Overview of Alcatel OT-255 GSM phone

We have already got used to the fact that the presence of a qwerty-keyboard is rather the destiny of smartphones, well, or functional phones, yes, there are exceptions, but very rarely. TCL Mobile, which owns the Alcatel brand, apparently decided that a qwerty keyboard would not be superfluous for a budget device, and launched a very simple OT-255 device with such a keyboard on the market. Well, let's see what the manufacturer has come up with and how useful a qwerty keyboard will be in a budget device.

Design, dimensions, controls

Outwardly, the model resembles a smaller copy of Alcatel OT-800/OT-802, nice design, without any bright details in the design. Overall, the OT-255 looks more expensive than its $50 price tag, which of course is a plus. The model is available in three colors, it is gray (Titanium Grey), red (Cherry Red) and turquoise (Fresh Turquoise). In all design options, the back wall and sides are black.

The body of the model is made of high-quality plastic, the coating of the back wall is rough to the touch and not at all easily soiled, but the front panel is glossy, however, prints on it are not visible at all. The body of the model is resistant to scuffs and scratches, at least during testing it showed its best side, it did not show any damage, everything is perfect.

The dimensions of the device are small (100.5x58x12 mm, weight 76 grams), yes, the width of the case is slightly larger than that of conventional monoblocks, but this is affected by the presence of a hardware qwerty keyboard. The phone fits well in the hand and does not cause any problems in operation, and no matter what size your hand is, the model is comfortable to use for most users. Thanks to the rough back wall and sidewalls, the device does not slip out of your hands during operation.

On the left side surface of the device is a large, slightly protruding from the case key to call the quick launch menu. On the right side surface, there was only a place for a standard miniUSB connector, which is not covered by anything, so dust and dirt get into it without problems, but this does not really affect work.

At the top end there is a recess for easy removal of the back panel, as well as a buttonhole for attaching a lace / strap.

The back wall is also the battery cover, it can be removed completely, just pick it up and pull it towards you. The lid is fixed securely, there is no hint of play, and there are no prerequisites for it to appear over time, well, unless you accidentally break one of the latches while removing the lid.

Keyboard

The keyboard of the device is made of hard rubber. The functional block of keys includes: a button to start and end a conversation, two function keys and a four-way navigation key with an "OK" button inscribed in it. All keys are medium in size, but very well spaced, so there are no problems while working with them.

The keys of the qwerty keyboard are also medium in size, have a semicircular shape and are well spaced, which makes them easier to work with and prevents erroneous pressing. Since the keys are made of rubber, it will take some time to get used to working with them. These keys require a little more force to press than plastic buttons, and gaps appear at first when typing quickly.

Keyboard localization is standard for devices under the Alcatel brand, in general it is quite successful. On some keys, two letters are fixed at once, but there are no particular problems in this, to type the second letter, you just need to make two presses, not one. Among the shortcomings of the keyboard, I will note small Latin letters, which are lost against the background of large Cyrillic.

The backlighting of the keyboard is bright, blue, it is distributed evenly over the entire surface, so that all characters printed on the keys are read without difficulty. Yes, the characters are printed in white on the black buttons, so even without backlighting they are also easy to read.

Display

The device has a small 1.8" (35×28 mm) horizontally oriented TFT technology with a resolution of 160×128 pixels and is capable of displaying up to 65,000 colors. Up to 5 lines of text and 2 more lines with service information fit on the screen. In general, the screen is typical for budget products, it has small viewing angles and a lot of graininess.It is worth noting the good brightness and contrast of the screen, so that the information is read without any problems.

Battery

This machine comes with a 650 mAh lithium-ion battery. According to the manufacturer, with it the device is able to work up to 9 hours of talk time and up to 380 hours of standby time. Under the conditions of the networks of Moscow operators, the device worked on average 5 days with 10-15 minutes of conversation per day, about 10 messages sent and about 1 hour of listening to the radio. The result is quite good for such a device, active users of one battery charge should have enough for at least three days. The time for a full charge of the battery is about 2.5 hours, according to the manufacturer, this time is 2 hours 40 minutes. The device can be charged both from the network and via USB when connected to a PC.

The main menu consists of 18 items, on one screen they are displayed in a 3×2 matrix. Items can be sorted at your discretion, for example, for convenience, you can put the most popular menu items on the first screen, and those that you use less often on the second. You can also completely remove menu items if they are not needed.

Both function buttons, the navigation key, as well as the combination of the FN key and the qwerty keyboard buttons, can be assigned access to the selected menu item, speed dialing, or a web page address. The same action can be done with the numeric keys, that is, by long pressing them, you can use not only speed dialing, as in other phones, but also quick access to the site or any menu item of the device. In general, the device's menu is quite flexible, and the user can customize it completely for themselves.

In addition, as mentioned above, the key on the left side of the phone provides access to the quick menu, consisting of the following items: FM radio, messages, email, notes and tasks.

Menu localization is good, abbreviations and incorrect translations are almost non-existent. There is a predictive text input eZi with a custom dictionary, which simplifies the work with the system.

Phone book. Up to 500 entries can be saved in the phone's memory, plus the SIM card memory is available, phones from both types of memory can be displayed in the general list. Horizontal tabs allow you to quickly switch between the general list, entries on the SIM card, as well as the phone book in the device itself. The last tab is for displaying groups. Unlike the vast majority of devices, the groups here do not correlate directly with the names already entered, you can select names from the list, or you can enter them yourself (the interface for entering text and numbers is visible by default). Each group can be assigned its own melody and picture.

One entry in the phone book can contain fields such as first name, last name, up to 4 phone numbers (field type is fixed), email address, company name, web address, date of birth, with the ability to add it to the calendar. You can also choose your own ringtone and picture for each name. When calling, the picture is displayed as a thumbnail in the center of the screen, the contact name and group name are also displayed if the caller belongs to it.

Messages. The machine supports sticky messages up to 1224 characters long. There are 10 templates that the user can change as they wish. A maximum of 700 messages can be stored in memory. Support for EMS in the device is not implemented. Multi-messaging is provided, for a maximum of 10 numbers.

Messages can be displayed either as a separate list sorted by date, or as a so-called "chat", when messages from the same number will be combined.

There is a limit of 100 KB for MMS messages and 5 templates are pre-installed in the machine. In general, everything is familiar, there are no peculiarities.

There is also a simple email client that can work with the POP3 and IMAP4 protocols. It is possible to create multiple accounts. The client does not know how to work with attachments, and the maximum number of characters in a letter cannot exceed 1000.

Call memory. There are only three lists in the device, each can contain up to 20 entries. The same entries in each of the lists are combined, when viewing detailed information, the number of calls is indicated, but the time and duration are displayed only for the last call.

WAP. Here is the most common WAP-browser version 2.0, it supports certificates, but does not have wide possibilities to optimize normal pages. It is possible to save pages for later viewing offline. The device supports only GPRS Class 10, there is no EDGE in the phone, not to mention 3G.

Profiles. This section hides profiles, of which there are only 5 in the phone, each of which is fully customizable by the user. The settings are made in the form of horizontal tabs, which makes it easier to work with them. As a call mode, you can select only a melody, only vibrate, vibro and a melody at the same time, or vibro and then a melody. As a ringtone, you can choose either a melody from the preset ones or your own melody in MP3 format.

Organizer. A simple calendar with the ability to view only a month. For events, you can select a date, a period of time, make a small text note (maximum 255 characters), turn on a sound notification, and choose to repeat this event.

Notes. Plain text notes (maximum 1224 characters) that can later be sent via SMS, MMS or E-mail.

To Do List. Here you can create tasks, for each you can write down a subject (up to 255 characters), set the date and priority.

Media Album. A very simple file manager in which the user can view files and rename them. It is also possible to sort files by several parameters. Here you can also see the state of the device's memory, the volume of which is currently ridiculous 1.6 MB.

Hours. Hidden here are the time and date settings, as well as the world time function. In the same section there are also alarm clocks, of which there are 5 pieces in the device. For each of the alarms, you can set the time, the days of the week on which it should work, the repeated operation after a while, as well as the notification mode.

Services. Here is the SIM menu, settings for data transfer, as well as a link to the Alcatel wap site.

Settings. Here you can find display, language, screen lock settings, as well as network and security settings. In this section, you can set up speed dialing, which is hidden under the name "Keys", in addition to the phone number, you can assign access to the desired menu section or web links to speed dialing.

You can select the home screen wallpaper, splash screen, and navigation bar color (gray, red, or blue) for the display. Here you can also adjust the brightness of the backlight, as well as its operation time (5, 10, 30 or 60 seconds).

Weather. Weather information from AccuWeather.com, which can also be accessed from this section.

Radio. An RDS-enabled FM radio that only works with a connected wired headset that acts as an antenna. The memory of the device is designed for 40 stations, there is a manual and automatic channel search. The radio can work in the background, and the sound can be output to both the headset and the phone's speaker. The radio sensitivity is good, in the city the device picks up most radio stations without problems. In the radio settings, you can select the tuner sensitivity (high or medium).

Games. There are two games for the reaction speed in the slot – "Panda" and "Chicken". There is no Java support in the phone.

Calculator. The most common calculator with a minimum set of features.

Converter. The usual unit converter, here is the currency converter.

Fake call. This function has long been implemented in devices from Samsung and LG, but Alcatel has just appeared. You are invited to create a "Contact", turn on the response timer (from 5 seconds to a minute), and also set a ringtone. After activating the function through the menu (which is inconvenient) or through shortcuts, the phone will simulate an incoming call, and it will not differ visually from a regular call. In some situations, this function can be useful.

Emergency numbers. Up to 3 numbers can be entered here. In addition, you can fill in health information for emergencies, the following fields are available: blood type, doctors, medical conditions, medications and allergies.

Impressions

The device provides good communication quality, at the level of modern GSM phones, no worse and no better than most. There are no complaints about the speaker and microphone, they work well, you can communicate without any problems even on a noisy street. The phone has 64-tones polyphony, preinstalled melodies are quite good, especially those in MP3 format. It is also possible to install your own melodies in MP3 format, but they can only be downloaded via the WAP-browser. There is no separate speaker for playing a call signal in the phone, it is combined with a conversational one, despite this, the call signal sounds loudly, so the call is easy to hear even if the phone is in a bag. The vibrating alert is average in strength, in addition to this, only the upper part of the device vibrates, while vibration is not felt in the lower part.

An interesting device designed for children and young people who communicate a lot using text messages. Of the advantages of the OT-255, it is worth noting good materials and build quality, a comfortable qwerty keyboard, a menu that the user can customize, and good functionality. Of course, it is worth mentioning the low price of the device, which is about 1500 rubles (about 50 US dollars). The disadvantages of the phone include a small display with a low resolution, a very modest amount of memory without the possibility of expanding it and without the ability to access it from a PC.

The model has no competitors on the market, other phones with a qwerty keyboard cost at least twice as much. Devices with a regular keyboard can hardly be called direct competitors of the OT-255, although it looks good among them, in terms of functionality it is not inferior to other phones in the price category up to $50.

Overview of Alcatel OT-255 GSM phone

Design, dimensions, controls

At the top end there is a recess for easy removal of the back panel, as well as a buttonhole for attaching a lace / strap.

Keyboard

Keyboard localization is standard for devices under Alcatel brand, in general it is quite successful. On some keys, two letters are fixed at once, but there are no particular problems in this, to type the second letter, you just need to make two presses, not one. Among the shortcomings of the keyboard, I will note small Latin letters, which are lost against the background of large Cyrillic.