Tech tutorials, howtos and walkthroughs

Hello fans of all things Digicel!

Sorry to keep to keep waiting, but by now you must have heard of the huge lines for the massive fire sale of the DL750. The much–beloved DL750 is being sold for JA$3450 (JA$4312.50 when Tax is Included) announce on Digicel’s Twitter Feed on Friday December 5th 2014!

Launched on Friday September 24th 2014 as reported in Kelroy’s Blog article Digicel Launches the DL750, the DL750, which was really the same DL700 hardware upgraded with Google KitKat 4.4.2, only spent a total of four (4) months on the market.

Geezam - Digicel launches DL900 aka Acer Liquid E700 as Digicel DL750 on Sale for Christmas 2014 - 06-12-2014 LHDEER (1)

Like Duh, it really couldn’t survive against LIME’s JA$3999+ GCT Huawei Y330 launched a mere month later on November 2nd 2014!

Digicel, realizing that the ruse was up, has finally decided to just drop the price for Christmas 2014, as no Jamaican in their right mind would buying a smartphone that was essentially the same DL700 running an upgraded Jelly Bean OS for JA$13,688.

Really Digicel!?

DL900 Cometh – New Hardware running Google Jelly Bean and Digicel gives customers a break

But before all this excitement began, Digicel quietly replaced the DL750 with an upgrade. That upgrade is the DL900, which was launched on December 2nd 2014 as per this post in Digicel’s Twitter Feed

Oddly, there are no YouTube videos for the DL900 or the DL800 on Digicel’s YouTube Page, save of course for their spy-themed YouTube ad some three (3) months ago!

After scouring Digicel Jamaica’s website and Fimi Wireless Website, it turns out that the JA$14,937.50 Prepaid & JA$11,950 DL900 is really an Alcatel Pop C7, which was announced in September 2013 and released to the public in April 2014. You also get a discounted price of JA$11,950 if you purchase the phone and use a Company ID to register your purchase.

Apparently, Digicel has cancelled their deal with Alcatel, who are the suppliers of the Alcatel One Touch Pop C3 aka the DL700 and DL750 and have now signed a new deal with Alcatel to use their customers as Guinea Pigs to test out their new Alcatel Pop C7 aka the DL900.

The Alcatel Pop C7 aka the DL900 has some impressive bells and whistles. Launched earlier in June 2014 and released August 2014, the 5″ Google Android Jelly Bean version 4.2. pretender to the DL750’s throne has some pretty large dimensions, measuring 141 x 71.8 x 9.9 mm (5.55 x 2.83 x 0.39 in) and weighing a decent but manageable 162 g (5.71 oz). It also comes in the following 2 colours:

  • Titan Black
  • Turquoise Blue
more on Geezam.com:  Huawei using Snapdragon chips, HarmonyOS 2.1 and HMS for smartphones

So is this a new Smartphone worthy of your hard-earned dollars. Folks, my review will reveal the specs to determine if the DL900 is worthy of the DL750’s Throne with the DL800 being served up in another article.

DL900 is the Alcatel Pop C7– Spectre of MNP Awakening in 2015

What’s under the hood appears to be standard fare and a little underwhelming for a smartphone with such a massive Apple iPhone 6 Plus-esque sized screen, I must say.

It sports a 1.3 GHz Quad-Core Processor capable of handling 1080p Graphics in the unit I reviewed. The RAM is a palpable 1GB RAM (7041X) with 4 GB of Internal Memory expandable up to 32 GB with a microSD Card.

Its gorgeous 5” TFT capacitive touchscreen can handle 16M colors made possible thanks to fairly decent 480 x 854 pixels resolution at 196 ppi (Pixels per inch) pixel density.

Five fingaz to da face Multi-touch on a 1080p capable phone yes please!

This despite the fact that for some reason, the DL900, despite possessing a powerful 1.3 GHz Quad-Core Processor  and loads of RAM, doesn’t have a 1080p as I’d expected, hasn’t dampened the interest or enthusiasm many have displayed in acquiring Digicel’s latest toy!

Not sure what Alcatel’s Game Plan is, really, but despite this deficiency, I must say it does a nice job of displacing the pictures taken with its Rear-facing 5 Megapixel Camera with Autofocus, LED Flash. This camera is capable of taking HD pictures with resolutions as high as 2592 х 1944 pixels and shooting 1080p Video.

The Front-facing Camera is not-quite Selfie-certified, as it can shoot VGA quality pictures but doesn’t have a LED Flash, making this phone a steal at JA$14,937.50 Prepaid & JA$11,950 Postpaid, tax included. You’re better off taking the selfies with the Rear Camera!

Geezam - Digicel launches DL900 aka Acer Liquid E700 as Digicel DL750 on Sale for Christmas 2014 - 06-12-2014 LHDEER (2)

Its also got the standard package of an Accelerometer, Proximity Sensor and GPS. For the texting-savvy, the DL900 is chugging it with SMS that supports threaded view, Push Email and MMS (Multi-Messaging Service), if the WhatsApp crowd care for that sort of thing.

You can stream but it’s got a Radio if your really that type of sentimental sod who loves listening to News and Cricket. It comes preloaded with Google Apps as per the expectation of Google Jelly Bean and boasts a Photo and Document Editor with MP4/H.264 Player and Voice dialer capability.

I must confess that the Speakers don’t do justice to your MP3’s, even if they were ripped from a CD at 192kHz Sampling rate. Still, get a Bluetooth Speaker as described in my article Apple patents Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds as Wireless Bluetooth Speakers take Flight and you can take the party anywhere!

more on Geezam.com:  JAMAICA DIGITAL EXCHANGE – JAM-DEX – Jamaica’s CBDC

Battery Life Great Expectations for 5” smartphone – Dual SIM Card Slots to stave off MNP

Don’t forget the 3G HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) aka 3G+ compatibility with 850MHz, 900MHz, 1900MHz and 2100 MHz Telecom Networks such as Digicel or LIME. But the real surprise comes in the form of its GSM (Global System Mobile) Quad-Band Support for not one, but two (2) SIM (Subscriber Identification Modules) compatible with 850MHz, 900MHz, 1900MHz and 2100 MHz Telecom Networks such as Digicel or LIME.

Not sure what Digicel’s game plan is here, as I suspect they may disable the other SIM Slots and I didn’t get the chance to try it out to see if they worked. But if they do work, especially after unlocking, we may be seeing the first indication that Digicel accepts the fact that smartphones with Dual-SIM Cards is a coming reality as predicted in my blog article  Trend towards Dual-SIM Smartphones developing in Jamaica as MNP Approaches.

Geezam - Digicel launches DL900 aka Acer Liquid E700 as Digicel DL750 on Sale for Christmas 2014 - 06-12-2014 LHDEER (1)

Possibly the DL900 is their Secret weapon for keeping customers satisfied come Sunday May 31st 2015 when MNP (Mobile Number Portability) and LNP (Landline Number Portability) become a reality. I’m thus going out on a limb and predicting a price drop by that date to the same fire sale price of JA$3450 (JA$4312.50 when Tax is Included) for the DL750 may occur on that date for the DL900!

All that must use up a lot of juice; the DL900, or rather the Alcatel Pop C7 has you covered.

Its 1900/2000 mAh Battery can crank out 650 hours on Standby, 13 hours worth of talk time for the chatterboxes, 9 hours for the Data centric and play your Music Library for a good 24 hours, should your ears be able to stand wearing earbuds that long. Please don’t subject other peeps to your Music; get yourself a pair of Headphones as well as a portable Battery Charger as described in How to extend your smartphone’s battery Life with a Portable Battery Charger.

So is this a great deal or what!?

Out with the old DL750 being sold for JA$4312.50 and in with the new DL900 at JA$14,937.50 seems like the perfect way to celebrate Christmas and ring in the New Year. Merry Christmas, Dear reader and Happy Year of the Sheep 2015 when it comes!

Here’s the link:

Digicel YouTube Page

Digicel’s Twitter Feed

About the Author

Read more on Geezam.com

3 responses to “Digicel launches DL900 aka Alcatel Pop C7 as Digicel DL750 on Sale for Christmas 2014”

    • Thanks dude. Good save!! 😀

      …Was doing a review on another smartphone, the Acer Liquid E700 and my files got mixed up. Made the ol’ switcheroo and set her back on the straight and narrow. Went to the stores today and discovered that the DL900 was ALREADY out of stock until Thursday. Fixed the other file about the Acer Liquid E700 though….

      Look out for an article on that smartphone [Acer Liquid E700] on Geezam…… as Digicel seems to be slowly falling in love with Dual-SIM smartphones, albeit deactivated on sale!!

      also scope out my article on my personal blog mythoughtsontechnologyandjamaica.blogspot.com

  1. 480 x 854 is not HD. I think you mixed that part up to because you mention that the screen resolution is 480×854 then later mention a 1080p screen(1280×1080).