You can now buy Alcatel's year old Windows phone for twice the price in Europe

Alcatel’s Idol 4 Pro is now available in European regions. The excellent Windows Phone handset which brought with it modern features at an affordable price in the USA has neutered its good points in the transition to the European market. The device, which typically costs $274 in the USA directly from Alcatel, is being sold at more than 400 Euros. Alcatel is effectively selling this device at double the price in Europe, and no, slapping the name Pro on it isn’t enough to justify a 2x markup if nothing substantial about it is changed. And nothing substantial about it has changed.

This handset will set you back £419 in the UK, and comes equipped with last years specs, including a Snapdragon 820, a 1080p screen and 64GB of storage. You won’t be getting VR goggles with this device like in the US, but you’ll be using the latest version of Windows 10 Mobile, which may or may not be a dead end depending on whom you ask.

In other words, the pricing for this device doesn’t make sense. You can purchase LG’s bezeless G6 with a more competent specs and a powerful smartphone ecosystem for less  if you hunt around the usual places, or snag phones like Xiaomi’s Redmi handsets. I’m sure some will criticise this for talking down on Windows phone again, but as is, this is just a cynical corporation taking advantage of limited customer choice to jack up pricing.
You can snag it from the Microsoft Store below if you really want to.