Alcatel OneTouch Hero Review

Introduction

It's been a few months since Alcatel, the face of Chinese TCL for the western hemisphere, presented the stylus-equipped OneTouch Hero, and we finally had the chance to test out and marvel at this massive, 6-inch phablet. And while the gorgeous 1080p IPS panel is definitely the highlight of the Hero, humming underneath are some none too shabby internals, like a quad-core MediaTek chipset, healthy 2GB of RAM, a 13MP rear shooter, and two SIM slots. These are some rather compelling specs on paper, ones that put this device in the high-end phablet league. But, how do they actually translate into the real world? Let's find out.

In the box:

• microUSB > USB cable
• Wall charger
• In-ear headphones
• MagicFlip magnetic cover

Design

Alcatel has managed to work a little miracle with the proportions of the OneTouch Hero. Handling the phablet is both easy and pleasant, thanks to its masterfully-crafted body and super-slim bezels.

The latest slew of devices from the manufacturer showcase some time-tested, almost refined design language. The One Touch Hero, in particular, looks distinguished and leaves no room for doubt: this is a high-end product. What strikes us most about the Hero is that its creators have managed to strike such a masterful balance with its body. The Hero is giant, yet also kind of compact, thanks to those slim bezels all around. Put it next to the Note 3, and it is only 1.4 mm wider, although it has 0.3” bigger display! Although it appears brutish when put next to a 5-incher, it's sheer size has an elegant quality to it, and it's actually pretty slender at 0.33in (8.5mm).

Not only is this phablet good-looking, but it's also well-crafted. Accents, such as the stylus slot at the bottom, the power button and volume rocker on the right side of the Hero, or the camera ring and the speaker at the rear. These were all built to last and do not disappoint in any way, though the stylus is not the most impressive we've seen. The matte plastic back and the frame itself are grippy and the device makes its presence known thanks to its 6.26oz (178g).

Interface and Functionality

Alcatel has delved deep into Android, tweaking, changing. The result is a rather nice-looking UI, but one that is poorly optimized.

Stock Android aficionados beware: the Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean found running on the OneTouch Hero is miles away from Google's idea of a clean, minimalistic UI. The software is definitely very functional and well-thought out for the most part, though it is also heavy on the hardware.

It goes without saying that the lockscreen is of a custom make, featuring shortcuts to the dialer, messaging and the camera. This being one of Alcatel's fanciest models available, it's also been loaded with a bunch of proprietary apps. These include a tiny Alcatel app store with less than 20 apps available, a note-taking app best used in unison with the stylus and even a pretty interesting Ultimate Saver app that strips down your phone of all non-essential functionality, leaving you with little more than the option to place and receive calls and send messages.

Dual SIM

The OneTouch Hero has slots for two microSIM cards. The dual SIM software is very well made, allowing you to easily switch between and manage the two cards, regardless of whether you're placing calls or would like to set a default behavior for browsing. Unfortunately, we're looking at a dual-standby arrangement, meaning that your second SIM card will be offline whenever you're in a call.

Processor and Memory

The silicon within leaves something to be desired, especially for a top-shelf product.

Doing the muscle-work underneath the Hero's stylish exterior is a 1.5GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6589T, coupled with a healthy dose of 2GB of RAM. We've got to admit that we were let down by the chipset found on-board, though this does not come without a few key notes. For starters, the UI stutters until it has been cached into the memory, and super graphics-intensive games like Asphalt 8 don't exactly run smoothly, either. And yet, we can't help but point a finger at Alcatel, too. This is not the first time we're testing this chip, and it sure held its ground better in the past. In other words, the ostentatious interface sure is quite heavy, and just feels poorly optimized.

But perhaps the biggest gripe is not with the chipset itself. This is supposed to be one of Alcatel's high-end models, yet the serious delays in getting this phone to market meant that it was too late to jump ship and appropriate one of the newer MedaiTek chips, which sport an improved GPU among other things.

Internet and connectivity

Browsing on the crisp, 6-inch display of the Alcatel OneTouch Hero is pure, untainted pleasure.

There's an interesting discrepancy with MediaTek chipsets – they can't quite compare with Qualcomm's highest-end solutions when it comes to graphical prowess, yet browsing is something they seem to handle quite well. To that end, the surfing experience on the 6-inch Alcatel OneTouch Hero is quite enjoyable, and isn't riddled with stutters and irritating hang-times, whether we're talking the built-in browser or Google's Chrome.

On the connectivity end, the usual line-up is obviously present: Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS and NFC, but there's no 4G LTE radio to be found.

Camera

Detailed, but soft – two words that summarize the 13-megapixel rear shooter on the Hero.

True to its high-end ambitions, the Alcatel OneTouch Hero packs a 13-megapixel camera with an LED flash and auto focus capabilities. The camera interface itself is very pleasant to use, as it's full-screen and controls are simplistic. HDR and panoramic modes are available, and the end results are pretty satisfactory. Unfortunately, speediness is not among the qualities of the shooter, as its average at best under the default settings, and downright slow when taking HDR snaps.

Speaking of snaps, those come out in great detail – images are rather soft but look very natural. Exposure and colors are also very natural and pretty accurate. Better yet, the Hero takes pictures of decent quality even in very low-light situations, though its LED flash can't illuminate too much of the scene.




The Hero is capable of 1080p video recording at 30FPS, delivering decent quality with quick follow focus.



Up at the front, we found a 2-megapixel unit, that produced some pretty satisfying results.

Multimedia

The Alcatel OneTouch Hero is, hands down, a true pocket-sized media hog.

When it comes to playing multimedia content, the Alcatel OneTouch Hero is king. Simply put, video playback is top notch, thanks to the capable chipset, but mostly – the giant 6-inch, 1080p display. The screen is so immersive, that you quickly forget that you're looking at your favorite movie on a pocket-sized device. Best of all, the simplistic, but sturdy, built-in multimedia apps do the job just fine, so a trip to the Play Store is a matter of choice.

In terms of audio reproduction, we had no complaints – sound fidelity is decent and the mono speaker is actually pretty loud, without causing nasty distortions.

Call Quality

Calls' quality surprised us. We go through quite a few phones every month, and a very significant portion of those run into the same type of problems – hollow voices, low volume, interference and what not. But not the OneTouch Hero. The speaker is very loud, and voices are transmitted very pleasantly, without noticeable distortions, and this goes in both ways – contacts reported hearing us just as clearly.

Battery

The combination of a 3400mAh cell and frugal ARM Cortex-A7 cores translated into some downright awesome battery life numbers. The Alcatel OneTouch Hero managed to hold its ground for the whopping 8 hours and 11 minutes in our custom test that simulates real-life usage with no break. With a score like that, the Hero is actually second to none, at least when it comes to 1080x1920 resolutions. In the best of scenarios, it should be able to last for up to three days.

Conclusion

Looking back at the time spent with the Alcatel OneTouch Hero, we can't help but admit that the Hero showed great promise from the very beginning. This is a device that exhibits some really impressive qualities, ones that could easily put it at the very top of the phablet food chain. The display is just awesome, and the body is well-crafted and truly compact. The camera is on par with even more premium solutions out there, and both call quality and battery life are equally top marks. The software is inviting and, in combination with the Magic Flip cover, give the Alcatel OneTouch Hero a real character. Unfortunately, that very same software feels shoddily optimized, and the MediaTek chipset just can't keep up. Pity, as this is perhaps the one thing that, ultimately, felt very wrong about the Hero.

The OneTouch Hero comes with a price tag of about $399. So how does it compare with other, similarly-priced phablets? The first one to come to mind is the new, $339 Lumia 1320. The affordable, 6-inch phablet from Nokia is somewhat similar in price, but comes with considerable hardware cuts, like a less impressive 720p display, only 1GB of RAM, and an inferior 5-megapixel shooter. The upcoming 6-inch Lenovo S930 also comes cheaper, at $319, but is similarly underpowered in comparison. It sports a comparable chipset, but only 1GB of RAM, a supposedly inferior 8-megapixel shooter and a less-detailed 720p screen. The underpowered chip aside, the Alcatel OneTouch Hero is an excellent phablet that can rival more expensive models, like the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, the HTC One max, the Nokia Lumia 1520 and the Oppo N1.