of all kinds of branded applications, which, in general, are not of particular interest. However, it is not difficult to return the original, more relaxed appearance to the interface's appearance. In our case, to test all the capabilities of the device, it was also unlocked, and after that it worked perfectly with SIM-cards of other operators, and even registered in LTE networks.

Performance

The Alcatel OneTouch Idol 2 mini S hardware platform is based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 SoC (MSM8226). The central processor here has 4 ARM Cortex-A7 cores operating at a frequency of 1.2 GHz, although the maximum possible frequency is provided here up to 1.6 GHz (SoC production technology is 28 nm). The device has 1 GB of RAM, and the storage available to the user for uploading their own files is about 5 GB out of the nominally designated 8 GB - the rest went to the system itself and applications. The memory can be expanded with microSD cards up to 32 GB. Unfortunately, you won't be able to connect a flash drive via an OTG adapter - the device does not support this mode.

To get an idea of ​​the performance of the tested smartphone platform, let's run a standard set of tests. We have already tested devices based on SoC MSM8226: a recent and most recent example is the LG G2 mini, which is based on exactly the same platform. For comparison, we will also take the results of the same platform, but with a slightly faster core frequency (1.4 GHz, model Asus Padfone E), and also add the results of another similar platform from Qualcomm - Snapdragon 200, which has exactly the same cores and their number the same, but the SoC itself is made using 45 nm technology. This relatively fresh budget platform is called the Snapdragon 200 (MSM8212), and we tested it with an example Huawei smartphone Ascend G6, which is now heavily advertised on TV, and a review of which is also already being prepared for release.

All the results we got when testing a smartphone in the most fresh versions popular benchmarks, we have tabulated for convenience. Several other devices from different segments are usually added to the table, also tested on similar latest versions benchmarks (this is done only for a visual assessment of the resulting dry numbers). Unfortunately, within the framework of one comparison, it is impossible to present the results from different versions of benchmarks, therefore, many worthy and relevant models remain "behind the scenes" - due to the fact that they once passed their "obstacle courses" on previous versions test programs.

According to the test results, it can be seen that the SoC Snapdragon 400 MSM8226, made according to the 28 nm process technology, turned out to be slightly faster in all respects than the SoC Snapdragon 200 MSM8212, which manipulates the same cores, but executed on the 45 nm process technology (Huawei G6 platform). The results of LG G2 mini turned out to be identical, which is logical, because their platforms are the same, and the slightly faster cores of the Asus Padfone E showed a slight superiority, which is also quite logical and meets our expectations.

In general, according to the results of all tests, the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 2 mini S smartphone can be safely attributed to the category of devices with an average, or even slightly above average performance. At the moment, the hardware performance of this smartphone should be enough to perform most of the tasks that any games or other applications from the Google Play Store can deliver.

Test results in MobileXPRT, as well as the latest versions of AnTuTu 4.x and GeekBench 3:

When testing graphics subsystem in the 3DMark cross-platform test for the most productive smartphones, it is now possible to run 3DMark in Unlimited mode, where the rendering resolution is fixed at 720p and VSync is disabled (due to which the speed can rise above 60 fps).

The results of testing the graphics subsystem in game test Epic Citadel as well as Basemark X and Bonsai Benchmark:

	Alcatel Idol 2 mini S	Huawei g6 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 200, 4 ARM cores [email protected], 2 GHz)	Asus Padfone E (Qualcomm Snapdragon 400, 4 ARM cores [email protected], 4 GHz)	LG G2 mini (Qualcomm Snapdragon 400, 4 ARM cores [email protected], 2 GHz)
Epic Citadel, High Quality	57.7 fps	54.4 fps	56.8 fps	57.1 fps
Epic Citadel, Ultra High Quality	47.3 fps	34.8 fps	33.0 fps	48.7 fps
Bonsai benchmark	30 fps / 2139	16 fps / 1115	25 fps / 1779	31 fps / 2197
Basemark X, Medium Quality	4561	3488	4579	4323

Video playback

To test the "omnivorous" video playback (including support for various codecs, containers and special features, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats that make up the bulk of the content available on the Web. Note that for mobile devices it is important to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is often impossible to process modern options at the expense of processor cores alone. Also, do not 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 single table.

According to the test results, the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 2 mini S was not equipped with all the necessary decoders, in this case sound ones, which are necessary for full playback of most of the most common files on the network. To play them successfully, you will have to resort to using a third-party player - for example, MX Player. True, in it, you will first have to change the settings, switching from hardware decoding to software or to a new mode called Hardware +(not supported by all smartphones), only then the sound will appear. All results are summarized in a single table.

Format	Container, video, sound	MX Video Player	Native video player
DVDRip	AVI, XviD 720 × 400 2200 Kbps, MP3 + AC3	reproduced normally	reproduced normally
Web-DL SD	AVI, XviD 720 × 400 1400 Kbps, MP3 + AC3	reproduced normally	reproduced normally
Web-DL HD	MKV, H.264 1280 × 720 3000Kbps, AC3	Hardware +
BDRip 720p	MKV, H.264 1280 × 720 4000 Kbps, AC3	plays fine with decoder Hardware +	the video plays normally, there is no sound¹
BDRip 1080p	MKV, H.264 1920 × 1080 8000Kbps, AC3	plays fine with decoder Hardware +	the video plays normally, there is no sound¹

¹ sound in MX Video Player was only played after switching to software decoding or new mode Hardware +; the standard player does not have such a setting

We did not find the MHL interface, as well as 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 "Testing technique for video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices)"). Screenshots with a shutter speed of 1 s helped to determine the nature of the frame output of video files with different parameters: the resolution varied (1280 by 720 (720p) and 1920 by 1080 (1080p) pixels) and the frame rate (24, 25, 30, 50 and 60 fps). with). In our tests we used the MX Player video player in the "Hardware +" mode. The test results are summarized in the table:

Good No Good No Good No Good No

Note: If both columns Uniformity and Skips green ratings are set, this means that, most likely, when watching movies, artifacts caused by uneven alternation and skipping of frames will either not be visible at all, or their number and visibility will not affect the viewing comfort. Red marks indicate possible problems related to the playback of the respective files.

In general, according to the criterion for outputting frames, the playback quality of video files on the screen of the smartphone itself is good, since frames (or groups of frames) can be displayed with more or less uniform intervals of intervals and, with rare exceptions, without frame drops. When playing 720p and 1080p video files with an aspect ratio of 16: 9, the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly at the edge of the screen. The brightness range displayed on the screen corresponds to the standard range of 16-235 - all shades are displayed in shadows and highlights.

Battery life

The capacity of the lithium-ion battery installed in the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 2 mini S is small for a modern smartphone 2000 mAh. However, according to the test results, the subject did not hit his face in the dirt, demonstrating a very decent time autonomous work in various standard use cases. The device even bypassed most direct competitors in this matter, except for mini-models Samsung and LG - Korean modern smartphones have recently demonstrated the best optimization indicators in terms of energy consumption.

Continuous reading in the FBReader program (with a standard, light theme) at the minimum comfortable brightness level (the brightness was set to 100 cd / m²) lasted almost 16 hours until the battery was completely discharged. When you continuously watch high quality (HQ) YouTube videos at the same brightness level over your home Wi-Fi network the device lasted about 9 hours, and in 3D games mode - about 4 hours. The smartphone charges quickly enough: full charge time is less than 2 hours.

Outcome

As for the cost of the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 2 mini S - or rather, the best configuration of this device (6036Y), with LTE and NFC support, which we tested, it is offered on the domestic market only as a branded device of the domestic operator Beeline. Such a smartphone costs 7990 rubles, which is a couple of thousand more expensive than the previous mini-model of the Alcatel Idol series, which was recently advertised on television by actor Konstantin Khabensky. And nevertheless, even this price seems to be quite acceptable for such a nice, compact, but powerful enough and technically advanced solid mid-range device. For small money by the standards of the domestic market, the user receives a very high-quality product with solid materials of manufacture, indisputable assembly, productive hardware filling, a well-thought-out screen for its level, which allows the device itself to remain within a comfortable framework for the hand. Finally, we can state that not only among the "shovels" have begun to appear very solid mobile devices that meet most modern technical requirements, such as the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact or even more affordable hero of today's review - the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 2 mini S smartphone.

Photos in the interior

Contents of delivery:

• Telephone
• Charger with USB cable
• Headset
• Instructions

Positioning

The Idol line has become a kind of breakthrough for Alcatel - interesting design, good functionality, reasonable price. Emergence Mini version with a small price made these devices even more popular, they entered the mass segment. In fact, we can say that Alcatel has created an excellent offer in terms of price / quality ratio, materials and appearance - these models are strikingly different from what we see from most Chinese manufacturers. And the cost is at the same level.

In 2014, there were no major changes in the design, the entire line received an update of the filling, but at the same time it retained the design, which still looks the same fresh. In my opinion, Alcatel devices can be recommended as youthful, bright solutions - they will be chosen by those who prioritize not only functionality, but also how the device looks. This is a rare case where the form complements the content very well. I like the latest line of devices from Alcatel, they are quite pleasant in everyday life, but they do not grab the stars from the heavens. A kind of pragmatic choice is a phone that can be used for several years, and then change it to another. Actually, that says it all.

Design, dimensions, controls

The Idol Mini 2 line includes several models, for reasons of simplicity, you can combine them into one review, since, by and large, they are the same in the eyes of the consumer. Let's list all the modifications:

• Idol Mini 2 6016X - one SIM card, 1 GB of RAM, 4 GB of internal, microSD, UMTS 900/2100
• Idol Mini 2 6016D - two SIM cards, 1 GB RAM, 8 GB internal, UMTS 900/2100
• Idol Mini 2 6016A - one SIM card, 512 MB RAM, 4GB internal, microSD, UMTS 900/2100
• Idol Mini 2 6016E - two SIM cards, 512 MB RAM, 8 GB internal, UMTS 850/1900/2100
• Idol Mini 2 S 6036A - one SIM card, 1 GB of RAM, 4 GB of built-in, LTE Bands 1,2,4,7,17, no NFC
• Idol Mini 2 S 6036X - one SIM card, 1 GB of RAM, 4 GB of built-in, LTE Bands 1,3,7,8,20,28, no NFC
• Idol Mini 2 S 6036Y - one SIM card, 1 GB of RAM, 8 GB of built-in, LTE Bands 1,3,7,8,20, there is NFC

The review is based on version 6036Y, which is the best configuration for this device. All versions use a Qualcomm chipset. In Russia, the 6036Y version is sold by the Beeline operator and is partially branded by him (screensavers in the menu, and the like).

Outwardly, we are faced with a typical Alcatel - this means a nice plastic casing, a monoblock design. The manufacturer offers the model in different colors, but as a rule, you can find a dark silver device in retail.

The phone measures 129.5x63.5x8.5 mm and weighs 116 grams. Compact, fits well in the hand. The front panel is one-color (depending on the color of the case, for example, in the white version it is also white). It is difficult to distinguish this device from other models on the front side, it starts to play if you turn it over - a body with a slight bend, nice plastic that is resistant to abrasion. On the back you can see a large speaker, at the top - an LED flash, as well as an 8-megapixel camera with autofocus.

On the left side there is a slot for a SIM card, as well as for microSD memory cards, on the right side there is a paired volume rocker and an on / off button. The 3.5 mm jack was moved to the top end, but the microUSB - to the bottom. At the ends you can also see the microphone holes, there are two of them.

There is a light indicator above the screen, front-camera, as well as an LED, it can be configured to work with missed calls or events. In general, the build quality is not questionable, but with strong compression back panel crackles. Someone may not like it - this does not affect the reliability of the device in any way, but the design is such that it creaks. Carelessness in the design of the apparatus, which gives such an effect. In real life, you will not pay attention to this and are unlikely to squeeze the phone like that.

Display

The device is equipped with an IPS-matrix with a diagonal of 4.5 inches and a resolution of 540x960 pixels (245 dots per inch). Multi-touch supports up to 5 touches, brightness control in automatic mode works well. The brightness margin is excellent, and the model turned out to be pleasant in terms of the way the screen works - good colors, excellent viewing angles, no complaints. It is possible that the default fonts will seem a little fishy, ​​but you can always change them to large ones. The screen fades in the sun, but remains readable.

Battery

The handset has a 2000 mAh battery (1700 mAh in versions without LTE). According to the manufacturer, it can provide up to 400 hours of standby time and up to 13 hours of talk time in 3G. In practice, the device with quiet use - 20 minutes of calls a day, a couple of dozen SMS, an hour of listening to music and a little mobile Internet - lasts about 2 full days. At the same time, we can say that with very active use, he will be able to live until the evening of the first day, but this is an uncharacteristic use of such a device for target audience... Such smartphones are bought mostly for calls, SMS, mail and the like. That is, this is not a typewriter for constant presence in the network, there is not enough screen diagonal for comfort. The full charging time of the battery is approximately 2 hours.

Memory, memory card, performance

The phone has 1 GB of RAM, 8 GB of built-in memory, of which 5.3 GB is available to the user for programs and their data. Memory cards are supported up to 32 GB.

The chipset in this model is Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8226, 4 cores with a frequency of up to 1.1 GHz. Graphic coprocessor - Adreno 305. In my opinion, the performance is quite excellent, no complaints, for fans of virtual parrots I will give the data from the benchmarks.

Communication capabilities

The phone works in cellular networks 2G (GSM / GPRS / EDGE, 850/900/1800/1900 MHz) and 3G (850/900/2100 MHz), as well as LTE (for Idol 2 Mini S). Available Bluetooth version 4.0 for file and voice transmission. There is a wireless Wi-Fi connection IEEE 802.11 b / g / n. The devices, of course, can be used as an access point (Wi-Fi Hotspot) or modem. USB 2.0 (High-Speed) is used for file transfer and data synchronization. There is a not very popular Wi-Fi Display function, when you can transmit a signal from your phone to another device via Wi-Fi. Traditionally, there is a Wi-Fi Direct function. There is also an option for a remote Wi-Fi display.

The device under review also has NFC, it can be used to read tags, there is trial version Triger Pro program, which allows you to configure with using NFC various events. There are no tags in the kit, but they can be purchased from any manufacturer, for example, Samsung.

Camera

A usual 8-megapixel camera with autofocus, there are not enough stars from the sky, it gives an acceptable quality of images in bright light, in the dark the result is noticeably worse. The photo part is not strong point Alcatel phones however, take a look at the examples below. Video recording is supported in 1080p resolution, up to 30 frames per second.

Software Features - Android 4.3

In the Idol 2 Mini, just like in its predecessor, Alcatel uses its own software shell, which may be perceived by many ambiguously, since people often prefer "naked" Android and are quite satisfied with its capabilities.

Many functions have been greatly redesigned, Alcatel has added a number of programs that can be downloaded for free anyway, but the fact that they are preinstalled makes the device more interesting for inexperienced users.

Without unlocking the device, you can view the weather forecast for the current day. Scroll the screen to the right, there will be a calendar and a to-do list for the current day (you won't be able to enter tasks or view another day). You can also see the status line, it is also available when the screen is locked, if there is no security key or digital code.

The fundamental difference between Alcatel's approach and other shells is that they decided to abandon a separate menu for all applications. The main screen contains a weather widget and several icons. This is the starting point. Scroll the screens to the left, and there will be widgets that you install. We go to the right, and these will be program icons, also some programs have already been removed to folders, this was done by the manufacturer. You get used to such an organization instantly, it is somewhat logical and definitely has the right to life.

The settings menu now has its own settings, for example, the super-saving mode for the battery. The menu itself is also redesigned in white, which is pretty nice. In our video I am talking about most of the applications in the device and what has changed in comparison with the previous models, I don’t want to repeat myself.

Further it would be possible to dwell on each program, describe it, but I do not see much sense in this. This is a smartphone, and this software is usually famous, or I touched on it in the video. So see the screenshots below.

Another part that I want to describe separately is the multimedia capabilities. The device supports unconverted video, the chipset plays 1080p perfectly, unlike its predecessor. In terms of music formats, there is support for FLAC, in addition to the usual mp3 and a number of others.

Impressions

The sound quality is excellent, your interlocutor hears you well in all conditions. The call is loud, clearly distinguishable. The vibration alert is rather weak, closer to the average, it can be missed.

The cost of the LTE version of this device in Beeline is 7,990 rubles, the difference is in NFC support, as well as 8 GB of internal memory and support for memory cards. In the version without LTE, the price is lower - 6,990 rubles. In my opinion, the target audience will be interested in a device without LTE, after all, this technology assumes active use of the network, and with a small, by today's standards, screen, it is not so convenient. I will say otherwise, you will be able to surf the net, there are no problems with this - but it is unlikely that it will be long hours, rather take a look required pages from time to time, chat in in social networks, use Whatsapp. For this, the device is very comfortable, but you shouldn't think that it will allow you to surf the net all the time - the screen size plays a role, and this limitation cannot be bypassed.

The device turned out to be very pleasant, as well as the first Idol Mini, it is good smartphone for calls, balanced, there is nothing superfluous in it. I would like to better camera, but this is a weak point in almost all models of this price segment... Alternatively, you can consider last year's Idol Mini, which, taking into account new price looks very interesting - you can find it for 5,000 rubles. In large retail chains its cost is 5,990 rubles, which makes it not so interesting against the background of the second version.

Each of the second-tier manufacturers has its own strengths and weaknesses. For Alcatel, a winning strategy has been to work with operators, who order different models from the company. There are no unambiguous bestsellers, but quite decent volumes are gradually gaining. As a rule, carrier devices are beneficial to Alcatel - they pay a little more for them than for devices that are targeted at the mass market. But it also means that for the consumer, such smartphones are not so optimal - exclusivity and sales through a single operator mean a high starting price, no alternatives and price flexibility. The model can hold out at one price level for a very long time - from the first to the last day of its sales, despite the fact that the entire market will already go in the other direction and similar solutions will cost significantly less. This stability is arguably more flawed for consumers, and the benefits are unclear.

These considerations are fully applicable to Idol 2S, this operator model costs much more than its counterparts from Alcatel. It should be noted here that the difference is described by the presence of LTE on board, but is it so important for the target audience from Alcatel? In my opinion, it doesn't matter at all - people who buy Alcatel don't need LTE. Understand correctly, the point is not that they do not need LTE at all, this is a nice increase if it is included in the kit - but it is not needed due to an increase in cost of 15-20 percent, for Alcatel buyers the cost and price / quality ratio are critical ...

The audience for Idol 2s is Beeline subscribers in Russia, who, moreover, need an LTE smartphone. That is, this is a niche, and an extremely small one. I also want to note that from the point of common sense it might seem that Idol 2 and 2s differ only in LTE support in the second, but this is not so. This device has a larger screen resolution and a number of other differences, it is not necessary to say that this is one and the same model. They are similar, but about the same as all models from Alcatel over the past few years. This aspect is also important - a good design, which is already beginning to become obsolete. All models look the same, and something fresh is required, the time has come.

Design, dimensions, controls

Outwardly, we are faced with a typical Alcatel - this means a nice plastic casing, a monoblock design. The manufacturer offers the model in different colors, but, as a rule, you can find a dark silver device in retail.

The phone measures 136.5 x 69.7 x 7.45 mm and weighs 126 grams. Compact, fits well in the hand. The front panel is one-color (depending on the color of the case, for example, in the white version it is also white). It is difficult to distinguish this device from other models on the front side, it starts to play if you turn it over - a body with a slight bend, nice plastic that is resistant to abrasion. On the back you can see a large speaker, at the top - an LED flash, as well as an 8-megapixel camera with autofocus.

On the left side there is a slot for a SIM card, as well as for microSD memory cards, on the right side there is a paired volume rocker and an on / off button. The 3.5 mm jack was moved to the top end, but the microUSB - to the bottom. At the ends you can also see the microphone holes, there are two of them.

Above the screen there is a light indicator, a front camera, as well as an LED, it can be configured to work in case of missed calls or events. In general, the build quality is not questionable, but under strong compression, the back panel crackles. Someone may not like it - this does not affect the reliability of the device in any way, but the design is such that it creaks. Carelessness in the design of the apparatus, which gives such an effect. In real life, you will not pay attention to this and are unlikely to squeeze the phone like that.

Display

The device is equipped with an IPS-matrix with a diagonal of 5 inches and a resolution of 720x1080 pixels. Multi-touch supports up to 5 touches, brightness control in automatic mode works well. The brightness margin is excellent, and the model turned out to be pleasant in terms of the way the screen works - good colors, excellent viewing angles, no complaints. It is possible that the default fonts will seem a little fishy, ​​but you can always change them to large ones. The screen fades in the sun, but remains readable.

Battery

The handset has a 2150 mAh battery. According to the manufacturer, it is capable of providing up to 400/520 hours of standby time (4G / 3G) and up to 7/16.5 hours of talk time. In practice, the device with quiet use - 20 minutes of calls a day, a couple of dozen SMS, an hour of listening to music and a little mobile Internet - lasts about 2 full days. At the same time, we can say that with very active use, he will be able to live until the evening of the first day, but this is an uncharacteristic use of such a device for the target audience. Such smartphones are bought mostly for calls, SMS, mail and the like. That is, this is not a typewriter for constant presence in the network, there is not enough screen diagonal for comfort. The full charging time of the battery is approximately 2 hours.

Memory, memory card, performance

The phone has 1 GB of RAM, 8 GB of built-in memory, of which 5.3 GB is available to the user for programs and their data. Memory cards are supported up to 32 GB.

The chipset in this model is Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8926, 4 cores with a frequency of up to 1.1 GHz. Graphic coprocessor - Adreno 305. In my opinion, the performance is quite excellent, no complaints, for fans of virtual parrots I will give the data from the benchmarks.

Communication capabilities

The phone works in 2G (GSM / GPRS / EDGE, 850/900/1800/1900 MHz) and 3G (850/900/2100 MHz) cellular networks, as well as LTE (for Idol 2 Mini S). Available Bluetooth version 4.0 for file and voice transmission. Present wireless connection Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b / g / n. The devices, of course, can be used as an access point (Wi-Fi Hotspot) or modem. USB 2.0 (High-Speed) is used for file transfer and data synchronization. There is a not very popular Wi-Fi Display function, when you can transmit a signal from your phone to another device via Wi-Fi. Traditionally, there is a Wi-Fi Direct function. There is also an option for a remote Wi-Fi display.

The device in question also has NFC, it can be used to read tags, there is a trial version of the Triger Pro program, which allows you to configure various events using NFC. There are no tags in the kit, but they can be purchased from any manufacturer, for example, Samsung.

Camera

A usual 8-megapixel camera with autofocus, there are not enough stars from the sky, it gives an acceptable quality of images in bright light, in the dark the result is noticeably worse. The photo part is not the strong point of Alcatel phones, however, take a look at the examples below. Video recording is supported in 1080p resolution, up to 30 frames per second.

Software Features - Android 4.3

In Idol 2s, as well as in other models, Alcatel uses its own software shell, which may be perceived by many ambiguously, since people often prefer "naked" Android and are quite satisfied with its capabilities.

Many functions have been greatly redesigned, Alcatel has added a number of programs that can be downloaded for free anyway, but the fact that they are preinstalled makes the device more interesting for inexperienced users.

Without unlocking the device, you can view the weather forecast for the current day. Scroll the screen to the right, there will be a calendar and a to-do list for the current day (you won't be able to enter tasks or view another day). You can also see the status line, it is also available when the screen is locked, if there is no security key or digital code.

The fundamental difference between Alcatel's approach and other shells is that they decided to abandon a separate menu for all applications. The main screen contains a weather widget and several icons. This is the starting point. Scroll the screens to the left, and there will be widgets that you install. We go to the right, and these will be program icons, also some programs have already been removed to folders, this was done by the manufacturer. You get used to such an organization instantly, it is somewhat logical and definitely has the right to life.

The settings menu now has its own settings, for example, the super-saving mode for the battery. The menu itself is also redesigned in white, which is pretty nice. In our video I am talking about most of the applications in the device and what has changed in comparison with the previous models, I don’t want to repeat myself.

Further it would be possible to dwell on each program, describe it, but I do not see much sense in this. This is a smartphone, and this software is usually known, or I touched on it in the video. So see the screenshots below.

Another part that I want to describe separately is the multimedia capabilities. The device supports unconverted video, the chipset plays 1080p perfectly, unlike its predecessor. In terms of music formats, there is FLAC support in addition to regular mp3 and a number of others.

At the end of 2014, sales of the entry-level smartphone Alcatel Idol Mini 2 began, and in two versions at once. These devices are notable for their low cost and good technical characteristics compared to competitors. It is their characteristics and capabilities that will be considered in the article offered to your attention.

Smartphone hardware

The central processor - graphics adapter plays a decisive role in the performance of a smart phone. It is important to understand one nuance here. If the processor is high-performance, and the graphics adapter cannot boast of this, then it will not be possible to fully reveal the entire computing potential of the former. A similar situation occurs if the CPU is inferior in its capabilities to a video card, but only exactly the opposite. Therefore, chip makers strive to put commensurate elements in one processor. This is what Alcatel Idol Mini 2 can boast of, and each of its modifications. In a less productive version, this smartphone is equipped with an MCM8210 chip from Kualcom. It consists of 2 cores of the A7 energy efficient architecture. Each of them in the peak load mode rises to 1.2 GHz. Its capabilities are complemented by the video accelerator "Adreno 302". In reality, this bundle is enough to solve most tasks: from reading books and surfing the web to watching movies and quite demanding toys. The only exception is the most demanding games of the latest generation, which are too tough for him. These are all 6014X models. There is a more efficient modification - 6016X. The difference between the two lies in the type of integrated CPU. The latter has already installed MCM8212 with 4 similar cores and exactly the same frequency at maximum loads. Today it does not give a tangible increase in productivity. But in some cases, 4 cores ensure smooth operation of the device. Therefore, it is preferable to buy exactly 6016X. At a comparable cost ($ 165 for the 6014X and $ 190 for the 6016X, respectively), it offers a higher level of performance.

Display and cameras

The diagonal of the working area of ​​the screen in any modification of this smartphone is an acceptable 4.5 inches. Display resolution 960 x 540 pixels. The screen is capable of displaying about 16 million shades and its surface is capable of handling up to five touches at a time. Quite an interesting situation has developed regarding the quality of the displayed image. More cheap model in this respect it is better than 6016X. This is indicated by reviews on various information portals. The Alcatel Idol Mini 2 6014X is based on the IPS technology, while the 6016X uses the outdated TFT. Therefore, from the standpoint of picture quality, it is more preferable to buy exactly the 2-core modification of this smartphone. But on examination technical characteristics cameras all fall into place. they are identical - 0.3 megapixels and are great for making video calls. In turn, the 6016X is equipped with a matrix of 8 megapixels versus 5 megapixels in the 6014X. Otherwise, these are identical devices - there is autofocus, software image stabilization and a flash based on LED technology.

Memory

Not so simple situation developed in this smart phone model with the number installed memory... The Alcatel Idol 2 Mini 6016X is equipped with 1GB of RAM and the built-in storage is 4GB. In turn, in 6014X the amount of RAM is reduced by 2 times, and its volume is 0.5 GB, and the internal memory is all the same 4 GB. Both in the first and in the second case, MicroSD flash cards with a maximum volume of 32 GB are supported. All this is quite enough for normal and comfortable work on this device. But it's still better to buy a 6016X with a lot of RAM installed.

Body and ergonomics

There is no reason to expect anything other than plastic. And here Alcatel Idol 2 Mini pleasantly surprises. Photos indicate the presence of metal inserts around the perimeter. And this is really so - all the edges of the device are made of metal. But the back cover and the front panel are made of ordinary plastic. Therefore, you cannot do without a cover and a protective sticker. Otherwise, this is a fairly standard entry-level device. The on / off button along with the volume rockers is brought to the right edge, and there are touch buttons under the screen. This allows you to operate your smartphone with only one hand.

and autonomy

Now about the battery that comes with the Alcatel Idol 2 Mini. A review without specifying its characteristics will be incomplete. The battery capacity is 1700 mAh for both modifications of the device. This allows the 2-core version of the device to work on a single charge with an average level of use for 3-5 days. But the more productive version 6016X will be able to last 2-3 days at the same load level.

OS and more

The operating system in this group of devices is Android, and one of its most recent versions is 4.3. Given the fact that sales of Alcatel Idol Mini 2 started at the end of 2014, it is quite possible that updates will appear in the foreseeable future. Otherwise, a standard set of applications is installed on this device: utilities from Google, international social services and generally accepted programs (calculator, calendar, etc.).

Communications

Alcatel Idol 2 Mini has an almost perfect set of interfaces. A review of its technical specifications points to the following:

• Wi-Fi is the main way of exchanging information with the global web. The maximum speed of 100 Mbit / s allows you to transmit and receive absolutely any amount of data.
• "Bluetooth" - perfect solution for those cases when you need to exchange small files with another smart phone, and there are no other options for transferring information.
• Mobile networks 2Zh and 3Zh. In the first case, it is possible to transfer information only in small volumes. A speed of 500 Mbps or less imposes certain restrictions. But in the second case, as with Wi-Fi, you can transmit and receive any amount of data. The only limitation is the state of your mobile account. If there is no material on it, the data transfer will be stopped by the operator automatically.
• There is also a ZHPS sensor, which allows you to navigate the terrain without any problems.
• Wired interfaces "MicroUSB" and "3.5 mm audio jack" allow, respectively, to exchange data with a PC and output a sound signal to external acoustics. The first one is also used to charge the battery.

The only thing that raises complaints is the lack. Therefore, it will not work to control the TV or transfer data with it. But this is an insignificant remark, since this device belongs to budget smartphones and it is not necessary to expect a complete set of communications from him.