Alcatel One Touch Hero Hands-On: A Stylus-Enabled Massive Mother of a Phone

The Alcatel One Touch Hero was officially relaunched in the Philippines today, sporting a massive 6 inch Full HD IPS screen, 1.5GHz quad core processor, and 2GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage.

While the One Touch Hero certainly looks the part of a 2014 smartphone, the processor isn’t quite up to par. It’s a 1.5GHz MediaTek MT6589T quad core processor that feels a bit sluggish paired with the One Touch Hero’s comparatively gorgeous 6 inch Full HD IPS display. The 2GB RAM certainly helps, and so does the 16GB ROM, but overall, the performance feels lacking.

Of course, if this was just a spec war, the One Touch Hero would be decent but unremarkable. However, the Hero has a few more tricks up its sleeve than decent specs.

The One Touch Hero’s main trick is its stylus-enabled features. Of course, the Hero will let you navigate through the phone using the stylus and there’s the typical handwriting recognition feature that’s typical of any stylus-enabled phone these days. But it also has a math formula recognition feature that should appeal to many students who are still accustomed to writing their equations using a pen and paper.

In addition, the Alcatel One Touch Hero comes bundled with a magnetic smart cover. The flip cover adds very little bulk since it actually only protects the screen. It attaches magnetically via a strong magnet at the back. There’s also a magnet on the cover itself that keeps it closed and is used to wake up or lock the screen as well.

Of course, that’s par the course for any smart cover, but the One Touch Hero’s smart cover one-ups the competition by displaying notifications on the cover itself! You’ll even see an equalizer visualization when you’re playing music!

Despite its sheer size, the One Touch Hero is surprisingly lightweight and has a very small footprint in the hand. So it really doesn’t feel all that different from using a 5.5 inch phone from one of the budget brands. It’s available for an SRP of Php15,999. It’s pretty affordable considering this is an international brand we’re talking about. However, I expect the Alcatel One Touch Hero to face some stiff competition from the typically cheaper locally-branded smartphones.

Alcatel One Touch Hero Specs

• 6″ Full HD IPS display (1080 x 1920 resolution, 367ppi)
• 1.5GHz MediaTek MT6589T quad core processor
• PowerVR SGX544 GPU
• Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
• 2GB RAM
• 16GB ROM
• 13mp rear-facing autofocus camera with LED flash
• 2mp fixed focus front camera
• 3.75G/HSPA+
• WiFi b/g/n
• Bluetooth 4.0
• GPS with A-GPS
• 3,400mAh battery
• Dimensions: 158.5 x 80.6 x 8.5mm
• Price: Php15,999