Alcatel's new phones deliver respectable hardware at a low price

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The Pop 4S is the most powerful of Alcatel’s quartet. It sports a 5.5-inch Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) display, an octa-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and two cameras with respectable specifications: a 13-megapixel rear-facing sensor and a 5-megapixel front shooter. Those aren’t its only accouterments: it has a fingerprint reader, a wireless LTE radio with support for GSM networks besides, plus 64GB of storage expandable via microSD slot and a 2,960mAh battery.

The Pop 4 Plus is a slight step down in some regards, but not by much. It has a 5.5-inch 720p (1,280 x 720 pixels) screen and a quad-core processor with 1.5GB of RAM, along with a fairly standard array of components: 32GB of internal storage, a MicroSD Card slot, and dual SIM slots. It’s outfitted with a pair of cameras in the form of an 8-megapixel rear facing sensor and 5-megapixel front shooter, and powering it it all is a 2,500mAh battery.

The Pixi 4 (6) is a little less capable than its beefier, ever-so-slightly pricier siblings. The 6-inch handset sports a 720p (1,280 x 720 pixels) display, and under the hood a quad-core Snapdragon 210 processor paired with 2GB of RAM. The cameras are a slight step down from those on the Pop 4 Plus and Pop 4S, too — the rear’s an 8-megapixel model and the front’s a 5-megapixel equivalent — as is the battery (2,580mAh). And the Pixi omits a fingerprint sensor.

The Pixi 4 (4), the smaller of the two Pixis, is the decided bottom rung of Alcatel’s collection. It features a 5-inch FWVGA (854 x 480 pixels) display powered by a quad-core MediaTek processor, 1.5GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage with a microSD Card slot, and a 2,000mAh battery. It’s appropriately the cheapest.

None of Alcatel’s new phones, however, are expensive. They all retail unlocked for below $180, and better yet, ship with the company’s two-year standard warranty. True, the Pixis, the Pop 4S, and the Pop 4S may not be the most competitive entries the budget market has to offer — that honor goes to ZTE’s ZMax Pro — but if you’re in need of something without frills and don’t want to have to worry twice about losing or destroying it, you could do worse.