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While we are bound by the various restrictions imposed by the Lockdown procedure, the Consumer Electronics Show has gone on its merry way with numerous companies announcing new products and initiatives.  One such company is the global electronics TCL Communications with regards to its new additions to its suite of Alcatel products.  These handsets are the Alcatel 3L and the Alcatel 1S.

With a price tag of €149 in Europe, the Alcatel 3L will be available in either Jewellery Black or Jewellery Blue.  The handset will have dimensions of 165.64 x 75.59 x 8.74 mm (H x W x D) and a weight of 194g.  Featuring three side keys, covering aspects of power, volume and Google Assistant, the body of the unit has a high gloss finish that shows off its 6.52 inch mini-notch display offering a 720 x 1600 pixel HD+ resolution.  This  IPS capacitive screen has 10 touch points and is protected by 2.5D glass.

This smartphone offers the user access to four different viewing modes.  Selecting the Eye Comfort Mode minimises the amount of potentially harmful blue light.  The Reading Mode delivers a paper-like monochrome display.  With Dark Mode the user can opt to switch the entire desktop operating system to black.  The fourth mode is Sunlight Mode which produces the ability to improve readability under strong natural light conditions.

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An AI-powered triple camera arrangement is located on the rear of the handset.  This combination consists of a 48MP PDAF, 2MP Depth and 2MP Macro lenses.  The use of a 4-in-1 pixel sensor has been added to ensure the user will be able to capture clear and bright photos even under low-light conditions.  Features such as Face Tracking, Light Trace, Video stabilisation and Stop Motion are available while an Alcatel algorithm allows the camera to identify 22 different types of scene.

Mounted on the front of the handset is a camera that will be mainly used for capturing Selfies and the like.  This is a 8MP camera.  It is capable of capturing still images and videos.  This camera has Face Detection, Face Beauty, Night shot and low light video features amongst its remit.

The Alcatel 3L is built around an Octa-core processor made up of 4x Cortex [email protected] and 4x Cortex [email protected] plus an IMG GE9320 600MHz GPU.  As standard it comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of ROM running the Android 11 operating system.  Power is delivered by a 4000 mAh battery.

The Alcatel 1S handset will be available in a choice of Elegant Black or Twilight Blue from February onwards.  It is expected to be priced at €109 in Europe.  This handset has dimensions of 165.84 x 75.59 x 8.8 mm (H x W x D) and a weight of 190g.  As with the other new model, the Alcatel 1S has three side keys providing access to the features of power, volume and Google Assistant.  The unit  mini-notch displays is of the 6.52 inch variety and delivers a resolution of720 x 1600 pixels.  This capacitive screen has 10 touch-points and comes with features such as one-handed mode, dark mode and reading mode capabilities.

Arranged on the rear of the handset is a three camera set-up.  This arrangement is made up of a 13MP + 2MP (Depth) + 2MP (MACRO) elements.  Among the available features from this arrangement are features such as Face Detection, AI scene detection, Light Trace and Stop Motion.  As well as still image images, this camera can capture video at 1080P @ 30fps.

With this model, Alcatel has opted to go with the same processor and GPU as that found in the Alcatel 3L.  However the memory has been reduced at 3GB RAM and 32GB of ROM.  The battery remains the same at 4000 mAh with Android 11 delivering the operating system.  As yet I have not had the opportunity to check out either model in review mode.

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At the time of publication the Alcatel 3L is available from Amazon for £132.46 including free delivery.