Alcatel Idol 4 and Idol 4S Launched with a Box that Doubles as VR Goggles

Alcatel has launched Idol 4 and Idol 4S just ahead of Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2016. The phone comes in a box that transforms into a VR headset offering an immersive 360-degree viewing and gaming. It has Onetouch VR Store app to to download virtual reality content or stream realtime content via LittlStar. It is available in gold, rose gold, dark grey and metal silver. The handset will be launching globally in April and the price will start at 279 euros for the Idol 4, and 429 euros for the Idol 4S. 

Alcatel has partnered with audio brands, JBL and Waves for a superior audio experience, combined with powerful dual 3.6 watt speakers, NXP’s TFA9890 Smart Power Amplifier, Hi-Fi surround-sound for the J22 JBL headphones, and optimization of audio presets both automatically and manually. Alcatel also added a special "boom" button to the side of both phones. It does different things depending on the context: When the phone is asleep, press it to take photos instantly, and hold it to take burst photos. If you're watching a photo gallery, the button will let you share a photo collage or a slideshow, and if you're listening to music, the button "optimizes" the sound by changing the bass and loudness settings. 

Alcatel Idol 4 features 5.2-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) Full HD IPS LTPS display, Precog UI (Touchless control), Live UI, Parallax UI powered by Octa-Core Snapdragon 617 (4 x 1.7GHz + 4 x 1.2GHz) processor with Adreno 405 GPU and 3GB RAM. It has an internal storage of 16GB and can be expanded via microSD up to 512GB. It sports a 13MP rear camera with dual tone LED Flash and a 8MP front facing camera with LED flash. It runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow and has 2610 mAh battery.

Key Features Alcatel Idol 4:

• 5.2-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) Full HD IPS LTPS display, Precog UI (Touchless control), Live UI, Parallax UI
• Octa-Core Snapdragon 617 (4 x 1.7GHz + 4 x 1.2GHz) processor with Adreno 405 GPU
• 3GB RAM
• 16GB internal storage, Expandable via microSD up to 512GB
• 13MP rear camera with dual tone LED Flash
• 8MP front facing camera with LED flash
• Android 6.0 Marshmallow
• Dual stereo speakers (2 x 3.6W), Smart PA (Power Amplifier) TFA9890, BOOM Key Experience Booster
• 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 GHz & 5 GHz), Bluetooth 4.2, GPS with A-GPS, NFC, USB OTG
• 2610 mAh battery with fast charging

Alcatel Idol 4S features 5.5-inch (2560 x 1440 pixels) Quad HD AMOLED display, Precog UI (Touchless control), Live UI, Parallax UI powered by Octa-Core Snapdragon 652 (620) processor (Quad 1.8GHz ARM Cortex A72 + Quad 1.4GHz A53 CPUs) with 550MHz Adreno 510 GPU and 3GB RAM. It has an internal storage of 32GB and can be expanded via microSD up to 512GB. It sports a 16MP rear camera with dual tone LED Flash and a 8MP front facing camera with LED flash. It runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow and has 3000 mAh battery.

Key Features Alcatel Idol 4S :

• 5.5-inch (2560 x 1440 pixels) Quad HD AMOLED display, Precog UI (Touchless control), Live UI, Parallax UI
• Octa-Core Snapdragon 652 (620) processor (Quad 1.8GHz ARM Cortex A72 + Quad 1.4GHz A53 CPUs) with 550MHz Adreno 510 GPU
• 3GB RAM
• 32GB internal storage, Expandable via microSD up to 512GB
• 16MP rear camera with dual tone LED Flash
• 8MP front facing camera with LED flash
• Android 6.0 Marshmallow
• Dual SIM
• Dual stereo speakers (2 x 3.6W), Smart PA (Power Amplifier) TFA9890, BOOM Key Experience Booster, FM Radio
• 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 GHz & 5 GHz), Bluetooth 4.2, GPS with A-GPS, NFC, USB OTG
• 3000 mAh battery with fast charging

“The interface rights itself no matter if the users picks it up right side up or upside down. In addition, it is reversible left to right: stereo sound is always on the correct side, even when the phone is flipped. And the strategically placed speaker grille ensures that sound is unobstructed, whether the phone is facing up or turned over,” said Alcatel.