So when I was looking at this phone I almost passed b/c of the reviews on websites like Cnet. When I came here and found realistic reviews I decided to buy the Fierce. Here is the review I posted on Cnet. Let me know what you think and I hope I can give someone else a less biased review.
http://cdn.cyclingforums.com/e/e6/525x525px-LL-e6ed2f11_vbattach7783.jpg
Pros
Price ($100)
Physical:
Overall feel.
Good weight.
Large screen.
Plenty of accessories.
Clean look.
Performance:
Smooth.
JB 4.2.2
Call quality.
4G speed.
Loud speaker.
Battery life.
Easy to Root.
Cons
Physical:
Camera protrudes (easier to damage).
Back facing speaker.
Tiny front facing camera (0.3mp)
Standard glass screen.
Non removable battery.
Mediatech cpu.
Performance:
Lack of development.
Camera's lack of autofocus.
Summary
So after looking up all the review I could not sit well with the opinions. I knew that with it's given ability the phone should perform better than the results. After buying the phone and putting it through its paces here is my review. This review is taking into account that I was shopping for a phone for Metro PCS.
Details of the Pros.
I paid $100 for this phone at a Merto PCS retailer. It came with a free hard/soft case. Most of the physical Pros are up to opinion. I think that the phone looks good but that does not mean you will. If feels solid in my hands but your hands might be different, and so on. One physical Pro that transcends is the amount of aftermarket accessories. At 4.5 inches, the screen is larger than any other phone in the $60-170 range. Only the Galaxies are larger ($400-500), and the $200 LG F6 has the same screen.
Now for the Cons. They really dropped the ball by not going with gorilla glass. Even though I am careful with my phone it would have been nice to have the added protection even at a $20 more. Now for the battery. In all my use the batter works great but a lot of reviewers make a big deal about the non removable battery. Iphones, HTC, and Motorola all have phones without a removable battery. So to me it's not a con, but I added it just based on the fact that I would have preferred it having a removable one. The Mediatech cpu is not the strongest and is definitely not taking advantage of Dual-core processor.
Details on performance:
If this is your first android phone you will love it. If this is an upgrade you are going to be happy. If you came from a better phone this will do until you save another $500. I could tell you about the call quality being good, the text being easy to use and the good options for the keyboard, but really I want to talk about the camera. The camera is the single biggest CON on this phone. Or should I say the fact that it does not have an auto focus is the problem. There are hundreds of camera apps out there that can fix this minor problem. I choose "Camera FV-5" it has worked great for me. There are some real problems though in my opinion. The Alcatel one touch Fierce is not looking like it is going to get a lot of development. Meaning it will not be updating to the newest android updates or very many manufacture updates. The phone is easily rooted for those who like to do that. But it has a locked bootloader which makes it harder to find recoveries and custom roms. You can however use a custom loader to customize your phone to your hearts desire and given the inner workings of this phone it handles demanding themes well.
Round up:
They really could have added a little more to get a lot more out of it. A lot of the critics forget that this is an android phone and almost everything about how it works is changeable. The photos are not bad what so ever. In fact they are quite good. And again, if the original photo is not perfect, there's an app for that. Even if I was using the best camera I would still edit them before sharing. The actual phone part of the Alcatel one touch Fierce is great, call quality is awesome and texting is easy and fully customizable. This phone is quite capable and is as much as $100 less than the realistic Metro competition.
http://cdn.cyclingforums.com/e/e6/525x525px-LL-e6ed2f11_vbattach7783.jpg
Pros
Price ($100)
Physical:
Overall feel.
Good weight.
Large screen.
Plenty of accessories.
Clean look.
Performance:
Smooth.
JB 4.2.2
Call quality.
4G speed.
Loud speaker.
Battery life.
Easy to Root.
Cons
Physical:
Camera protrudes (easier to damage).
Back facing speaker.
Tiny front facing camera (0.3mp)
Standard glass screen.
Non removable battery.
Mediatech cpu.
Performance:
Lack of development.
Camera's lack of autofocus.
Summary
So after looking up all the review I could not sit well with the opinions. I knew that with it's given ability the phone should perform better than the results. After buying the phone and putting it through its paces here is my review. This review is taking into account that I was shopping for a phone for Metro PCS.
Details of the Pros.
I paid $100 for this phone at a Merto PCS retailer. It came with a free hard/soft case. Most of the physical Pros are up to opinion. I think that the phone looks good but that does not mean you will. If feels solid in my hands but your hands might be different, and so on. One physical Pro that transcends is the amount of aftermarket accessories. At 4.5 inches, the screen is larger than any other phone in the $60-170 range. Only the Galaxies are larger ($400-500), and the $200 LG F6 has the same screen.
Now for the Cons. They really dropped the ball by not going with gorilla glass. Even though I am careful with my phone it would have been nice to have the added protection even at a $20 more. Now for the battery. In all my use the batter works great but a lot of reviewers make a big deal about the non removable battery. Iphones, HTC, and Motorola all have phones without a removable battery. So to me it's not a con, but I added it just based on the fact that I would have preferred it having a removable one. The Mediatech cpu is not the strongest and is definitely not taking advantage of Dual-core processor.
Details on performance:
If this is your first android phone you will love it. If this is an upgrade you are going to be happy. If you came from a better phone this will do until you save another $500. I could tell you about the call quality being good, the text being easy to use and the good options for the keyboard, but really I want to talk about the camera. The camera is the single biggest CON on this phone. Or should I say the fact that it does not have an auto focus is the problem. There are hundreds of camera apps out there that can fix this minor problem. I choose "Camera FV-5" it has worked great for me. There are some real problems though in my opinion. The Alcatel one touch Fierce is not looking like it is going to get a lot of development. Meaning it will not be updating to the newest android updates or very many manufacture updates. The phone is easily rooted for those who like to do that. But it has a locked bootloader which makes it harder to find recoveries and custom roms. You can however use a custom loader to customize your phone to your hearts desire and given the inner workings of this phone it handles demanding themes well.
Round up:
They really could have added a little more to get a lot more out of it. A lot of the critics forget that this is an android phone and almost everything about how it works is changeable. The photos are not bad what so ever. In fact they are quite good. And again, if the original photo is not perfect, there's an app for that. Even if I was using the best camera I would still edit them before sharing. The actual phone part of the Alcatel one touch Fierce is great, call quality is awesome and texting is easy and fully customizable. This phone is quite capable and is as much as $100 less than the realistic Metro competition.
