Alcatel One Touch 501 Review

Overall Rating

Functions, display (screen size and contrast/backlight adjustability), ease-of-use, phone appearance and size.

None, so far.

I've used phones from all the top brands like Nokia, Ericsson, Samsung, Motorola, Philips and Siemens... And until now, Nokia has been my personal favourite. Having owned several models such as the 6150, 3310, 8210 and 9110i, I never thought I'd change to any other brand.

However, I've had a change of heart since the 501 has become an indispensable part of my life. The first word that comes to mind is "Wow!" Unlike Alcatels of the past, the One Touch 501 is extremely user friendly. With an innovative 'Beginner/Expert' setting, anyone can master the use of this phone very quickly.

It's features and functions are similar to, and in some cases better than, most phones on the market. I've come to think of the '501' as a great tool, rather than just a phone. It's the one phone that has surpassed all my expectations, allowing me to praise it without reservation! If, like me, you're tired of seeing the same familiar display, as functional/nice as it may be, on every single Nokia out there, and you want a change... Well, look no further than the Alcatel One Touch 501.

Members' Comments onRob.'s Review

• al. on 12th Nov 2001

  Had just migrated from the (sibling) Alcatel 501 to 511 - and was also previously 100% sold to Nokias. But the 501 was much more user-friendly and feature-packed than the Nokia, and I don't consider going back to Nokialand any time soon.
  If you were/are happy with the 501, maybe consider the Alcatel 511, the newest in the series. it's very cheap( < £200 without contract, £40/60 with contract) and excellent fun: games, enhanced messaging, and polyphonic rings. You can even record your own music into a voice memo and transform it into a ringtone!. Light, too (<80g) but doesn't have IR or modem (if you use those features). Really a good fun phone, competing in the 33XX Nokia arena with more features, same price and 1/2 the Nokia weight...
  As all Alcatel phones has excellent battery life and I think better sound quality.
  511 has a built-in antenna and I always found such phones were annoying because they tend so much to overheat (that was my experience with the Nokia 8210), especially the small/lightweight ones. No such problem with the 511.

• Nads. on 24th Nov 2001

  I really appreciate the reviews and also the comment from the french chap on the 511. i just bought it recently and for what it's worth, The phone rocks. And unfortunately i too was into the big players of mobile phones i.e. motorola, nokia,etc... but i had too much problems with them. I think the leading companies don't really care about the build quality anymore, i think their philosophy is "As long as the contraption works, then forget about the reliability". Don't fall for the fashion hype.