MediaTek and Alcatel OneTouch Launch the POP Astro for T-Mobile USA
by Brandon Chester on May 4, 2015 6:29 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- MediaTek
- Alcatel OneTouch
Recently a new budget oriented device was launched on T-Mobile USA. It's the Alcatel OneTouch POP Astro. At $149.76 outright, the POP Astro is aimed squarely at buyers who need an inexpensive smartphone with only the most basic set of feature and hardware specifications. With that in mind, you can see the details of the POP Astro's specs below.
| Alcatel OneTouch POP Astro | ||||||
| SoC | MediaTek MTK6732 4 x Cortex-A53 at 1.5GHz ARM Mali-T760 GPU |
|||||
| Memory and Storage | 4GB NAND + MicroSD, 1GB RAM | |||||
| Display | 4.5" 960x540 LCD | |||||
| Cellular Connectivity | 2G / 3G / 4G LTE (MediaTek Category 4 LTE) | |||||
| Dimensions | 133.6 x 65.3 x 7.62 mm, 145g | |||||
| Camera |
5MP Fixed Focus Rear Facing |
|||||
| Battery | 2000 mAh | |||||
| Other Connectivity | 802.11 b/g/n + BT 4.1, microUSB 2.0, GPS/GNSS | |||||
| Operating System | Android 4.4 KitKat | |||||
While we haven't been able to test MediaTek's MTK6732 in depth, it should be competitive with the other devices at this price point which use Qualcomm's Snapdragon 410. It may actually prove to be faster than the 1.2GHz Snapdragon 410 in the Moto E, although we would need to test the device to properly characterize this.
The most notable point about the POP Astro is that it's the first device in the United States to be powered by one of MediaTek's processors with their integrated LTE baseband, marking MediaTek's formal entry into the US LTE market. After being dominated by Qualcomm over the first few years, in the last year we've seen competitors such as Samsung, Intel, and now MediaTek pick up momentum in getting their solutions into the US LTE market. Being a device aimed at the US market, the POP Astro has support for LTE bands 2, 4, and 12, and can fall back on 42Mbps DC-HSPA on any carrier that uses 850/1700/2100MHz frequencies for UMTS.
As for the rest of the device, the specs are decidedly low end. The amount of storage, fixed focus camera, and KitKat 4.4 all remind me of the original Moto E, and it may be a hard sell with the new 2015 Moto E selling for roughly the same price. Buyers who are interested can order the Alcatel OneTouch POP Astro from T-Mobile now for $149.76 up front, or $6.24 every month over a 24 month term.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
5 Comments
View All Comments
webdoctors - Monday, May 4, 2015 - link
The dragon has awoken.While this phone's specs aren't impressive, the symbolic nature of MTK finally breaking into the N. American marketplace with a phone that supports 4G LTE on T-mobile and 3G is pretty big news.
Now all those hundreds of Chinese manufacturers can flood the US like they've done in Europe and India. XIomi, Oppo, ZTE, THL, Huawei, IUNI, Lenovo, rise up and break the stranglehold QCOM and its cartel have had on the marketplace.
fc1204 - Tuesday, May 5, 2015 - link
taiwanese mtk is doing quite well selling nearly half a billion units a year to customers in china and india, why bother with such a small market sector in north america?hans_ober - Monday, May 4, 2015 - link
It's a faster (most probably) Moto E (2015) with less storage and a dated OS.thejaredhuang - Monday, May 4, 2015 - link
I think this phone also has VoLTE support which is pretty rare for something this low on the pole.jjj - Tuesday, May 5, 2015 - link
They sell the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 in the US at 250$ ( 5.5 inch 1080p. SD615, 2GB RAM, 16GB NAND , 13MP cam) and they price this one at 150$? Could have been cheaper.4GB of NAND is rather stupid now above the very low end . The difference in pricing is so small between 4GB and 8GB (or even 16GB). 2-5-3$ for 4GB while 16GB is 6.5$ more or less. So 2 extra bucks for 8GB in the BOM would have made it look less cheap.
It's interesting that T-Mo is bringing in more exotic devices but got to wonder why they are avoiding the good deals. Right now it looks like they are trying to not cannibalize the high end where they must sell certain volumes.