ALCATEL’s IDOL 4 and 4S feature a Boom Key and a box that doubles as a VR headset

ALCATEL is kicking off the 2016 Mobile World Congress early, by unveiling it’s flagship devices. Following up last years IDOL 3, is the new IDOL 4 series. Introducing the ALCATEL IDOL 4 and IDOL 4S, the latest devices from the company which continue with the tiered approach.

The IDOL 4 and IDOL 4S represent the new ALCATEL, which has also dropped the Onetouch part of its name. The IDOL 4 series build on the IDOL 3, for starters you have an improved design. A popular feature with the IDOL 3 among users was the reversible display and that is back in store on the IDOL 4 and IDOL 4S.  But, the coolest or most unique feature of the IDOL 4 and IDOL 4S, would have to be the packaging.

Yes, the packaging in that the box transforms into a pair of virtual reality goggles, when your device is inserted you move in to a 360-degree world to explore. This is a big move and means that boxes will no longer be collecting dust on a shelf, they will actually be used for something. With the popularity of virtual reality growing by the day, you can bet that many unique applications will be incoming for this technology in 2016.

Both the IDOL 4 and 4S will come in several colors, including Gold, Dark Gray, Rose Gold and Metal Silver. Both the back and the front will feature glass along with a metal frame, they are also quite thin with the IDOL 4 coming in at 7.1 millimeters and the IDOL 4s at 6.99 millimeters.

Along with a unique package, the other unique feature would be the Boom Key, which seems like a programmable key that can add shortcuts into the software. ALCATEL is saying that it will deliver an augmented experience and it offers several functions. For instance the Boom Key will let you take photos in standby mode and burst shots while in this mode as well. It will also auto generate slide shows for you and add effects to your videos. It seems that they have partnered with application developers, as while in the game Asphalt, pressing the Boom Key will boost the cars speed. The Boom Key on the ALCATEL IDOL 4 and IDOL 4S appears to be like 3D touch on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, in that it brings some hardware enchantments, but a lot of it relies on the software experience.

The IDOL 4 features a 5.2-inch Full HD 1080 X 1920 IPS display with 16M colors and a 10-point capacitive multi touch. It is running Android 6.0 Marshmallow with an ALCATEL user interface and is powered by a Octa Core 1.7 GHz & 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor with 3GB of RAM. This should provide a fast software experience on the IDOL 4. On the back of the device you will find a 13 megapixel lens camera with flash, auto HDR, and more. On the front you will get an 8 megapixel camera with a front flash and a wide-angle lens. Last but not least, the IDOL 4 has a 2610mAh battery with fast charging technology.

ALCATEL’s IDOL 4S has a 5.5-inch QHD AMOLED display with a resolution 1440 x 2560 and this does makes it a 2K display. The IDOL 4S will also come with Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box with an ALCATEL user interface, but it will have 32GB of storage on-board. This is larger than the 16GB of on-board storage in the IDOL 4, but only 25GB will be made available to the end-user. It is powered by a Octa Core 1.8GHz & 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor with 3GB of RAM. You will find a 16 megapixel camera on the back and an 8 megapixel camera on the front. The IDOL 4S has a larger 3000mAh battery with fast charging technology as well.

Both of these devices will feature two 3.6 watt speakers, Hi-Fi surround-sound for the headset, and optimization of audio presets. ALCATEL has partnered with JBL and Waves for the audio experience on the IDOL 4 and IDOL 4S, and the results look pretty good on paper. In the box you will not be getting a random pair of headphones, but instead you get the J22 JBL headphones.

The IDOL 4 and IDOL 4S are shaping up to be solid flagships devices for the year from ALCATEL. The company has not yet announced pricing or availability, but it should be revealed in the coming weeks.

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