Budget-friendly smartphones

TCL: WANTS TO RECLAIM ITS POSITION AS A HANDSET-MAKER

- Arthur Goldstuck

The 505 aims for the value proposition that underpinned TCL's sub-brands, and does a reasonable job.

What is it?

Anyone remember Alcatel? It was a brand behind highly capable, low-cost feature phones. The legendary Alcaberry, as the OneTouch feature phone was known, brought BlackBerry-style functions to the lowest end of the market. It was manufactured by TCL, a brand better known as a world leader in TV manufacture. But now, it wants to reclaim its positioning as a handset-maker, with a similar value proposition - except in the smartphone market.

The TCL 505, just released in South Africa, is a budget-friendly smartphone, but arrives in a crowded market segment where affordability is now expected to come with improved performance, features, and build quality.

However, balancing cost with usability is a challenge in the fiercely competitive entry-level smartphone market.