Alcatel unveils the 6" OneTouch Hero 2 phablet - aluminum-clad, stylus-toting behemoth with curios accessories

Alcatel makes its way to our news section as scarce as hen's teeth, mostly when it unveils a round of new entry-level or mid-range devices. The company has not unveiled a new top-tier phablet during the course of the last year, but at IFA 2014 this changed. Alcatel unwrapped a successor to its budget-friendly Alcatel OneTouch Hero phablet - meet the 6-inch, stylus-wielding Alcatel OneTouch Hero 2. It's not a brutal powerhouse, but it comes with a pretty adequate specs sheet for its price tag.

This phablet is made of aluminum and its hardware insides, despite being nothing to write home about, seem rather adequate for the price segment, in which this Alcatel resides. The Alcatel OneTouch Hero 2, like we said, has a 6-inch IPS display with Dragontail glass, which squeezes out a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels, resulting in a pixel density of 360ppi. The device is powered by a 2GHz, octa-core MediaTek MT6592 SoC, which toils in a seamless concert with some 2GB of RAM. Connectivity-wise, we have 4G LTE aboard, as well as the usual suspects - Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi Direct, GPS, etc.

Speaking of memory, the OneTouch Hero 2 also comes with 16GB of on-board storage and has a microSD on board, so storage space should not be an issue. A 3,100 mAh juicer keeps the OneTouch Hero 2 running and doing its thing, and Alcatel claims it will keep the device doing so for 380 hours in a standby state. A 13MP rear camera with optical image stabilization, HDR, and Panorama modes will help photography-lovers practice their hobby. At the same time, a selfie-friendly 5MP front-facing camera will make sure you look good when you snap some quick autoportraits. 

The stylus of the device, which intends to keep it up on par with the Joneses (Samsung's Galaxy Note family), comes with an optimized handwriting recognition functionality, which will surely come in handy to those who scribble while on the move. The Alcatel OneTouch Hero 2 also supports the curious accessories that debuted alongside its predecessor - the battery-friendly e-ink snap-on display and the MagicFlip LED case, which does similar job to the Dot View case of the HTC One (M8). The MagicFlip case doubles as a... sort of virtual DJ mixing deck. Mildly curious.

The Alcatel OneTouch Hero 2 flaunts an EUR 350 price tag in Europe and is already available on the shelves there. No word if it will grace other markets with its presence yet.