Display and battery are laudable on this economical phone

Here’s a fact: India is now the second largest smartphone market in the world, behind China and ahead of the US. Another fact: Over 40 million smartphones were shipped in the third quarter of 2017 in the country. This is according to a report by an independent tech analyst.

It’s only obvious that smartphone-makers will make a beeline for our country’s shores given the vast demand, especially for low-end and budget smartphones. One of the latest to enter the fray is Chinese brand 10.or (pronounced ‘Tenor’). One of the offerings from the brand is the 10.or E, a smartphone that comes in two RAM variants — 2 GB and 3 GB.

The review unit was a 3 GB model. On unboxing the phone, the first thing that strikes you is the build quality that does not betray the pricing. The black-coloured model was glossy, solid, and the 2.5D curved glass gives it a premium feel. The back is polycarbonate, with the fingerprint sensor beneath the camera lens and the finish ensures it isn’t slippery. The 5.5-inch display is capped by and based on wide bezels. Although the bottom bezel is redundant because the navigation buttons are on the screen. The phone has two trays — one for the SIMs and another for the SD card — and this is a nice touch.

The 10.or E is pretty much stock Android with no bloatware and runs Android 7.1.2 out of the box — all very good features for a phone in this segment. The 3 GB RAM is backed by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 430, a capable processor seen on a lot of budget phones. Daily use is easily taken care of (social media, videos, utility apps, light games, etc). I did try some of the ‘heavier’ games on it and experienced lag. The phone doesn’t heat up a lot.

The display is very good, given the price. It is full HD with a 1920x1080p resolution, outstripping a lot of phones in the segment. It is vivid, bright, and easy on the eye. Viewing angles and colour reproduction are also commendable. However, under direct sunlight, visibility is average.

The 4,000 mAh battery is more than adequate for the 10.or E and easily lasts a day. However, with no fast charging, it takes close to three hours to juice up completely.

The primary camera is a 13 MP unit with f/2.0 aperture and returns well-detailed shots under daylight lighting conditions with lucid colours. Pictures do get grainy under low light and noise does pose a problem. This is the case with pretty much all cameras in the budget segment and by now, consumers are well aware of what to expect. The 5 MP primary camera with flash is your run-of-the-mill selfie shooter.

The phone has an application called ‘10.or’ care, which diagnoses how your device is performing and makes it easy to reach out to customer care and service; a nice touch given how service woes with Chinese brands are a problem.

10.or’s made an entry with a capable offering. The budget segment continues to grow at a frenetic pace.