Alcatel has unveiled a range of new devices that range from a phablet to a tablet, and even the company’s first round-ish smartwatch. Being the successor to the Alcatel OneTouch Hero, the unsurprisingly named One Touch Hero 2 adds another choice for consumers who favour jumbo sized smartphones with a stylus input.
The One Touch Hero 2 sports a thickness just shy of 8mm with a curved aluminium back plate which weighs in at an acceptable phablet weight of 175 grams. Being a 6-inch device, the company has thrown in a stylus that is designed to slot into the device just as the Galaxy Note devices by Samsung. Alcatel has seemingly put extra effort into their stylus input software as the device is able to read badly scrawled handwriting and provide feedback within a second or two.
Powering the OneTouch Hero 2 is an octa-core MediaTek MT6592 clocked at 2GHz, a hefty 3100mAh battery, and an IPS TFT screen with a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080. It has 2GB RAM and with 16GB internal storage. As if the onboard storage wasn’t lacking, the device only accepts MicroSD card expansion of up to just 32GB, which is a not a lot by today’s smartphone standards. In addition, Alcatel has boldly claims that the 13.1-megapixel main shooter would take “DSLR-like pictures.”
There will be a revised range of some familiar OneTouch Hero accessories including the E-Card, a cover casing with an e-ink display, and also HTC Dot View-like casing for the OneTouch Hero 2 called the MagicFlip LED. In addition, the Bluetooth companion Sidekick will be making its way back with a revised form named (we saw this coming) Sidekick 2.
Alcatel is also joining in the wrist-worn wearable market segment. No, we’re not seeing a second iteration of the OneTouch Pop Fit. The company’s new smartwatch has a display that will feature an odd panel on the bottom of the rounded screen — similar to the Moto 360. Instead of the Android Wear platform, Alcatel had favoured their very own smartwatch platform that is claimed to be more battery efficient.
Alcatel is also bringing the Smartbook concept back. A “brainless” laptop with a keyboard, trackpad, and mouse input that is powered by the OneTouch smartphones through NFC connectivity. However, it is not quite ready to be commercialised yet, but you can expect it to be priced at $300.
Last but not least, Alcatel also announced its new 8-inch tablet — the OneTouch Hero 8 that is said to be as powerful as the OneTouch Hero 2. With that, it is powered by the same MediaTek chipset with a octa-core arrangement and also sports a 1,920 x 1,200 display. Just as the phablet counterpart, it has 2GB RAM with 16GB internal storage and also MicroSD expansion up to 32GB. The tablet will be as thin as 7.3mm with a sizable battery of 4,060mAh.
[Source: Engadget]
