Android Gamer: Alcatel Idol 4S and Idol 4 now official with reversible design and Boom Key

After surprising lots of folks with its affordable Idol 3 phones last year, Alcatel is kicking off 2016 with two new models in its Idol lineup.

The Alcatel Idol 4S and Idol 4 were made officially official at MWC in Barcelona today. While the two phones have different spec sheets, they do share some features. For example, both include Alcatel’s Boom Key, which beefs up the experience of using your phone in a few different ways. You can press and hold the Boom Key when the Idol 4 is in standby to quickly activate the camera’s burst mode and capture some photos, press it while recording video to broadcast it out, or press it on the home screen to add a parallax effect and live weather display to the launcher.

The two new Idol 4 phones also include reversible speakers like the ones found on the Idol 3 devices. Combined with software that can adjust itself to the way that you’re holding the phone, this means that you can use the phone upside-down just like you would if you were holding it right side up. Alcatel has also made sure that the sound comes out of the dual speakers correctly no matter which way you’re holding the Idol 4.

Finally, the two Idol 4 phones share similar designs that include fronts and backs made of glass, with a metal frame sandwiched in-between them. The metal frames will be available in four colors: Gold, Rose Gold, Dark Gray, and Metal Silver.

So that’s how the Idol 4S and Idol 4 are similar. Here’s how they differ:

Alcatel Idol 4S specs

5.5-inch 2560×1440 AMOLED display
Octa-core Snapdragon 652 processor
16-megapixel rear camera with flash
8-megapixel wide-angle front camera with flash
32GB of storage (25GB available to the user)
microSD slot with support for cards up to 512GB
3GB of RAM
3000mAh battery
4G LTE bands 1, 3, 7, 8, 20, 28A
Android 6.0
153.9 x 75.4 x 6.99mm
Quick Charge, microUSB, NFC, FM radio, dual stereo speakers
Packaging doubles as a pair of virtual reality goggles, content can be downloaded from OneTouch VR Store built-in app

Alcatel Idol 4 specs

5.2-inch 1920×1080 IPS display
Octa-core Snapdragon 617 processor
13-megapixel rear camera with flash
8-megapixel wide-angle front-facing camera with flash
16GB of storage (10GB available to the end user)
microSD slot, supports cards up to 512GB
3GB of RAM
2610mAh battery
LTE bands 1, 3, 7, 8 , 20, 28A, 38, 40
Android 6.0
147 x 72.5 x 7.1mm
Quick Charge, microUSB, NFC, FM radio, dual stereo speakers

Alcatel says that the new Idol 4 phones will debut this summer, but no pricing details have been given. Alcatel priced the Idol 3 phones pretty competitively, though, so hopefully we’ll see some aggressive pricing on the Idol 4 series as well. If they are, Alcatel’s new Idol 4 phones could be contenders in the ever-growing “affordable flagship” category of smartphones.

One other tidbit of news announced today is that Alcatel is dropping the “OneTouch” from its name. The company explains that with its business growing, it feels like the time is right to tweak its branding. Alcatel says that, going forward, it plans to “increase its engagement with millennial customers” and simplify its name, message, and device lineup.