Alcatel OneTouch Pixi 4 hands-on

We are here at CES 2016 with Alcatel OneTouch, where the company has taken the wraps off of their latest series of affordable entry-level smartphones. What do these devices have to offer? We find out, as we go hands on with the Alcatel OneTouch Pixi 4!

Like its predecessors, which were launched at the same event last year, the Pixi 4 is available in a variety of sizes, but while the 3.5-inch and 4-inch sizes have been retained from the previous generation, the largest iteration has seen its display size bumped up to 6-inches. Apart from the varying sizes, all three phones feature the same design language and rectangular form factor. Despite being made entirely of plastic, they do all feel quite sturdy, courtesy of the unibody design.

All the devices come with LCD displays and MediaTek processors, but specifications like the number of CPU cores, display resolution, amount of RAM, built-in storage, camera resolution, and battery capacity all increase as you move up in size. If you are more budget conscious or want a phone that can easily fit in the palm of your hand, the smaller versions are a great choice. The best of the bunch however is the large 6-inch version, which, while certainly more expensive than its smaller siblings, is still very affordable.

Taking a look at the specs mentioned above, the 3.5-inch version comes with an HVGA display with 320 x 480 resolution, a 1 GHz dual-core MediaTek MT6572M processor, 2 MP rear camera and VGA front-facing unit, 512 MB of RAM, 4 GB of internal storage and microSD expansion up to 32GB. The 4.0-inch smartphone comes with a WVGA display with 480 x 800 resolution, a 1.3 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6580M processor, 512 MB or 1 GB of RAM (depending on storage option), either 4 or 8 GB of on-board storage and microSD expansion up to 32 GB.

Finally, we have the 6.0-inch smartphone, which comes with a TFT LCD display with 1280 x 720 resolution, a quad-core MediaTek MSM8909 processor clocked at 1.1 GHz, 1 GB of RAM, 8 GB of internal storage, and microSD expansion up to 64 GB. Additionally, it has an 8 MP rear camera and a 5 MP front-facing unit.

On the software side of things, you get a similar experience across all devices, and while some of the preview units were running Android 5.1 Lollipop, the Pixi 4 smartphones will come with Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box when released. The software experience is very close to stock Android, with only a few touches of customization added by Alcatel OneTouch. For the most part, this is a very clean version of Android, which is a big factor in allowing for a smooth performance overall, especially on the lower models.

So there you have it for this quick first look at the Alcatel OneTouch Pixi 4! This is another really good series of affordable entry-level smartphones from the company, and definitely something to look out for. Stay tuned with Android Authority as we continue to bring you more great hands on coverage from CES 2016!