Alcatel's POP 4, POP 4+, POP 4S: fingerprint scanner on a midranger, front-facing LED flash for bright selfies

Alcatel has introduced three new affordable handsets, aimed at the selfie-taking, social-networking youth. As part of the POP line, they are called POP 4, POP 4+, and POP 4S. The devices are in the affordable entry-level to lower mid-range class and, as such, carry pretty modest specs, but what sets them apart is the fact that they all have wide-angle, LED flash-assisted, 5 MP selfie cameras.

First up, the Alcatel POP 4 is the smallest of the trio, with a 5-inch, 720 x 1280 resolution display, which brings its pixel density to 293 PPI — not ideal, but should be crisp enough not to cause annoyances. It has a quad-core, 1.1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 under its hood, paired with the modest 1 GB of RAM. Its internal memory is at a measly 8 GB, but can, thankfully, be expanded via microSD card of up to 32 GB. Its battery is generous for its specs, listed at 2,500 mAh. It has an 8 MP main camera and, as mentioned, a wide-angle (84.4-degree) 5 MP, LED-assisted selfie snapper. Impressively enough, the camera software also supports HDR shooting.

The Alcatel POP 4+ is pretty much the same handset, only with a 5.5-inch display, 1.5 GB of RAM, and 16 GB of internal storage, still expandable via an up to 32 GB microSD card.. Its resolution is still pinned at 720 x 1280 pixels, which means a 267 pixels-per-inch density — that's gonna look a bit jagged at close-to-medium viewing distances. Curiously enough, despite the fact that the POP 4+ is effectively a phablet with a bigger display and – consecutively – a bigger body, its battery remains at 2,500 mAh.

The Alcatel POP 4S sits at the top of the POP line. It's a phablet with a 5.5-inch 1080 x 1920 display (400 PPI – quite crisp), an octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 (4 cores clocked at 1.8 GHz, 4 clocked at 1 GHz), 2 GB of RAM, and 16 GB of storage, expandable via microSD of up to 64 GB. Its main camera has a 13 MP sensor with an aperture of F2.0, assisted by phase detection autofocus, dual-tone LED flash, and electronic image stabilization. On the front, we have the same wide-angle selfie snapper with LED flash as the lower-end models. The POP 4S also has a larger juicebox – 2,960 mAh. As an added bonus, it has a fingerprint scanner for quick unlocks.

All three models come with Android 6 Marshmallow out of the box. The POP 4 and POP 4+ support Cat 4 LTE, while the POP 4S has faster download speeds with its Cat 6 LTE. They are also all bundled with a JBL headset. In terms of colors, the POP 4 and POP 4+ will come in a matte-looking “UV Slate” and “Hairline Brushed Metal” colors, while the POP 4S has the shiny-looking “Metal Gold” and the more incognito “Dark Gray”. Pricing and availiability are yet to be announced.