Alcatel OT-355 Mobile Phone Review

Being one of the lower end budget mobiles, the Alcatel OT-355 brings much smartphone features at an affordable price. Having used the Alcatel OT-355 for more than three months, I feel I can provide a valid review for those wishing to buy the Alcatel OT-355. Before I start, let me tell you I came about purchasing this mobile.
It all started when I wanted to look for an affordable phone. Having shopped around, I saw the Alcatel OT-255 mobile with a qwerty keypad for £10! Therefore, I bought it...


From then on,  I named it 'the indestructible phone'. Dropped thousands of times on concrete, puddles and mud, this mobile never cracked and rarely scratched badly. It all ended when I proved to some of my friends it was indestructible by throwing it as hard as I can against a wall. The screen cracked and the indestructible phone turned out not to be so indestructible after all.

As the Alcatel OT-255 had served me so well, I went to upgrade to it's older brother: the Alcatel OT-355 for just £15.

What are the Alcatel OT-355's Features?

• Qwerty Keyboard - This helps so much with typing at speed. Every other phone at around £15 have the typical nine button mobile keypad which are not as comfortable to type on.
• SMS Chat - Just like the iPhone, Alcatel provide a brilliant chat layout to keep the conversion going.
• Battery Life - The Alcatel OT-355 for me has achieved a battery life of around 10 days with heavy usage which compared to other mobiles is amazing considering how small the battery is at 650 mAh.
• Camera! - Don't get too excited. The camera is equal to or worse than a VGA camera. Even so, it's still a camera you get which makes your phone look that extra bit nicer when your on the phone to someone.
• Fake Call - Ever had an awkward conversation with someone? Well, now you can get out of it with fake call. Simply activate Fake Call and you will get a fake call to save yourself from any situation.
• RSS - Again, remember this is a £15 phone. You get to keep up to date with all your favourite RSS feeds, updated regularly.
• MP3 Player - With a SD slot to store more songs on, the Alcatel OT-355 lets you listen to all your favourite tunes on the go as the phone also comes with a pair of headphones.
• The Games! - Whoever made these games have such imaginations! There are two games: Panda and Chicken. Great games to pass time.

Downsides to the Alcatel OT-355

• Speed - This is it's worst weakness. I find sometimes it very difficult to type for the processing speed of the keyboard. I may type a sentence in 10 seconds but it will take 20 seconds for the mobile to understand this and display the sentence on screen - very frustrating at times.
• Screen - Compared to other £15 phones, the screen is not too good being quite small and low quality.
• Signal - It is also quite difficult at times to gain a strong signal. However, this is not a serious problem as most of the time, the signal is still enough for texts and phone calling. Internet though may be more difficult.

Ultimately, for anyone attending a party, V Festival or going somewhere where they would not like to take their brand new iPhone, this phone is a perfect replacement. Like it's younger brother, the OT-355 again is near to indestructible (although this time I will not prove it!) where it can take serious knocks and bumps. The long battery and ease of use makes it the preferred mobile in times of emergency as well. Whatever you might use it for, it is still a good phone as your main phone. Like I have said, I have been using this phone for the last  3 months and the OT-255 for the last year or so. Doesn't that prove how reliable and good this phone is?

My Rating

• Performance - 4/10
• Battery - 9/10
• Ease of use - 8/10
• Features - 7/10
• Overall - 8/10