Alcatel Idol 4 Review

The Budget Smartphone You've Been Looking For!

Last updated on November 18th, 2020 at 10:31 pm

The #BloggerLife’s made me a phone guy, blessed with brand partnersΒ inviting meΒ to keep on top of the latest devices! One of these is Alcatel, North America’s fourth largest smartphone manufacturer, who recently celebrated the Canadian launch ofΒ Alcatel Idol 4!

DADDY'S GOT A BRAND NEW TOY β€” The Alcatel onetouch Idol 4 β€” The Budget Smartphone You've Been Looking For! β€” Idol 4 Box

At $300, theΒ Idol 4‘s for those wanting premium smartphoneΒ featuresΒ without the premium smartphoneΒ prices. (Remember the days where you could buy a new iPhoneΒ withoutΒ theΒ four-digit sticker shock???)

The Idol’sΒ come a long way, learning from past mistakes to become a stronger competitor in the smartphone market. We get sharper cameras, faster speeds and features galore Β with every new phone, but where’s the device for people who just want one thatΒ works? I’ve blogged a long time and I can tell youβ€”mostΒ people don’t want to dig through dozens of menus to find the feature they want!

So with booming bass, solid design, and a Boom key toΒ enhanceΒ how you smartphone, let’s take a good look at theΒ Alcatel Idol 4!

DADDY'S GOT A BRAND NEW TOY β€” The Alcatel onetouch Idol 4 β€” The Budget Smartphone You've Been Looking For! β€” What's in the Box

If a phone isn’t tough enough, it won’t stand aΒ chanceΒ against me.Β On any given day, I’ll:

  • Have tunes on heavy rotation through Apple Music (because no one canΒ everΒ have too much “24K Magic”)
  • Play theΒ Candy Crush SagaΒ to keep my spot in the top 6 of my 1800+ Facebook friends
  • Play theΒ Candy Crush Soda SagaΒ when levels get too frustrating in theΒ regularΒ Saga
  • Raid away with my Town Hall Level 9 inΒ Clash of Clansβ€”that is, when we’re not knee-deep in war
  • Try my hand atΒ Clash Royale, but often feel like throwing my phone across the room when suckered by a sweet attack
  • Catch a few local PokΓ©mon inΒ PokΓ©mon Go
  • TakeΒ countlessΒ photos of my kids, blogger swag, events, lunch, city life at its finest…
  • Edit said photos inΒ Snapseed,Β because few photo editors can touch it
  • Keep in touch with my peoples via SMS, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Google Hangouts
  • Check-in to as many places as possible on Swarm
  • Keep on top of my social media accounts with Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
  • Keep my Snapchat streaks alive
  • Sometimes even take a call or two!

I treat my phones like miniature computers, pushing them to their limits to see just how much they can take!

But full disclosureβ€”I’m reviewing theΒ Lenovo Moto Z right now, too, so with a current-generation premium smartphoneΒ alreadyΒ in my pocket, I might not represent the target market for the Idol 4. But don’t underestimate the Idol 4β€”with plenty of unique features, it’d be foolish to not give it a fair test spin.

And test it IΒ did.

The Alcatel Idol 4 || The Design.

DADDY’S GOT A BRAND NEW TOY - The Alcatel onetouch Idol 4 β€” The Budget Smartphone You’ve Been Looking For! β€” Various Models

For the Idol 4, Alcatel combined an all-glass body with a full metal frame, and a 5.2″ full HD screen’sΒ for brillianceΒ even under direct sunlight!

As with previous Idol versions, it’s no tankβ€”my son managed to drop it and it scuffed a bit on its corner. So if you’re rocking one, get a caseβ€”it’ll easilyΒ take battle damage.

The Alcatel Idol 4 || The Camera.

DADDY’S GOT A BRAND NEW TOY - The Alcatel onetouch Idol 4 β€” The Budget Smartphone You’ve Been Looking For! β€” Taking a Photo with the Idol 4

With a 13 MP camera on its rear and a wide-angle 8 MP camera on its front, the Idol 4’s looking to build legitimacy in what its lenses can capture.

It promises a lot:

  • manual, panoramic and HDR modes;
  • both a front-facing flash and a dual-tone rear flash; and
  • other tricks keeping it relevant for those wanting bigger, better and brighter

I couldn’t get the “interactive 360Β° photos” or the instant video streaming to work, but I played with the Idol 4’s camera enough to get a feel for it. It’s a tad grainier than what I get with the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and the LGΒ G4,Β but doesn’t takeΒ badΒ pictures if you have enough light.

You can see some example shots below:

Its Micro-Video mode also has a near little trickβ€”if you press the Boom key after recording a clip, you can jazz it up with some special effects! It takes practice to get theΒ timingΒ down right, but you can see a bit of the ridiculous my family and I got up to below:

The Alcatel Idol 4 || The Sound.

DADDY’S GOT A BRAND NEW TOY - The Alcatel onetouch Idol 4 β€” The Budget Smartphone You’ve Been Looking For! β€” OneTouch Music β€” Mixer

If dual 3.6-watt multidirectional speakers aren’t enough,Β the Idol 4’s Waves MaxxAudio interface gives you the most from your music with more customizability than mostΒ smartphones. OneTouch Music’s mixer is also nifty, letting you play DJ with the music on your phone, but doesn’t do much if you stream music like me.

Also, for fossils like me (please refer toΒ my post on turning 33), the 3.5″ headphone jack and built-in FM radioΒ let me getΒ tunes when dataΒ isn’tΒ an option.

Funny enough, Alcatel buried myΒ favouriteΒ featureΒ in aΒ sub-menuβ€”the Samplebox, a beat machine for the budding DJ at work! It has an Experimental Hip-Hop preset by default, but the free downloads offer others from crunk to trap and evenΒ Christmas. With a beat machine in such a small package, I can see myself goofing off with the Idol 4 for aΒ goodΒ while.

The Alcatel Idol 4 || The Boom Key.

DADDY’S GOT A BRAND NEW TOY - The Alcatel onetouch Idol 4 β€” The Budget Smartphone You’ve Been Looking For! β€” The Boom Key

Though my anal retentiveness won’t let me write “boom-ify” in good conscience, the Boom key’s has usΒ rethinkΒ how we interact with our phones!

Alcatel starts with some options onΒ howΒ you’d like to use the Boom key. Aside fromΒ being an easy way to turn your screen on, you can simply set it to open yourΒ favouriteΒ application or take a screenshot.

But if youΒ doΒ want to see how Alcatel wants to augment your experience, take a look at the list of Boom effects below:

  • Boom my camera:Β Takes photos on standby mode; pressing and holding the button puts the camera into burst mode.
  • Boom my gallery:Β Randomly shuffles gallery photosΒ for instant sharing as a photo collage or a short slideshow.
  • Boom my videos:Β Generates special effects in existing videos. When a user is recording a video, pressing the Boom Key will immediately broadcast the video live1.
  • Boom my view: Creates a more intense 3D effect (parallax UI effect) for the launcher and a stunning live weather display as part of the home screen.

Alcatel put work into a smartphone offering a budget price without a budgetΒ feelβ€”because smartphones don’t pay the bills! (I mean, unless they do, in which case you probably have aΒ completelyΒ different view on this postβ€”but hey;Β them’s the breaks!)

The Alcatel Idol 4 || Win One For YOURSELF.

I mean, it’s one thing to read my review of the Idol 4 and whyΒ I think it’s a nifty device, but wouldn’t it beΒ so much better to try it out forΒ yourself?

One lucky winner will get an Idol 4Β soΒ they can experience what Alcatel’s got in store for a stellar smartphone experience! It only takes a click and a valid email address to enter, but I’ve put plenty of options together for anyone looking for extra chances! Good luck to all who enter! (Contest open to Canadians aged 18+ living outside of Quebec. Contest ends 11/28 @ 11:59 PM ET.)

Alcatel Idol 4 Giveaway!

The Alcatel Idol 4 || The Budget Smartphone Without the Budget Feel.

It might not be the shiniest or fastest phone on the market, but with theΒ SampleboxΒ alone, the Idol 4’s gonna be a phone IΒ definitelyΒ keep around for fun! (And that’sΒ from someone who has access toΒ bothΒ Adobe Audition CC and Adobe Logic Pro, two audio applications costingΒ hundredsΒ of dollars ????)

So if you’re looking for a 4K display, waterproof body, or any of the features from the brands looking to lead the pack in 2016, the Idol 4 is not for you.Β But if you want a phone that does things a little differentlyβ€”one you can genuinely haveΒ fun with… give the Alcatel Idol 4 a try!

If anything, maybe you can make me some hot beats with that Samplebox so I can drop some flows, right?

Until the next,

–case p.


1 Couldn’t actually get this feature to work, but interested in someone proving me wrong!

Disclaimer: Alcatel provided a complimentary Idol 4 for review so I could write this post. You can buy your own for $300 outright, or on subsidy for $150 with a one-year contract, or $0 with a 2-year.

By Casey E. Palmer

Calling the Great White North his home, Caseyβ€˜s spent the last few decades in pursuit of creating killer content. From novels as a kid, comics as a teen, to blogs and photos once he could grow a beard, he’ll use whatever’s around him to create amazing stuff.

When he’s not creating, he’s parenting, exploring and trying to make life as awesome as possible for everyone around him.

Because a boring life’s not a life worth living!

95 replies on “Alcatel Idol 4 Review”

I look for long battery life and a nice camera. My 12 year old has been begging for a phone and this one sounds like it may be just what he needs to start out with.

When buying a new smartphone, the features I look for are a long lasting battery, amazing camera (LOVE taking pictures) and durability!

I am looking for a phone that will allow me to text and send pictures. I great camera would be awesome, and to be able to send from the phone directly

for me it may be sad but I look for a good camera, I love to take pictures and well I always have my phone so that’s kinda a must for me

I look for a phone with a great camera, easy to use and I brand that I trust, and if it is free when signing a contract

It would be terrific to win an Alcatel Idol 4 smartphone.
In response to your question of
When buying a new smartphone, what features do you look for?
I look for Durability, Storage Space, Battery Life and a Quality Camera.
Thank you for having this giveaway.

Size is important, I want something small, portable and lightweight, with really good battery life and an amazing camera.

Hey Casey P, I look for a stellar camera, easy to navigate features and the largest font possible because I’m not getting any younger!! πŸ™‚

I look for long life battery and up to date features. Also lots of photo storage and easy to use and understand.

I think this would be a good intro phone for my teen daughter. She wants a phone that she can keep up with her friends with on apps like Snapchat & Twitter. Oh & she needs a good camera as well! Thanks for the chance to win!

I dont have a smartphone because PRICE is my biggest consideration BUT if it wasn’t. .Battery life & Storage would be!

I have been using the same BB 9900 for the last 6 years because I loved the keyboard, but now my OS is outdated. My next phone will have an android OS and a better camera. Thank you for the wonderful giveaway, good luck everyone!

I am all about a phone with a great camera and good battery life! This is so important when I attend events and travel. Those picture perfect moments are like gold to me! Great post. πŸ™‚

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *