THIS WEEK ’S MOST WAN TED
ALCATEL ONETOUCH T’POP – VIRGIN MOBILE – £39.99 THIS is my ideal phone. It’s small enough to make me look like a normalsized person!
Many phones nowadays are running the “bigger is better philosophy”, but unless you’re a basketball player you just can’t pull them off.
You end up lugging a huge piece of tech around that barely fits in your pocket and makes you look like a grade A dipshit when you hoist it up to your ear.
That isn’t the case with the Alcatel. It’s simple, compact and doesn’t look like a prop from Trigger Happy TV.
Outpunch
The comparison between this and the Galaxy Note 2 that I reviewed a few weeks back is staggering. Imagine me stood next to someone really really tall… you get the idea.
The fact of the matter is some phones today have just passed beyond the laws of logic in search of bigger and brighter screens. The T’POP doesn’t do that. It’s not trying to outpunch the heavyweights. It’s trying to find its niche and be happy.
It’s a cheap, entry level model which does exactly what you need it to. No fancy extras that, despite costing you an extra £200, don’t offer much.
Running the 2.3 Gingerbread Android operating system, it doesn’t have the same speed as the more recent Jelly Bean version. That said, there’s a reason Gingerbread is the second most common version of the software.
It works extremely well and it’s a lot smoother than it has any right to be. You can flick through the different screens seamlessly and, due to its crisp THE MIGHTY BOOM BALL – £15 THIS is a fancy little speaker which uses the power of vibration to deliver a decent sound wherever you are.
Ask any middle aged woman who’s read Fifty Shades of Grey and they will tell you just how good vibration can be.
Simply pop it onto a surface and in next to no time you’ll be able to hear perfect quality sound from what looked like a tiny useless ball
colours, everything easy to make out. A 3.5-inch display offers you all the viewing pleasure you need but, let’s be honest, no woman is spectacularly impressed with 3.5 inches.
Tthat’s not what this phone is about. It’s not a statement of how rich you are… just a phone. It’s for people who just want to get a few apps but are not looking to brag all the time.
It plods along well and feels sturdy in your hand, unlike some other offerings which feel like a violent sneeze away from smashing into a million pieces.
There’s also some decent pre-loaded apps. The standard Facebook and Twitter so you can post all about your new mobile, and with the Google Play store thousands more
is are just a click away. The 2-megapixel camera is nothing to write home about, but on the small, brightly coloured screen the images still look half decent.
It has an SD slot for up to 32GB which is more than enough room for video’s and music. You will have to buy that separately though.
Without the added extra it can still hold plenty of songs. I’m not going to be able to get my entire Westlife discography on there, however.
It comes in your choice of colours including manly pink.
Be warned, though, having a small compact pink phone will make you look like you’re on a gay pride march in Brighton.