AT&T Prepaid - Alcatel SMARTFLIP™ - Black

Poor battery life. Doesn’t ring or vibrate anymore.

The Alcatel SMARTFLIP is a "smart" flip phone and would be suitable for someone who wants/needs some smartphone features but doesn't want a full-size, expensive smartphone. Due to its small size, the screen is small and is not a touchscreen. However, the keys are large enough to be easily read, used and to navigate. It can take pictures and video, as well as send and receive text (SMS) & multimedia (MMS) messages. Because there is no touchscreen, it uses T9 predictive text for typing. It can be set to produce sentence case, lower case, all caps or numbers. The phone will also connect to WiFi, handle an email account, and includes a browser for the internet. And, while we haven't tried it, the user manual also indicates that you can also use Google Assistant to enter a text message using your voice. There are also a number of other features shown in the user manual such as a calendar, an event reminder, a clock app with an alarm, timer and stopwatch function, and also a calculator that are similar to those on a smartphone but not as complex. While it is labeled and sold as a prepaid phone, it can be added to a "post paid" AT&T account the same as a smartphone. Overall it is a great little phone with some surprising features for its size.

This phone can do a lot more than you think. If you don't live on your phone; if you don't need every app that's out there; if you don't deal with every aspect of your life thru your phone, than this one is for you. Compact, fits easily into a pocket, no butt-dialing mishaps. Call, text. That's all you need.

I ordered an AT&T Alcatel Smartflip 4052R from Best Buy late evening July 30 Thursday and received it safely by UPS on Monday. It has WiFi, which makes downloading things easier on data. I was able to sign into my Google account and transfer my contacts to the new phone. While it has very few wallpaper or ringtone choices, I was able to install a wallpaper app from the KaiOs Store called Wallpaper World and it has a lot of nice choices that don't take much room in storage. The phone allows email login and I was able to do that on WiFi. The pad and screen are easy to see. The back button is the END CALL button. Editing a note, to delete a letter or word, use the End Call key. To activate the camera from the home screen, press down on the navigation ring. Messages, press right on the navigation ring. It's a basic flip that should do good service. It may take a little time for familiarization with the menu format for people new to smart flips. A good point is that it can take a memory card for storage of photos or music. It has an FM radio that requires a wired headset for an antenna to get reception, it needs a 3.5mm plug. It seems to be a decent flip, but I miss the old flips like my zTE z222 that didn't have WiFi but it was small and it worked fine. The old flips felt more solid and they were good quality. The new ones are very plastic in build but do have good keypads and screens.

I went from simple "open face" Nokia or AT&T phones to my first Flip Phone as didn't want to get a Smartphone. Printed out the User Guide on line which helped a lot personalizing my phone. Holds a charge fairly well, and all buttons/instructions are very visible. The camera isn't the greatest though, and in gallery you can view pics by toggling side-to-side, but not up & down as well. Call clarity is great, never been dropped yet. Would like to delete the 4 apps @ left of home screen as hardly use them but doesn't seem to be an option. Shows calls dialed/received EVERY time instead of just one name & #/date of times called/recv'd, so end up deleting dupes to save space, more clarity.

For some reason my son would not keep his iPhone in its case. I told him if he breaks it I'm not replacing it. He didn't think fat meat was greasy. What do ya know, he broke it. So I got him this as a replacement and turned off the data. Now he's been reverted back to 2002 and the laughingstock of his friends. That'll teach em.

My mother's old flip phone broke set the hinge. She'll be 90 soon and I need something similar to what she had so she wouldn't have to learn how to use it again. The sim card with her old phone wouldn't fit, so I contacted AT&T and they activated the be card for me. This one has bigger buttons and screen and she can hear much better in it than the old one.

The Alcatel SmartFlip (AT&T) is a good phone for those who want a Flip Phone while retaining some "smart" functions. The "4 Star" rating is relative to known competition AND reflects the relatively low cost. This phone is available in a couple of versions - the "SmartFlip" being "exclusive" to AT&T, which is one of the downsides: you need to have it activated on AT&T for at least 6 months before they will Unlock it thus allowing a move to a compatible network. (To be fair: AT&T's Prepaid rates are competitive - at least with 2 phones linked.) A number of "Professional" reviews can be found for the Alcatel, and they seem largely on target. Pluses: Larger keypad & display; WiFi Calling can be a boon; Voice to Text works surprisingly well. Minuses: Limited number of Apps available for 3rd party OS; Usage can be confusing (bought a pair for folks - early 90s). Recommend: Yes, for anyone who wants this type of phone. (Otherwise: No)