Some lowdown on the Alcatel Idol Pro 4

Published by at

With Windows 10 Anniversary Update now within six weeks or so - including for mobile (well, that's the theory), we're expecting another manufacturer flagship to arrive, to join the HP Elite X3 and Acer Liquid Jade Primo, both featured here. It's the Alcatel Idol Pro 4, a development of the Android-powered Idol 4S, and so I thought I'd scavenge and summarise some details below. In theory, this could be right up there with the Lumia 950 XL and HP Elite X3, anyway. Not that I have any timescales or prices to pass on, since this device isn't even official yet, so take everything with a pinch of salt!

Idol Pro 4?Here are the basic specifications of a possible Alcatel Idol Pro 4, as far as I can guess, at any rate:

  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset
  • 4GB RAM
  • 5.5" 1080p AMOLED display
  • 64GB internal storage
  • Twin front-facing 3.6W JBL-branded speakers
  • 22MP f/2.0 main camera
  • single LED flash
  • 4K video capture
  • 8MP front camera
  • Fingerprint reader
  • Continuum support (wireless)
  • microUSB connectivity
  • Wi-Fi up to 'ac' connectivity
  • Sealed 3000mAh battery
  • Aluminium sides and back

Alcatel's previous Windows 10 Mobile handset was the well received FierceXL, detailed here in my round-up of Windows 10 Mobile partners and their devices.

Much of the above hardware is based on the Android-powered Idol 4S and this is something of a theme for manufacturers with limited design budgets. Happily, the chipsets and components in modern phones are now so common that it's not a Herculean task to repurpose hardware for a completely different OS. This is made even easier by virtue of both Android and Windows 10 Mobile fully supporting 'virtual', i.e. on-screen controls, making even cosmetic changes to frontispieces unnecessary.

Yes, the (leaked) image to the right was probably photoshopped by someone at Alcatel, long before physical hardware was ready with Windows 10 Mobile on-board, but this is also accurate to what you'd see if you swiped the controls away.

As to when this will be announced officially, I'm guessing fairly soon. It was recently approved by the Wi-fi Alliance, albeit in explicit T-Mobile guise for the USA. I'm sure it'll be available elsewhere via online channels.