Deal: the 5.5-inch Alcatel Idol 3, a quality mid-ranger, is now priced at $179.99 on Amazon

Last week at MWC 2015, Alcatel unveiled the new Idol 4 smartphone series. As the Alcatel Idol 3 models are now officially previous-generation smartphones, it's not surprising to see that Amazon is now offering them at discounted prices. However, the deal on the 5.5-inch model may be just too good to pass on for some.

The 5.5-inch Alcatel Idol 3, one of the best mid-range smartphones of 2015, is now available at just $179.99. That's $70 lower than the usual retail price of the smartphone and a great deal overall.

The larger of the two Alcatel Idol 3 models comes with a 5.5-inch IPS display running a resolution of 1080 by 1920 pixels. Under the hood, you'll find a Snapdragon 615 chipset paired with 2GB of RAM, a setup that offers decent performance when paired with Alcatel's minimal Android implementation. Other specs include a 13MP primary camera and a 2910mAh battery. Learn more about the handset by heading over to our Alcatel Idol 3 (5.5) review.

The new Alcatel Idol 4s makes the switch to an AMOLED display running at 1440 by 2560 pixels, the mid-range Snapdragon 615 was upgraded to the faster Snapdragon 652, and the improvements in the design and build sector are also notable. However, the Idol 4s is slated to land at a price somewhere between $400 and $500, while the Idol 3 (5.5) is now available at just $179.99.

Amazon is also offering the 4.7-inch Alcatel Idol 3 model at $169.99, which is $30 less compared to the usual retail price. If you don't have a problem with large-screened smartphones, do bear in mind that 5.5-inch model comes with better specs, and is probably worth the $10 price bump.