Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x tablet overview: 8 cores, metal, LTE and french roots
Hello! I consider it necessary to immediately clarify the title of this material: of course, I am aware that mobile devices under the Alcatel brand since 2005 have been released by the Chinese company TCL, which bought the rights to this brand. But do not forget that the Chinese have also received French designers, engineers, programmers and other diversified developers in the “load” to the brand. And also - managers who like to eat frog legs for lunch. As a result, TCL / Alcatel still produces very decent products, made with soul and having nothing to do with purebred "Chinese."
This is exactly the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x tablet - after having exploited it for two months, I have to admit that it is not similar to either the Korean “tablets”, or the Chinese, or to any others. The product is, let's say, quite distinctive, with its own special style. And it is also very exotic for our latitudes: as far as I know, the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x should have appeared on the shelves of Russian stores at the end of 2014, but this, alas, didn’t happen. That, however, never reduces the degree of “interestingness” of this tablet of upper-middle class.
One of the main features of the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x is its hardware platform, namely MediaTek MT8392 (a post on Geektimes). This chipset is the first true "eight-core", designed specifically for tablets and providing a device with very serious performance (until I reveal all the cards, details below). Completes the picture of another chip "authorship" of the same MediaTek - MT6290 . This is an LTE-modem: Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x supports fourth generation cellular networks and can act as a smartphone.
')
From a distance of a couple of meters, the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x seems to be another typical tablet - the black case, the usual dimensions and proportions ... However, in the hands of the device, if I may say so, "comes to life": it no longer seems commonplace and inconspicuous. For this, it is necessary to thank the designers who have implemented a bunch of pleasant trifles in the device.
For example, the bottom edge with speakers and a microUSB port is mowed down in a pleasant way ...
... and the insert on the rear panel, under which antenna plates are traditionally placed for tablets, has rounded corners. By the way, this very insert is plastic, but the material is chosen in such a way that it practically does not differ by touch from the main part of the “back”, made of aluminum with a rough texture. Bravo, the French-Chinese team!
Also note the narrow frame on the right and left of the screen: Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x can be easily grasped with one hand. Another thing is that keeping it in this way is not very comfortable: the device was not the easiest. Yes, the developers say only 310 grams of "live weight". But personally it seems to me that they are cunning and the tablet is at least a third heavier.
Along the perimeter of the case is inset of dark gray material. I did not manage to establish its type. Most likely, it is also aluminum (albeit with a different finish), but I still will not argue: it may be that this is a kind of tricky plastic. Anyway, it is painted qualitatively: in two months no scratches or chips appeared. This is an important point, because such a framework, as a rule, are the most vulnerable places in tablet computers.
On the right side of the case, there are thin, but no less convenient, volume keys (quite a typical two-way swing) and turning on the device / screen.
Above the screen, the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x has a 2 megapixel front camera, a white LED that reports on SMS, letters, missed calls and other events of this kind, as well as a brightness sensor for auto-adjusting the screen brightness. But the proximity sensor and conversational dynamics, alas, no. During calls — both incoming and outgoing — the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x activates the speakerphone. So it’s not very convenient to use this device as a smartphone - people around you can hear you and your interlocutor. Output - connect a wired or wireless headset.
At the top there is a hatch for a MicroSD memory card and a SIM card. It is opened with a clip, toothpick or any other thin object. There is also a 3.5mm headphone jack and an infrared window for controlling home appliances.
Unusual component: in the tablet "infrared" is not found very often, except perhaps a few models from Sony and Samsung. This is how the interface of an application designed to work with TVs, DVD players, and so on, looks like:
On the back is a camera with a resolution of 5 megapixels, equipped with an LED flash. More about her in the relevant section.
Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x also has a platform with contacts on the “pope”, which is necessary for connecting a proprietary protective panel with an LED indicator. It displays icons for incoming mail, calls, messages, and so on. This accessory, which is not included in the package, looks like this:
Finally, I note that the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x is made almost flawless: there are no squeaks, no backlashes, or other deficiencies in the assembly characteristic of mobile devices. In a compartment with a metal back panel and a considerable weight, this tablet leaves a feeling of an expensive and very high-quality gizmos.
“On paper” with the screen settings of the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x everything is fine: a diagonal of 8 inches at a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels - what more could you wish for? Add an IPS-matrix here, and it will be absolutely cool. But the reality, alas, is somewhat more severe than we would like, and in fact the screen does not leave a really stunning impression.
Yes, everything is fine with clarity: fonts and other small elements look perfect, there are no “ladders” of pixels, but there is no trace ... However, the image is slightly lacking in brightness, plus the color temperature is shifted to warm shades. Yes, in the settings of the screen there are options for adjusting this very temperature and saturation, but there is no point in using them. The first option will make the colors even warmer (read - add yellow and orange hues), while the saturation adjustment, in my opinion, does not change anything at all.
Overall, the normal screen. Normal, but not the best. On the other hand, I suspect that it will seem excellent to many people, and my words will be perceived as the usual grumbling of the "jammed" experienced gadget.
Pressing capacitive touch layer handles fine. Supports up to ten simultaneous touches to the screen, this is the maximum for today. Oleophobic coating is present, it is not so easy to stain the glass surface of the screen.
The role of the hardware platform in the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x is played by the MediaTek MT8392. This, as I said above, is the world's first eight-core chipset designed specifically for tablets. In fact, this is an analogue of the notorious MT6592. Only the latter is intended for smartphones, and MT8392 - for “tablets”. What is the difference? For example, in the Android assembly supplied with the chipset: in the case of MT6592, it is designed for screen resolutions of 1920 x 1080 and 1280 x 720, and in the case of MT8392 - 1920 x 1200 and 1280 x 800. Also, the chipset supports multi-window mode, about which we will tell more below.
What good is MediaTek MT8392? At least by the fact that it is fast, economical and at the same time inexpensive. I strongly suspect that due to the low cost of the chipset compared with the current Qualcomm solutions, the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x price in the domestic market will hardly exceed 20 thousand rubles. While similar in performance Samsung models today are at least under the "top thirty". By the way, what does our hero have with performance? Ask the benchmarks ...
As you can see, everything is very good. Better than you would expect from a tablet of this class with a Full HD screen. But the G8 cores of ARM Cortex-A7 with a frequency of up to 1.7 GHz and the Mali-450MP4 graphics accelerator, working in conjunction with 2 GB of RAM, do their job - Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x turns out to be very fast. The launch of the camera takes a second, a dozen open tabs in Chrome is not a question, the desktops scroll without delay, the multi-window mode works like a clock, everything is fine with games ...
Speaking of games. Launched World Of Tanks Blitz. The game was issued at 45 frames per second, that is, on the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x you can play this “heavy” toy without problems.
Also launched Dark Meadow: The Pact. This game is characterized by capriciousness: it rarely goes on devices with Qualcomm and Samsung chipsets. But on the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x with its MediaTek MT8392 it started and worked without a hitch.
And, of course, it didn’t go without Modern Combat 5. MediaTek and Gameloft have a special agreement, according to which the latter company optimizes the graphics of individual toys for chipsets first. The MC5 version for MT6592 / MT8392 has many additional effects that are beyond the power of the weaker “tablet” quad-core processors: “soft” particles, cinema godray, solar haze effect in the heat, detailed shadows and reflections and much more. Playing MC5 on this chipset is a pleasure.
By the way, it is possible to “dive” into 3D games on the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x without recharging for 5-6 hours - in my opinion, an excellent result. And when watching videos in Full HD, you can safely count on 7-8 hours of autonomy - also very good for a relatively inexpensive Android device. Here I will clarify that the tablet is equipped with a non-removable battery with a capacity of 4,060 mAh.
For long-term work is to thank the MediaPek CorePilot technology, which serves to achieve a balance of power consumption, heat dissipation and performance. Its essence is as follows: CorePilot activates the number of cores necessary for solving a specific task at a frequency sufficient for this. For example, in standby mode, one core with a minimum frequency of 768 MHz will function. When watching a video, four cores turn on, and in games the system uses all eight. And if the chipset realizes that for a smooth drawing of graphics, the frequency of 1.4 GHz is sufficient, then it will not accelerate the cores to a maximum of 1.7 GHz. The technology allows you to save up to 20% charge compared to chipsets, where it is not.
With wireless modules, the situation is as follows: there is Wi-Fi 802.11n and Bluetooth 4.0, as well as a GPS receiver. I was pleasantly surprised by the work of the latter: the satellites are in seconds, and in the process of navigation the tablet does not lose them. I also emphasize that the MT8392 supports Wi-Fi Display and Miracast, that is, the technologies necessary to transfer the image from the tablet to the TV over the wireless channel. Not the fact that this option is very popular among the people, but it is better to let it be.
With the support of LTE (by the way, Cat. 4 band 1/3/5/7/8/20) everything is fine - here you can’t tell anything new. I described the situation with voice communication above - it exists, but with nuances. Well, once again I remind you that LTE in this tablet is implemented using a MediaTek MT6290 modem.
The built-in memory in the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x is 16 GB, of which about 12 are available to the user. There is a slot for microSD cards with a capacity of up to 64 GB.
The tablet is running Android 4.4.2 KitKat, and, to the credit of the manufacturer, updates are released regularly: in two months, as many as three updates flew through the air.
Android is “covered” with a proprietary shell, and it differs from the one used in many Alcatel smartphones. The Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x provides the main menu and desktops, not just the latter. And I like the “tablet” version more.
From the unusual, I would like to mention the possibility of opening applications in the windows - this feature is implemented in MediaTek MT8392 and is one of the chips of this chipset. This is convenient, only the multi-window mode does not work with all programs. For example, it is impossible to “open” Gmail in the window. Why so - I do not know. But in general, the "window" approach a la Windows impresses me.
There is support for gestures:
There are quite a lot of pre-installed programs, admire screenshots:
Well, here are some more interface screenshots - so that readers understand how the Android operating system looks like in the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x.
The front of the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x 2 megapixels, rear 5 with autofocus and LED flash. You can’t say much about the quality of the pictures - it’s typical for tablets, so I’ll just give examples of photos and we will take a bow.
More precisely, I will not bow: here are some more examples of the camera interface.
Video is written in maximum resolution Full HD 1080p.
Is it a good tablet? It is quite and very. Quibble, in fact, there is nothing, except for the lack of conversational dynamics. The main component of the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x success, I would call the “fashionable” and “fresh” MediaTek MT8392 platform - the chipset is fast, “cold” (the tablet hardly warms even after a couple of hours at the games!), Plus an inexpensive one. I am also pleased with LTE support - albeit thanks to a separate MediaTek MT6290 chip. It is a pity that the hero of our review is not shipped to Russia. But you shouldn’t grieve, dear readers: there is every reason to believe that a whole brood of various tablets on MT8392 with HD and Full HD screens, with LTE and with 3G, with plastic and metal cases will appear on the market ... They will cost if the course the dollar will not grow from 10-12 thousand rubles. That is, for the money we get the "pills" that will be as powerful as the flagship models for 25-30 thousand. So we are preparing for the era of inexpensive gaming tablets - it is already on the way, for which you should say “ATP” is MediaTek.
This is exactly the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x tablet - after having exploited it for two months, I have to admit that it is not similar to either the Korean “tablets”, or the Chinese, or to any others. The product is, let's say, quite distinctive, with its own special style. And it is also very exotic for our latitudes: as far as I know, the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x should have appeared on the shelves of Russian stores at the end of 2014, but this, alas, didn’t happen. That, however, never reduces the degree of “interestingness” of this tablet of upper-middle class.
One of the main features of the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x is its hardware platform, namely MediaTek MT8392 (a post on Geektimes). This chipset is the first true "eight-core", designed specifically for tablets and providing a device with very serious performance (until I reveal all the cards, details below). Completes the picture of another chip "authorship" of the same MediaTek - MT6290 . This is an LTE-modem: Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x supports fourth generation cellular networks and can act as a smartphone.
')
Appearance
From a distance of a couple of meters, the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x seems to be another typical tablet - the black case, the usual dimensions and proportions ... However, in the hands of the device, if I may say so, "comes to life": it no longer seems commonplace and inconspicuous. For this, it is necessary to thank the designers who have implemented a bunch of pleasant trifles in the device.
For example, the bottom edge with speakers and a microUSB port is mowed down in a pleasant way ...
... and the insert on the rear panel, under which antenna plates are traditionally placed for tablets, has rounded corners. By the way, this very insert is plastic, but the material is chosen in such a way that it practically does not differ by touch from the main part of the “back”, made of aluminum with a rough texture. Bravo, the French-Chinese team!
Also note the narrow frame on the right and left of the screen: Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x can be easily grasped with one hand. Another thing is that keeping it in this way is not very comfortable: the device was not the easiest. Yes, the developers say only 310 grams of "live weight". But personally it seems to me that they are cunning and the tablet is at least a third heavier.
Along the perimeter of the case is inset of dark gray material. I did not manage to establish its type. Most likely, it is also aluminum (albeit with a different finish), but I still will not argue: it may be that this is a kind of tricky plastic. Anyway, it is painted qualitatively: in two months no scratches or chips appeared. This is an important point, because such a framework, as a rule, are the most vulnerable places in tablet computers.
On the right side of the case, there are thin, but no less convenient, volume keys (quite a typical two-way swing) and turning on the device / screen.
Above the screen, the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x has a 2 megapixel front camera, a white LED that reports on SMS, letters, missed calls and other events of this kind, as well as a brightness sensor for auto-adjusting the screen brightness. But the proximity sensor and conversational dynamics, alas, no. During calls — both incoming and outgoing — the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x activates the speakerphone. So it’s not very convenient to use this device as a smartphone - people around you can hear you and your interlocutor. Output - connect a wired or wireless headset.
At the top there is a hatch for a MicroSD memory card and a SIM card. It is opened with a clip, toothpick or any other thin object. There is also a 3.5mm headphone jack and an infrared window for controlling home appliances.
Unusual component: in the tablet "infrared" is not found very often, except perhaps a few models from Sony and Samsung. This is how the interface of an application designed to work with TVs, DVD players, and so on, looks like:
On the back is a camera with a resolution of 5 megapixels, equipped with an LED flash. More about her in the relevant section.
Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x also has a platform with contacts on the “pope”, which is necessary for connecting a proprietary protective panel with an LED indicator. It displays icons for incoming mail, calls, messages, and so on. This accessory, which is not included in the package, looks like this:
Finally, I note that the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x is made almost flawless: there are no squeaks, no backlashes, or other deficiencies in the assembly characteristic of mobile devices. In a compartment with a metal back panel and a considerable weight, this tablet leaves a feeling of an expensive and very high-quality gizmos.
Screen
“On paper” with the screen settings of the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x everything is fine: a diagonal of 8 inches at a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels - what more could you wish for? Add an IPS-matrix here, and it will be absolutely cool. But the reality, alas, is somewhat more severe than we would like, and in fact the screen does not leave a really stunning impression.
Yes, everything is fine with clarity: fonts and other small elements look perfect, there are no “ladders” of pixels, but there is no trace ... However, the image is slightly lacking in brightness, plus the color temperature is shifted to warm shades. Yes, in the settings of the screen there are options for adjusting this very temperature and saturation, but there is no point in using them. The first option will make the colors even warmer (read - add yellow and orange hues), while the saturation adjustment, in my opinion, does not change anything at all.
Overall, the normal screen. Normal, but not the best. On the other hand, I suspect that it will seem excellent to many people, and my words will be perceived as the usual grumbling of the "jammed" experienced gadget.
Pressing capacitive touch layer handles fine. Supports up to ten simultaneous touches to the screen, this is the maximum for today. Oleophobic coating is present, it is not so easy to stain the glass surface of the screen.
The most important thing: the hardware platform
The role of the hardware platform in the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x is played by the MediaTek MT8392. This, as I said above, is the world's first eight-core chipset designed specifically for tablets. In fact, this is an analogue of the notorious MT6592. Only the latter is intended for smartphones, and MT8392 - for “tablets”. What is the difference? For example, in the Android assembly supplied with the chipset: in the case of MT6592, it is designed for screen resolutions of 1920 x 1080 and 1280 x 720, and in the case of MT8392 - 1920 x 1200 and 1280 x 800. Also, the chipset supports multi-window mode, about which we will tell more below.
What good is MediaTek MT8392? At least by the fact that it is fast, economical and at the same time inexpensive. I strongly suspect that due to the low cost of the chipset compared with the current Qualcomm solutions, the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x price in the domestic market will hardly exceed 20 thousand rubles. While similar in performance Samsung models today are at least under the "top thirty". By the way, what does our hero have with performance? Ask the benchmarks ...
As you can see, everything is very good. Better than you would expect from a tablet of this class with a Full HD screen. But the G8 cores of ARM Cortex-A7 with a frequency of up to 1.7 GHz and the Mali-450MP4 graphics accelerator, working in conjunction with 2 GB of RAM, do their job - Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x turns out to be very fast. The launch of the camera takes a second, a dozen open tabs in Chrome is not a question, the desktops scroll without delay, the multi-window mode works like a clock, everything is fine with games ...
Speaking of games. Launched World Of Tanks Blitz. The game was issued at 45 frames per second, that is, on the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x you can play this “heavy” toy without problems.
Also launched Dark Meadow: The Pact. This game is characterized by capriciousness: it rarely goes on devices with Qualcomm and Samsung chipsets. But on the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x with its MediaTek MT8392 it started and worked without a hitch.
And, of course, it didn’t go without Modern Combat 5. MediaTek and Gameloft have a special agreement, according to which the latter company optimizes the graphics of individual toys for chipsets first. The MC5 version for MT6592 / MT8392 has many additional effects that are beyond the power of the weaker “tablet” quad-core processors: “soft” particles, cinema godray, solar haze effect in the heat, detailed shadows and reflections and much more. Playing MC5 on this chipset is a pleasure.
By the way, it is possible to “dive” into 3D games on the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x without recharging for 5-6 hours - in my opinion, an excellent result. And when watching videos in Full HD, you can safely count on 7-8 hours of autonomy - also very good for a relatively inexpensive Android device. Here I will clarify that the tablet is equipped with a non-removable battery with a capacity of 4,060 mAh.
For long-term work is to thank the MediaPek CorePilot technology, which serves to achieve a balance of power consumption, heat dissipation and performance. Its essence is as follows: CorePilot activates the number of cores necessary for solving a specific task at a frequency sufficient for this. For example, in standby mode, one core with a minimum frequency of 768 MHz will function. When watching a video, four cores turn on, and in games the system uses all eight. And if the chipset realizes that for a smooth drawing of graphics, the frequency of 1.4 GHz is sufficient, then it will not accelerate the cores to a maximum of 1.7 GHz. The technology allows you to save up to 20% charge compared to chipsets, where it is not.
With wireless modules, the situation is as follows: there is Wi-Fi 802.11n and Bluetooth 4.0, as well as a GPS receiver. I was pleasantly surprised by the work of the latter: the satellites are in seconds, and in the process of navigation the tablet does not lose them. I also emphasize that the MT8392 supports Wi-Fi Display and Miracast, that is, the technologies necessary to transfer the image from the tablet to the TV over the wireless channel. Not the fact that this option is very popular among the people, but it is better to let it be.
With the support of LTE (by the way, Cat. 4 band 1/3/5/7/8/20) everything is fine - here you can’t tell anything new. I described the situation with voice communication above - it exists, but with nuances. Well, once again I remind you that LTE in this tablet is implemented using a MediaTek MT6290 modem.
The built-in memory in the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x is 16 GB, of which about 12 are available to the user. There is a slot for microSD cards with a capacity of up to 64 GB.
Software
The tablet is running Android 4.4.2 KitKat, and, to the credit of the manufacturer, updates are released regularly: in two months, as many as three updates flew through the air.
Android is “covered” with a proprietary shell, and it differs from the one used in many Alcatel smartphones. The Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x provides the main menu and desktops, not just the latter. And I like the “tablet” version more.
From the unusual, I would like to mention the possibility of opening applications in the windows - this feature is implemented in MediaTek MT8392 and is one of the chips of this chipset. This is convenient, only the multi-window mode does not work with all programs. For example, it is impossible to “open” Gmail in the window. Why so - I do not know. But in general, the "window" approach a la Windows impresses me.
There is support for gestures:
There are quite a lot of pre-installed programs, admire screenshots:
Well, here are some more interface screenshots - so that readers understand how the Android operating system looks like in the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x.
Cameras
The front of the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x 2 megapixels, rear 5 with autofocus and LED flash. You can’t say much about the quality of the pictures - it’s typical for tablets, so I’ll just give examples of photos and we will take a bow.
More precisely, I will not bow: here are some more examples of the camera interface.
Video is written in maximum resolution Full HD 1080p.
Conclusion
Is it a good tablet? It is quite and very. Quibble, in fact, there is nothing, except for the lack of conversational dynamics. The main component of the Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x success, I would call the “fashionable” and “fresh” MediaTek MT8392 platform - the chipset is fast, “cold” (the tablet hardly warms even after a couple of hours at the games!), Plus an inexpensive one. I am also pleased with LTE support - albeit thanks to a separate MediaTek MT6290 chip. It is a pity that the hero of our review is not shipped to Russia. But you shouldn’t grieve, dear readers: there is every reason to believe that a whole brood of various tablets on MT8392 with HD and Full HD screens, with LTE and with 3G, with plastic and metal cases will appear on the market ... They will cost if the course the dollar will not grow from 10-12 thousand rubles. That is, for the money we get the "pills" that will be as powerful as the flagship models for 25-30 thousand. So we are preparing for the era of inexpensive gaming tablets - it is already on the way, for which you should say “ATP” is MediaTek.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/376007/
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