10.or D2 first impression: Entry-level phone with decent hardware

Emerging smartphone-maker 10.or (pronounced Tenor), which makes Amazon exclusive smartphones in India, launched its new budget phone 10.or D2 (the successor of the 10.or D) on August 22, Wednesday.

The new 10.or (aka Tenor) will be offered exclusively on Amazon India in two configurations— 2 GB RAM + 16 GB storage and 3 GB RAM + 32 GB storage — for Rs 6,999 and Rs 7,999, respectively. Both the devices will come in Beyond Black and Glow Gold colour options.

The new phone will be up for purchase exclusively on Amazon from August 27 onwards. Initially, it will be offered for Prime members through Early Access Sale and later released to the general public.

It comes with a decent set of hardware in terms of processor, camera, battery and display. Prior to the launch, I had the chance to preview the 10.or D2. Here's my take on it.

Display, design and build quality:

One of biggest change we see in the new 10.or D2 over the predecessor is the design language. The former comes with 5.45-inch HD+ screen having 18:9 aspect ratio, offering cinematic wide viewing experience, while the latter has a 16:9 aspect ratio.

On the back, the company has ditched the fingerprint sensor in the D2 for unknown reasons. It has a 13 MP primary camera on top and speaker at the base.

On the right side, it has power and volume rockers placed on top of each other. In the left, the D2 features the SIM tray, three dedicated slots -- two for 4G SIMs and one for microSD card.

As far as build quality is concerned, it comes with sturdy polycarbonate shell having metallic paint on top.

Processor, RAM, storage and battery:

The new 10.or D2 comes with 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 quad-core processor backed by Adreno 308, 2 GB / 3 GB RAM and 16 GB / 32 GB storage with the option to expand up to 128 GB storage.

During the brief time that I used the phone, it did not show any lag in terms of launching the app, switching between multiple apps.

In terms of user-interface, 10.or D2 comes with almost clean Android 8.1 Oreo software with just Amazon-related apps. It is very simple to navigate through the phone and easy to find features to enable or disable them in the settings.

As far as the battery is concerned, 10.or D2 comes with 3,200mAh cell. It is more than enough to get through the day under regular usage. However, I will reserve my final verdict after spending more time with the device.

Camera:

The new 10.or D2 houses a 13 MP (with Sony IMX258 sensor), F2.0 aperture, 5-element lens, single tone LED flash. On the front, it features a 5 MP camera with 4-element lens, F2.0 aperture, LED flash, face detection, beautify feature, selfie countdown and is also capable of face detection.

The quality of the pictures taken by the primary camera is quite decent for its price. However, I need more time to test how well it performs in low light conditions. Even with the front-camera, the photos are good enough to share on social media platforms.

Initial thoughts:

Though Amazon-exclusive 10.or D2 comes with decent specifications for its price, I am a bit disappointed over the lack of fingerprint sensor. The company should have had at least incorporated face unlock capability like rival brands Infinix Mobiles and Tecno Mobile.

Having said that, 10.or D2 might find traction among people who are migrating from a basic feature phone (with keypad) to a smartphone, as they will be using the touch-screen mobile for the first time.

Key specifications of 10.or D2: