Stepping aside this time from their respective flagship devices, here is a comparison review of Samsung, Alcatel and Vivo's mid-range offerings.

First off, both the J7 Prime and the V5 Plus feature a 5.5-inch screens, but the latter is using an AMOLED display compared to the former's IPS panel. On the other hand, the Alcatel Idol 4 has a slightly smaller 5.2-inch screen.

All of the devices' displays run at 1920x1080 pixels, with 401ppi for the J7 Prime and V5 Plus, and a higher 424ppi for the Idol 4. Only the Samsung device has added screen protection, with Corning Gorilla Glass included.

The three smartphones all feature eight-core processors, with the Vivo and Alcatel devices provided by Qualcomm - Snapdragon 617 for the Idol 4 and a bit higher Snapdragon 652 for the Vivo V5 Plus. The J7 Prime is power by Samsung's in-house chip, the Exynos 7870 Octa.

The J7 Prime has 3 GB RAM on both 16 or 32 GB configurations, while the Idol 4 only has 2 GB on certain 16 GB models. The V5 Plus takes the cake, however, with 4 GB of RAM on its only 32 GB counterpart.

Both Samsung and Alcatel machines feature a 13-megapixel primary camera and an 8-megapixel secondary camera. The V5 Plus also has a 13 MP rear camera, but what stands out on this device is its whopping 20-megapixel front camera, perfect for high-resolution selfies and possibly HD video recording.

Alcatel's Idol 4 has a non-removable 2,610mAh battery, which is fairly good for a day of moderate to heavy use. The J7 Prime and the V5 Plus, on the other hand, steps up on a fairly huge margin and features a 3,300mAh battery.

All devices will have Android Marshmallow (6.0.1), dual-SIM capabilities, microSD card support for up to 256 GB, and USB On-The-Go support.

In conclusion, all three devices are targeted to the bang-for-buck market, and each of them has their own big strengths - especially the V5 Plus's 4 GB of RAM and huge 20MP secondary camera. However, it seems that the Alcatel Idol 4 is the weakest among the three with less battery life and lower configurations.