When I first got to know about Alcatel, it was a cordless house phone which I had used for several years. Years have gone and passed. With the advancement of technology, Alcatel has stepped into the handphone market with several different models. One of the latest model was the Alcatel Flash 2 which is available  from 5 December 2015 at M1 and Lazada Singapore for $199. Flash 2 flip cover and screen protector was also bundled as a standard in-box accessories.
Unboxing the Flash 2, we will see that it comes with standard items such as charger, ear pieces, USB cable and leather flip case and a screen protector. I thought it was quite sweet for Alcatel to throw in the screen protector and leather flip casing instead of having us spending extra on them.
A closer look at the specs:
- 1.3GHz Mediatek MT6753 octa-core processor
- 2GB RAM
- 5.0-inches IPS HD display, Dragon Trail glass protection, 1280 × 720 resolution
- 16GB internal storage, expandable up to 128GB via microSD
- 13.0-megapixels Samsung ISOCELL camera with Auto Focus, Dual LED and Dual Tone Flash
- 5.0-megapixels front camera with LED Flash
- 3G, HSPA+, LTE
- Dual-SIM, dual LTE
- WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, aGPS
- 3,000mAh Li-Ion battery
- Android 5.1 Lollipop
Setting up Flash 2 is as simple as how you would do for any handphone model with clear instructions given for each step. The average talking time is about 15 hours while the average standby-time is about 18 days. I have charged it once within the 2 weeks that I was using and has only recharged it once. To be frank, I am quite surprised by its long lasting battery power. 
Photography was done with quite a breeze be it during board daylight or under dim lighting. With natural lighting, the picture was sharp and clear just as above (no editing was done). 
Under dim lighting, this picture was taken without using any flash and any edit. The result was rather clear and sharp. For the price tagged to it, the picture quality has exceeded my expectations. There are also a selection of different camera modes from manual settings to shoot time lapse videos to panorama pictures and beauty mode. 
For perfectionist, you can always download photo editing app such as snapseed, vsco and photoshop express from the google play store. Here is a picture taken with flash 2 and the below is the edited version using one of the photo editing app. 
Overall, I feel that this is one of the mobile device to go for if you are on a tight budget. With big display, good battery life, no heating up issue and ability to multitask without slowing down, it has checked all the boxes on what I would look for in a basic handset. For more details, you can find out more on Lazada or be a fan on Alcatel Facebook Page.
