Wiko is a relatively young French brand, while Alcatel has been around for ages, so let's start with the old lady. 

Alcatel’s value proposition just got better

Alcatel’s two new Idol 3 models have Android 5.0 out of the box, and we already have the prices.

The big 5.5-inch One Touch Idol 3 is priced at €249/$249, but it has a rather impressive spec. Highlights include a 5.5-inch 1080p display, two front-facing 1.2W speakers tuned by JBL, Snapdragon 615 SoC with LTE, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and microSD support and a 13-megapixel camera at the back. The front camera packs 8 megapixels and a wide angle lens. The phone, or should we say phablet, measures 152.7 x 75.14 x 7.4mm and has a 2910mAh battery.

The smaller 4.7-inch version shares the same branding, design, cameras and JBL speakers. However, it has a Snapdragon 410 SoC and 1GB of RAM. It’s also very compact thanks to the much smaller 720p screen, the dimensions stand at 134.6 x 65.9 x 7.55mm, with a 2000mAh. It is expected to retail at less than €200/$200.

One unique feature offered by both Alcatel units is the possibility to “reverse” them – since the front is completely symmetrical and you get front facing speakers at both ends, the UI simply rotates and you can talk no matter how you picked up the phone.

Wiko goes thin and slim with Highway Pure and Highway Star

The Wiko Highway Star features an all-aluminium build, and the design is quite appealing, although some may liken the front to old Lumia models.

The 4G phone features an octa-core Cortex-A53 SoC clocked at 1.5, but the company did not say whether this is a Qualcomm or MediaTek part. It has a 5-inch 720p screen, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, microSD slot and a 2450mAh battery. The Star measures a relatively thin and compact 141 x 71 x 6.6mm and weighs 123 grams. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera and 5-megapixel front facing unit.

The Wiko Highway Pure is a bit more familiar – it’s basically a Gionee Elife 5.1, or BLU Vivo Air, or Kazam Tornado 348, depending on where you live. Still, there are a few differences. The Wiko Pure comes with a Snapdragon 410 SoC and LTE, 2GB of RAM (up from 1GB on other versions) and 16GB of storage.

The packs 8-megapixel and 5-megapixel cameras, a 4.8-inch AMOLED 720p display and a 2000mAh battery. The kicker is the size and build – the phone is just 5.1mm thin and weighs 98 grams, with metal on the sides, and Gorilla Glass at the front and back.

The biggest downside is that both models ship with Android 4.4.4 rather than Android 5.0. We still don’t have the prices, either.