The $5 Smartphone - Is It Any Good?

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  • čas přidán 6. 05. 2021
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    Today we're gonna explore a smartphone that only costs $5. Well... at least for right now. Tracfone offers this TCL A1 Android phone for $5 if you purchase a minimum $15 service plan. Is it any good?
    As of late 2023, the phone doesn't seem to be available from TracFone anymore.
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Komentáře • 3K

  • @ProfMannion
    @ProfMannion Před 3 lety +6741

    It's okay, but for $5 I expect more Solitaire.

  • @Doxxy0
    @Doxxy0 Před 3 lety +3191

    I always love it when the weaker a phone is, the more bloatware they preinstall

    • @ilyasg2108
      @ilyasg2108 Před 2 lety +228

      incorrect, bloatware depends on the carrier. my brand new s21 plus 5g installed about 30 apps on Verizon that I had to disable, not including carrier apps.

    • @placyd
      @placyd Před 2 lety +28

      11:54

    • @goldegreen
      @goldegreen Před 2 lety +166

      @@ilyasg2108 this is why you buy unlocked whenever possible lol

    • @ilyasg2108
      @ilyasg2108 Před 2 lety +17

      @@goldegreen true, I just wanted the sale price lol

    • @ilyasg2108
      @ilyasg2108 Před 2 lety +2

      @@xxTexas_outlaw71xxttv if it’s rooted then obviously

  • @MordecaiTheAwesomeBluejay
    @MordecaiTheAwesomeBluejay Před 3 lety +2737

    Solitaire in 1995: Double click it and start playing
    Solitaire in 2021: GIVE US YOUR DATA. LOCATION. AND PHONE NUMBER

    • @tvvoty
      @tvvoty Před 3 lety +201

      And also your debit card credentials

    • @californium-2526
      @californium-2526 Před 3 lety +97

      @@tvvoty And your spleen.

    • @rcmero
      @rcmero Před 3 lety +50

      Microsoft from 2017: Pfff... Amateurs.

    • @XaneMyers
      @XaneMyers Před 3 lety +42

      And you must randomly be an adult to play…Solitaire now! 😄

    • @Volodimar
      @Volodimar Před 3 lety +44

      YOUR CLOTHES AND MOTORCYCLE

  • @junoperberry
    @junoperberry Před rokem +608

    I love how this $5 phone comes with more extras than $1000+ phones do

    • @jovinorlandez5663
      @jovinorlandez5663 Před rokem +30

      iphone: uhhhhhhhhhh, not me

    • @sparky6757
      @sparky6757 Před rokem +55

      Are you referring to the bloatware that no sane person would actually want, or

    • @NR20244
      @NR20244 Před rokem +48

      @@sparky6757 I think they mean accessories (chargers, etc…)

    • @irfanyxp3489
      @irfanyxp3489 Před rokem +13

      ​​@@NR20244 yeah now Samsung ditch charger in their non flagship too like a54 🤦‍♂️
      I miss when my father bought an a10 with earphone in the box...

    • @Lord_Mika
      @Lord_Mika Před rokem +11

      Iphone users: "b..but MY CAMERA!!"

  • @Zerbey
    @Zerbey Před 2 lety +397

    I had an AT&T branded Alcatel that I paid about $15 for as an emergency phone, it was also network locked to AT&T but I was using it with a Cricket SIM and it activated just fine (since AT&T own Cricket). Ended up giving it to my kid and he used it for a year. Ran Android 5.1.1 and could run a few basic Apps like CZcams, perfectly fine for a kid's phone.

    • @life0num2
      @life0num2 Před rokem

      you're a monster

    • @qwertykeyboard5901
      @qwertykeyboard5901 Před rokem +18

      Hell, im typing this comment from an alcatel a571vl (also android 5.1.1).

    • @birddude3123
      @birddude3123 Před rokem +7

      @@qwertykeyboard5901ain’t no way boy

    • @qwertykeyboard5901
      @qwertykeyboard5901 Před rokem +13

      @@birddude3123 Yes way boy. Its slow, but works.

    • @Catnapreal7
      @Catnapreal7 Před rokem +1

      I used a moto x on Android 4.4 was ok but no app support

  • @rahulchandra152
    @rahulchandra152 Před 3 lety +5828

    Imagine your a 6th grader and your parents just got you this phone. You thank them and tell all of your friends you got a phone. Then you see this is in your recommended.....

  • @RadwanGamerTV
    @RadwanGamerTV Před 9 měsíci +4

    "Mom can I get an android phone?"
    "You have a phone at home."
    The phone:

  • @dakotajohnston6809
    @dakotajohnston6809 Před 2 lety +83

    I remember buying this model of phone like 2 years ago, there is a way of stopping the bloatware auto app install by force stopping a bunch of functions in the settings (I can't remember which ones you have to force stop though) once you do that and delete the bloatware It wasn't all that bad if you didn't care about taking photos.

    • @jexanderarvelo3277
      @jexanderarvelo3277 Před 9 měsíci +7

      My dumbass will just force stop every single thing and hope that I don’t break it

    • @acronym.4328
      @acronym.4328 Před 3 měsíci +1

      Universal Android Debloater can clear this thing up quite a lot, I think.

  • @brandon_kig5785
    @brandon_kig5785 Před 3 lety +1049

    Sooner or later, smartphones are gonna hit dollar stores.
    Edit: A lot of people are telling me they already do. While I appreciate the replies, at the time, I was thinking of stores like Dollar Tree and 99 Cents Store, and the phones costing only $1.

    • @djspookyty
      @djspookyty Před 3 lety +40

      @wraithwarrior Same here. But they're like $15+

    • @brandon_kig5785
      @brandon_kig5785 Před 3 lety +83

      @wraithwarrior I forgot that Dollar General sells phones. I was thinking of stores more like Dollar Tree for example.

    • @Zircon
      @Zircon Před 3 lety +12

      They already have

    • @jlewwis1995
      @jlewwis1995 Před 3 lety +38

      They already have, they're pretty shit ones of course but they're there

    • @LSniumUwU
      @LSniumUwU Před 3 lety +118

      I get free phones from peoples backpacks at starbucks.

  • @Techtype_
    @Techtype_ Před 3 lety +364

    *solitaire wants to know your location, play itself in the background and send messages every 10 seconds reminding you to play solitaire*

    • @reimarpb
      @reimarpb Před 2 lety +5

      I have a feeling those notifications also would be ads

  • @memesalvv3226
    @memesalvv3226 Před rokem +4

    You just unlocked a memory that was deep in my childhood this phone was my second phone I ever had thanks for the memories

  • @nategg481
    @nategg481 Před 3 lety +943

    This just goes to show how far things have come and how cheap the possibilities are.
    if by some miracle this came out in 2011 or so, it would've been an absolute beast of a phone.

    • @sokool3994
      @sokool3994 Před 2 lety +132

      Even in 2013, this would've been considered a midrange phone.

    • @nahrafe
      @nahrafe Před 2 lety +62

      @@sokool3994 i had a Lenovo a6000+ back then in 2015. At the time 2 GB of RAM in android is just very powerful. At 2013 i think the usual ram would be not more than 1 GB.

    • @danif620
      @danif620 Před 2 lety +22

      Thats the point. It did not came is 2011 lol. And is using old outdated technology. Ofcourse a flagship phone with latest features right now would probably be worth $20 in the next decade lol.

    • @ivebeenmemed
      @ivebeenmemed Před 2 lety +7

      iPhone 4S was out in 2011, that would've destroyed this phone

    • @sokool3994
      @sokool3994 Před 2 lety +39

      @@ivebeenmemed Eh, not sure about that one.

  • @deadchannellol7777
    @deadchannellol7777 Před 3 lety +455

    The Weather app: *"Tap to configure"*
    Wow, I've never expected that a cellphone can change the whole weather of the world just by a one click, with only 5 dollars! Damn the technology has improved too much...

  • @morganlittle8404
    @morganlittle8404 Před 2 lety +8

    Back in 2019 I worked as a Temp at Ingram Micro Mobility where we put this device in the clam shell packs. The battery was shipped already installed... They turned on while packing, like alot of them.

  • @jb888888888
    @jb888888888 Před rokem +30

    The solitaire auto-install thing might be Tracfone. A while back I was at a local grocery store and used their free wifi on a Tracfone-branded A51; suddenly there were two or three or four games on my desktop I'm 1000% sure I didn't install. I thought I might have been hacked via the store's wifi. I'm also pretty sure that they didn't show up when I had updated the OS.

    • @kalyxo_tb
      @kalyxo_tb Před 8 měsíci +1

      Correct, I had Tracfone for many years and it seems over the last 5 years or so they started doing this. Started with just Facebook and Messenger but now it's various strange games, TikTok, etc. At least they can be uninstalled, which was not the case earlier with FB and Messenger.

  • @ashkyper
    @ashkyper Před 3 lety +344

    “solitaire would like to access your social security number and credit card information”

    • @greatcanadianmoose3965
      @greatcanadianmoose3965 Před 3 lety +33

      Most people: "Seems reasonable"

    • @nukiradio
      @nukiradio Před 3 lety +19

      Your mother's maiden credit card and the last four digits of your dog

    • @thatoneuser5066
      @thatoneuser5066 Před 3 lety +18

      You can get a deck of cards for less than the price of this phone and it doesn't ask for any of your info.

    • @whale4565
      @whale4565 Před 3 lety +6

      @@nukiradio where would I find the last four digits of my dog?

    • @Realtimeless
      @Realtimeless Před 3 lety +5

      pup software

  • @nb5029
    @nb5029 Před 3 lety +282

    You use to be able to just buy the phones a few years back. But people were using them for projects and buying them in bulk and never activating so they changed it.

    • @FatCatCooper
      @FatCatCooper Před 3 lety +12

      You still can

    • @spacexplorer_
      @spacexplorer_ Před 3 lety +31

      _Plainrock124 flashbacks_

    • @ggggg7340
      @ggggg7340 Před 3 lety +8

      Really? They were like 10 or so, I do not recall $5 phone ever being a thing without plan.

    • @dzvxo
      @dzvxo Před 3 lety +12

      @@ggggg7340 Straight Talk sold the ZTE Paragon for $5 with no plan purchase required as recently as 2018. Granted, the phone had no LTE so they were probably just trying to get them out the door as fast as possible before VoLTE would be required (I assume). They offered it reconditioned with a 1 year warranty and $10 shipping reduced to free. I picked one up for the fun of it, and it's a fun little phone to mess around with.

    • @gogreen1675
      @gogreen1675 Před 2 lety

      @@FatCatCooper how

  • @brysonhahn8736
    @brysonhahn8736 Před rokem +11

    i had this phone as my daily driver for 8months due to financial issues. it served as a good device in my time of need. some oddities i noticed. while the phone is good if you just want to send text messages and reply to emails. it could not seem to handle having both applications open simultaneously, i needed to close applications manually after using them to avoid freezing. also, while charging, the phone gets worryingly hot. i was scared to leave it on my bed in case of a house fire erupting . on a positive, the phone does take pleasant photos, that just don't show well on the poor quality screen, definitely not on the level of a 2022 flagship or dslr for that matter, but its perfectly fine for a photo that's just going to be posted to social media, as long as the lighting is adequate, as the low light captures are quite poor unfortunately.

  • @TheScepticalThinker
    @TheScepticalThinker Před 10 měsíci +8

    That was kinda fascinating to watch.
    Today, we have smartphones that are more capable than the very 1st PC.
    Their most expensive plan in today's standard is actually criminal, tbh.

  • @Thornskade
    @Thornskade Před 3 lety +489

    Even at $20 this is still a lot cheaper than a Raspberry Pi. Kinda insane.

    • @8koi245
      @8koi245 Před rokem +9

      lmao true

    • @lucerodj11
      @lucerodj11 Před 9 měsíci +4

      but raspberry pi is still more powerful.. it is a computer. This is a smartphone..

    • @Thornskade
      @Thornskade Před 9 měsíci +31

      @@lucerodj11 Smartphones are computers.

    • @randomchannel9331
      @randomchannel9331 Před 9 měsíci +6

      @@Thornskade the pi still is faster nonetheless

    • @paulsitt
      @paulsitt Před 9 měsíci +6

      If only phones have accessible & programmable GPIO pins with all the peripherals, then nobody would buy a pi anymore.

  • @ManleyEvangelista
    @ManleyEvangelista Před 3 lety +216

    I remember seeing this for $10 at a Rite Aid (during my US Trip two years ago). Knowing that I couldn't buy something like this in my country for that price. I decided to buy up all of their stocks. Then went to another store and did the same. Ended up with 8.
    I gave them all to my nieces and little cousins back at home. Even for a Wifi only thing, it's still a bargain for $10. And if they break it, then it's not a huge loss.

  • @12puppeez1
    @12puppeez1 Před 2 lety +27

    Little bit of info.. tracfone has always been known, at least to me, to only allow their sims in phone. Back in 2008 or so when I got my first tracfone (first phone ever) you couldn't even switch Sims between TracFones they would only allow a number transfer. I just remember always having to either just get a new number everytime I lost or broke a phone or settle for an hour long phone call with TracFone to get the number swapped. Hope this clears up some things even a little

    • @CatsRobloxOther2nd
      @CatsRobloxOther2nd Před rokem +1

      I have tracfone even on a unlocked phone, lol thanks zte blade

    • @parrotube_bg3557
      @parrotube_bg3557 Před rokem

      2000$ u phone

    • @parodylover999
      @parodylover999 Před 6 měsíci

      they started unlocking for 2014 models, and in 11/21 they shorted the eligibilty to 2 months instead of a year

  • @lucash1955
    @lucash1955 Před 2 lety +21

    i love how a 5 dollar phone has a more complete box than a 1k dollar phone

  • @CEO100able
    @CEO100able Před 3 lety +1163

    That is the cheapest cell phone deal I've ever seen!

    • @justforgames3550
      @justforgames3550 Před 3 lety +54

      There was a 125 ruppess phone in india but the production cuz it was a scam

    • @marysridhar_nvc4975
      @marysridhar_nvc4975 Před 3 lety +9

      @@justforgames3550 yes

    • @marysridhar_nvc4975
      @marysridhar_nvc4975 Před 3 lety +18

      @@justforgames3550 but it's a fuckin bad phone

    • @nimaprox1270
      @nimaprox1270 Před 3 lety +5

      with pre-installed sh*tty games that this phone can‘t handle it

    • @hqna
      @hqna Před 3 lety +7

      There was an Italian company called "Altroconsumo" actually made a 2€ phone and gave it for free to anyone who had a subscription to their "journal'

  • @Tonlah
    @Tonlah Před rokem +25

    I use this as my extra phone for offline music and basic emulation. Through testing, it can handle anything from the NES to the DS, but struggles with N64 / full 3D graphics. VLC Player helps with low volume issue for media. I used a 32GB SD Card for media storage, and left the internal space for software updates. Not bad at all for $5 - $10 anyhow

    • @JudeTheYoutubePoopersubscribe
      @JudeTheYoutubePoopersubscribe Před rokem +3

      Literally costs less than a big mac lol

    • @adriancoanda9227
      @adriancoanda9227 Před rokem +3

      Cmon it worked you may say but 2 gb ram ah never had such low ram but you can download from play store swap no root and create swap memory on the internal nand, it helps with multitasking and background apps well going from an s22 ultra where the main core is 2x faster that the entire cpu , and with 16gb ram real ram not the storage, the storage is 1 tb nvme , y installed kali nethunter on top of android 13 y don't know what y would do with sunc devices probably stop using it besides phone calls and even if it's locked the unlock on android 8 is easy

  • @leonidas14775
    @leonidas14775 Před 3 lety +96

    This thing could be good with a custom rom. Even phones with 1GB ram can run smoothly if the software is well optimized for it.

    • @antigov3944
      @antigov3944 Před rokem +17

      It’s a year later now. I’m sure the android general development thread on xda is filled with development for this lol

    • @parodylover999
      @parodylover999 Před 6 měsíci

      LOL good luck flashing any tracfone device

    • @arostwocents
      @arostwocents Před 6 měsíci

      The specs are pretty awesome actually

  • @MidniqhtGaming
    @MidniqhtGaming Před rokem +5

    My uncle has a couple of the phones from TCL. They're pretty decent and they run faster than my a11, but my a11 is older, while his phones are a bit newer. From what I've seen, they work great for streaming, and some gaming.

  • @agent-33
    @agent-33 Před 2 lety +3

    12:12 I miss this quality settings. :(
    So sad CZcams app is dumbing down, removing simplicity.

  • @ProtoMario
    @ProtoMario Před 3 lety +739

    Tcl makes amazingly good TVs for the value.

    • @blackmambo2526
      @blackmambo2526 Před 3 lety +22

      Hi verified person

    • @Isopromptyl
      @Isopromptyl Před 3 lety +5

      I recognize Tcl from their plugin.

    • @andrive
      @andrive Před 3 lety +6

      C'mon tryna get likes again?

    • @IAm-zo1bo
      @IAm-zo1bo Před 3 lety +16

      shut up verified person

    • @TheVinchenzo130
      @TheVinchenzo130 Před 3 lety +4

      PROTO!!!!! Yes they even make Roku tvs and picture is actually really nice

  • @Carbine64
    @Carbine64 Před 3 lety +554

    He opens the box at 3:32.
    He turns on the phone at 7:28.
    He watches CZcams at 11:50.

    • @lightsthegod
      @lightsthegod Před 2 lety +106

      Thanks He was Doing Very Uselees Crap and Did I not Care about,
      Again THANKS

    • @windowsdefender7685
      @windowsdefender7685 Před 2 lety +90

      thanks mate. dude was talking in FFXIV quest dialogue

    • @richbob9155
      @richbob9155 Před 2 lety +30

      He admits the phone is actually several hundred dollars and not 5 at 1:10.

    • @xtreamfish6869
      @xtreamfish6869 Před 2 lety

      Thanks

    • @midloran
      @midloran Před 2 lety +2

      Here's a hug for you

  • @SanTenChan
    @SanTenChan Před 9 měsíci +3

    Great review for a great phone 📱

  • @vengirgirem
    @vengirgirem Před 9 měsíci +3

    The shocking thing is that this phone is still faster than my grandma's phone which she doesn't want to change at all

  • @HungarianMapping
    @HungarianMapping Před 3 lety +128

    The most watched vintage tech Channel for me

  • @utzufideli9769
    @utzufideli9769 Před 3 lety +240

    I bought one, installed the ubuntu touch lite rom and its actually quite usable. It even runs minecraft java 1.12.2 with 18 fps.
    Edit: Will use it to host a minecraft server at home using portmap and ubuntu server for arm.

  • @themyth3686
    @themyth3686 Před rokem +2

    1)Crazy how a 5$ phone has Facebook pre-installed. I hate it.
    2)The fact it got an update is awesome
    3) CZcams working is impressive. Making this a raspberry pi os phone would DEFINETELY help.
    4) Speaker is alright
    5) It literally works for 5$. If you're in a bind I guess it's a good thing to buy

  • @TaccRaccoon
    @TaccRaccoon Před rokem +2

    I remember my tracfone, it was dark days.
    It came with 4gb of storage, deleted bloatware and then downloaded what I needed and then had to delete that to update stuff

    • @TaccRaccoon
      @TaccRaccoon Před rokem

      And no I couldn’t get more storage with the microsd card slot, just for pictures which helped a little

  • @saharshnair1258
    @saharshnair1258 Před 3 lety +30

    I remember 6 years ago when I got a free tablet from t mobile. I got it for free for this back to school thing, and it only has 1gb ram. I can't complain because it was free. The thing is I'm using this to write this comment you are reading right now

  • @picklr3893
    @picklr3893 Před 3 lety +60

    I love when you review these budget gadgets

  • @NDPugman
    @NDPugman Před 2 lety +1

    This was actually my first smartphone you brought back some memories

  • @Ijustexistokaynoquestionpls
    @Ijustexistokaynoquestionpls Před 8 měsíci +2

    I’m staring to think this phone is downloading every app in existence until App Store doesn’t exist anymore

  • @21units
    @21units Před 2 lety +176

    It's pretty decent for $5 tbh. I'd buy this for my young nephew or niece just to watch youtube in or play with. Or it would be a quick replacement for when your phone breaks or something

    • @aquaponieee
      @aquaponieee Před rokem +13

      Please do not, ever. Watch CZcams? Play with? Please. It'll give them childhood trauma faster than it can even load the keyboard. Trust me, I owned a similar device back in the day and it is just not worth it, for 5$ you're better off getting a flip phone than this.

    • @HASHii-mf8vo
      @HASHii-mf8vo Před rokem +5

      @@aquaponieee true. I bought an iphone 6 preowned that i got for 35$ for my little brother cause he likes to watch youtube toy reviews etc. The iphone itself is in pretty good shape and enough for my little bro.

    • @jackwilson5542
      @jackwilson5542 Před 4 měsíci

      You need to purchase a sh*tty $15 24 month plan with it though. (0.5GB of data) If it was $5 unlocked then we could talk.

  • @aidanjackson1791
    @aidanjackson1791 Před 3 lety +21

    The four horseman of $5 things on MJD:
    $5 Dell Dimension
    $5 Win98 PC
    $5 Packard Bell
    $5 Smartphone

  • @Flopster101
    @Flopster101 Před 2 lety +3

    I have that same charger which came from god knows where. It also has the US plug which happens to be one of the two only uncommon plug types in Argentina, so I had to bend the pins with pliers for it to fit the typical australian plug we use here.

  • @maisaanmohamed1267
    @maisaanmohamed1267 Před 2 lety

    I don't know why you're frustration seem so hilarious 😂 I love it I gave a thumbs up great Vedio 😂👍

  • @thatonewhitedude731
    @thatonewhitedude731 Před 3 lety +85

    A whole $5 tech setup would be awesome. Everything in the room is 5 dollar or less. Pc, monitor, mouse, keyboard, phone and anything else. Where everything is $5 or less

  • @rileyowens9033
    @rileyowens9033 Před 3 lety +31

    I just love how you speak and present stuff. Clear, as unbiased as possible, refreshing, and funny af. Platonically love you, Michael!!!

  • @adriancoanda9227
    @adriancoanda9227 Před rokem +5

    You can disable animation timer or reduce it to 0.1 in developer tools

  • @laurilaur1595
    @laurilaur1595 Před rokem +4

    7:30 if u wanna see the phone

  • @sebastiandalton3981
    @sebastiandalton3981 Před 3 lety +22

    That phone has better specs than my $60 Android tablet from 2016. 1Gb more ram, better display, camera, OS, storage, expandable memory. The tablet is the RCA Voyager 7.

    • @juangutierrez5400
      @juangutierrez5400 Před 3 lety +1

      I have that too, expect mine dies very quick.

    • @adriancoanda9227
      @adriancoanda9227 Před rokem

      Ah where do you people find such low spec devices and why bother buying not even wi-fi is update damm that means y should compete with pc hardware oh 1820 - 2800 MHz 8 / 84 nm, 5G NR Sub-6GHz, 5G NR mmWave, LTE Cat. 24/22, LPDDR5-RAM, Dual-Core NPU, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, The iGPU is the first that uses an architecture by AMD (RDNA 2, like the Radeon 660M in the Ryzen 6000 chips). Current information from Geekbench ML points to 3 CUs (=192 shaders). And that multiplied by 2 cause mine has dual gpu set-up

    • @aquaponieee
      @aquaponieee Před rokem

      Thing is, in the past such low specs were completely normal and the OS was made with it in mind, and also your tablet probably doesn't have as much Chinese spyware running in the background all the time installing new apps randomly

    • @yazezy
      @yazezy Před 7 měsíci

      MY PC IS THE SAME as your android i have 1gb ram

  • @rptube16
    @rptube16 Před 3 lety +52

    I don't think there's any reason to watch 1080p video on a non hd display. But the bloatware makes my gut hurt! 😆

    • @juangutierrez5400
      @juangutierrez5400 Před 3 lety +1

      I know how it feels.

    • @pasci_lei
      @pasci_lei Před 3 lety +4

      I just watched this video on my iPhone 7 with like a 750p screen in 1080p flawless. That thing has like 2 GB of RAM.

    • @computernerdinside
      @computernerdinside Před 3 lety +7

      @@pasci_lei iPhones however tend to be a bit better at software optimization.

    • @StevenVillman
      @StevenVillman Před 3 lety +1

      @RPtube
      Yeah... especially on a small screen (like all smartphones have there)!

    • @computernerdinside
      @computernerdinside Před 3 lety

      @@basedSkeleton That and because since their hardware selection is smaller, there's a lot shorter of a list. Hence why long term support for updates tends to last longer on iPhone, because fewer phones to optimize for vs the wide variety of androids. Variety is nice, but the cost is optimization.

  • @noob-ishnoob749
    @noob-ishnoob749 Před 2 lety +7

    Never have I thought that a brand like TCL would make such affordable phones. This is still good though, for a secondary phone.

  • @captainchris2
    @captainchris2 Před 3 lety +36

    The bloat ware apps and games are installed by tracfone and not TCL (if you buy a Tracfone device from another brand, you will get the same apps)

    • @n.d1282
      @n.d1282 Před 3 lety +2

      I remember alcatel had alot of bloatware on specific carriers i think
      I remember that the S3 or S4 T com version had alot of damn bloat

  • @Mico605
    @Mico605 Před 3 lety +175

    I think with a custom clean rom it would run much faster

    • @wideasriel
      @wideasriel Před 2 lety +9

      So true, same happened to me for Amazon Fire 7 2017

    • @m4t7eo
      @m4t7eo Před 2 lety +7

      Who is gonna develop it for that tho?

    • @Alias_Anybody
      @Alias_Anybody Před 2 lety +3

      With that Mediatek processor there's basically zero chance even if someone tried.

    • @VDavid003
      @VDavid003 Před 2 lety +6

      @@Alias_Anybody Actually most mediatek phones are so generic, they can almost run any other phone's os with barely any modifications, and since this comes with Android 8, you can just slap a GSI on it

    • @fastlane005
      @fastlane005 Před 2 lety

      @@Alias_Anybody some mediatek phones have development

  • @SubtotalAnt8185
    @SubtotalAnt8185 Před 2 lety

    I have a slow RCA voyager pro and it was slow until I went into battery optimization and disabled battery optimization for the "system" app. It's fast now.

  • @ONLY7EN
    @ONLY7EN Před 7 měsíci +1

    This was my first phone! It was a government phone and I used it to play cod mobile and Minecraft in third grade... Wow did not expect this much nostalgia from a tech video. 😊

    • @ONLY7EN
      @ONLY7EN Před 7 měsíci +1

      This was new when I got it too. I remember running out of texts when my grandma was messaging me lol.

  • @acupuncturekid
    @acupuncturekid Před 3 lety +17

    Both of my kids who are in elementary school have this phone. It's perfect to start them out and not get into too much data trouble at school. It's mainly used to call the parents or relatives when going out or on the school bus

    • @ananttiwari1337
      @ananttiwari1337 Před 3 lety +7

      That's a nice use for the phone

    • @newolku
      @newolku Před 3 lety +2

      I would get something else for them that wasn't bloated and was more locked down as kids tend to install garbage from the play store.

    • @acupuncturekid
      @acupuncturekid Před 3 lety +5

      @@newolku this video didn't show the 1 hour spent deleting and uninstalling apps. And turning off so many features. It literally has phone, texting, GPS, and a parental app.

    • @Terminal_Apotos
      @Terminal_Apotos Před rokem +4

      As long as it Downloads Subway Surfer and CZcams an Elementary schooler won’t complain Lol

    • @domar6274
      @domar6274 Před 4 měsíci

      ​@@Terminal_ApotosTimes have changed now ,they need more than that.

  • @sourgrapekate1003
    @sourgrapekate1003 Před 3 lety +135

    I think if I want to drive myself crazy, instead of paying $20 for this, I’ll just go to Aldi on a Saturday when there’s one register open.

    • @oceanforth21
      @oceanforth21 Před 3 lety +5

      Too real

    • @MichaelMJD
      @MichaelMJD  Před 3 lety +70

      I think I was very reasonable in the video. I even pointed out some genuine uses for the phone. I would rather buy this than the $20 flip phone. It’s quite irritating to read comments accusing me of doing nothing but trash talking the phone when that just isn’t true. I pointed out genuine issues that a user would experience. Do you actually believe I was expecting flagship level performance from a phone that costs $5? Would you rather me do the opposite and give the phone a ton of praise and say nothing negative about it? Because trust me, if I did, I’d see tons of comments accusing me of being a “sell out” (even though this isn’t an ad, and I get nothing if you end up buying the phone). In fact, I’ve already seen a couple of those comments on this video. Yeah that’s right, the same video you watched and thought I was being too negative, somebody else watched and thought I was being too positive. I don’t think I was being either.

    • @Shrek_Has_Covid19
      @Shrek_Has_Covid19 Před 3 lety +1

      steal phone=$free

    • @IAm-zo1bo
      @IAm-zo1bo Před 3 lety +1

      I have a good phone and i could survive with this easily and i'm 16

    • @mikeyyt737
      @mikeyyt737 Před 3 lety +7

      @@MichaelMJD bro just ignore what people say , you probably spent a few minutes typing that up, trust me you will feel better if you do what I’m saying, when someone says something that bothers you, just keep scrolling dawg, feel me?

  • @SamsonSilvo
    @SamsonSilvo Před 9 měsíci +1

    8:15
    It wouldn't be a Michael MJD video if something didn't go wrong. LOL

  • @rhysjonesoffical
    @rhysjonesoffical Před 9 měsíci +1

    A great use for this phone would be to turn it into a security camera with an app like alfred camera

  • @damqn4etobg
    @damqn4etobg Před 3 lety +7

    By far the best vintage channel I have ever watched!

  • @pewdiefanno19
    @pewdiefanno19 Před 3 lety +17

    10:35 , those apps are preloaded/ downloaded automatically when you connect to internet, as the apps manufacturer has paid the Smart phone companies to do that, so that, there would be profit for the app manufacturer as well as profit for the Cell Phone company

  • @somecuntxxx
    @somecuntxxx Před 2 měsíci

    I had an Alcatel my flip 1 and 2, I thought the first phone was okay but the second one blew my mind with the Google services. Nice simplicity, not way too much function but for a phone I really really liked it. I wouldn't put it above me to buy another KaiOS flip phone!

  • @qwertykeyboard5901
    @qwertykeyboard5901 Před rokem

    I have a broken Stratus C5 “Elite”, which has extremely similar specs.
    Everything and anything even remotely related to google play services got nuked.
    It’s not bad. It does like to choke on “Vector Pinball” which... isn’t good.
    Thats the general them. It occasionally slows down (especially if something is running in the background). Stuff like web browsing is snappy though!

  • @RockMadeHome
    @RockMadeHome Před 3 lety +46

    This is a really good channel, greetings from Chile, Michael!

    • @UltimatusVirsus
      @UltimatusVirsus Před 3 lety +7

      I tried to buy the phone but it turns out that they don't ship to Chile XD

    • @RockMadeHome
      @RockMadeHome Před 3 lety +6

      ​@@UltimatusVirsus hahaha yeah, sadly Chile is like the last corner of the world :( (literally xD)

    • @StevenVillman
      @StevenVillman Před 3 lety +2

      @@UltimatusVirsus Hmm, I wonder if they will ship to Canada (my country)...? 🤔

    • @TheGrandGamerOfficial
      @TheGrandGamerOfficial Před 2 lety

      I bet you a million dollars they sell it to china

  • @saharshnair1258
    @saharshnair1258 Před 3 lety +18

    Solitaire in 2004: click button to start playing
    Solitaire now: OK we gonna know where u live and we can bother u by sending notifications

  • @AlexandruLipan
    @AlexandruLipan Před 10 měsíci

    The definition of a smartphone is basically:
    A device able to connect to cellular network and able to:
    • have the capability of connecting to the web
    • add apps or applets able to extend the software functionalities
    • receive updates based on the user preferences
    Kai OS feature phones are, for all intent and purpose, smartphones, but is probably a gimmick to avoid certain software taxes.

  • @leyria
    @leyria Před 7 měsíci

    I had a cell phone like this, I used it between 2017 and 2019. Although I didn't buy it through this store, but in a store here in my country. I remember I picked it up because it was very cheap and I was low on money.
    It's full of bloatware, I spent months trying to get as much out of it as possible... The videos only play well with 360p or 480p, it doesn't play FLAC music, the space is really small, I always had problems updating WhatsApp or the platstore.
    In the end I kept it for as long as I could, but the battery didn't last at all, 24 hours at most, even when idle. I looked for a replacement battery but couldn't find one. I tried some generic batteries but they didn't last at all.
    When I bought it, the marketing was about changing the back cover of the device, I still have mine here in the box. It had 4 colors I think, and it came with them all.

  • @DeepfriedChips
    @DeepfriedChips Před 3 lety +3

    Wow been planning this video for a long time, appreciate it

  • @mr.bonzibuddy69420
    @mr.bonzibuddy69420 Před 2 lety +4

    Google: Can I Download Candy Crush?
    Me: No, Not Right Now.
    Google: How About I Do It Anyway?

  • @SuburbaniteUrbanite
    @SuburbaniteUrbanite Před rokem

    Before I was gifted my iPhone SE 2020 I was using alcatel which is a budget phone provider and tracfone's pay per minute plan, basically just buy a 30, 60, 90 day plan with a set amount of talk, text and data. These phones on their own are trash because of the tiny internal storage... that is now they can be made so cheaply in stores. They really shine when you buy a 32-128gb SD card. Perfectly fine for daily use, used mine for 6 years after my basic smartphone stopped holding a charge.

  • @jaymullins102
    @jaymullins102 Před rokem

    I have the same phone I got it a couple years ago for like $7.50 at rite aid and forgot about till my iphone broke it's not really fast but it gets the job done it's a great backup phone and the hotspot works really well if you just want something to use as portable wifi this is perfect it can even power my laptop just fine

  • @PainweedingPills
    @PainweedingPills Před 3 lety +57

    If my phone would start downloading random apps i don't want, i'm factory resetting it to oblivion. I'll backup my files first though. Don't want to lose everything, you know?

    • @TheClockUpOnTheWall
      @TheClockUpOnTheWall Před 3 lety +1

      You should be backing up your files on any device already, including your phone regardless of what it does or doesn't install.

    • @chiffoncreme3247
      @chiffoncreme3247 Před 3 lety +1

      Pretty sure that's coming from an app that's preinstalled on the phone

    • @brutus3631
      @brutus3631 Před 3 lety +6

      Better to just install a custom ROM, bc the software on the phone downloads it by default

  • @yigitdurmus2407
    @yigitdurmus2407 Před 3 lety +18

    Definitely one of the most underrated channels! Nice voice btw!

  • @carkeynosgr2788
    @carkeynosgr2788 Před 9 měsíci +1

    Can't remember what model but I had bought a TCL last year for 200$ for second device and it's fkn awesome, fast, smooth, impressive camera for its price.
    Like a 350$ smartphone from a bigger company would get you.
    TCL is a diamond when it comes to low end smartphones you always get 50-70% more that what you paying compared to the market.
    I've used SAMSUNG a12 and Realme 8 5g as secondary devices with the same amount of money and both was WAYY worse, Realme was good, still have it for my payments etc but uncomfortable with TCL

  • @cawproductions3072
    @cawproductions3072 Před rokem

    I have a TCL A3X that I sometimes watch your videos on, funny enough.

  • @feliperodrigues2069
    @feliperodrigues2069 Před 3 lety +4

    As someone who is using a TCL C5 (I think it's exclusive for Latin America), I have some points:
    - The launcher there seems better, the TCL C5 launcher didn't have the gesture to open the app list, so every time I swipped up it opened an ad. Because of it, I installed Pixel Launcher.
    - For some reason, Calculator, File Manager and Smart Manager received updates to show banners in the notifications.
    - My phone has the same processor (MT6739) and the same Ram size (2gb) but does not lag that much. If the processor is at 1,1GHz, I think it's underclocked for some reason. But maybe my one doesn't lag that much because I unistalled most of the bloatware

  • @HideoV
    @HideoV Před 3 lety +6

    I use one of these when I have to stay in the US for a few months. My phone is not compatible with 4G in the US, so I get a pack for my cheapo track phone phone and use it as WiFi access point for my actual phone

  • @adamwarlock3530
    @adamwarlock3530 Před 8 měsíci

    That looks exactly like my first smartphone, Even the background picture was the same.

  • @elmanoplas
    @elmanoplas Před 2 lety +1

    I bought my samsung j5 prime like 6 years ago for around 250US (latam prices) and literally it's the same as this phone, in fact, im watching this video on it...
    There r some second gaps between u clicking and the keyboard to appear, also the phones uses half of the space memory to work (8gb) and not only that, it happends to be like a nokia, not a single crack on those years of constant use

  • @adews7204
    @adews7204 Před 3 lety +20

    You should try emulating classic Windows on it with Limbo or iBochs!
    Great video!

    • @markusTegelane
      @markusTegelane Před 3 lety

      that would need some mad patience if something goes wrong, but it could work :)

    • @juangutierrez5400
      @juangutierrez5400 Před 3 lety

      Limbo won't work on the A1. I've tested it before and it doesn't install the app.

  • @windowsxp3790
    @windowsxp3790 Před 3 lety +75

    This is the fastest I’ve ever clicked

    • @PythonScratcher
      @PythonScratcher Před 3 lety +2

      This is the fastest comment I’ve clicked on

    • @roembol
      @roembol Před 3 lety +4

      @Windows 98 arent you technically his granddad (with Windows ME)?

    • @Alex_Bert_
      @Alex_Bert_ Před 3 lety +4

      @@roembol Shhhhh no one talks about Windows ME.

    • @winindowsdows
      @winindowsdows Před 3 lety +1

      @DamnMerasmus yeah

    • @winindowsdows
      @winindowsdows Před 3 lety

      Hello father

  • @ari_1755
    @ari_1755 Před rokem

    I have this and i use this for "system modding purposes" (rooting) like changing the navbar, unlocking the bootloader, experimenting

  • @ConsciousRobot
    @ConsciousRobot Před 2 lety

    That screen brings me back to my first smartphone, Droid

  • @diasstebanak
    @diasstebanak Před 3 lety +3

    Great video, Michael!

  • @zdanee
    @zdanee Před 3 lety +21

    Yeah, I hope you've used a burner account to log in there, otherwise the next video might possibly be just a 8 hours long Solitaire livestream on 4G data while the phone is in your pocket :)

    • @reboxtherapy
      @reboxtherapy Před 7 měsíci

      You could watch videos on something like this, however I don't mind paying $10 more for a basic 1G phone with real numeric pad buttons.

  • @justjohn9090
    @justjohn9090 Před rokem

    You had me at Solitaire

  • @coughcough6692
    @coughcough6692 Před 9 měsíci

    I bet if you unlock the ROM put a fast Android operating system it would probably be pretty Snappy

  • @annettemaldonado3373
    @annettemaldonado3373 Před 3 lety +17

    That moment when Solitare asks for your location

  • @Michaelmyrers0
    @Michaelmyrers0 Před 2 lety +5

    I keep seeing you in my recommendations. Now I finally subbed you.

  • @Spamton.G.Spamton..
    @Spamton.G.Spamton.. Před měsícem

    Literally my first phone from 5th grade... that thing sucked. But it was my first phone, and being a 5th grader, I had no problems with it. Still works to this day! I upgraded to an LG Pheonix 5, then a Galaxy A13 though.

  • @anacondadope550
    @anacondadope550 Před 2 lety +7

    These >$80 phones are actually really good value. I have a 5 year old alcatel alura i use as a backup and it still works pretty well considering it was $60.

  • @pasquale78
    @pasquale78 Před 3 lety +5

    Cool video Michael. Maybe you can try rooting the thing and install some others OS’s on this thing? It would also be cool to get a HTC Touch HD 2, on wich you can install just about any OS you can think of.

    • @sugaryhull9688
      @sugaryhull9688 Před 3 lety

      It's not unlocked, and I'm not aware of any exploits that allow that (Source: I had a variant of this phone when I was on Tracfone)

    • @juangutierrez5400
      @juangutierrez5400 Před 3 lety +1

      They're are root exploits. Just need to have some effort on your searches.

  • @WhitekidCvsual
    @WhitekidCvsual Před 3 lety +77

    Nobody:
    The weather: *TAP TO CONFIGURE*
    This confirms that Michael really is god, he can easily configure the weather... shit-

    • @giancarlo418
      @giancarlo418 Před 3 lety +2

      Lmao

    • @Vexxel256
      @Vexxel256 Před 3 lety +7

      JUST END THE FUCKING SENTENCE INSTEAD OF ENDING IT ON A CLIFFHANGER

    • @andricode
      @andricode Před 3 lety

      @@Vexxel256 shitholy

    • @imaperson9582
      @imaperson9582 Před 3 lety

      @@Vexxel256 why would they need to do that-

    • @Vexxel256
      @Vexxel256 Před 3 lety

      @@imaperson9582 BECAUSE I NEED AN ENDING TO THIS COMMENT IM DESPERATE

  • @SKareefAziz-eu9vy
    @SKareefAziz-eu9vy Před 4 měsíci

    What Android OS version does it use?

  • @taj681
    @taj681 Před 2 lety

    You do not have to sign in to get app updates, you can find the app updates in the 3 dot menu on the top right part of the screen

  • @thatoneuser5066
    @thatoneuser5066 Před 3 lety +9

    Also whatever happened to the original $5 PC? Do you plan making more videos on it?

  • @techstudiojbl
    @techstudiojbl Před 3 lety +18

    20 Years ago, this would be the best thing ever invented

    • @whyme3772
      @whyme3772 Před 2 lety +2

      Even in the late 2000s this would be considered a “good” phone

    • @WAncouvOR
      @WAncouvOR Před 2 lety

      @@whyme3772 in 2013 they could sell this for like $300.

    • @magik97
      @magik97 Před 2 lety +1

      20? That's ridiculous, lol. Less than 10 yrs

  • @franciszekmoszczynski6389

    I thought it was a budgetbuildsofficial video but this is Michaels, what a surprise

  • @dylanbacon4039
    @dylanbacon4039 Před 8 měsíci +1

    Actually is funny... my first smartphone was a Blu Advance 5.0. $80 on Amazon, 1gb ram and 2gb of storage. This just shows me that technology has advanced so much you can get 16gb in a phone a fraction of the price in just a few years... (typing from my s23 ultra now)

  • @bbomg02
    @bbomg02 Před 2 lety +6

    I usually just use my credit card or save up to get a more moderately priced phone that lasts me a few years. My last one lasted about 3 years before the display took a shit on me. I paid around 350 for my current phone, and it has been about a year or so no real issues. In fact the recent update kind of revitalized it a lot.

    • @ironiiioxide6167
      @ironiiioxide6167 Před rokem +1

      I always buy last gen used/refurbished flagships for dirt cheap 100% worth it