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Alcatel's A5 adopts for low-key sparkle

Alcatel's new A5 has a LED-lined case can flash to the sound of your voice. The company also brought new A3 and U5 phones to Mobile World Congress and the Alcatel Plus 12 is a two-in-one Windows 10 hybrid.

Kent German
Kent was a senior managing editor at CNET News. A veteran of CNET since 2003, he reviewed the first iPhone and worked in both the London and San Francisco offices. When not working, he's planning his next vacation, walking his dog or watching planes land at the airport (yes, really).
Kent German
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1 of 9 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

The big story about the otherwise ordinary Alcatel A5 is the optional case that's covered in LEDs.

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Snap it on and program the LEDs to light up when get a notification or sync to the sound of your voice

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The LEDS also will modulate with music. Just be warned that the case is powered by the phone's battery.

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The U5 is the trio's entry-level phone. Its 5-inch display has a 480x854-pixel resolution.

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Though it's technically the middle child, the A3 has the most powerful rear camera with a 13-megapixel resolution.

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The Alcatel Plus 12 is a two-in-one Windows 10 hybrid. You can use it just as a tablet or turn into a laptop by magnetically attaching it to the keyboard dock.

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All of the phones feel cheap -- which isn't surprising because they're not meant to be very expensive.

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The keyboard has a Qualcomm MDM9207 processor and 256MB of internal memory.

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The tablet portion has USB Type-C port and micro-HDMI ports, a microSD card slot and a 3.5-millimeter headset jack.

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