Alcatel is in the business of producing dirt-cheap smartphones, and has been for years now, but with few exceptions, you get what you paid for—at best cheap, at worst dirt. The One Touch Idol 3 is out to change perceptions. It lists at $279.99, but you can grab it from Alcatel direct for $249.99, and everything about it delivers on the high-quality, low-cost promise. The 5.5-inch, full HD display and 4G LTE connectivity alone make the Idol 3 worth the cost of entry. Fit, finish, and a polished overall experience seal the deal. T-Mobile and AT&T customers shopping on the unlocked market should strongly consider the Idol 3. It earns our Editors' Choice for low-cost unlocked smartphones.

Design, Features, and Network Performance

Understated, classy, and well-executed are rarely the first words I choose when describing a budget-friendly Android phone. And yet, all three apply to the Idol 3's physical design. The subtle, brushed finish on the back and judicious use of faux-metal accents make the best of the all-plastic construction. At 6.01 by 2.96 by 0.29 inches (HWD) and 4.96 ounces, the Idol 3 feels slender and light for its size, though not at all hollow like some other low-cost phones. It looks and feels like a much pricier handset.

The 5.5-inch, full HD LCD looks superb—color depth, contrast, and maximum brightness are all top notch. The viewing angle is essentially 180 degrees and everything looks crisp thanks to the display's 401ppi. The display quality is right on par with the OnePlus One's, though not nearly as beautiful as the much-pricier Google Nexus 6's Quad HD AMOLED display. Above and below the display are stereo front-facing speakers, which get very loud and sound excellent for a smartphone.

Sold exclusively unlocked, the Idol 3 supports quad-band GSM, HSPA (850/900/1900/2100MHz), and LTE (Bands 2, 4, 5, 7, 12, 17). That means full coverage for AT&T or T-Mobile customers in the U.S., including speedy 4G LTE on both carriers. I tested the phone using an AT&T SIM, which worked without any additional configuration on my part. Call quality was good, though nothing to write home about. Volume in the earpiece was sufficient, but could be a touch louder for outdoor calls. The Idol 3 preserved natural voice tones well on both incoming and outgoing calls, though I did notice an undercurrent of static on transmissions through the phone's mic. Noise cancellation was average, dampening more persistent noises, but struggling with nearby conversations and cars whizzing by.

Rounding out the connectivity options are dual-band 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, and GPS. NFC and dual-band Wi-Fi are somewhat rare in this price range, so it's nice to see them included.

Performance and Android

The Idol 3 uses a quad-core, 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor with 2GB RAM. Though performance isn't leaps and bounds above the more common Snapdragon 400, the 615 is a 64-bit chip, so it's a bit more future proof. General system performance is reliably zippy, though minor delays are not uncommon—this is pretty much the case with even the best budget Android phones, including the Moto G. Web browsing performance is solid, but media heavy sites like ESPN produce some jitters and lag. Because it has a higher resolution display than most similarly powered smartphones, gaming performance suffers a bit here. Titles like Asphalt 8 are only really enjoyable at lower graphics settings.

See How We Test Cell Phones

It initially appears as though Alcatel threw down a heavy skin over the Android 5.0.2 software, but closer inspection reveals a much lighter hand. Customizations are mostly reserved to visual elements and cartoonish icons. Otherwise, the only real functional tweaks are a shortcut-laden lock screen and useful gestures like double-tap to wake. Everything else, including the app drawer, notification shade, recent apps list, and settings menu are all essentially a stock Lollipop experience.

Of the 16GB of internal storage, our review unit came with 9.91GB available out of the box. That's a pretty good amount at this price, and the third-party preloads are mostly useful and easily removable. There's also a microSD card slot that worked fine with our 64GB card.

In a battery rundown test, where we stream a YouTube video over LTE with screen brightness set to max, the Idol 3 lasted 4 hours, 12 minutes. That's on the low side of average, but close to what we got from the iPhone 6 (4 hours, 33 minutes) on the same test. With moderate usage during the test period, the Idol 3 easily lasted a full day.

Camera and Conclusions

Equipped with the same Sony-made, 13-megapixel image sensor found in the OnePlus One and the Nexus 6, expectations are high for the Idol 3. It mostly delivers, though low-light performance isn't quite up to the aforementioned phones. Images taken outdoors and in good lighting scenarios look vivid and full of lifelike detail, with good dynamic range. Shots start to look soft under moderate and low indoor lighting, while image grain creeps in under your typical office fluorescent lighting. Autofocus is relatively quick, even indoors, and exposure was accurate the majority of the time. Video quality tops out at 1080p and holds a steady at around 27 fps under low light. Overall, the Idol 3 has very good image quality and I'd be confident using it to capture important moments.

Alcatel, like Huawei and ZTE, is in a rebranding phase, and the One Touch Idol 3 is a statement device. It proves that the company can put its cut-rate OEM roots behind it and create a physically impressive phone that finally lives up to the spec sheets. The OnePlus One—now that you can actually buy one—is still the better choice for power users, but the Idol 3 isn't far off, and that's saying something. It's a top-notch, budget friendly option on the unlocked market, especially if you get it at the $250 online-exclusive price, which Alcatel reps say is more or less permanent. We award the One Touch Idol 3 our Editors' Choice nod for budget friendly unlocked smartphones. If you can significantly stretch your budget, our top choice for high-end unlocked phones remains the Google Nexus 6 ($219.00 at Amazon UK) , which has an incredible display, power to spare, and all the perks that come with being Google's flagship phone, like access to the new Project Fi mobile plan.

Artboard Created with Sketch. Alcatel One Touch Idol 3 (Unlocked) 4.0 Editors' Choice See It $249.99 at Amazon MSRP $279.99 Pros Aggressive price.

Top-notch 5.5-inch, full HD LCD.

Attractive and well-built.

4G LTE connectivity. View More Cons Merely average battery life and call quality. The Bottom Line The unlocked Alcatel One Touch Idol 3 is an exceptional Android smartphone value that more than lives up to its lofty spec sheet.

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