Alcatel Pop 2 will be first Windows Phone with a 64-bit processor

Alcatel has plans to launch a Windows Phone-based version of its Android smartphone, the Pop 2, and it will be the first such phone for Microsoft's mobile OS that will have a 64-bit processor provided by Qualcomm.

In this case, the processor is the Snapdragon 410, with four cores and a clock speed of 1.2 GHz. The 4.5 inch smartphone will have 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of onboard storage, along with a four megapixel rear camera. It will come in white, blue, purple, green, red and yellow colors and be priced at 119 euros.

However, there's no word yet on when the Alcatel Pop 2 for Windows will be released. What do you think of this latest budget priced Windows Phone?

Source: WMPoweruser

John Callaham
172 Comments
  • What good will a 64-bit processor do on mid-range hardware?
  • Provide a Close-To-Highend experience ... At least when the software get optimized for it
  • That's absurd.  The cost for that 64 bit processor is probably more than giving it a snapdragon 800, 2GB ram, and 32GB of storage.  Like others have said, it's a gimmick.
  • 119euros?
  • We do not know that yet, perhaps they want to future proof the phone for the budget market. But lets see, I'm very curious to see how this performs against a similarly powered 32bit rival. Anyway im just glad to see more choices for Windows phone.
  • Who cares? It's more options for the platform.
  • Are you kidding? Snapdragon 4xx is always cheaper than 8xx variant. Get your fact before commenting. (-_-)a
  • "The cost for that 64 bit processor is probably more than giving it a snapdragon 800, "   No it wont .. being 64bits doesnt mean is expensive nor that its powerull (it will most likely be weaker than a 600)
  • I thought a 64bit CPU/OS was slower than an equlivilant 32bit setup when you have less than 4GB of ram. 64 bit software will eat up more of your RAM than 32bit software witch means you'll run out of it faster, and the device will run slower. No? What I do know is my computer runs much faster on Win 7 32bit than when I installed Win 7 64bit, and the 32 bit install used less RAM. I found the 64 bit install to be quite sluggish. (Intel Core 2 Quad, 3GB RAM)
  • That's largely correct -- little benefit unless more than 4GB addressable RAM (that includes virtual memory though and not sure how Windows Phone handles that). There are exceptions -- if a program has to move a lot of data or is performing 64 bit mathetical operations, like a video player or certain kinds of games and rendering programs (not common on phones), the ability to move data in 64 blocks instead of 32 bit blocks can make those operations faster. In general, for Windows Phone I agree with your assessment -- not much value until RAM needs exceed 4GB. However, for your PC, I highly recommend you get 8+GB RAM and go with a 64 bit version of Windows. It will be MUCH faster due to substantially reduced memory caching.
  • Sorry but no "close-to-high end" experience with a 4mp camera.
  • http://www.androidcentral.com/why-64-bit-processors-really-matter-android Relevant to all phones. Just sayin. If you want the future you have to push for it. If you just let it come it will look the same as the present. Posted via Windows Phone Central App
  • I'm not into 64 bits for smartphones yet but if all SoC start coming in 64 bits I don't mind. The article wasn't that good. It does explain some stuffs but other than RAM I don't see a big benefit from 64 bits. Most of the features can be done in 32 bits and unless you're making insane calculations you don't really need more data load into registers. You wrote this:  "If you want the future you have to push for it." and I think that it sums it all.
  • And I agree with you. But I don't think that the time where phones are a main computing device is all that far away, so let's work the bugs out now eh? Posted via Windows Phone Central App
  • In its current state not much.  WP more than likely does support 64 hardware so we might see some marginal performance increases however without RAM and applications that can take advantage we are more than likely looking at future proofing.  Threshold will more than likely be a true 64 bit OS we are at the point where we are unifying archtiectures and it would be simple to code for a single platform that has it issues as well in the short term. Here is an interesting thread on the topic in the forum: http://forums.wpcentral.com/windows-phone-concepts-dream-devices/290461-64bit-vs-32bit-os-mobiles-future.html    
  • I guess it could allow for efficient csfb for VoLTE among other cellular operations that normally would consume more energy
  • Actually, everyone, it is a gimmick. Not that 64-bit isn't important, but WP doesn't support 64-bit XD
  • Every windows OS can be both 32 or 64 bit compatible. Press a button, wait an hour, finished, 64bit WP is ready.
  • 64bit means this is probably an A53 SoC. The same "class" as the older A7. It's just the next generation of chips that happens to be 64 bit. It wont cost any more, for the same reason that new generations of Intel CPUs don't cost significantly more than the equivalent from the previous generation.
  • Gimmick
  • No
  • 64bit is a gimmick. This company thinks being the first to offer it is going to magically credit them
  • Its not gimmick
  • Yes. There is literally no advantage to using a 64-bit processor apart from more gigs of RAM and it's still, in smartphones, just a marketing gimmick that Apple invented.
  • http://www.androidcentral.com/why-64-bit-processors-really-matter-android Posted via Windows Phone Central App
  • Apple didn't invent 64bit.
  • NIST,
    What I really want to see for WP is some better multitasking.. I want to be able to have split screen on my larger device, and be able to float mini apps on top of regular apps on the screen.. IOW, I want to be able to bring up a minimized calculator from the action center and drag/position it anywhere on the screen, then longpress to send it away... Small floating apps like these work great on the Sony Z3 from what I've seen, and I'm sure MS could implement this well.
    ..................
    WP threshold needs to ramp up the multitasking on WP... It's the only way to stay competitive, and keep WP fans having the most useful devices.
  • Yes they did. Siri said so.
  • Seriously. We all know Apple invented 64 bit, the smart phone, the mp3 player, screens bigger than 4"...
  • I mean it in marketing terms, of course Apple didn't invent 64 bit, it's just that they're the ones that pushed for it the most in the smartphone market, even though it's still not a necessary leap, unlike it is on desktop computers.
  • As a developer and tech enthusist... this statement makes me cringe
  • It doesn't matter.. They can become useful in smartphones... Didn't people like you say that 1gb of ram was overkill? Megapixels didn't mean anything? 1080p was impossible to decipher, and that it would kill our batteries to fast? A 4.7" Titan was impracticably huge?....
    ...................
    Never question technology, and good engineering.... MS, and Nokia will always make technology work to some advantage on our devices..
  • You are literally wrong.
  • No! Please, actually find information about 64bit before commenting on it. There are many more advantages to 64bit than just accessing more memory. It's not a gimmick in smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops... And it isn't "just a marketing gimmick that Apple invented", if you bothered to *research* anything at all you'd find that it isn't a gimmick and Apple's 64bit CPU has massive speed gains and could possibly be one of the fastest smartphone CPUs. It is so fast that the battery and other components bottleneck it, obviously not a gimmick. Cringworthy.
  • You forgot the /s. Not everyone will get it.
  • But there is an advantage to having a 64bit A53 over an A7...
  • I bet of Nokia did it first on WP the commenters here would be losing their f'n minds and not calling gimmick.
  • This is a marketing ploy as the phone does not have 4GB of RAM or the other specs to support it.
  • But we have early adopters who can check if the system is running stable on 64 bit :) Took Microsoft a while on the Desktop OS
  • You can blame Apple for starting the 64 bit gimmick trend.
  • If the os and apps are optimized its not a gimmick
  • When did you last see immediate app optimization for anything on WP? It takes us a year to get a decent update...
  • The main reason Apple put the 64 bit is not for "future-proofing," as Apple claims, but really for marketing. They just wanted to say they're the first to do something, in order to keep themselves recognized as being "innovative."
  • So true.  It was a blatant case of well people say we don't innovate anymore, let's jut throw out something and hope it sticks..
  • So if ur getting it take u want Microsoft to be paar with android and if it brings is its a gimmick.. Tell me if android is optimized for it or not.. Bt people are mad to check it.. So if we are getting that as well what's the harm.. It's just filling the feature gap with gimmick gap :D
  • http://www.androidcentral.com/why-64-bit-processors-really-matter-android Arm your self with knowledge ^_^ Posted via Windows Phone Central App
  • What I took from that article is that the important part of the processor is not that it's 64 bits, is that the 64 processors coming out have a new architecture that has more features (and would have those even at 32 bits).
  • that is correct. TO BE SPECIFIC. it is the new ARM v8 instruction set that is being introduced with 64Bit SoCs that is the really big difference here. And yess even 32 bit or 64 bit future chips WITH the new ARM v8 instructions will show slight improvements.
  • I would like a 128bit Windows Phone please.
  • How's the 1520 working out?
  • Great. My son is addicted to that phone. He runs cross country for his high school and he's taken some cool shots along the way. I asked him if he runs with his phone and he says yes, sometimes. Apparently it's not to big to run with. So ya he's very pleased with his red 1520.
  • Great!!
  • Did you see the pics I posted from the California Air Show this last weekend? My 1020 freaking rocks. Love that phone.
  • Yes!!!! The amount of depth in those pictures is amazing.. That's the real difference with the 1020... It has to have seriously better quality lenses than any other smartphone.. Those pictures looked great.
  • Dispel that 4gb of ram notion from your mind.. This is 2014❗
  • Why do so many people think that access to more RAM is the only advantage to 64-bit processors?
  • They just repeat what they hear others say.
  • Yay, now we can..... what's the benefit again?
  • Have more RAM and run stuff slower!! Yay!
  • Oh great release in India if u can.
  • Alcatel is doing some really interesting work from what I saw last week. It'll be interesting to see what they bring out going forward.
  • True. I wonder how many people here know or remember that Alcatel was once a big name in mobile phones that went almost extinct. Yet here they are now, reborn.
  • I wish for 8gb ram and 1 GB storage with 128gb SD card. Make that phone.
  • Only 1 GB of storage?
  • 1 gig storage? And 8gig ram? Both those numbers are a little off for a phone. I would be wanting more than 1 gig storage in built.. And you would NEVER use 8gig ram.. Half the computers people use these days don't even have that much
  • read carefully its written 1gb ram an 8gb onboard storage :p
  • Hmmmm.... Let me get this straight,
    1). You want 8Gb of ram on a phone running a 32bit OS.
    2). How would fit the OS (nearly 3Gb) on a phone with only 1Gb of internal storage?
    3).So what now you expect OEMs to start giving out 128Gb SD cards for free?
  • I reckon he meant 1TB
  • Seriously?? The phone wouldn't even work cause OS needs more storage, unless you are suggesting that system files be shifted to SD as well, which is plain stupidity.
    As for 8GB ram, for WP 1GB is more than sufficient...
  • Guys, Is it so hard to realise that he meant 8Gb storage and 1Gb of ram?
  • I pretty sure they are giving him a hard time because even that request is pretty silly when corrected, since there are phones that already provide more than that, at a cheap price. Or _tC is being sarcastic, or has dry humor, very dry.
  • Hah yes, I thought about that, but you never know on WPCentral..
  • Is WP8.1 even a 64 bit OS?
  • I was wondering this...
  • YES.  It runs on the windows NT kernel, which is a hybrid kernel.  Hell it even supports 64cores....
  • Ha no, and I could be wrong but I haven't even heard of a *true* top-to-bottom 64-bit app yet on Apple.
  • At the kernel level yes, it is a true 64bit architecture which of course spawns from the NT kernel. Now how optimized that operating system is, no one really knows because its not something that has caught attention in recent years. We will see with threshold :)
  • Mid and low end WP's are coming by the boatload. Where are the high end options?
  • Brace yourself, 1530 is coming :3
  • Where have you been? Didn't you here about 930 & 1520?
  • Seems stupid to release a 64bit on a mid range phone with that kind of hardware
  • HTC is doing the same thing with their mid range desire 500 series.
  • What's the point if the OS doesn't support x64? Totally pointless.
  • It doesn't?
  • NT kernel, so yes, yes it does, NT is a hybrid kernel.
  • Nope. NT is not a shared kernel. MinWin is. MinWin doesn't have x64 assemblies. It has only the libraries.
  • Same code base so a 64bit build shouldn't be hard. Amazed if that isn't already being done by a team as an internal Microsoft project.
  • NT is a hybrid kernel, this isn't really opinion but rather fact.  Here are the links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_kernel http://technet.microsoft.com/library/cc750820.aspx And if you want more: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/20/windows-phone-8-and-windows-8-share-l... http://www.osnews.com/story/25574/Microsoft_Windows_Phone_8_To_Use_NT_Ke... http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/microsofts-windows-phone-8-finally-g... As a result 64cores and 64bit are rather easy things to code for as well as arm support etc etc (easy being relative terms).
  • Review your fact then. I said sharing Assemblies in MinWin different than sharing libraries. Tell me for example. If Surface RT shares the same this NT Kernel. Why we cannot see x64 from it? NT Kernel is a higher level than MinWin. MinWin is the core. NT is a foundation. WP and Windows shares some libraries in the NT level to make cross platforms apps possible ONLY.
  • Actually you can.  But what is the point of 64bit RT if there is no processor that MS would use.  Also RT was designed to be ARM compatible, not x64 or x86 WinMin is the core of all windows, ALL windows.  On disk it represents ~25MB of space.  Think about that.  Basically WinMin: "It's the heart of Windows, organized in a way so that none of the included parts has any dependencies on anything outside of MinWin." taken from tech site.  So...NT runs on top of WinMin, as a result if the WinMin is the same as in windows 7, windows 8, 8.1, RT (which from what has been stated it is), then the next layer, is the layer that matters, which is the NT layer. As a result, the NT kernel, the actual OS, is a code designed to be plug and play.  Not only that is is a piece meal code.  When a Team wants to build windows OS, it selects what it wants, bits here peices there etc.  Again a hybrid. As a result Windows Phone 8, with the NT kernel, will have little difficulty pulling in 64bit support. So again, is windows phone 8 ready to be 64bit? Yes since it is using the NT - plug/play style kernel.
     
  • there will be some people who will not want a 32 bit phone they will buy only 64 bit phone. So there is the option :p
  • A rather limited option
  • MS can make any current version of WP support anything for any OEM as they please... What makes you think OEM's are restricted to consumer releases of WP for what their devices can do.. I hate when people say the same old arguments that have no reasoning behind them..
  • Looks Qualcomm will keep the 400 name to entry level 64-bit CPUs, in addition to 615, 808 & 810. Anyway. Looking forward to it
  • Yeah... That's going in the wrong direction... I truly hope a real flagship comes next year...
  • What's the point of running a 64bit OS with only 1Gb of ram?
  • IPhone 5s is doing it well , with weaker processor .....
  • 64 bit processor on WP...Miracles do happen
  • If the phone is going to look like the one in the image provided in this article, then i highly doubt that people would want to buy it. 
  • Keep it coming! So many new OEMs :D
  • i challenge anyone to describe one tangible current benefit a 64 bit processor brings to WP.Not imagined or "future",  a benefit that will be effective now.
  • Well one more advertisement for apple vs Microsoft May be ;)
  • Yep. All about the marketing.
  • A Smapdragon 410 is faster than a 400, but cheaper (and probably slower) than a 6xx or 8xx. That's why they're doing this. I don't understand why everyone seems to be so confused.
  • Battery life.
  • The only usable benefit imo, would be for multitasking, split-screen. Especially if you're running two things that maybe CPU intensive.
  • 8gb of storage? LMFAO.... Ladies and gentlemen... Welcome to 1984.
  • Or a phone that costs $119?
  • In '84 1gb came at a premium
  • I don't even think gigabytes existed in 1984, let alone cell phones with them onboard.
  • Lol, android user you must be.  128gb sd card support, means apps etc get installed to 128gb drive for wp8.1
  • Some.of you need a crash course in sarcasm.
  • Sorry, no Alcatel for me... The phones they made 10 - 15y ago were real crap. And the new phones look like toys with a 64bit processor??? No thanks!
  • Is windows phone 8.1 a 64 bit OS?
    I don't think so. I think it is still 32 bit
  • Yes, yes it is.  It shares the NT kernel, as a result, gets tons of things.  Hell it even supports 64 cores http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/microsofts-windows-phone-8-finally-g... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_kernel
  • I think the vendor love is awesome, just how the sales follow......carriers
  • So, support for more SoCs in update 2 then. 810 etc...
  • High-end Windows phones? , we want a Lumia that has 64-bit chip , come on Microsoft ! you destroyed the 830 with 1gb ram and its price , you never do it good, please just once ! (emotionally :p ) , just make a WP with 801sd , 3 GB ram , water and dust proof , something like that , just look at other companies what they are doing !
  • There is negligible difference between 800 and 801. Just clockspeeds.
  • Rock , I know , but most of people doesn't know that ! , they see the high end specs on a gs5 and they buy it , some of people buy a high end phone Without asking what's its operating system ! If Microsoft will still like this , they will never ever compete To android or IOS , they always miss something
  • Completely agree with you. MS destroyed a potential flagship 830 with a weak processor. Also with the 730 they missed out on the glance :/ we definitely need those specs on a good 5-5.2 inch phone and not a huge 1520.
  • 830 is no flagship, it's a midrange phone on purpose
  • I know that as well..but there are a lot of countries which hasn't seen the 930. So the 830 could have been the torchbearer in those countries if it would have been better equipped and spec'd. And then the price point at which the 830 is offered. It is probably underspec'd IMO.
  • Shikhar , yup , a 400 processor is good ( its a midrange device after all ) , I hope a successor To the 1020 surprise us ....
  • Idk what is the difference between a 32 bit and 64 bit. Anyone pls kindly explain to me?
  • Me 2
  • http://forums.wpcentral.com/windows-phone-concepts-dream-devices/290461-64bit-vs-32bit-os-mobiles-future.html
  • I'm thinking , does WP support 64-bit system chip? When?
  • Embedded does which I guess means that once Qualcomm's snapdragon line transitions well see a need for them to compile wp for it
  • An OS should be common on all types of devices to bring in actual innovations now because these devices have to interconnect to be useful. Future software updates might make 64bit processors a necessary requirement for the OS to work on a smartphone? Better battery performance?
  • 64bit with only 1g of ram is useless. People keep posting that 64bit article. You need at least 4g of ram for 64bit to mean anything.
  • Tell that to the people reading an ad comparing 32bit to 64bit. Facts mean nothing. Bigger numbers do.
  • What about iPhone 5s
  • Actually more like 5+gb of ram
  • It can help in other ways too. 64 bit means the processor can grab larger chunks of data at a time. It will be faster and use less power which means better battery life.
  • More OEMs, please. :)
  • This is great news. Yet more OEMs jumping onboard the mass produced market.
  • 64bit is gimmickry. It's designed to work on low specs phones. Wp can't utilize the muscle of 64bit
  • I think with the 64bit, upgraded 400, with 1gb of ram is a good budget phone. Now does it have microsd slot? Cause with that camera that for me would be a deal breaker. Although I do realize this isn't geared towards me.
  • At the very least, it is marketing to help bring more awareness and hopefully more people interested in WP.
  • Gimmick.
  • http://www.androidcentral.com/why-64-bit-processors-really-matter-android Have fun reading Posted via Windows Phone Central App
  • For the record when has the software industry ever decided that "Holy balls 64-bit, let's all work together and take advantage of this and write all our applications and programs to work with it" didn't the desktop environment make the move to 64-bit nearly ten years ago? And you're just now seeing programs kinda be offered in 64-bit. Not even often or heavily. Posted via Windows Phone Central App
  • Thank you.
  • Yeah, you only see 64-bit for programs that do heavy lifting. It's absolutely not needed for crappy little smartphone apps, but whatever. There's no reason *not* to go 64-bit, either.
  • battlefield 4 would be a good example of 64bit code
  • But the OS being 64 bit helps it manage 32 bit applications more efficiently. So I guess you could say that the most important piece of software in your computer is optimized.
  • Please some developer to comment on this with real use info :)?
  • To many windows phones coming
  • Wonder if the htc 820, 620 or whatever it is called will be released shortly?
  • Its a very good move, atleast somebody has to think out of the box., its good to have new things.. I m very happy
  • So what makes a 64 bit processor better than a 32 bit one? On desktop PCs it had something to do with how much RAM it could use, right?
  • It could make the transition to VoLTE smoother for 1 & enable desktop like games(with mobile controls)
  • I think people are missing the main point, this is a phone with an SD400 series processor and 1 gb of RAM for 119 euros, its a 730 without the cameras but it also costs less.
  • I hope xiamo comes into competition. We need more good specs from them.
  • I learned a lot by just reading comments today. Thanks guys! :D
  • I think that BLU HD looked much better. More interested in that one. But it's cool to have a 64 bit option
  • seems faster.
  • Its just like the debate of should I choose what computer I buy based on core clock speed or core clock speed times the amount of cores(which is is an inaccurate way to compare cpu's as multi threading has to be programmed for)
  • Dont expect firmware updates from these vendors. If something is shit on the day of purchase (battery issues, camera issues, microphone issues, screen issues, display issues, wifi issues, 3G/4G issues), it will remain like that until you throw the phone in the garbage bin, and re-join the ever-spinning consumer society game of poor quality electrical junk products.
  • Wow! Talk about Nokia quality. All those seem to be Nokia issues. On the plus side of it works, it'll just work. Unlike all those crappy Nokias I've owned. This Lumia 520 included. Yesterday this damn thing wouldn't turn on at all. It just went black. I tried every which way to turn it on. It came on when i plugged it in. And it had 90% power left on it :/
    Oh, and don't tell me because it's low end. I also had a Lumia 920 and on that i got the COGS OF DEATH!
  • The difference is, that you can take the phone back to Nokia repair center (if you bought the carrier unlocked one) and they either replace or repair it. How many repair shops the Tsing-Tsung-Tsang chinese noname company has in your city? The relationship between the customer and the vendor does not stop at the cash desk, when you pay for your new toy. Nokia maintain(ed) support pages, forums etc. so when you had issues, you could find resources how to solve it by yourself. Tsing-Tsung-Tsang will provide any stable and reliable recovery tools for the phone if you brick it? Or you need to send back the phone in mail to China to get a new one every time something is f*cked up with the device? I am not saying Nokia is allmighty. But at least its a bigger company, with bigger chances they wont go bankrupt from Monday to Tuesday, and bigger chances they provide software /  firmware updates to their products for at least 1 year. Nowadays I have lost hopes to all vendors, that I will get firmware update from any of them after 2 years. Infinite cogging: I think you should blame MS. The phone Operating System comes from MS, the issue was with their failing recovery partition procedure. It was more of an operating system problem, then a Nokia firmware issue, but I may be wrong in this.  You could fire up Nokia Recovery utility to fix it.
  • Why would I blame MS if it never happened with My Samsung or the Lumia 520 and I've restored that Samsung more than I can count due to that MS Duplicate song issue. Seems like a hardware/firmware problem to me. I'll give you the support thingy. But what good is a phone that spends most of its life at the repair shop to me? No bueno, Nada, Zip, Zero.
  • WiFi direct still missing in wp
    devices...dats y its not getting traction in India
  • Before Nokia came along, I once had an Alcatel phone. It was actually my first ever mobile phone. In the meantime Alcatel almost went extinct. I'm glad to see them reborn and although this is not the kind of phone I'd buy spec-wise, I think I'll try to test one out to see how good old Alcatel is doing these days.   (BTW...for those who say "Nokia won't return to phones". Yeah. I've heard many people say the same about Alcatel. Yet, here they are, with a brand that's nowhere near as strong as "Nokia". Think about that ;) )
  • wow, because I really need more than 4GB of ram for the weather app....not
  • Nice, starring to see a lot of decent oem pop up.
    Lets keep up the verity!
  • Lets come back to all these new / unknown OEMs after the first 2 years expires, and support issues, abandoned phones, unresolved firmwares bugs come to the surface. Right now, all these noname OEMs are in good shape, as they didnt have the chance to screw up their image with the terrible support / unreliable HW/SW. Just because there is a nice colorful screenshot / photo of a cheap phone (to me, these 30 new noname WP8 phones all look exactly the same), you cannot judge build quality or reliability of that thing. People are so naive and gullible, thats what helps the consumer society and planned obsolescence wheel spinning for eternity.
  • A FOUR mega pixel camera in the BACK?! This is where things will begin to fall apart... Really garbage OEM releasing really garbage hardware. Are they INSANE?!? >=[
  • More importantly...does anyone know where I can find the template and/or app to get my start screen background as cool as the one pictured in this article?!?
  • Apple did it again ! Just one step ahead of anyone.:)
  • didn't know, WP offers 64 bit support...