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Alcatel One Touch 835 
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Introduction / Preview : Alcatel One Touch 835
Alcatel recently surprised everyone with the One Touch 835 clamshell model at Cannes. This makes it the second manufacturer this quarter to come out with a clamshell model apart from its existing candybar phones.
At A Glance:
Price: RM 1,399
Local Distributor: EC Mobile Sdn Bhd.
Build quality: 9/10
Applications: 7/10
Interface: 7/10
Value-for-money: 6/10
Overall rating: 72.5/100
+ Video Caller ID
+ High resolution screens
+ Self-Portrait camera
- No Infrared/Bluetooth
- No memory expansion
- Data cable not provided.
First impressions
An impressive and slim silver-coloured clamshell emerged from the box. The camera viewfinder sits just below the outside screen. Although the external screen by default shows a monochrome time display just like on the Symbian OS, simply opening and closing the clamshell will reveal an interesting 65K display on the external screen.
What I found is that the Alcatel 835 attracts other people,s hands to itself, as the slick silver surface and the flushed number keys are a direct mime of a certain Korean manufacturer,s style. It feels very comfortable in the palm of the hand althought your index finger should rest against the camera lens when you hold it up to your ear.
The only downside I found is that the antenna does have a tendency to pick up fibers from your clothing and surroundings. Maybe the groove between the antenna and the body of the phone wasn,t such a good idea after all.
Interface
The Alcatel 835 uses a icon-type menu, with nine icons displayed on the main menu page. However, you will have to press the blue button in the middle of the navigation pad to access this menu, and its small size causes an unwanted surprise everytime you accidently hit the navigation pad while trying to press the blue button.
The OT 835 felt OK against the face, but the thin build forces the user to grip the edges of the 835 with the fingertips. The ringing was clear and loud, and the 40-chord polyphonics gives you a rich sound. However, the lack of Infrared and Bluetooth connectivity means that you will probably need to buy the data cable to be able to load applications and files into the phone without having to spend a lot of money downloading or purchasing from the Internet.
Messaging was a breeze with the large buttons, but the cursor on the screen had a funny habit of jumping back slightly when you hit a particular key again to get to the second or third alphabet on that key. The predictive text input is slightly reminiscent of the iTAP interface used in Motorola products, but having to press the tiny blue button after every word is a downer.
Extras
Alcatel is very big on data. In fact, they regularly make GPRS class 10 phones, but the miniscule 3MB of space in the 835 isn,t quite conducive to adding a lot of programs and files. Browsing is done through an Openwave browser, and the settings for all three local telcos have already been programmed into the phone.
The voice capabilities are a nice touch, but the one that takes the cake would be the video caller ID, which has yet to be seen in Malaysia thus far. I feel that Alcatel has neglected to highlight this strong selling point of the 835 thus far. The calendar is quite interesting with a weekly view, but the screen is small and you will need to progress through multiple levels to record an entry. The Alcatel 835 retains the special alarm feature that kicks in even when your phone is switched off.
There are four games inside the Alcatel 835. Mine is the mobile version of the classic Windows minesweeper, while Ocean is a 2D shooter pitting a diver against a whole bunch of fishes. Wallbreaker bounces a ball around to break up bricks on the screen, while Space War isa a shoot-em-up game.
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