CES 2013: Alcatel refreshes One Touch line-up with Idol Ultra, Idol and Scribe HD

Alcatel isn’t a name you normally associate with high-end smartphones but that may very well change this year. At the on-going CES 2013 exhibition, the company announced three new high-end smartphones – the One Touch Idol Ultra, One Touch Idol and the One Touch Scribe HD. There’s no mention of an international release date as of now nor were any exact prices revealed.

The Idol Ultra

The One Touch Idol Ultra claims the title of the world’s thinnest smartphone yet. The device breaks current market records at a depth of just 6.45mm. In terms of specifications, we have a 4.7-inch HD AMOLED display, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 8MP camera that captures 1080p video, and running on Android Jelly Bean. We don’t have more details on the specifications like battery and expandable storage but going by the specifications also, it seems to be an upper mid-range device competing with the Samsung Galaxy S II.

Alcatel Idol

The One Touch Idol is set to be a slightly cheaper offering as it features the same sized screen but at a lower resolution of 960 x 540. The processor and rear camera remain the same however; we have an upgraded 2.1MP front facing camera. It’s also quite a bit lighter than the One Touch Idol Ultra at just 110gms. “The One Touch Idol device series represents a breakthrough in technology,” said Alain Lejeune, Head of Research and Development for Alcatel One Touch. “We’ve pushed the barriers on design, resulting in devices that offer the perfect balance between ultra-slim form factor, large display, outstanding performance, and rich user experience, while keeping the devices affordably priced to consumers.”

Taking on the Galaxy Note II

Finally, we come to the big daddy in the trio called the Scribe HD. This flagship handset from Alcatel comes with a massive 5-inch screen (resolution not mentioned) and is the first handset to debut the new MediaTek MT6589 quad-core chipset. Phones like the Micromax A110 and the iBall Andi 4.5h also use SoCs from MediaTek, who is known for providing cost effective chips for emerging brands. Other than that, the Scribe HD also features 4G LTE support, an 8MP shooter, 2MP front camera and of course, Android Jelly Bean. There’s no word on whether or not these handsets will ever make it to India but if they do, they prove to be stiff competition to the budget Android segment as well as the higher end droids.