ALCATEL OneTouch Idol 3 Global GSM Unlocked 4G LTE Smartphone, 4.7 HD IPS Display, 16GB - Gray

Let me start by saying that yes, there are phones with better specs at comparable prices. I ordered this one in particular, however, because I needed a phone with a microSIM rather than a nanoSIM, which dramatically limits one's options. With that in mind, this phone is pretty fantastic.Yes, you'll be dealing with 2-year-old versions of Android, and that can be frustrating if you're used to dealing with newer versions. This is basically a to-be-expected caveat of ordering a phone that uses an outdated SIM size. But it's highly serviceable, and you can get various apps (like a custom keyboard) that will compensate for most of the missing features within the actual OS.Where this phone really shines is in the sound. Stereo JBL speakers on the phone make a fantastic impression when watching videos, playing games, or listening to music. The box also includes a pair of JBL earbuds with mic, which actually startled me with how good they sound.The native music player, also JBL branded, shows up as a turntable in portrait mode, and dual turntables in horizontal mode. Yes, the native music player is a DJ mixer, with both automatic and manual modes. There's a few built-in sound effects, 3-band equalizer, pitch control, and various other little features. Overall, yeah, it's a total gimmick... but it's fun and I like it.The other rather unique thing about this phone is that it's reversible, meaning you can use it upside down, including answering calls, texting, whatever. That's a feature that I've never encountered before - very cool little aspect of this phone's UI. When I first bought it I dismissed that as a gimmick, but in actual practice I've found that I use the feature fairly frequently. I never realized how often I'd have to turn around my phone when I pulled it out of my pocket until I no longer needed to do it. Of course, the physical buttons on the sides are in the wrong place if you're using it upside down, but I found that I adapted very quickly to being able to unlock/control volume in either position.The phone feels good in the hand; it's sized well, it feels solid, it looks good. The unlock button is in a weird place; on the left side of the phone rather than -as with literally every other phone I've ever owned- the right side. That said, I got used to it very quickly and kind of like it now, actually.Performance is really pretty decent. Yes, it only has 1.5Gb of RAM and the system UI usually requires around 52% of that, but it still performs well enough. It'll hang on Facebook sometimes, or hang when trying to *exit* Facebook or other RAM-intensive apps, but it's not significant enough to really annoy me. Video quality is good; it's not stunning, but I have no complaints. It's perfectly serviceable for watching videos, browsing, and playing games at mid-range graphics settings. The screen is nice and bright (in fact I've never turned up the brightness past 58% and usually run it at 15-24%) and, given the dual speakers, the volume of notifications and ringtones is great for when I'm working or otherwise making noise and might not hear a normal phone.The only thing that really annoys me about the phone is that the stock weather application shows temperature in Celsius, with no way to change it Fahrenheit. It's a little thing, but man it annoys the balls right off me.Be advised that the phone does come with a clear plastic protective case and a screen protector; both of these are pretty terrible. The screen protector for mine was creased a little in the box, so it wasn't even worth putting on; the case is super cheap and thin plastic and will *not* offer much fall protection. I do actually use mine, mostly just to keep the back of the phone from getting scratched up when it's in my pocket, but it doesn't offer any significant protection. I haven't been able to find any aftermarket cases that don't either have terrible reviews or look awful, so unless you have better luck in that search than I did, you're probably going to be going without one.Overall, however, if you need a phone with a microSIM slot, this one is pretty freaking awesome and fun.

Update: I just updated my 5 star (!!) review to a 1 star.... This used to be a great phone for a great price (see all the nice details below). Until about a year ago. Then, Alcatel got greedy and started pushing "updates" for individual applications and the entire OS, which turns the normal benign applications like launcher, file manager and calendar, into annoying malware which keep spewing ads, notifications, and installing random applications you don't want. And that's just on the surface - I'm suspecting there's more evil stuff going on that I am not aware of. Stay away from this phone like the plague. You can't imagine how sad I am - I liked this phone so much that I actually bought 5 of them for my whole family, and thought my next phone will be a newer model of Alcatel Idol. Obviously, no longer.=======I'm really happy with this phone. It is packed to the brim with features, has a very modern Android (it updated to 6.0 right after I unpacked it and connected it), has tons of storage space (I added an 32 GB SD card, so I now have about 45 GB of free space to store applications and data - thank's to Android 6's "emulated storage" built-in feature). It looks beautiful, has the perfect size (4.7" is not too small, but also not too large), and the speakers sound great. People are genuinely impressed when I show them my new phone, and even more so when I tell them how little I paid for it - this is definitely NOT one of the crappy half-functioning super-cheap phones - this phone is a rare combination of being great and cheap.

We bought two of these phones (at full price, so this is an actual customer review, not one that may be biased by having received it for free or at a discount) a few months ago and still really love them. We spent quite a bit of time researching all of the options available both above and below this price range, and this phone looked to be a great value, and it really is. We are very pleased with our purchase. We use it with T-Mobile on one of their pre-paid plans and have had a very good experience with the phone and T-Mobile. We are also going to be traveling outside the country, and this phone comes unlocked and supports all of the bands that we need.Pros:The screen looks great, and is very bright and crisp.The camera takes very nice pictures and video.The phone fits nicely in the hand and looks and feels like a much more expensive phone. The build quality is excellent.We charge them after a couple days of normal use, so the battery seems to last a respectable amount of time.The sound, as other reviewers have mentioned, is just excellent. This thing can really put out some sound, and gone are the days of not being able to hear your phone ring! Playing music on it sounds great, and is stereo (one speaker at each end of the phone).The phone is reversible, with a microphone and speaker at each end, so it doesn't matter which way its facing when you pick it up to answer it, the phone will just take care of it based on the orientation using the gyro sensor. This isn't really a must have feature, but it is kind of nice.It plays videos (such as YouTube) very well, and it feels very smooth and responsive in every app we've tried.The value for the money is great, and we would still be very happy with it if we paid more.Cons:Wish it supported dual sim cards instead of just one, but you get a microSD card spot instead, so not too bad and most people probably only need one sim card slot anyway.Wish the volume could be adjusted in smaller increments, but this isn't the phone's fault, it's an android thing and not a deal breaker at all.In closing, we are very pleased with our purchase of two of these phones and would quickly and happily buy them again. If you are looking for a great unlocked GSM phone and don't want to pay an arm and a leg, then give this one a try. We highly recommend it!