The Alcatel A7 was also introduced during IFA 2017 in September, taking a few weeks to officially reach the some countries’ soil. The device features intermediate specifications, cool design and big screen for content consumption, and in theory is a great option regarding cost-benefit for more basic users, especially if we consider the price of $272 / Rs. 17,470 charged by the company on its official website.
As always, we received a copy of the device so that it can pass our careful analysis, but before proceeding with the tests of battery, performance, cameras, and screen we will first take a look at the accessories included by Alcatel in its packaging, and take advantage to make our first impressions with the new A7.
Packaging and accessories
Starting with the packaging, we have a box in the same style adopted by Alcatel in other models; it is colored with an A7 image on the front, its name, and the company logo, plus some information about it on the sides and back. The carton is made of good materials and can withstand shock in transport without problems and thus ensure that the phone and its accessories are unharmed.
SEE ALSO: OPPO F5 Review – a SELFie expert with High Performance
Opening the box we come across the first of several papers that Alcatel loves to put in the box of their devices, falling below them the A7 that comes without the back cover, enabling us to see the slots for two nano SIM chips and a microSD card of up to 128 GB. Then we have the divider that serves as “bed” for the device, and below it are:
- More papers, including guides and warranty terms;
- Charger socket with USB port and 5V / 2A output
- MicroUSB cable to transfer data and charge device
- Basic headphones with built-in microphone
- Protective film for the screen
Among the accessories, we have as a highlight the protective film, which is not the most resistant but already breaks a good branch. The charger still needs our tests to see if it will be enough for the massive 4,000 mAh battery, and the headphones are extremely simple.
Design and screen
Talking about the A7 itself, we have a pretty handset for the niche to which it proposes, passing a sophisticated air even having its body built predominantly in polycarbonate. The back cover has a texture that creates some kinds of effects depending on the angle at which the light hits, and the details in gold contrast with the black body of the device to create a set that refers to more expensive models.
It is not the most compact in the world, being slightly wider and thicker than the Moto G5S Plus, which also features same 5.5-inch screen. Its dimensions of 152.7 mm high by 76.5 mm wide and 8.95 mm thick end up delivering a nice footprint due to the more rounded sides and its weight of 164 grams help to give a greater sense of security when holding the device.
On its right side, we have the volume and power buttons, both with the gold finish but with the power being textured to aid in recognition. On the left side, we have nothing, with the micro USB port on the bottom and the lower side of the 3.5mm port for headphones next to the secondary microphone for noise cancellation.
On the back of the A7, you have your camera, two LEDs for flash in different tones and the fingerprint reader as well as the company logo. Standing above the front panel is the camera of selfies, its LED flash, proximity and brightness sensors, speaker for calls and a small white LED for notifications. Finally, below the screen is the sound output for multimedia, where the microphone for calls is also positioned.
Unfortunately, contrary to what the design strongly inclines users to think, the Alcatel A7 has no stereo sound output, and your music and audio from your videos are played only on the bottom speaker, while the upper one works exclusively for calls.
Talking about the screen, we have a 5.5 inch IPS LCD panel with Full HD resolution (1080 x 1920 pixels), which gives the A7 the approximate density of 401 ppi. The screen appeared to be of good quality at this first contact, but we need more in-depth testing to determine if it is on the same level as other intermediaries.
Hardware and Software
In terms of technical specifications, the A7 has a very satisfactory set for a model released in the range of $272 / Rs. 17,470, and found a reasonable chipset, plenty of RAM and enough storage for your files, apps and games, remembering that the device has expansion via microSD independent of the use of two nano SIM cards.
In general, we have:
- 5-inch LCD IPS screen with Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080), the density of 401 ppi
- MediaTek MT6750T 64-bit Octa-Core chipset with maximum clock rate at 1.5 GHz
- Mali-T880 MP2 GPU
- 4GB of RAM
- 32 GB of space for internal storage, expandable via microSD
- 16-megapixel rear camera with f / 2.0 aperture and two-tone dual flash
- 8-megapixel front camera with f / 2.0 aperture and LED flash
- Fingerprint reader
- Wi-Fi 802.11b / g / n, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, HAC M3, VoLTE
- Dimensions – 152.7 x 76.5 x 8.95 mm
- Weight of 164 grams
- 4,000 mAh battery
- Operating system Android 7.0 Nougat
The interface adopted by Alcatel on the A7 is basically the same as we have seen in older models of the brand, delivering something very close visually to “Pure” Android, but with some native apps from the company and solutions to facilitate the user’s life, such as the option to clone apps like Facebook, Messenger and WhatsApp.
My Account
Speaking a little about the cameras, on the back we have a 16-megapixel sensor with f / 2.0 aperture and dual LED flash, which is more or less at the same level as other intermediaries, at least in numbers. The selfie camera has 8 megapixels, f / 2.0 aperture and LED flash, seeking to deliver good selfies in a variety of environments.
The camera app is quite simple, with some modes of use like panorama and collage but stopping there, which shows that the company decided to focus on optimizing their products instead of providing thousands of functions that often ended up being ignored.
We still need more in-depth testing to see if the cameras will be as good as expected, noting that the A3 XL Max surprised us in this regard in our blind comparison.
Questions and Suggestions
What about testing the Alcatel A7? What did you think of the new Chinese intermediary? Leave your comment below and take the time to say if you have any specific point of the device that you would like to see in our review. Very soon the particular tests on battery, performance, camera, and screen with the device will appear, so stay connected!
