Alcatel’s A5 LED disco phone

Alcatel A5 LED. © Alcatel/TCL.

Original design is a scarce commodity in the Android phone market, where one handset looks much like the next. So let’s raise our devices to a very different phone, the Alcatel A5 LED, produced by Chinese manufacturer TCL. This mid-range smartphone will not turn you on with its run-of-the-mill features: 5.2-inch, 720x1280 screen, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, 8MP camera, 4G LTE, 8-core 1.5GHz processor. But the back panel comes drenched in multi-coloured LEDs that can be used for notifications, or beat and blink to the rhythm of your favourite tune or pre-programmed graphic theme (there’s an app for that). Not keen on the light show? Remove the panel and replace it with one equipped with loudspeakers or an extra battery. The A5 LED should be available in May for about €200 (CA$280). No word yet on North American availability.

⇨ The Register, “Alcatel wants to be Android, but different – and another crack at the Windows market.”

⇨ PC Mag, “The Alcatel A5 LED is the most fun phone at MWC.”