Alcatel A7 Review: Good value for money

Alcatel A7 Review

You must have already seen an Alcatel cell phone in the streets, they are everywhere, from $49 real products to now the A7, the brand’s flagship costing just over $158. This was what we tested for more than 15 days and the much-requested review of the device is here.

It is a phone that delights for the price if we analyze the set of hardware. With 4GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, 5.5-inch FULLHD screen, 16MP rear camera, and 8MP front camera, yes, the Alcatel A7 could be your next smartphone, if the price limit is $197.

Alcatel A7 Design

It arrives in a glass and plastic body. The back cover is removable, through which we access the SIM and MicroSD card slots. It is common for plastic backs to be removable, but it is not a standard of beauty and sophistication. We can also observe some details in gold, in the front speakers, and the rear circles, of the camera and fingerprint sensor.

On the front face we find the flash, loudspeaker for calls to the camera and a proximity sensor, followed by the screen and below the conversation microphone.

On the rear face, the camera with a slight protrusion, below the DUAL LED flash, below the fingerprint sensor and finally the Alcatel logo. The back cover also has grooves in the shape of concentric circles that give a cool detail to the device.

At the top we find the P2 input and a noise pickup microphone. The bottom only the Micro USB port. And honestly, it would be better if the P2 and Micro USB were on the same face, thus making it a single cable outlet.

And finally, located on the right of the smartphone, the volume and off buttons.

The phone itself is beautiful, all in black with gold accents. Some people will find these details ugly, I liked it. The 4000mAh battery made the smartphone thick, and a little heavy. The dimensions of the device are: 152.7 x 76.5 x 8.95 mm and it weighs 164 grams.

Now see some images and details of the Alcatel A7:

Hardware

A7’s main flaw was the processor. Okay, the smartphone has the appeal of being cheap, but the MediaTek MT6750 doesn’t even win the Snapdragon 430. It has a little more clock, but memory reading is about 30% less. It is a smartphone to be compared with the Moto G5, G5s, a differential in this are the 4GB of RAM, an improvement that will allow having more apps open at the same time.

Storage

Equipped with 32 GB of internal storage, with 8 GB occupied by the system, there is a surplus of around 22 GB (pre-installed apps) for the user. Today it is the fundamental space to be able to enjoy the smartphone for more than a year.

Screen

The 5.5-inch FULLHD screen, with 401 ppi, has below-normal brightness. In bright conditions, I had to disable the adaptive brightness and set it to the maximum to be able to see, this process causes more battery to be spent. And it has no protection, but an acrylic film comes in the box.

Drums

With 4000 mAh it is superior to competitors. A positive point for the A7. In our tests it did not reach 6 hours of screen on in intense use, with games, videos, navigation and use of camera. That time was spent in just over a day. Therefore, for heavy use, you will have 1 day of battery easily. In moderate use, certainly two days.

The 10W charger takes about 2:20 hours to leave the device at 100% charge.

Cameras

The camera set has improved a lot compared to its predecessors, with 16MP on the main sensor, aperture f / 2.0. Makes videos in FullHD at 30 fps, but is not charming. The Alcatel A7 camera is good, for the price paid for the smartphone.

See a comparative photo with the Moto G5s:

The camera modes are panoramic, photo, video, timelapse and collage. What I noticed in the app is that I can’t control the level of exposure of the image, it’s all automatically.

The front camera of the device with 8MP has facial detection, beautification mode and makes good selfies.

In short the camera is reasonable for good, it will suit most people, especially if you are taking pictures outdoors with plenty of light. It could be better, but as already said, it will meet your needs well.

See the photo gallery we made with the smartphone:

Fingerprint sensor

It, positioned on the back of the device, is able to identify up to 5 fingers, recognizes the fingerprint quickly from all angles. It works well, but it is positioned in the place where most people don’t prefer it. The front would be the ideal place, especially if you usually keep your smartphone lying on the table.

Benchmark

We tested the device with some benchmark software for smartphones, one of them AnTuTu, which reached the mark of 44 thousand points, very close to the 45 thousand of Moto G5S.

Another app was the GeekBenchmark, where the CPU test reached 599 points in the single-core (average core test), and 2581 points in the multi-color test.

We can say that the two smartphones are equipped, taking into account that the A7 has twice as much RAM, thus being able to keep more apps open.
In heavy games, like Asphalt 8, he suffered a little to maintain consistency, crashing at times, we can also notice that the need to use the GPU made the smartphone warm up, more than usual. Therefore, gambling for several hours is not good advice.

Sound

The device has the main sound output through the speaker that is positioned on the front face, below the screen. A beautiful place, especially for watching videos or playing games, when we have both hands holding the device. At high volume, it was possible to notice some distortions.

Alcatel A7 full specifications:

General

Display

Hardware

Camera

Software

Connectivity

Sensors

Software

Well the software has undergone few modifications, it is a very clean Android, with only modifications of themes and some applications were inserted, which in my opinion, did not need. The good thing is that almost everyone can be completely uninstalled.

Alcatel has put an app called Phone Guard that helps in managing the smartphone, cleaning memory and storage, controlling battery wear, in short, all the paraphernalia of things that a manager needs to do.

One of the cool things is being able to clone applications, Facebook, Messenger, Instagram can be cloned directly, WhatsApp and Snapchat need both operator chips to be working.

For those who like an Android without many modifications, just as Motorola treats the operating system, it may be a good choice.

Verdict

Alcatel makes cheap smartphones, from devices costing $50, to the A7, for $158. But, could not the best smartphone of the brand not have come with a Snapdragon 625? It would give a huge performance gain and battery customization.

The device itself is good, recommended for people who want to use social networks and surf the internet. Light and intermediate games will be able to flow well, since the heavier ones that demand a lot from the GPU, there may be choking and FPS drops.

The set of cameras is reasonable, for shooting it goes well, when well lit. In low light, he will suffer a little, as will the vast majority of competitors. The frontal makes good selfies also in favorable light conditions. But the cameras sin in the videos.

The battery could still be better optimized, with 4000 mAh it should last at least 6 hours of screen with intense use, but even so it guarantees a good lifetime of the device.

The weaknesses found are:

• Plastic back cover
• Processor
• Few sensors
• Lack of screen protection

Strengths:

• Large battery
• Satisfactory set of cameras for the price paid
• Sound system
• 4GB of RAM

The Alcatel A7 is suitable for people looking for a smartphone with good cost / benefit, that makes good photos for social networks and is fluid in everyday actions. So, if this is your profile, go ahead, the smartphone will meet all your needs.

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