I’ve already mentioned one of the key reasons behind this old-school feel: the Alcatel 1 (2021) is actually the Alcatel 1 (2018). It’s got the same design and the exact same measurements: a 137.6 x 65.7 x 9.8mm body with a 134g weight. That extends to the phone’s display, which is the same 5-inch 960 x 480 TFT LCD. In my review of the Alcatel 1 (2018) I called this panel “a small, dull, blurry and overly reflective screen, which is all but impossible to use outside on a bright day”. Can you guess what I think of it here at the beginning of 2023? The Alcatel 1 (2021) is so old school, it comes out of the box with the rear cover and battery removed. You have to slide the SIM (thankfully a nano) into the little slot below the cover, just like you used to do with the Nokia feature phones of old.

Product Protection policies are provided by Domestic & General Insurance PLC. Registered Office: Swan Court, 11 Worple Road, Wimbledon, London SW19 4JS, United Kingdom. Registered in England and Wales, Company No. 485850. Domestic & General Insurance PLC is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. With that in mind, the Alcatel 1 (2021)’s benchmark scores make for ugly reading. An average Geekbench 5 multi-core score of 165 and a single-core score of 79 puts the Alcatel 1 (2021) firmly toward the very bottom of the smartphone performance league table. Alcatel 1 keeps life simple. Proven tools make all functions run smarter and faster. A compact display delights with a premium look.Unsurprisingly, Genshin Impact won’t even install on the Alcatel 1 (2021). Slightly more surprisingly, nor will Vampire Survivors – a more recent but decidedly less technically demanding 2D game. It’s another example of a specification that seems to come from the smartphone past,” I said from the wintery depths of 2018. In early 2023, this component is practically a fossil. Of course, with such an unusually small, dim, and pixel-sparse display, that battery is having to drive a lot less action than usual. With performance so limited, meanwhile, you won’t want to use the phone for much more than light phone calls. On those terms, it’ll get you through a full day without too much issue. V12 Finance and AppToPay is a trading name of Secure Trust Bank PLC, Yorke House, Arleston Way, Solihull, B90 4LH.

However, any form of media will hit it hard. An hour of Netflix streaming sapped 18% of a full charge, while an hour of YouTube Music streaming sapped 7%. By way of a comparison, the Moto G22 (a very typical affordable phone) lost 3% and 1% respectively in the same tests. Secure Trust Bank PLC (register number 204550) is authorised by the PRA and regulated by the FCA and the PRA.Needless to say, performance here is awful in every way. Apps take an age to load, menus creak and groan, and everything appears to move along at a snail’s pace. Don’t expect to jump into the camera app when you spot a shooting opportunity either. Android 11 (Go edition) comes installed out of the box. This is the main (and possibly only) change from the Alcatel 1 (2018), which shipped with Android 8.1.

The likely culprit for this is the Alcatel 1 (2021)’s meager 1GB of RAM. We typically balk when a phone has just 2GB or even 3GB of RAM these days, so 1GB is slightly scary.

Key Features

Refurbished item which is a customer return or ex-display item and as a result may have some significant/noticeable marks on the casing and possible box damage or replaced box. Item is fully tested/working and complete with all accessories. 12 months warranty supplied Speed-up Alcatel 1 with Smart Manager tools. Auto-start Restriction forces apps to run a phone smarter under your command. Free up the RAM memory to enhance a response speed for a faster multitasking. Extend the battery life with Normal and Super Saving Modes. Refurbished item which is a customer return or ex-display item and as a result may have some significant/noticeable marks on the casing/screen and possible box damage or replaced box. Item is fully tested/working and complete with all accessories. 12 months warranty supplied. Despite those large bezels, this feels like a remarkably small phone by modern standards. Even the Asus Zenfone 9, which is the smallest Android phone I’ve used of late, feels large alongside it. The closest comparison I can draw here is the iPhone SE (though obviously not in terms of quality).