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Budget touchscreens aren’t what they used to be. The advent of the bargain bucket HTC Tattoo and T–Mobile Pulse have redefined what cheap mobiles should do. But for those whose wallet has been totally clobbered by the recession, there is hope, in the form of the dirt cheap Alcatel OT-708 One Touch Mini. The question is, should you drop your last £60 on a basic touchscreen or go for a classic candybar instead? Read our Alcatel OT-708 One Touch Mini review now to find out.
Let’s get things clear from the start. The Alcatel OT-708 One Touch Mini is not a top end touchscreen titan. Far from it. At a shade under sixty notes, it’s not going to challenge the HTC Hero or iPhone. But then that’s not the point.
The idea is to give anyone short of a cash a taste of the touchy feely big time. And like the Orange Vegas, the Alcatel OT-708 One Touch Mini does this in a serviceable manner. Of course, the touchscreen itself can’t compare with even the likes of the Tattoo: it’s sluggish, small at just 2.4-inches and takes plenty of prodding to register your swipes. But underneath it there’s a string of decent apps and services which will sate your basic mobile appetite.
Read our HTC Tattoo review now
The Alcatel OT-708 One Touch Mini packs in the usual organisational extras, including a calendar and calculator. There’s an FM radio too, which we found easy to use, even offering decent sound quality.
Browsing isn’t fun though. There’s no 3G and being a dual band blower, getting onto even the most basic mobile sites took us back to the early days of WAP. And it’s a place we don’t ever want to return to.
The side bar for pulling widgets onto the screen have clearly taken inspiration from Samsung’s TouchWiz UI. That’s no bad thing and with SD support, you can at least bump this into a semi-decent MP3 player too. At just 83g, it’s hardly going to weigh you down either. Neither will its 14.6mm frame trouble your pockets.
Sure, there are stacks of better touchscreen phones. But as a spare or a first for the kids, the Alcatel OT-708 One Touch Mini is a neat, if simple, mobile.
