14 DAY TRIAL // At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, Alcatel did not announce only the new OneTouch Idol 2 smartphone, but it also unveiled a mini version of the device, with capabilities similar to those of the larger handset.
Dubbed Alcatel OneTouch Idol 2 Mini, the new device will arrive on shelves in two different versions, including one that features support for 4G networks and is called Idol 2 Mini S.
Just as one can imagine, the two mobile phones were not announced only as the smaller variants of the OneTouch Idol 2 models, but also with lower hardware capabilities packed inside.
However, it should be noted right from the start that the differences are only minor ones, and that OneTouch Idol 2 Mini can easily offer an experience on par with that of its larger counterpart.
Of course, the 4.5-inch qHD (540 x 960 pixels) IPS display won’t offer the same experience as the 5-inch one on the Idol 2, yet the performance of the two will be similar.
In fact, we actually liked the speed at which OneTouch Idol 2 Mini was able to respond to input when playing with it on the floor at MWC 2014 in Barcelona, and we were pleasantly surprised to learn that it comes with a 1.2GHz quad-core processor inside, paired with 1GB of RAM.
For users interested in snapping great photos with their smartphones, the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 2 Mini / OneTouch Idol 2 Mini S offer an 8-megapixel camera with autofocus, HDR, burst mode, and a nice range of other features as well.
Alcatel loaded Android 4.3 Jelly Bean on top of these phones, and it should upgrade them to Android 4.4 KitKat as well, though there’s no specific info on when that should happen. However, the company’s own UI is present on top of the platform.
The 3G and 4G versions of OneTouch Idol 2 Mini offer about the same experience, except, of course, for when it comes to data transfer. Moreover, one might actually consider the 3G variant to be more appealing, at least when it comes to the outer design.
Both models will be launched in 4GB and 8GB flavors, with a microSD memory card slot included. One thing that Alcatel did not mention as of now was how much they would cost when they land on the market, sometime in the second quarter of the year, but they should not be expensive at all.
