Alcatel 380

Editor's Review of the 380

For those of you after a fuss-free mobile, the Alcatel OT-380 could be your perfect choice. It's easy to use, offers all the essentials and won't go busting your wallet.

With dimensions of 91 x 45 x 19.2 the Alcatel 380 is a fairly compact handset, although with almost 2cm of depth, you may struggle to squeeze it into your pocket. Still, with a weight of just 90g, its comfortable to hold, and perfect for using while on the go.

Within its colourful casing is a 1.8 inch 128 x 160 LCD display, coupled with a slide-out backlit keypad. The keys can be a little awkward at first, but the well spaced buttons ensure accurate and speedy messaging. With dedicated navigation and call keys, getting the hang of this handset should be easy for even the biggest of technophones.

Entertainment wise, the handset packs a rear-facing VGA camera, and although it offers just 0.3 megapixels, it manages to produce images of a reasonable, MMS-worthy quality. Its video capture on the otherhand struggles, due to the handsets lack of flash and advanced features.

There's also a built-in media player onboard, complete with FM radio. However, with only 2MB of internal storage and a tiny colour display, media addicts best steer well clear. It may lack 3G or WiFi connectivity, but the Alcatel 380 does include an integrated WAP 2.0 browser, and although it doesn't boast super-fast speeds, it's ideal for accessing a number of functional websites.

It may be back-to-basics, but the Alcatel OT-380 is an affordable, colourful slider phone, ideal for your inner-textaholic.