Alcatel builds a 4G water-resistant phone for under $300

One of the key features for 2016 phones is coming to a mobile under $300, as Alcatel unveils a budget device ready to take on the water.

It’s pretty clear to most of us that phones need to survive the day-to-day, but for some of us, that “day-to-day” means contact with water, be it rain, the beach, or just someone spilling beer or wine on your phone.

Unsurprisingly, most phones aren’t too thrilled with the prospect of being immersed in liquid, and you have to spend pretty big in order to get a device with resistance to the elements, or even find a case that can protect your phone while also looking a little unsightly.

All of these things cost money, of course, and new flagship phones with water resistance tend not to come cheap.

water-liquid-aqua-immersion-ip-2

Fortunately, Alcatel is emerging from the depths — the water-filled depths, no less — with a water-resistant phone of its own for under $300.

Specifically, it’s one dollar under $300, with a recommended retail price of $299.

alcatel-go-play-2016-announce-03

The phone in question is the Go Play, an Android phone delivering a 5 inch 1280×720 display (HD) and 8GB storage with expandable memory.

There’s an 8 megapixel camera on the back and a 5 megapixel front-facing camera, as well as GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad-core processor, and support for Category 4 4G LTE, but the biggest feature of all is in the casing.

alcatel-go-play-2016-announce-04

The body design and the casing relies on a soft touch plastic with a design that makes it dust-proof and highly water-resistant, with IP67 certification, meaning it can survive pretty much most encounters with dust, while water won’t beat the phone provided you don’t send it beyond one metre of water.

Alcatel has equipped a 2500mAh battery here, which we suspect will deliver a at least a day of life, though the low-resolution (comparatively) screen could see closer to two days, with similar performance expected to the recent Motorola G given similar specs.

alcatel-go-play-2016-announce-02

As for when you can expect to find it, Alcatel’s Go Play should be out now from electronics retailers, outright for $299 and in five colour options.