Alcatel IDOL 4S Unlocked 4G LTE Android Smartphone with VR Goggles and JBL Headset -32GB - (AT&T/T-Mobile)

I upgraded from the Alcatel Idol 3 that I bought from Cricket. I was going to buy the Idol 5S but after fully reviewing both online, the 4S is better in most ways, which surprised me. My main reason for upgrading was the Idol 3 stopped working with my car's bluetooth after upgrading to marshmallow. It was also a little sluggish. The 4S has a better processor, a sharper, brighter and down right incredible screen, more RAM and internal storage. Everything was great at unboxing, but I did run into a snag. The screen was acting wonky (going slightly brighter and then back dimmer). It was really annoying and I was worried I would have to send it back. Something was not right, but I found a workaround that works for me. I snapped a picture with the lens covered for a completely black photo and used it for my wallpaper. No more lighting/brightness weirdness. That won't work for most people as most people prefer some personalized background rather than a black screen, but it's fine with me. There are more important issues to me, namely, call quality with bluetooth. I'm happy to report the call quality with my car bluetooth is outstanding. Additionally, the phone is so much faster than the Idol 3. The faster processor and 3GB RAM make the phone lag free (Quick tip, disable/uninstall all apps you don't use, and turn on developer options and shut off all animation. The phone flies after that). The camera is much quicker to focus than my Idol 3 (another major annoyance of the 3). Overall, this phone has a lot going for it and I like it so much it's the first phone that I am buying a protective case for. I had to buy a nano sim for $10, but it was worth it. Switching phones from the Cricket Idol 3 to the Idol 4S was completely painless. I tried the VR headset. It's interesting, but not for me. I mainly paid the extra $10 for the phone for the JBL earbuds. I don't use the boom key, but it is another way to turn the screen on, obviously it can do more, but I don't really need it. Alcatel has it right with the double tap to turn the screen on/off. Battery life is great. I've used it lightly for two days and it had 70% at the end of the second day. Call quality itself is really good. No complaints there. The included glass protector is a nice touch, but as most people say, you probably want to buy a case for this phone. This phone is really not lacking in any area as far as I'm concerned, and so far, I'm very happy.Pros:- Snappy performance, maybe not top tier, but opens apps very quickly- Very Good call quality and no dropped calls, better reception than the Idol 3- Great bluetooth call quality (finally!)- Gorgeous high resolution screen, very bright too- 3GB RAM / 32GB ROM- Android Marshmallow seems to be working fine- High quality feel- Fantastic and loud speakers. It isn't just loud and clear, the voice quality of the speakerphone sounds very natural. The sound has more depth than the Idol 3, which was no slouch. You can watch a video and actually hear the audio even in a crowded environment. Perfect for listening to talk radio. Flagship phones don't have as good of speakers as the Alcatel Idol series.- NFC, check- The included JBL earbuds are definitely worth the extra $10, I can't believe how rich they sound, tight bassCons:- Screen issue. Couldn't use any of the wallpaper without the screen going from dim to bright and back (all on it's own). Again, I found a workaround by substituting a black photo, but some people won't accept this. Check this right away if you get this phone.- Micro USB, no USB CYouTube has a lot of reviews of the 4S and most are positive, but these are reviews when it was sold for $399. At almost half that price there's not much better out there. There's a lot of choices in the $200 range, but if you compare the screen, processor, RAM, and features, the 4S is hard to beat. There is supposedly a Idol 5S "pro" in the works. I hope so because I want this series to continue, but I think the 4S will serve me well for a few years. I'll probably be looking for the Idol 7 at that point.Update 11/19/18 I bought this over a year ago and it's still going strong. I've dropped it a dozen times, but I do have a hard plastic case on it and I've had to replace a bunch of screen protectors, and it's still as good as new. It's been the most complete and wonderful phone I've ever owned. It's now going for less than $150 which is a great deal. If you need a good unlocked phone this is still a great option.

Decent phone for the price. Unique stereo speakers. VR is not well made and I stopped using it. Felt like I was going to crack the phone just trying to snap it into the VR headset. Not quality construction for the VR/Phone combination.

I had this phone for a month and I started having issues with it freezing all the time. Then it went into boot loop and that was the end of that. It did have great speakers and a decent display.

Phone works normally. It has a few weird glitches every now and then, but all phones do. Charging is very quick, but it does get rather hot if you are using a lot of battery, whether plugged in or not. Hard to find cases for, since it doesn't seem to be super popular anymore. (Or maybe people don't put cases on so they can use VR?)Hard Sell Point: Still on Android 6 (Marshmallow). Nougat (7.0) came out TWO YEARS ago and this phone has not been updated. This phone already cannot run several of the latest apps, and will only get more obsolete as time goes by without an update. Seems like Alcatel has abandoned support for this phone's OS, which is a shame.

Hardware:This hardware is BEAUTIFUL! I'm not sure I have ever seen a phone is gorgeous before. It exudes elegance and refinement. It reminds me of an exotic sports car in fluidic design elements. You can read about this phone on Alcatel's website or GSMArena but I will give you some insights into my experience. Call quality is definitely on the low side. Mid tones are very harsh and are over-pronounced resulting in a constant jarring sensation when I have the handset up to my head while on a call. I think you mileage may vary depending on your ears. I'd rank the Nokia Lumia phones as best in call quality and this phone is definitely one of the worst. It is better with a good quality BT headset but AT&T users should note that using a non-AT&T branded phone means that there is no HD Calling nor is there going to be Visual Voicemail for you. I also noticed that when BT tethered to my Car Speaker phone system (a 2016 Volvo), this volume level at maximum on both systems is extermemly low. I have tested this with three different callers. There is definitely an issue here that I have never had with any phone I have owned (all Nokia over the last 10 years). The phone comes bundled with very good JBL earbuds. There are three sizes for most human ears and of course the VR goggles. The earbud headset sounds awesome in concert with the Waves/JBL DSP partnership on the phone, offering preprogrammed EQ curve settings that have quenched my appetite for aural pleasure. That said, the external stereo [no less] speakers on this phone are nothing short of amazing for a handset. Easily the best sound quality on a speakerphone I've heard in Lord knows how long. The fingerprint sensor is truly innovative and is quicker than my Dell Precision 7710 workstation that is now 8 months new. The sensor can be programmed to work with Enpass, Chase App and several other Android apps (hence, why I'm keeping this phone despite what you will read in the next paragraph). It unlocks my phone in less than a second and gives satisfying haptic feedback to l et me know without looking, if it was a successful unlock or not. The screen is a beautiful AMOLED HD resolution but I'm not going to talk about the crazy 360° cameras and their features because everyone has subjective opinions. I'll just say that the Nokia Lumia line of phones (not including the Lumia 950) had the best cameras out there and I've not seen anything better to date. This phone does NOT appear to have Qi wireless charging and I was VERY DISSPOINTED to discover that it does NOT have USB-C. Although the Windows 10 variant of this hardware actually has USB-C, for some very ridiculously strange reason, Alcatel decided to place micro USB port on this model. We may want to ask them why the Idol 5s is effectively a downgrade in specs from this model too, although it has Android 7.0. Perhaps it is because of the same bone-headed decision making process. WiFi performance is excellent and AT&T 4G LTE all work quite well, as does the hotspot function although it is slower than it was on my Lima 950 (R.I.P.) NFC works well too but I have not tried tap to pay.OS: The Android operating system is a different story, however. Having over a million apps available on your mobile platform does not necessarily mean that your user experience will be free of looking like your 6 year old vomited his happy meal all over your smartphone OS. Yes, I'm saying that (coming from Windows Phone 10) Android 6 is an incredibly ugly operating system, replete with an inconsistent user experience and color schemes well beyond that of apps, that speaks volumes to the newcomer. As long as I stay in one of the million+ apps I'm OK, right??? As long as it is not a stock OS app like Contacts, photo gallery, calendar, email, etc. The color scheme of this OS is simply atrocious and it befuddles me that it is wildly more popular than Windows Phone *was* (which I largely attribute to Microsoft's blundering management of marketing their mobile OS). I know that this review is supposed to be about the Idol 4s but I had to rant about how horrid Android is. For example, YouTube is a sad joke on this OS, by the way - the best YouTube client on the planet is called "MyTube" and it is available only for the Windows ecosystem and I have asked the developer to port it to Android because it truly is a must have app, especially given the sad state of affairs in the YouTube corner of the Play store. Even so, I've decided to keep this phone because of the vast offering of apps because, I suppose that is all most people care about. Thankfully, Microsoft has released a host of their apps to help us Windows traitors transition to an Android device and they all work seamlessly. Cortana has been a Godsend for me in this digitally tumultuous time. I just wish I could use Bing Maps - I miss all of the really cool map/navigation features that it offered. But then, life is full of compromises.A little more about the Idol 4s:There are a few stock apps that appear to be baked into the ROM from Alcatel, one of which you should carefully watch - it is called "File Manager" or Files" I disabled this app in Settings because it was persistent in my notification center and constantly spam notified me about "boosting" my phone's performance and the Files app actually had advertisements in it. Coming from Windows phone, this is anathema to the user and was a deal breaker so since I couldn't remove the app, I disabled it the best I could. Other than this pest of an application, there are several VR-based apps that I haven't had an opportunity to explore yet but will soon find the time to - if they prove to be worthy of a review update, I will update this review. I've had this bittersweet experience of a phone for a week now and will definitely keep it and if you are in the market for an Android phone, you would be crazy to pass this one up. There is nothing anyone can do about the mess that Google calls an operating system but the hardware is an amazing feat that reminds me of the skyscrapers of a concrete jungle.