The Alcatel 1 is cheapest 18:9 smartphone (Update: $89 running Android Go)

Update 6/27/2018 at 5:15 P.M. EST: Today, TCL Communication formerly announced the Alcatel 1: a budget smartphone running Android Go. While the rumored specs described below line up nicely, we had no idea on price until today, which looks to be 79 euros or $89, depending on your market. That makes the Alcatel 1 the cheapest smartphone in the world with an 18:9 display.

The phone will be available “in select markets” at some point in July.

Original Article (6/25/18): It might not be the most affordable Android Go smartphone, but the Alcatel 1X, released in May 2018, still represents great value at its $100 price tag. The Alcatel 1, however, looks like it could cost even less.

According to Russian website Helpix, the Alcatel 1 features a 5-inch 18:9 display with a 960 x 480 resolution, 5MP rear camera, 2MP selfie camera, 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6739 chipset, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of expandable storage, and a 2,000mAh battery. The standard Alcatel 1X comes with 16Gb internal storage and an 8MP main camera.

The handset may be able to pull off some neat tricks with the cameras, however. The 5MP and 2MP cameras reportedly interpolate up to 8MP and 5MP, respectively, which should help stave off the sting of no auto-focus.

It comes in single and dual-SIM variants, as well as three colors: gold, blue, and black.

Elsewhere, the Alcatel 1 runs the Android Go version of Android 8.0 Oreo. Typically, we would say the software choice will help the phone not feel as slow as it would if it ran regular Android.

That was not the case when we tested the Alcatel 1X at MWC in February, however. We experienced plenty of jank that, according to Alcatel, was due to the demo devices running incomplete and non-approved software. Given the weaker hardware, we do not have high hopes that the Alcatel 1 will perform brilliantly.

That being said, you do not buy a low-end smartphone and expect it to perform miracles. You expect a phone to just work and not have it destroy your wallet in the process.

This is what the Alcatel 1 looks like it should do, though we do not know when the phone will launch or how much it will sell for. The Alcatel 1X currently sells for $100, so expect the Alcatel 1 to have a smaller price tag.