Yesterday we told you that custom ROM maker Cyanogen announced its partnership with US chip giant Qualcomm in an effort to push its ambitions of becoming a reputable Android competitor. The company also changed its branding, opting for a much cleaner logo.

And not long after the announcement was made, a new smartphone taking advantage of Cyanogen OS was unveiled on the ground at MWC 2015.

The device is called the Alcatel Hero 2+ and is pretty similar to the Alcatel OneTouch Hero 2 launched a few months ago.

The OneTouch Hero 2 is a phablet coming with a 6-inch IPS display with Dragontail glass and 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution.

Under the hood rests an octa-core MediaTek MT6582 SoC clocked at 2GHz with LTE connectivity and working in concert with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD card).

The phone offers two cameras, one of 13MP with optical image stabilization on the back and a 5MP snapper in front.

Alcatel jumps on board with Cyanogen

Anyway, at MWC 2015, Alcatel showed the Alcatel OneTouch Hero 2+, which retains the specs we outlined above, but with one major difference - it has Cyanogen OS 11 (based on Android 4.4 KitKat). The software is said to add enhanced customization and photo/video capture features.

More than that, features like Cyanogen’s Privacy Guard have also been thrown into the mix, allowing users to hold better control over their personal data. There’s also a host of security feats like data encryption, find and wipe device, pin scramble password protection and other app protection features.

Thus, the Hero 2+ becomes the third smartphone to arrive with Cyanogen onboard, after the OnePlus One and Micromax Yureka (with which the custom ROM maker has an exclusive partnership in India).

Alcatel will be offering the Hero 2+ exclusively on the US market, where interested customers will be able to pick up the model for the affordable price of $299 / €266.

At MWC 2015, we've seen the rise of mid-range smartphones that come equipped with quite capable specifications but continue to sell for affordable prices.

One such example is the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua, which was launched with a Snapdragon 615 and is said to offer a 2-day battery life.


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