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Affordable phones will always be a compromise, but Google hopes it can make entry-level devices a bit better with something new: Android Go. It's the same Android platform you know and presumably love, but optimized for sub-1GB RAM environments. That way low-end hardware can have its own low-end version of Android, rather than suffering an OEM debate between shoehorning in the latest version to perform terribly, or an older version which won't be secure or feature-filled.Enter the Alcatel 1X. It's the second Android Go device to hit the US behind the ZTE Tempo Go—and the only one you can actually buy right now—at a mere $100.So how much does $100 get you? Simultaneously more and less than you'd expect. Alcatel manages to bring the budget space into the future with a TCL-made 18:9 screen, fingerprint reader, and Android Oreo (Go edition)—that's actually the name, I'm not kidding. But entry-level phones are by necessity a compromise, and the low-end panel, MediaTek chipset, and 1GB RAM reflect that.
Alcatel and TCL have been teasing the 1X since just MWC. It was the first of the Android Go phones to be revealed, but now it looks like it will be the 2nd to hit stateside—following ZTE's Tempo Go, which you can't actually buy anymore. Thankfully, today TCL and Alcatel have just announced that the Alcatel 1X will be landing in the US on Amazon next week, delivering Android Oreo Go edition and an 18:9 display for only $99.