Look out, Samsung: Alcatel's Idol 4S is respectable, affordable and all about VR

As if Xiaomi and Huawei eating Samsung's lunch in the smartphone market wasn't already enough trouble, now the Korean electronics giant has to worry about Alcatel.

Announced at Mobile World Congress in February, Alcatel's finally revealed a release date and U.S. pricing for the Idol 4S, the follow-up to the well-received Idol 3. 

Unlike other smartphones playing in the $300-400 price range (like the OnePlus 3), Alcatel is positioning the Idol 4S as more than just a smartphone — it's an experience. Part of that experience is the packaging, which doubles as a VR headset.

But that's not all Idol 4S customers will get. For the U.S. market, Alcatel's bundling the unlocked phone (works on GSM networks like AT&T and T-Mobile) and VR headset with a few extra goodies like a pair of JBL earbuds, an Incipio case and a 2.5D tempered glass screen protector — all for $399.99 when the bundle launches on Aug. 3 exclusively through the company's online store.

Box transforms into VR headset

Alcatel's also offering a financing option which will let customers pay for the Idol 4S bundle for as low as $37 per month.

Pre-orders start on July 15 at 11 a.m. ET with a discounted $349.99 price on the whole bundle.

It's one hell of a package for the money. Alcatel's making fools of the OnePlus 3 and ZTE Axon 7, both of which retail for $399.99 and don't include any of the extras.

I've only had a short amount of time to play with the Idol 4S and my impression is it's 🔥🔥🔥.

Alcatel has improved on the Idol 3's plastic design with a glass-and-metal construction, which has a premium look and feel. It's very Samsung Galaxy S7-ish.

It's running Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow with Alcatel's own launcher and UI. Also good: Alcatel's notoriously Fisher-Price-like icons have been toned down to look less childish.

Specs-wise, the Idol 4S looks pretty solid with a 5.5-inch Quad HD resolution AMOLED display with gently curved sides, 32GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD card up to 200GB), dual SIM card slots, 3GB of RAM and a 3,000 mAh battery.

The only spec that has me slightly concerned is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 octa-core processor. It's a midrange chip — far from the powerful Snapdragon 820 chip that's in every premium Android handset this year — which should perform just fine for normal smartphone activities like web browsing and Instagramming, but I'll have to fully test the phone to see how it holds up for VR experiences. 

Above and below the screen are two front-facing 3.6-watt JBL speakers and on the back is a touch-sensitive fingerprint sensor below the camera.

For imaging, there's a 16-megapixel rear camera with f/2.0 aperture and phase-detection autofocus and 4K video recording. And on the front, you've got an 8-megapixel selfie camera.

Based on my short time with the Idol 4S, the phone looks like a solid contender for a midrange device. The bigger question is if it can truly compete with the OnePlus 3, Samsung Galaxy S7, HTC 10, LG G5 and all of the other Android flagships of the year and give them a real good run for their money.