Spec questions

[HoosierDaddy]

Will this phone support Hey Cortana?

Will it have double tap to wake?

Glance (or is that a requirement now for W10?)?

Customer removable battery?

Are SD cards really limited to 32 GB which is half the size of the internal storage? Makes no sense. Plus I don't have any SD cards smaller than 64GB!

Please no SIM or SD caddies!

I have these questions in to Alcatel as well as asking about potential future sellers and if the factory warranty is international but I doubt they will answer before I can confirm the tech questions in person at a T-Mobile store.

 

[Bob Hanson]

Isn't Glance a Lumia only feature?

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Isn't Glance a Lumia only feature?

I don't care if they call it Glance. I'm asking if this phone does the equivalent.

And to add to the questions: WC says the phone has a camera button. Where is it? The pictures on the T-Mobile site don't show a camera button on the side of the phone with the power and volume buttons. Of course they may have just copy pasted a WM screen onto the Android version for the web page.

Update: what I thought was the power button is the camera button. The power button on this phone is on the other side of the phone right above the SIM/Memory card slot . Yes that means there is a single tray for both and it is a single SIM phone.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Okay. I finally got to a helpful T-Mobile chat person.

She gave me links to some pages that confirm the phone does have Hey Cortana! No Hey Cortana would likely have been a deal killer.

I haven't read all the links but she also said the phone does not have double tap to wake. So if I buy one I will have to unlearn that. To be honest, it was a mixed blessing because the finger prints Hey Cortana prevented were offset by the finger prints double tap added. How's that for a glass half full?

She also said the battery is not removable.

I didn't ask about Glance since it might just be a Nokia name for the feature and its hard enough to get reliable info from a random CS agent when everyone is on the same page.

Will post links.

 

[Bob Hanson]

Alcatel press release: Alcatel | Press - Alcatel IDOL 4S Windows 10 TMO

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Here are the T-Mobile links I got from a CS rep. I didn't find them searching on my own.

Click on the links on the left side to get more detailed info.

https://support.t-mobile.com/community/phones-tablets-devices/windows/alcatel-idol-4s/overview

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Alcatel press release: Alcatel | Press - Alcatel IDOL 4S Windows 10 TMO

Awesome. It says 128GB SD cards are supported. Glad the 32GB limit that WC reported was wrong.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Here is a link to the T-Mobile owner manual:

https://support.t-mobile.com/api/core/v3/attachments/664639/data

 

[Bob Hanson]

No mention of NFC anywhere. Android version has it. At some point I expect Microsoft Wallet to be useful again and it would be nice to have a phone that supports it.

 

[editguy]

Nano sim?

 

[IM4CHRST]

Awesome. It says 128GB SD cards are supported. Glad the 32GB limit that WC reported was wrong.

that wasn't a quote from WC, that is directly what the T-Mo website says. I brought that up in the comments section of that article as soon as I went to look at the phone on T-Mo's page. Supposedly it supports sdhc so at least 64GB possibly 128. I hope for 128 but a 64 microsd would be just fine as I was barely able to fill up half of my 128GB iPhone 6 with music games and videos/movies. Besides, if you have onedrive you can just use that for pics and vids in order to save space.

 

[IM4CHRST]

My biggest question is does the camera have OIS or not. That is something I have been having trouble finding an answer to.

 

[abhishek singh21]

Will this phone support Hey Cortana?

it has a SD 820 soc so yes it should

Customer removable battery?

Android counterpart has a non-removable one so we will see the same on windows as well

 

[Kacchan]

Does it support iris scanner

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Does it support iris scanner

No.

I won;'t miss that at all. I pre-ordered two 950XLs and neither would ever recognize me with my glasses and less than 25 percent of the time without them. I wasn't the only one. It may be okay for many but a very bad thing if its the only Hello input.

 

[DLong4]

No mention of NFC anywhere. Android version has it. At some point I expect Microsoft Wallet to be useful again and it would be nice to have a phone that supports it.

If Alcatel_Idol_4s = NFC Then
__Buy
Else
__Wait
End If

 

[Andrew Fratkin]

No mention of NFC anywhere. Android version has it. At some point I expect Microsoft Wallet to be useful again and it would be nice to have a phone that supports it.

I really like this phone but this would be a deal breaker for me.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Nano sim?

Yes, according to the owners manual.

Unfortunately, since the back doesn't open, the SIM and SD card use a tray. And to make matters worse, its a single try for both. I might not ever change SIMs but SD cards do wear out or get outgrown or its massively quicker to transfer files by removing the SD card. I initially planned to transfer all my music to my 1520 by connecting it via USB to my PC. It would have taken 12 hours if I let it. Removing the SD card and plugging it into the PC took just minutes to transfer the songs.

With a tray, its possible for a SIM and I assume an SD card to shift slightly and hang up which can kill the phone because even if a tech can open it up and dislodged the SIM or SD card, pins may have been bent or broken that can't be replaced without the main board in some phones or with risky soldering.

I don't like having to use a tray and I like it even less when there are TWO things in the tray.

So I hope they have come up with a type of tray and internals that make it impossible for a SIM to shift in.

 

[RumoredNow]

The extra button (round on mid right side of frame) is called the Boom Key. On Android it is programmable for various functions. It can do any one preset function or open a designated App... Hopefully it has similar functions in W10M.




Android version does have DTtW and DTtS along with other Gestures. Don't know if they will make it to W10M, but they should.




Android version has Reversible UI which means the phone will orient the screen as upright whether the physical unit is right side up or upside down. Reversible UI includes making/receiving phone calls in either orientation. Don't know if it will make it to W10M, but it should.




The tray is Adaptable on the Android version. Should be the same on W10M and that means Dual SIM (both nano) or SIM in slot one and SD in slot two.




Android version has SDXC with UHS-I support. I see no reason that would be changed for W10M.





Sources:
http://media.alcatelonetouch.us/pub/media/wysiwyg/product-support/pdf/Manual.Idol4s.pdf
Alcatel | ALCATEL IDOL 4S + One(1) Free Case

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Wait. It mentions two SIMs. There is only one tray for SIM and SD so does the Android version have some extended tray that holds multiple SIMs and an SD card? And how far do you have to be from a wall to remove it. :grin: