Alcatel Shine Lite, we've tested it

The Alcatel Shine Lite is a smartphone with a 5-inch screen, sold in a DualSIM or single-SIM version , which has 2 GB of RAM and comes standard with Android 6 Marshmallow . The design is based on a striking mix of metal and glass, available in three different colors.

It is a fairly intuitive phone, easy to use and designed for those who do not want to waste a lot of time learning advanced functions. It can be purchased for 200 euros .

Below we thoroughly analyze the characteristics of this new smartphone from the Alcatel brand .

Design, aesthetics and screen of the Alcatel Shine Lite

The smartphone has a capacitive IPS LCD touch screen of 5 inches with HD resolution (1280 x 720 pixels) and incorporates just below a small navigation bar where we find the three basic buttons Android also capacitive. The colors that appear on the screen are brilliant despite the resolution being Full HD , and one of the advantages of this reduction in resolution is the possibility of extending the life of the battery more, since the screen is one of the elements of the phone that consumes the most resources and that most affects autonomy. The screen density is 294 pixels per inch .

The phone measures 141.5mm long x 71.2mm wide x 7.5mm thick and weighs 156 grams . The aesthetics and design are especially eye-catching, as the mix of metal and glass is combined with the rounded edges for a rather sleek and modern look . Perhaps the question of weight could have been improved to make the terminal a little lighter.

On the front we find, as we have mentioned, the screen, the lower bar with the capacitive buttons, and an upper band occupied by the phone's speaker, the front camera and a small notification light (on the left).

The back of the phone has an almost completely finished surface, with the logo of the brand and model, and a fingerprint reader . The main camera, with its dual dual-tone flash, is located in the upper left corner.

The tray for the SIM cards and the microSD memory card is on the left side, while on the right side we find the on / off button and the volume control buttons.

On the upper edge of the Alcatel Shine Lite we find the miniJack port (3.5 mm) for headphones; and on the bottom edge, the microUSB port and speakers .

Regarding the colors, the Alcatel Shine Lite can be purchased in three different versions: gold, white or black. The rounded edges and metallic styling give it a very elegant aesthetic.

Main features

The Alcatel Shine Lite can be obtained in two different versions ( DualSIM or with a single SIM). The external memory microSD card would occupy the slot for the second SIM, so we would have to choose between using two SIM cards or one SIM and the microSD card .

The phone is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6737 processor and a Mali-T720MP2 graphics card . The smartphone has 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage , which can be a bit short if we want to install many applications. It is best to use the external microSD memory card.

The factory-installed operating system is Android 6.0 Marshmallow with a very light Alcatel customization layer , which makes little changes and keeps the phone running smoothly.

However, it should be mentioned that for applications that require the use of a lot of graphic components, the phone may take a while to load, but in return it behaves very well maintaining the same levels of fluency even if there are many applications open at the same time.

Intuitive camera with few surprises

The Alcatel Shine Lite has a primary camera of 13 megapixels, LED flash and autofocus , and (front) 5 megapixel secondary camera . The main one can record video in Full HD quality (1080p) and has EIS image stabilization , while the video from the secondary camera reaches a maximum HD resolution (1280 x 720 pixels) , also with the possibility of EIS image stabilization .

The application to manage the cameras brings few surprises: the main advantage is that it allows a very intuitive operation and facilitates the capture of photos on a daily basis. Among the details that achieve this intuitive use is, for example, the possibility of using the zoom with a single finger (you only have to press the screen twice and slide your finger up), although there are also other valuable elements such as the shot by gestures, automatic scene detection or the guide with tips for taking better selfies (selfies).

Basic and image quality enhancement functions

The Alcatel Shine Lite camera application has many basic functions for handling and improving the quality of images, such as:

Flash mode selection : off, on, or automatic.
HDR function , to compensate for excessive contrasts between very bright and very dark areas in the image. It can be activated or deactivated.
Night mode , specially designed for low light and long exposure shots. It is recommended to use it only if we can support the phone on a stable surface or on a tripod.

Timer, shutter sound, gesture shot, shooting without delay, automatic scene detection, etc .
Image size selection : 1 megapixel, 3 megapixels, 10 megapixels, or 13 megapixels for the main camera, and 1 megapixel, 3 megapixels, or 5 megapixels for the secondary camera.
Beauty mode (when the secondary camera is activated), to correct spots and other details of the skin that we do not want to appear in the image.

Camera modes

Beyond the functions and options that we have just mentioned, the Alcatel Shine Lite camera groups its modes into three large sections ( Normal Mode, Panoramic Mode and Photo Splitter Mode ), and there are very few possibilities to configure advanced settings or a mode more professional for capturing photos in more specific conditions.

The Normal Mode can be used with both the main chamber and the front chamber, and is configured for automatic detection of most important settings. Yes, we can select, as we have commented, among the available flash options (automatic, on or off), as well as activate or deactivate the HDR function or night mode . In the case of the front camera, we can also turn on or off the beauty function that corrects spots and other details so that faces appear brighter in selfies. HDR function It is highly recommended when there are large differences in lighting between some areas of the image and others, since this option compensates for the imbalances to achieve a much more balanced image.

The Panorama Mode is also available for both cameras, so it will be possible to capture a landscape of great amplitude or take a panoramic selfie. One of the advantages of this mode in the Alcatel Shine Lite is that we can choose whether we want to take a panoramic capture horizontally or vertically (many smartphones only offer the option of taking horizontal panoramic photographs).

Finally, Photo Splitter Mode is the best for sharing funny photos as a mosaic or collage on social media. It works in a similar way to the Layout application on Instagram and allows you to instantly compose frames with several photographs, divided with horizontal or vertical lines.

Editing photos in Alcatel Shine Lite

The camera application of the smartphone seamlessly integrates with the application of Gallery and also with photos of Google , which has its own editor where we can crop or rotate images, apply filters and save multiple versions of the same picture (one with filters and another without filters, for example).

Video recording

The main camera of the Alcatel Shine Lite can record video in Full HD quality (1080p) and has the option to activate or deactivate the EIS video stabilization. For its part, the front camera can record in quality up to HD (720p) and also has EIS image stabilization.

The camera gives good quality recording results, especially in well-lit environments. At night or in dark rooms it is more difficult to obtain a good level of detail, although it must also be taken into account that the video is being recorded at a higher quality (Full HD) than the resolution of the screen (HD). It is better, therefore, to check the results by playing the video on another computer, and in any case it is advisable to record in well-lit environments.

Serial applications

The Alcatel Shine Lite smartphone comes with quite a few applications as standard, although many of them can be uninstalled if we are not interested. Below we mention everything that the phone brings in its factory version, grouping the apps by categories.

In the first place we have, of course, the applications of the Google suite that we find on Android smartphones : Calendar , Chrome browser , Google search engine and voice search tool , Google Drive , YouTube , Photos , Gmail , Hangouts , Google Maps , the Google Play app store , Play Music , Play Movies, etc.

The phone also has a number of basic tools such as Calculator , Download Manager , File Manager , the app time with the weather forecast a music player , etc.

In addition, Alcatel adds some of its own applications to the list:

A proprietary application store where you can buy or download the applications and games selected by Alcatel . It works in a similar way to Google Play to install content on the smartphone, but Alcatel periodically updates the list of recommended applications to install, in a list that includes tools of all kinds (browsers, antivirus, games, etc.).
User service , an application where you can manage all the doubts about the use of the device: instructions for use, frequently asked questions, user manual, contact sections and comments for the manufacturer, etc. In this section we will also be able to perform a hardware test and a troubleshooting process to detect and deal with possible device failures and check that the performance is correct and that everything works normally.
Boost , Alcatel's phone optimizer : this application includes numerous tools to keep your phone cleaner and emptier and to ensure a much smoother operation. On the menu we find the productive cleaning (to remove junk files, such as cache and residual files applications), an accelerator to release RAM, a manager function Power saving a Bootloader for certain disable applications and improve performance , and an application manager that allows you to easily uninstall those that we are not going to use.
Games Center (OneTouch Games ): It is another Alcatel application store , but dedicated exclusively to games.
Onetouch Cloud is a cloud file management and storage tool, which can be used with the same Alcatel user account to store backups and save storage space on the smartphone.
Xender File Transfer : is an application that allows you to easily transfer content between Android , iOS , PC , Mac and Windows Phone devices . It facilitates the process of sharing content and saving backup copies regardless of the operating system that is being used.

Alcatel has also included other applications in the factory version of the phone, which can be very useful but that we can uninstall if we don't need to: the office automation app WPS Office , the music streaming service Deezer , Uber , the social networks Instagram and Facebook and the Shazam tool to identify songs.

Some cool features

As we have already mentioned, the Alcatel Shine Lite comes standard with some functions and preconfigured options to achieve intuitive handling. For example, it is worth highlighting the possibility of zooming in the camera application with a single finger (you only need to press the screen and slide your finger up).

Furthermore, the phone has a Turbo Download function , which simultaneously uses mobile data and the WiFi network to speed up content downloads. This can be very useful when we are in a hurry but want to have a large file, or if we are connected to a slow WiFi network and we want to complement the speed with the 3G or 4G network.

It is important to mention that Turbo Download uses both connections simultaneously, so activating this option will download everything while also consuming mobile data (including application updates, even if we have selected the option to download only via WiFi in the phone's settings menu ).

Battery

The smartphone has an integrated, non-removable 2460 mAh battery , which offers autonomy of more than ten days in standby and more or less a day with moderate use of the phone. It should be mentioned that the charge is done through the microUSB type charger but that the terminal does not have a fast charging system , so it can take a long time to complete the charge if we are using it while it is connected to the power supply. A full charge takes about two and a half hours if we are not using the phone during the process .

For the rest, as we have mentioned, the Alcatel Shine Lite offers very good autonomy data, partly thanks to the device's optimizer (the Boost application ), but above all thanks to the screen resolution, which is HD instead of Full. HD and therefore consumes less power.

Conclusions: advantages, disadvantages and details about the price

The Alcatel Shine Lite is one of the best smartphones to give away in the 200 euro range, as it is designed to offer intuitive and easy handling for those who do not want to spend a lot of time configuring advanced options or learning difficult functions in the camera, for example. We have already seen that the camera application has several quite interesting functions, designed to obtain the best possible images for social networks: panoramic selfies in portrait and landscape, photo splitter mode to create frames and compositions with several images, etc.

Now: as we have already mentioned, users looking for more advanced options or more elements and functions that they can customize will find a phone perhaps too limited precisely because it has been designed to be easy, complete and intuitive without much possibility of additions. In the case of wanting to install many applications, in addition, it will be necessary to resort to the storage capacity of the external memory microSD card, since the 16 GB of internal storage falls short (especially if we take into account that Google applications and Alcatel's other own apps already occupy an important part of those 16 GB).

The screen resolution, which is HD instead of Full HD , can be surprising at a time when the market has established high definition as the standard while more and more terminals with 2K resolution appear. However, in the case of this phone, we must take into account the advantage that the HD resolution has for the battery: in terms of autonomy, it translates into more hours of use.

The drawback of the battery, however, is in the absence of the fast charging function: we are facing a battery with 2640 mAh capacity, which requires 2 and a half hours (or even longer if we are using the phone while ) to complete the full charge cycle.

Considering these details, we could say that the Alcatel Shine Lite is a very good purchase option for 200 euros for users who want a device that is easy to handle and without too many complications. For more advanced users or those who want to take better advantage of the camera and other features, it would be more interesting to opt for a higher-end terminal of the brand, such as the Alcatel Idol 4s .