Paul Briden 03/07/2018 - 4:21pm

We check out the Alcatel Pixi 4 - a cheap £59 smartphone

£59.00

Aclatel Pixi 4 Review: Specs

  • Display: 5in TFT, 854x480 pixels
  • Processor: Quad-Core 1GHz
  • RAM: 1GB
  • Storage: 8GB, microSD up to 32GB
  • Primary Camera: 5MP LED flash
  • Secondary Camera: 2MP
  • Battery: 2,000mAh
  • Software: Android 6.0 Marshmallow

The Alcatel Pixi 4 is a £59 smartphone, so understandably it’s not going to blow anyone’s socks off in virtually any department. It’s cheap as chips, but redeeming features include Android Marshmallow, a relatively up-to-date build, plus expandable storage.

In other areas, things are predictably somewhat grim; a mere 8GB of onboard storage and a 1GHz CPU is just about enough for the most basic use scenarios, but isn’t going to tickle anyone just right any time soon.

The battery is a decent size, and with a handset this low-powered you’d expect it can last a good amount of time on a single charge - sadly this isn’t the case though, with the battery performance actually being one of the worst aspects of a not so shining feature line-up.

However, you’re not going to be putting this handset through a gruelling regime, as the camera is as lacklustre as the CPU power and RAM - there’s no room for flashy gaming here and it’ll struggle with multiple app juggling or even many tabs in a browser.

Alcatel Pixi 4 Review: Design & Display

The design and build isn’t actually too bad at all, and in particular the handset has a decent speaker. The bezels around the display are quite thin, which is a plus, but in other areas the phone is somewhat thick, heavy, and chunky, making it awkward to handle, even if the aesthetic is fair, if somewhat uninspiring.

Anything less than a 720p resolution on a 5in display is going to show up badly with a sub-200ppi pixel density and that’s sadly the case with the Pixi 4. A smaller screen might have been acceptable, as would the same size but with a higher resolution, but as it stands you sort of have a very awkward compromise that achieves very little of any merit.

Alcatel Pixi 4 Review: Verdict

Virtually impossible to recommend. Yes, it is very cheap, but there’s a reason and the net result is a phone that’s going to be REALLY frustrating to use.

One can argue this phone would be good enough for older family members, technophobes, or other people who don’t want or need a better quality device but do need to be contactable.

But if that’s the case you may as well grab a feature phone, like one of the re-launched Nokias.

The argument also falls down as those people are going to be just as likely to get wound up as anyone else more experienced with phones and who expects more from a handset.

Much better, in my view to spend a bit more and get something in the £150 bracket. Sure, it’s three times the cost, but if you think of it as paying to keep the user’s blood pressure down it might ultimately be worth it.

The Pixi 4 is a classic case of making too many cutbacks and compromises.