The Alcatel OT-355D Dual-Sim Phone
21 Dec
It’s the time of the year again when we get ourselves new phones. But while others are probably deciding whether to get an Android phone, an iPhone 4, or a BlackBerry, I wanted an inexpensive dual-sim phone.
I have nothing against pricey state-of-the-art mobile phones. It’s just that my need for a mobile phone is limited to calling and sending text messages that a mid-end or a high-end phone automatically becomes an extravagance.
I know what I want from a dual-sim phone. My dream dual-sim phone must have a price tag of not more than P4,000, lightweight, easy to navigate, works with Globe and SunCellular networks, and definitely not a Torque phone.
I initially thought of buying the MyPhone Q22 Duo (or was it Q21?) but Lyle didn’t quite like the build quality. He suggested that I consider getting an Alcatel phone since Alcatel recently released a couple of affordable dual-sim phones. He even volunteered to pay for it.
So last week, we went to the mall and checked out the Alcatel dual-sim phones. We tested a cherry red Alcatel OT-355D (the cheapest at P1990), found it to be satisfactory, and decided to purchase it.
The Alcatel OT-355D is a sleek, lightweight dual-sim bar phone equipped with a qwerty keyboard for fast text messaging. It has an alarm clock, a calculator, an FM radio (so I can listen to my fave love songs?Lols!), and a slew of other features that I really don’t care much about.
After more than a week of using the Alcatel OT-355D, I can say that it’s a pretty much decent buy considering that it met my basic requirements.
The Alcatel OT-355D dual-sim phone comes with a cool fake call feature that will probably get me out of boring or sticky situations someday. I demonstrated my phone’s fake call feature to some of my friends and they think it’s funny. A girl friend told me that she also wants her phone to have the same feature. 
The Alcatel OT0335D package comes with a lithium battery, standard micro mini USB charger and a USB stereo headset.
I’m glad that you like your new phone. Merry Christmas!
Thanks, Langga. Dalaygon ang juice!
Thanks for this post Bren. Ive been thinking of buying a phone for my uncle also. Sa kadaghan sa pilian galibug sad ko kung asa mas nice. Reading this post murag naa na sad ko additional candidate para mao akong i-buy. My uncle is into text, call and fm radio features. Nice sad ang keypad ani ky qwerty…
P.S Ang sweet ni Lyle…
You’re welcome. If you are looking for an affordable dual sim phone, then your best bet would be the Alcatel OT-355D or any of the MyPhone releases.
A friend bought the cheapest MyPhone dual sim handset, wala naman siyang reklamo so far.
LOL’d at your P.S. Pati naman siguro significant other mo sweet din.
“…others are probably deciding whether to get an Android phone, an iPhone 4, or a BlackBerry, I wanted an inexpensive dual-sim phone.” –you
My thoughts right on your blog. Haha.
This is really helpful! I’m planning to get a q22,too. (or was it q21?) :p But I wasn’t really sure I’m willing to risk quality. But alcatel sounds a lot more reliable to me! Does it have bluetooth or a memory card slot. Thanks for the review!
The Alcatel OT-355D doesn’t have bluetooth or a memory card slot. I guess your option if you are looking for these added features are MyPhone mid-end handsets.
Ah. I think I can live with that.
I’m buying this tomorrow 
i thought it has a microsd card slot…
I think it is provided with a MicroSD slot as per specification. Please check the specs.
I’ve been using the unit for almost a year. And as of this writing, haven’t found the very elusive microSD slot yet.
The micro-SD slot is under the little black plastic cover on the side of the phone (at top left)! Power down phone first then peel back cover by putting your fingernail under the top edge, and insert card with pins facing front of phone, gently click into place. Essential for your MP3 collection!!!
I can’t find it on my phone.
IS it possible to transfer contacts from another phone? Most phones support vcard format and this alcatel does that too. Any suggestions? Are you sure that this model doesn’t have a microsd card?
Hi.
What I did to transfer my contacts from my other phone to my Alcatel was copy my phone contacts to sim, inserted the sim into my the Alcatel OT-355 and then copied the contacts from sim to phone. The process may be tedious but I can’t think of a better one.
I checked twice and I couldn’t find any microsd slot. Unless, of course, the phone has a secret compartment. I’ll have one of my friends check it again but it might take a couple of days.
Regarding, vcard..the OT-355d supports it but the only options available is to send it via email and MMS. Whatta letdown.
I’ve been longing to buy this phone since Christmas. It’s stylish yet cheap and it’s got everything I need. But does it really have an MP3 player and GPRS/WAP? Not that the latter matters, really, but Alcatel PH’s website says so.
http://www.alcatel-mobilephones.com/ph/content/view/full/23874
Care to shed some light on this? Too cheap for an MP3 phone. It doesn’t even have an expansion slot. Thanks!
Hi. I haven’t tried using the phone as a music player. I checked again and I can’t find any player, just a media album containing MP3 ringtones.
But it does have GPRS/WAP.
Hope this helped.
hello there, does it work with smart and sun sim together ? thanks a lot
I haven’t tried it with Smart. But it does work with Globe and Sun.
hello! since this is a dual sim phone, does this also support dual stand by? i mean can i receive text messages and calls on both sims? i am also wondering, does it have a rubber keypad or a hard plastic like those of nokia? how’s the battery life? does it lag when you text a lot? sorry for having a lot of questions. i’m just making sure before i buy. please reply. thanks!
Hi. The Alcatel ot-355D is a dual-standby, dual-sim phone.
The keypad is made of rubber and I find it responsive and easy to press.
Battery life is decent for a colored phone. I charge the phone every three days with an average of 4 to 5 calls per day (10-20 minute calls). I’m not a heavy texter. I usually send around 20-30 text messages per day.
I don’t experience any lags when texting.
Ask ko lang po if ok ung sun sim jan?
Kase po nung tinest po namin sa sm parang ayaw po
I use the phone for my Sun and Globe sim cards.
Usable naman for Sun Cellular but the signal and reception is not as good as Globe.
hi! ask lang ko.. does this have sent messages folder and My Folders?
thanks.
There’s a folder for sent messages and a separate one for your audio clips and other media.
Mam, how big (or small) is the internal memory?
SAN PO NAKAKABILI NYAN
You can find it at most mobile phone stores.
Hi I have an answer to the micro-SD conundrum: there are two different OT-355D models! One has two SIM slots, the other 1 SIM slot + 1 micro-SD slot! What a daft thing that they don’t use different model numbers! Other than the tiny micro-SD cover on the side they look identical. So be careful when buying one!
My alcatel OT-355 cherry red has memorycard slot but no bluetooth how can I transfer data,music,pictures
Charl, unfortunately to transfer MP3s, pictures etc you need to physically move the micro-sd card back and forth between phone and the card reader on your computer! (It’s possible to get tiny usb micro-sd card readers that you can put on a keyring and take around with you, I got one that only cost pennies.)
You can download files from the web onto onto the phone and save them to the memory card but with GPRS it’s very slow, I’ve not tried anything bigger than about 500KB, and of course it can be expensive depending on your tariff. You can also send pics etc from the phone as email attachments, but again it’s slow and there may be a size limit, I’m not sure.