Skip to main content

The Alcatel Onyx smartphone has a dual-sensor camera and costs just $120

Alcatel has been launching affordable phones with decent specs for some time now — and now the company is back with another. Alcatel has announced that the Alcatel Onyx smartphone will be available on Cricket Wireless for $120.

The phone may be cheap, but it has a lot going for it. Here’s everything you need to know about the Alcatel Onyx on Cricket Wireless.

Recommended Videos

Design and display

The first thing to note about the Alcatel Onyx is its design — while it’s a bit generic, it’s not ugly. On the front of the device, you’ll find a 5.5-inch display with a resolution of 1,440 x 720. On the right side, you’ll get a volume rocker and power button, while on the back there’s a dual-sensor camera and an LED flash. Unfortunately, the device has a MicroUSB port on the bottom — not the more modern USB-C port.

Specs and camera

Under the hood, the new phone isn’t bad at all. The device features a MediaTek MT6739WW processor, coupled with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. Thankfully, if you want more storage, it’s pretty easy to get it — the device comes with a MicroSD card slot. The battery on the device comes in at 3,000mAh, which isn’t bad ,and Alcatel says will give the phone up to 7.5 hours of talk time on 4G.

The camera is a dual-sensor camera, though don’t expect to get shots similar to the likes of the iPhone XS. The sensors themselves come in at 13 megapixels and 2 megapixels, and they’re capable of capturing video at up to 1,080p. The front-facing camera on the device comes in at 5 megapixels.

When it comes to software, the phone features Android 8.1 Oreo. We would have liked to see the device offer the newer Android 9.0 Pie, but Oreo is still a great operating system and should be fine for most users.

Price and availability

The Alcatel Onyx is now available exclusively from Cricket Wireless, where you can get it for just $120. That’s not such a bad price for a device like this — though of course, if you can stretch your budget, there are better phones out there.

Christian de Looper
Christian’s interest in technology began as a child in Australia, when he stumbled upon a computer at a garage sale that he…
I record interviews for work. These are my favorite free recorder apps
The iPhone 14 Pro and Google Pixel 7 Pro's voice recording apps running together.

The Voice Recorder app on a phone (left) and the Voice Memos on another phone Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Before you head to the app store on your phone to buy a voice-recording app, take a moment to consider the apps that may already be installed on your phone. Why? In my experience, they're likely all you really need. I’ve recorded interviews and voice-overs for work for years, and I’ve found the two best examples come preinstalled on your phone already, so they’re entirely free to use.

Read more
The best Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 cases: 10 best ones so far
Two Galaxy Z Fold 5 phones next to each other -- one is open and one is closed.

Samsung’s next-generation foldable is here with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5. This iteration has some notable improvements, including a new hinge design that eliminates the gap from previous generations when the device was folded. You also get a 6.2-inch HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display on the outside while having a 6.7-inch QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display on the inside, with both screens having a 120Hz refresh rate. In other words, they're about as nice as you could ask for.

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 is made with premium materials, and the triple-lens camera system packs in a 50MP main shooter, 10MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom, and a 12MP ultrawide lens. There’s a 10MP selfie camera on the front cover, and a 4MP camera on the inner display. You also get a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip inside for the best performance and power efficiency.

Read more
Google Pixel Tablet just got its first big discount and it’s worth a look
Google Pixel Tablet on its charging dock.

Tablets are a dime-a-dozen these days, with offerings from all the great brands including Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, and more. So, if you really want to stand out in a sea of similar tech, you need to do things a little differently. That's what Google's Pixel Tablet offers. How? It comes with a unique speaker dock that can be used to both charge the device and offer room-filling sound -- almost like a smart speaker add-on. Better yet, when your Pixel Tablet is docked it benefits from the Hub Mode, turning the device into a smart display, with digital photo frame support, smart home controls, and hands-free Google functionality. Of course, it could set you back at full price, normally $499 unless you find it included in a roundup of the best Google Pixel deals. Well, guess what? Thanks to a Best Buy Google Pixel Tablet deal, you can get it today for $439 and save $60. Hurry, though, it's part of Best Buy's recent 48-hour sale so it won't stick around for long.

Why you should buy the Google Pixel Tablet
Okay, okay, so in our Google Pixel Tablet review, Joe Maring did give it less than stellar remarks, but he called out its reliable fingerprint sensor, comfortability during use and excellent speaker dock. Honestly, how many tablets come with a matching speaker dock that transforms the entire experience? This tablet also marks a "lot of firsts" for Google, as it's the first tablet from the company in nearly five years, the first Android tablet in eight years, and can be converted into a smart home display with the speaker dock. All of which are notable milestones.

Read more