Alcatel 3L (2020) Review - Smartphone with Long Runtime and 48-MP Camera
Comparison devices
Bewertung | Rating Version | Datum | Modell | Gewicht | Laufwerk | Groesse | Aufloesung | Preis ab |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 76.3 % v7 (old) | v7 (old) | 07 / 2020 | Alcatel 3L 2020 Helio P22 MT6762, PowerVR GE8320 | 165 g | 64 GB eMMC Flash | 6.22" | 1520x720 | |
| 74.6 % v7 (old) | v7 (old) | 06 / 2020 | Alcatel 1S (2020) Helio P22 MT6762, PowerVR GE8320 | 165 g | 32 GB eMMC Flash | 6.22" | 1520x720 | |
| 74.7 % v7 (old) | v7 (old) | 06 / 2020 | Wiko View 4 Lite Helio A25, PowerVR GE8320 | 174 g | 32 GB eMMC Flash | 6.52" | 1600x720 | |
| 79.3 % v7 (old) | v7 (old) | 01 / 2020 | Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T SD 665, Adreno 610 | 200 g | 64 GB eMMC Flash | 6.30" | 2340x1080 |
Case, equipment and operation
The Alcatel 3L (2020) has a seamless plastic back, which lies comfortably in the hand due to its gapless design and rounded edges. The workmanship is good and the smartphone leaves a solid impression. The camera boss is a bit more concise than on the 1S and protrudes 1.3 millimeters out of the case.
The smartphone is charged and data can be exchanged via the micro-USB port. OTG is supported so that storage media and other peripherals can also be connected to the Alcatel 3L. According to the manufacturer, the microSD slot supports media up to 128 GB, but larger memory cards should also be compatible. Another positive aspect is that the exFAT file system is supported. The card slide can either hold a nano-SIM and a microSD or another SIM instead of the memory card.
Android 10 is used as the operating system, which is equipped with the security patches as of March 5, 2020 at the time of testing. We don't expect an update to Android 11 for the 3L, and security updates will probably also be distributed in larger intervals.
With LTE Cat. 4, 2.4 GHz WLAN and without NFC, the communication characteristics are limited to the bare essentials. In combination with our reference router Netgear Nighthawk AX 12, the Alcatel smartphone shows very stable transmission rates and the range is also good.
The Alcatel 3L's (2020) voice quality is decent when the smartphone is held to the ear. However, the user is accompanied by a slight noise and background noise is only moderately filtered out. In loudspeaker mode, the microphone has a long range without reverberating too much, but the noise is amplified again. The phone supports both VoLTE and WLAN calling.
The touchscreen responds very reliably to inputs, at best the somewhat slower system speed occasionally causes short waiting times. The fingerprint scanner on the back shows a good recognition rate in the test, but isn't one of the fastest in its class. A 2D face recognition is also available.
| Networking | |
| iperf3 transmit AX12 | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T | |
| Alcatel 3L 2020 | |
| Alcatel 1S (2020) | |
| Wiko View 4 Lite | |
| iperf3 receive AX12 | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T | |
| Alcatel 3L 2020 | |
| Alcatel 1S (2020) | |
| Wiko View 4 Lite | |
Cameras - Alcatel 3L with 48 MP camera
The front camera provides useful results, but quickly struggles with backlighting and then tends to burn out image areas. The subject is also sharpened quite strongly in the standard settings.
As the Alcatel 3L's (2020) highlight, TCL provides a Samsung GM1 sensor with 48 MP. Unfortunately, the manufacturer doesn't succeed in exhausting the sensor's possibilities. Close-ups seem a bit too cool and the panorama motif lacks clarity. Hopefully, the manufacturer will make improvements here via an update.
Videos can at best be recorded in Full HD with 30 FPS.
Image Comparison
Choose a scene and navigate within the first image. One click changes the position on touchscreens. One click on the zoomed-in image opens the original in a new window. The first image shows the scaled photograph of the test device.
NahaufnahmePanoramaLow-LightZoomUltraweitwinkel
Display - No ambient light sensor in Alcatel mobile phone
The display of the Alcatel 3L (2020) shows similar readings as the smaller sister model 1S. We measured an even slightly better black level in a full-screen display, which is why the contrast is stronger. However, the black level (0.39 cd/m²) increases with an even distribution of bright and dark areas, which also applies to the brightness in the center of the image (470 cd/m²), but still gives the 3L a weaker contrast ratio (1.205:1).
With 1,520 x 720 pixels, the IPS panel delivers a resolution typical of its class, but pixel structures can be visible on closer inspection. The colour display, which we analysed with CalMAN, is too cool and shows visible deviations for the trained eye with some blue tones. However, these are not serious or disturbing in everyday life.
An ambient light sensor should be obligatory by now, TCL saves in the wrong place.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 91 %
Center on Battery: 463 cd/m²
Contrast: 1852:1 (Black: 0.25 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 6 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.91
ΔE Greyscale 6.5 | 0.5-98 Ø5.2
95.7% sRGB (Calman 2D)
Gamma: 2.3
| Alcatel 3L 2020 IPS, 1520x720, 6.2" | Alcatel 1S (2020) IPS, 1520x720, 6.2" | Wiko View 4 Lite IPS, 1600x720, 6.5" | Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T IPS, 2340x1080, 6.3" | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Response Times | 6% | -35% | -28% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 44.8 ? | 48 ? -7% | 66 ? -47% | 56 ? -25% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 28 ? | 22.8 ? 19% | 34.4 ? -23% | 36.8 ? -31% |
| PWM Frequency | ||||
| Screen | -11% | 15% | 12% | |
| Brightness middle | 463 | 470 2% | 501 8% | 628 36% |
| Brightness | 449 | 456 2% | 470 5% | 631 41% |
| Brightness Distribution | 91 | 87 -4% | 88 -3% | 93 2% |
| Black Level * | 0.25 | 0.33 -32% | 0.25 -0% | 0.54 -116% |
| Contrast | 1852 | 1424 -23% | 2004 8% | 1163 -37% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 6 | 6.7 -12% | 4.5 25% | 2 67% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 11.5 | 12.1 -5% | 9.8 15% | 5.1 56% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 6.5 | 7.6 -17% | 2.7 58% | 3.7 43% |
| Gamma | 2.3 96% | 2.36 93% | 2.2 100% | 2.17 101% |
| CCT | 8233 79% | 8732 74% | 6962 93% | 6230 104% |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | -3% /
-8% | -10% /
5% | -8% /
4% |
* ... smaller is better
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 28 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 11.6 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 16.4 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows relatively slow response rates in our tests and may be too slow for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 68 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (20.9 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 44.8 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 20.4 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 24.4 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 74 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (32.8 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM not detected |  | ||
In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 8705 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 343500) Hz was measured. | |||
Performance, emissions and battery life
A MediaTek Helio P22 is used in the Alcatel 3L (2020), which offers a slightly higher performance for this chipset, but is rather one of the slower SoCs. Nevertheless TCL achieves a decent system performance. The memory equipment is on a good level, but shows quite slow read and write accesses with small data sets.
The Alcatel smartphone's surface temperatures are on a harmless level and the device doesn't even get hand-warm under constant load.
The loudspeaker on the bottom edge delivers a fairly decent sound output at medium volume, but distorts at maximum volume. The audio jack shows a mostly linear reproduction, only in the low bass range it drops a bit, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR: 42.36 dBFS) is still on a satisfactory level, but a slight noise is noticeable in quiet passages.
Even for a 4.000 mAh battery, the Alcatel 3L (2020) has an excellent runtime and leaves the comparison field clearly behind. We also positively noticed the low discharge in standby.
| PCMark for Android - Work 2.0 performance score (sort by value) | |
| Alcatel 3L 2020 | |
| Alcatel 1S (2020) | |
| Wiko View 4 Lite | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T | |
| Average Mediatek Helio P22 MT6762 (3805 - 5380, n=21) | |
| GFXBench | |
| on screen Aztec Ruins Normal Tier Onscreen (sort by value) | |
| Alcatel 3L 2020 | |
| Alcatel 1S (2020) | |
| Wiko View 4 Lite | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T | |
| Average Mediatek Helio P22 MT6762 (6.4 - 7.6, n=21) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (3.6 - 247, n=207, last 2 years) | |
| 1920x1080 Aztec Ruins Normal Tier Offscreen (sort by value) | |
| Alcatel 3L 2020 | |
| Alcatel 1S (2020) | |
| Wiko View 4 Lite | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T | |
| Average Mediatek Helio P22 MT6762 (3.5 - 4.7, n=21) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (2.3 - 321, n=207, last 2 years) | |
| on screen Aztec Ruins High Tier Onscreen (sort by value) | |
| Alcatel 3L 2020 | |
| Alcatel 1S (2020) | |
| Wiko View 4 Lite | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T | |
| Average Mediatek Helio P22 MT6762 (4.1 - 4.8, n=21) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (0.85 - 144, n=207, last 2 years) | |
| 2560x1440 Aztec Ruins High Tier Offscreen (sort by value) | |
| Alcatel 3L 2020 | |
| Alcatel 1S (2020) | |
| Wiko View 4 Lite | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T | |
| Average Mediatek Helio P22 MT6762 (1.3 - 1.6, n=21) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (0.85 - 115, n=207, last 2 years) | |
| Alcatel 3L 2020 | Alcatel 1S (2020) | Wiko View 4 Lite | Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T | Average 64 GB eMMC Flash | Average of class Smartphone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AndroBench 3-5 | 23% | 29% | 211% | 73% | 1509% | |
| Sequential Read 256KB | 287.7 | 273.3 -5% | 219 -24% | 315.8 10% | 274 ? -5% | 1887 ? 556% |
| Sequential Write 256KB | 173.4 | 146 -16% | 121.8 -30% | 173.9 0% | 176.2 ? 2% | 1474 ? 750% |
| Random Read 4KB | 20.91 | 26.57 27% | 46.19 121% | 90.4 332% | 59.4 ? 184% | 279 ? 1234% |
| Random Write 4KB | 8.68 | 20.27 134% | 17.92 106% | 91.2 951% | 32 ? 269% | 312 ? 3494% |
| Sequential Read 256KB SDCard | 82.8 ? | 82 ? -1% | 81.8 ? -1% | 71.6 ? -14% | 77.4 ? -7% | |
| Sequential Write 256KB SDCard | 62 ? | 62.4 ? 1% | 62.6 ? 1% | 52.8 ? -15% | 58.3 ? -6% |
Temperature
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 35.6 °C / 96 F, compared to the average of 35.1 °C / 95 F, ranging from 21.9 to 63.7 °C for the class Smartphone.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 35.5 °C / 96 F, compared to the average of 33.9 °C / 93 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 24.8 °C / 77 F, compared to the device average of 32.8 °C / 91 F.
Speakers
Alcatel 3L 2020 audio analysis
(±) | speaker loudness is average but good (80.9 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 38.9% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (9.9% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | reduced mids - on average 8% lower than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (8.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 3.2% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (5% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (28.9% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 73% of all tested devices in this class were better, 4% similar, 23% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 37%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 85% of all tested devices were better, 3% similar, 12% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Wiko View 4 Lite audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (83.1 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 28.2% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (13.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | higher mids - on average 8.7% higher than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (7.9% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(±) | higher highs - on average 5.4% higher than median
(±) | linearity of highs is average (7.9% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (26.6% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 65% of all tested devices in this class were better, 6% similar, 29% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 37%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 80% of all tested devices were better, 4% similar, 17% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Battery life
| Alcatel 3L 2020 4000 mAh | Wiko View 4 Lite 4000 mAh | Alcatel 1S (2020) 4000 mAh | Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T 4000 mAh | Average of class Smartphone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battery Runtime | |||||
| WiFi Websurfing | 1456 | 1133 -22% | 1226 -16% | 764 -48% | 988 ? -32% |
Pros
Cons
Verdict - The camera could make the difference
With the Alcatel 3L (2020), TCL succeeds in creating an appealing entry-level smartphone on paper, which is definitely worth the extra price, especially in direct comparison to the 1S. The display knows to please in the test, but has to do without an ambient light sensor. In our eyes, this should not be missing. The memory equipment is good and there is also microSD support.
The Alcatel 3L (2020) is a good entry-level smartphone, but will have a hard time against Redmi's competition.
A real highlight could have been the 48 MP triple camera, but unfortunately the manufacturer fails to exploit the sensor's capabilities and creates bad conditions for this to happen at all with the Helio P22, as its ISP is not designed for this sensor at all. In contrast, the Alcatel 3L is excellent in terms of battery life.
Alcatel 3L 2020
- 07/02/2020 v7 (old)
Daniel Schmidt
Price comparison
