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On paper the Alcatel OneTouch Idol Alpha has an impressive main camera. It's rated at 13.1MP, it has an LED flash, and it can record 1080p video.
In reality it's a very easy camera to use and it's fast at capturing a shot, as long as it isn't HDR. You can go from the lock screen to shooting a photo in around three seconds, which is great for catching those spontaneous moments. The results I got were reasonably good on the whole.
The app is straightforward to use and clear. You touch to focus and you can touch and hold to take a burst of shots. There is a HDR mode and also a night, sports, and panorama mode. If you want to dig deeper you can set the ISO and exposure manually.
Video recording is also solid. You can capture full HD 1080p video at 30 frames per second. The only options offered are three different quality levels. It's smooth and the automatic settings handle action quite well.
The front-facing camera is a 1.3MP snapper that can record 720p video. It will do just fine for video calls, but it's not going to satisfy selfie addicts.
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