Even though CES isn’t exactly known for major phone releases, TCL’s phone brands are making sure that you won’t need to spend up big if you want a big-screened phone this year.
There’s no shortage of choice for phone brands in Australia, and certainly no shortage of choice in price. While you can easily spend up a large sum, you don’t actually need to, with plenty of options coming in under the thousand dollar mark.
This year, that looks to continue with the likes of TCL’s phone brands from Alcatel and TCL itself, with a few options that are as yet up priced, but will likely see fairly friendly pricing as a release date nears. All variants are typically large screened devices, because these days that’s what phones are, thought there are definitely some choices.
From Alcatel, these will start with the budget Alcatel 1B, which is perhaps what that “B” stands for. The Alcatel 1B is a 5.5 inch phone with a HD+ display, one camera, a 3000mAh battery, and a version of Android 10 optimised for budget phones, Android 10 Go.
Up from here, the Alcatel 1V moves to a larger 6.22 inch screen and a dual camera, even incorporating a dedicated Google Assistant button, plus a design made to not smudge, if that’s an issue.
It’s expected that these two will fall under the $200 price point, as will a triple camera phone from Alcatel, the Alcatel 1S. That’s a 2020 variant of the Alcatel 1S, a model which has seen a new release every year, with the latest version adopting a 13 megapixel AI-powered camera to work out scene detection, a 5 megapixel background de-focus camera for portrait shots, and a 2 megapixel macro mode.
Like the Alcatel 1V, the 1S will feature the same 6.22 inch HD+ display, with the main difference appearing to be that camera setup and a different glass design.
And finally there’s the Alcatel 3L an upgrade on the 1S that delivers an improved triple camera setup with a 48 megapixel sensor to create a 12 megapixel image downscaling by a magnitude of four, plus the same 5 megapixel de-focus camera and 2 megapixel macro camera.
Alcatel is keeping that 6.22 inch HD+ screen in this model, though the camera suggests the 3L will be a slightly more premium approach for the budget market.
“Our latest smartphones are made for basic value seekers who are looking for the best in essential technology experiences without compromising on style,” said Peter Lee, General Manager of Global Sales and Marketing at TCL Communication.
Next up is TCL itself, which only recently started selling phones in Australia under the TCL name.
The TCL phone announcements were a little preview of what will officially launch at Mobile World Congress in Spain next month, but they include TCL’s first 5G phone, the TCL 10 5G.
The TCL 10 5G will be a four camera smartphone, at least on the back, with a front-facing camera bringing that number to five, and a Snapdragon 7-series chip, making it a mid-range phone for the 5G market.
We’re expecting the 5G TCL phone to hit closer to the $600 or $700 mark locally, thanks in part to a hint that the US and Canada would see the phone for under $500 later this year, suggesting Australia’s yet-to-be-confirmed price range.
However the TCL 10 5G will be accompanied by a TCL 10 Pro and a TCL 10L, similar takes on the phone, sporting slightly different specs and prices, with all three expected later in the year, too.
Leigh Stark was flown to CES 2020 in Las Vegas, USA as a guest of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA).
