- Analysis by KJ David
Released alongside a couple of other budget-class Androids, namely, the Alcatel 3 2019 and the Alcatel 1S, Alcatel's 3L suffers from some dated hardware cons, including a quad-core-only 1.8GHz Snapdragon 429 processor 
-- eight-core smartphones were no longer that uncommon within its price group as of its MWC 2019 unveiling. Sitting alongside its aforementioned CPU is a paltry 2GB-only RAM and a 16GB internal memory that's only half of what the 2019 Alcatel 3 offers, although it does retain its sibling's support for up to 128GB of external storage.
As for its pros, the 3L skirts high-end territory with its 13- plus 2-megapixel dual-lens primary camera 
, which delivers things like bokeh shooting, post-shot refocusing, and AI scene recognition. It is also worth noting that its 13-megapixel primary lens is software-enhanced (aka interpolated) to mimic the performance of an actual 16-megapixel shooter. By the way, don't forget to check out the best phones for photography featured here on Phonerated.
Another appreciable facet that we caught while reviewing its pros and cons is the 3L's robust 3500mAh battery , which scores a reassuring 900-hour standby time and a 28-hour talk time , the latter being almost 100 percent higher than the corresponding average value as of its market entry.
The aforementioned battery supports the Alcatel 3L's wide 5.9-inch IPS display, whose 19.5:9 aspect ratio resembles those of some high-caliber phablets. It is furbished with a damage-resistant 2.5D Dragontrail cover glass , but it opts for a cheap-sounding 1560 x 720 HD+ definition only .
The rest of the 3L's pros and cons include a tolerable 8-megapixel selfie cam interpolated to 13 megapixels and Face Key -- Alcatel's version of facial recognition for security. It runs on Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box and it dons either an Anthracite Black or a Metallic Blue finish.
So, even though some of its hardware specs put it on the back foot versus a good number of other 2019-released mid-rangers, the Alcatel 3L nevertheless caters to first-time smartphone users who can get by with a decent battery and a rather spacious display.
On-paper Review rating: 
It's all well and good that the Alcatel 3L can record fancy 1920 x 1080, 1280 x 720 videos, but we're surprised we didn't find any sign of the 3L sporting an HDMI port (which comes in handy to watch HD videos on your shiny HDTV without having to move them first to your computer).
- Recommended alternative: The latest HDMI phone models
It's disappointing that we were not able to find information about its weight.
- Suggested reading: Photo gallery of the latest slim phones
It is equipped with Miracast, a a wireless protocol that allows you to connect to TVs and share your screen
- More on this: The latest Miracast-enabled smartphones
Not only does it clock at 1.8GHz, it's also quad-core.
- More on this: List of the fastest Android smartphones
We're dealing with a hefty display here, making it a phablet: 5.9 inches and a resolution of 1560 x 720 pixels means about 13.24 square inches and an image quality of at least 291.04 dots per inch (DPI)!
The 3L doesn't come with an included memory card but it has a slot for up to 128GB in memory expansion, which is convenient to store pictures and video clips shot with the included 13-megapixel (main cam interpolated to 16 megapixels combined with a 5-megapixel sub-cam) camera.
It includes a high-megapixel camera (13-megapixel (main cam interpolated to 16 megapixels combined with a 5-megapixel sub-cam)) with the following options: Bokeh, Portrait lightning, Refocus, Google Lens.
The selfie cam resolution seems just about average.
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