Alcatel Idol 3 will be available for pre-orders online for $249 starting April 21, the company has announced.
The pre-order price, which Alcatel told us about when we first saw the device in late February, is slightly lower than the suggested retailed price of $279. Both prices are for an unlocked device.
The price, Alcatel argues, is "outrageous" for a device with a 5.5-inch, full HD screen, an octa-core, 1.7GHz processor, a 13-megapixel camera (coupled with an 8-megapixel one on the front), 2GB of RAM, 16GB of memory (expandable via microSD cards), LTE support and a 2,910mAh battery.
The Idol 3 is also quite special in one regard: Besides having dual front speakers, it also has dual microphones, and can be used, for example, to make a phone call even if you hold it upside down.
The pre-ordered devices will be shipping to consumers in May.
The Idol 3 is also available as a 4.7-inch, slightly less powerful version. Alcatel told us it's coming "later in 2015" but did not mention the pricing for that variant.