Free AT&T/Alcatel 4G "Smart" Flip Phone - How Bad Could It Be?

Free phones available from the big wireless companies typically haven't been very good. Surprisingly, this one isn't half bad.

Leading up to AT&T's official shutdown of their 3G network in February of 2022, they began sending out free flip phones to holdouts still using "old" devices that didn't at least support 4G. The Alcatel UC102AA Cingular Flip IV was what I received, though there must've been a few other models that one could've received considering that another family member received a totally different--and much worse--phone.

Much to my surprise, this phone came preloaded with the Google Assistant, Google Maps, and YouTube apps. As if there wasn't enough, there's also an app store! Both the battery life and built-in camera quality is rather abysmal and there were several instances where the phone slowed to a crawl or locked up entirely, but all things considered, for this being smarter than your average "dumb" phone, I can overlook its shortcomings; it's not like there's an abundance 4G and 5G flip phones to choose from.

0:00 Intro
0:53 KaiOS
1:23 App Store
1:57 News
2:17 Weather
2:56 Web Browser
3:11 Camera
3:37 Voice Memos
4:42 Clock & "Google" App
5:10 Music
5:49 FM Radio
6:37 Video Recording Test
7:22 Google Assistant
7:34 Google Maps
8:11 YouTube
9:01 Conclusion

#flipphone #smartphone #cellphone