Alcatel TCL A2 (A507DL) Review: Android 10 Phone with a big RAM

Alcatel TCL A2 (A507DL) review covers the detailed assessment of this budget phone. Let’s dig its specs thoroughly to decide whether it is worth your money.

Alcatel TCL A2 smartphone released in April 2020. It’s one Alcatel smartphones that are worth checking out. The phone comes with several highlighted features, such as Android 10 and the big size of RAM.

This phone comes in a 5.5-inch Full View Display. The size is pretty spacious for a budget phone. Apart from running the latest Android 10, other key features include a 1.8GHz CPU, an 8MP camera, and a 3,000mAh battery.

Although TCL phones are not the best in terms of the quality, the low price is something to be excited about for buyers with a low budget.

Therefore, we want you to get to know this device better before purchasing it. Enjoy our Alcatel TCL A2 (A507DL) review.

Alcatel TCL A2 Key Specs

Alcatel TCL A2 (A507DL) specifications:

• Weight: 158.7g
• Dimensions: 146 x 71 x 9.4mm
• OS: Android 10
• Screen size: 5.5-inch
• Resolution: 960 x 480
• CPU: 1.8GHz Quad-core processor
• RAM: 3GB
• Storage: 32GB
• Battery: 3000mAh, non-removable
• Rear camera: 8MP
• Front camera: 5MP

Alcatel TCL A2 Design

Design-wise, this phone comes with the same generic design language, just like any other budget phone. It is 146 x 71 x 9.4mm in size and weighs only 158.7g.

The back cover is made from hard plastic but it is texturized for added grip. This phone features a dedicated Google Assistant button on the left side of the phone for ease of access and convenience for the users.

The carbon-fiber like texture gives this phone a more expensive look compared to any budget phones. The body is compact and buttons are ergonomically located. You can find the power and volume button location make this phone very comfortable to use, especially with one hand.

The bezels are quite thicker than the newer devices. Moreover, Alcatel TCL A2 did not follow the notch trend that is popular among the other mid-range android phones. 

The build quality of this phone is quite mediocre, but it is expected on budget phones. Luckily, Alcatel TCL A2 didn’t eliminate the 3.5mm headphone jack from this phone, although many manufacturers have already deleted this feature. You can find it at the bottom of the phone.

Overall, this phone’s design is on par with other budget phones available in the market.

Alcatel TCL A2 Display

For the display, Alcatel TCL A2 has a 5.5-inch touchscreen with 960 x 480 resolution. For comparison, the display is as big as the iPhone 7 Plus’ display.

The screen looks quite spacious as the smartphone has narrow borders, so it is very comfortable to read, watch, and browse with one hand. 

The downside of this phone’s display is the low resolution. With only 195 ppi of pixel density, the resolution of Alcatel TCL A2 is quite low compared to newer phones. It only makes sense if the phone will have a hard time showing images and videos as sharp as other phones with higher resolution.

Some times, you will spot imperfections. For example, harsh edges and pixelated pictures. It is not surprising, though. To be honest, we think 960 x 480 is too low for a 2020 smartphone.

Moreover, Youtube will also limit the video quality to 480p max due to the lack of high resolution that this phone has. This is such a bummer since this phone’s widescreen will lose its value if the video quality that is played can’t keep up to at least HD videos. 

Regardless of the passable quality, the Alcatel TCL A2 screen would still display any text and documents well. In short, it’s a display that still works perfectly for basic activities.

Alcatel TCL A2 Camera

Alcatel TCL A2 will be able to take decent pictures as it has 8MP as the rear camera. It’s pretty underwhelming since new android phones in 2020 are mostly geared with a 12 or 13MP as their rear camera.

If only the phone increased this device’s camera quality, it would absolutely raise its value in the market.

The quality of the front camera is not so impressive as well. With only a 5MP front camera this phone can take selfies and make video calls. When you are getting a non-flagship mobile phone like this, you don’t get to complain about the horrendous quality of your video recording and conference that are taken by it.

Perhaps the only cool feature of the selfie camera is the bokeh effect. It allows the camera to focus on the subject of the picture in real-time. You will get a blurred background effect. Do not expect the result will come out as good as high-end phones pictures. You will get what you paid.

Other than that, basic camera tools such as zoom and timer are provided on the phone. You will not be too disappointed since it does its job well in capturing photos and videos. However, if you are looking for a budget phone with a better camera, Alcatel TCL A2 might not be your first choice to consider.

Alcatel TCL A2 Storage

The 32GB internal storage of this phone is truly impressive as it still can be upgraded to 512GB using Micro SD Card. We thought that 32GB is an amazing capacity because many phones settle with just 16GB at this price range.

You can keep your documents, videos, photos, and other big files without having to worry about running out of space, at least for a while. As we mentioned before, the capacity the phone allows for external storage is 512GB. It is also an impressive capacity.

With such a number, you practically won’t need to worry about running out of space for a long time. However, since an SD card is not included in the purchase, it means you’ll spend additional money for this.

Alcatel TCL A2 Performance

Alcatel TCL A2 comes with a Quad-core 1.8GHz processor that we consider as underpowered. Along with a 3GB of RAM, the phone will be adequate for light to general use. For its software, the phone uses the latest Android 10.

These basic activities include chat applications (WhatsApp, Telegram), SMS, taking phone calls, browsing the internet, and other basic phone features. But this processor will struggle when it comes to using CPU-intensive apps such as Instagram, Youtube, and other apps that display plenty of graphics . 

The processor is also not compatible with casual or competitive gaming. When it is tested to play heavy games, the phone will not let the game run at the maximum setting. However, if the game is set to lower graphic quality and framerates, Alcatel TCL A2 may push its performance, the best it can achieve. 

The highlight of this phone is its 3GB RAM size. For a budget phone, having a 3GB RAM is a pretty good deal you can get in this price range. Big RAM size means more fluidity and flexibility in multitasking. It means the phone will allow you to open many apps at once, although remember to limit the app to basic apps only.

Although the RAM size of this phone will do well under light resource apps, it definitely will be a problem to keep up with the newer, trending apps that are quite resource-hungry. To prevent lags that will make this device work slower, we suggest limiting these resource-hungry apps for a better experience. 

Even though this phone is undoubtedly a mid-range product, the operating system that runs on it is the latest version of Android, Android 10. All of the newest and up-to-date features of Android 10 can be experienced smoothly on this device. Using the dark mode feature will save the battery more as well as enhance the look of this phone as the body also comes in black.

The focus mode is also one of the key features that this OS has. With this feature turned on, users who struggle to focus on their work and easily get distracted by social media apps. This mode lets you pause selected apps for a period of time. The gesture navigation control combined with the smart reply feature enhances the usability and users experience on this particular device.

Overall, Alcatel TCL A2 may be suitable for you who likes to keep up to date with the latest software available. But don’t put a lot of hope on processing power. Decent performance is the best you can get. That’s our verdict for the Alcatel TCL A2 review on performance.

Alcatel TCL A2 Connectivity

This smartphone supports three network signals, which are 4G, and older bands like 3G and 2G. Depending on the network type you use, you’ll get a different network speed. It also will affect your battery life. Of course, 4G is the best one here.

You may want to consult this article about the best Tracfone data plan for your Alcatel TCL A2.

Just like any other modern phone, Alcatel TCL A2 is able to connect to WiFi. It also can share files with ease via Bluetooth which thankfully comes in its newest version, Bluetooth v5.0. 

This phone still uses a micro-USB port for charging the battery. It is quite disappointing to see this ancient port while many phones have already shifted to Type-C ports. There is no anything spectacular about the connectivity features on this phone. You’ll also get GPS and there’s no NFC feature, unfortunately.

Alcatel TCL A2 Battery

Alcatel TCL A2 is equipped with a 3,000 mAh battery. The battery type on this phone is a non-removable Li-Ion.

The battery lasts approximately 15 hours of 4G talk time and ten days standby. If you use the phone quite moderately, the battery will last a full day with only a single charge. Otherwise, you will need to recharge.

At 3,000mAh, we’ve seen many better phones at this price range. It is not a lot, but you can use the Smart Management feature. It’s where you can track the battery usage or set the phone to a minimum usage of battery. Although this feature does not give a significant difference to battery life, the performance can last a little longer.

Is the Alcatel TCL A2 a good phone?

When we are talking about the quality of a budget phone, of course, we have to set our expectations low. Although Alcatel TCL A2 (A507DL) obviously has quite a few mediocre features, as an inexpensive phone it does its job pretty well.

With an affordable price of $59.99, the phone still offers decent performance. With less than one hundred dollars, you’ll get an Android 10 phone with a big RAM. However, you’ll have to settle with an okay-ish processor, and a sizable display with a quality that’s mediocre, and cameras that are also inferior.

Nevertheless, those are features justifiable enough for a budget phone that comes with additional perks such as the large storage capability. From our Alcatel TCL A2 review, we can say that the smartphone is an adequate phone and definitely a budget-friendly one.

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