T-Mobile and Alcatel are set to release the Idol 4S next week with Windows 10 Mobile. The phone will retail for $469 on November 10, which is a nice price when you consider the included VR headset that comes in the box. Before we get to our full review, next week I figured I'd do a quick unboxing and share some initial impressions. Also, I'll share some camera samples and answer a few questions I know many of you have about this impressive device. Let's go!

Alcatel Idol 4S with Windows 10 Mobile

Category Features CPU Snapdragon 820 | Quad Core CPU @2.15 GHz Display 5.5-inch FHD AMOLED

Dragontrail 2.5D Glass

180-degree viewing Memory 64GB ROM

4GB RAM

microSD Camera 21 MP Rear

8 MP FF

Dedicated camera button

Dual-tone rear flash

LED front flash Video 4K @ 30FPS

1080P @ 60 FPS Battery 3,000 mAh

Quick Charge 2.0

420Hrs Standby

15Hrs Talk Continuum Yes VR Yes Windows Hello Yes (Fingerprint) Audio Dual speakers with Hi-Fi surround sound Dimensions 153.9 x 75.4 x 6.99 mm Data 4G LTE

T-Mobile Extended Range LTE 3G/4G Band I, II, IV, V LTE Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 20 HD Voice Yes VoLTE Yes Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

Wi-Fi Calling 1.0 Bluetooth BT 4.1

A2DP, OPP, HFP, AVRCP, PBAP

In the box Alcatel Idol 4S

VR headset/case

Quick Charge 2.0 charger + USB Type-C cable Impressions The Alcatel Idol 4S has surprised me in a good way. I have become accustomed to being underwhelmed by non-Lumia phones in the past, but so far the HP Elite x3 and Idol 4S are bucking those trends. Here are my quick observations: Performance is outstanding likely due to the Full HD display (fewer pixels), and it does feel slightly faster than the Elite x3 because of that

The display is excellent. While the Elite x3 is still better due to the higher resolution and slightly richer AMOLED I cannot complain about the Idol 4S either

Button placement is different, but not bad

The fingerprint reader is very fast, but the small ridges around it make using it while not looking a little harder than the Elite x3

The camera feels very much like the Elite x3 despite having a slight edge on megapixel count. Again, it's not a terrible camera for daylight/standard shots, but it will struggle in low light or fast-moving objects. On the plus side, that camera button is nifty!

The phone has no stability or crashing issues like the Elite x3 had during its early release stage (now fixed). It's very reliable with no obvious bugs or flaws either in hardware design or software execution

Being glass and metal it will pick up fingerprint quickly; I would consider a case if you a prone to dropping phones

The VR experience is OK. I'm not a huge VR fan, and the lower resolution display is noticeable when using the headset compared to the Galaxy S7. I consider the VR experience a bonus add-on, not the core reason to buy this phone so whatever. At the end of the day, phone VR is still just phone VR.

You cannot remove the T-Mobile app for whatever reason

The dual front firing speakers are tremendous. While the Elite x3 also has the same setup those are tuned high for speaker phone and lack bass. The Idol 4S are much better for media and music and sound fantastic One day in with the Idol 4S and I'm liking it a lot with little to no complaints. If you are on T-Mobile and are looking for something high end with Windows 10 Mobile, this is a good bet. Best VPN providers 2020: Learn about ExpressVPN, NordVPN & more Image Gallery

Camera Samples