SRT.Phone is the company’s second smartphone and the company is targeting mainstream customers. With a starting price of Rs 12,999, the T.Phone is a very affordable smartphone. We will be testing a more powerful version of this phone which has more RAM and storage but is priced under Rs 15,000.
We think the SRT.phone will be a hit with many initially as Smartron says the phone is inspired by Sachin Tendulkar. But is it justified to buy the phone for this reason? Let’s find out in the review.
Smartron SRT.Phone Design and Build Quality
The SRT.Phone comes with a standard candelabra design but has curved edges and corners for a comfortable grip. The plastic body feels sturdy. The battery is non-removable but the two nano SIM slots can be accessed by removing the rear cover of the phone, although it is a bit difficult to do so. The gray color does not look very good but due to the matte finish it does not leave a lot of fingerprints.
Talking about the front, the phone has a 5.5 inch full-HD IPS display with Gorilla Glass 3. The brightness level of the display is very good, which makes it easy to use the phone in daylight. Viewing angles and color reproduction are also good. Below the display are three backlit dots that act as Android navigation buttons. You have the option to enable the onscreen button by going to the Settings app. At the top, there is an ambient light and proximity sensor but no notification LED is provided.
The volume rocker button on the right side of the phone is convenient to operate, but the power button on the top is in a very awkward place and is difficult to use. The good thing is that you will mostly use the fingerprint sensor to unlock the phone, but still it would have been better to place it on the left side. Apart from this, there is also no ‘double tap’ gesture to activate the screen.
The camera on the rear of the phone is completely flat and Smartron’s signature orange branding can be seen everywhere on the device. The fingerprint sensor is easy to use and recognizes fingers quickly. There was never any problem in unlocking the phone with the sensor during our use. Unlike many other smartphones, you can’t use the fingerprint sensor to lock apps and files. A USB Type-C connector is provided along with the speaker grill on the lower edges of the phone.
In the retail box, you get an 18-watt adapter with the phone which comes with Qualcomm’s Quick Charge standard support. Apart from this, a Type-C cable and some instruction manuals are available. Smartron has also made some launch offers. Subscribers will also get an additional cover with Sachin Tendulkar.
Overall, the SRT.Phone has a good build and fits well in the hand. The weight of the phone is 155 grams and despite the thickness of 8.9 mm, it is easy to keep in the pocket. The phone does not look very beautiful and due to the strange placement of the power button, the user will have to get used to it, but leaving this aside, there is no major problem with the phone.
Smartron SRT.Phone Specifications and Software
Better specifications have been given in SRT.phone. This phone has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor and we reviewed the variant with 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage. The lack of expandable storage option in the phone is disappointing but the phone has enough space for most uses. Talking about other specifications, there are features like Bluetooth 4.1, dual-band Wi-Fi AC, USB OTG, FM radio and GPS. SRT.Phone supports NFC which can be called a great feature in this price segment. The phone also has many sensors including a gyroscope. The phone supports 4G with VoLTE on all Indian bands.
Smartron has not tampered with Android in any way and we like this very much. The phone runs on Android Nougat (7.1.1) and it is claimed to have Android O update in the phone. The stock launcher given in the phone looks similar to the Pixel phone. But this phone has an app drawer button. Swiping right opens the Google Now page and Google Assistant is also provided. In the app drawer, recently installed apps appear first but there’s no way to alphabetize app icons.
Smartron has provided an office suite of Microsoft apps which cannot be uninstalled. The good thing is, there are not too many apps on the phone. The phone also has a custom gallery and Tron.X app. Tron.X is a handy security feature that requires login in case the phone is reset or stolen.
The TrandotX app has three sections – tStore, tCloud and tCare. You can buy other Smartron products and accessories from TStore. And Smartron’s cloud storage service from TCloud provides unlimited backup space to store contacts, messages, photos and videos. Syncing happens automatically at regular intervals, but you can also sync manually if needed. Currently, only the DCIM folders for photos and videos are synced on the phone, and we couldn’t find a way to sync any other folders. Last, TCare lets you chat and call or email a representative with any questions you may have.
There is a section for gestures in the Settings app, but currently only one option is available. And with a double press of the power button, the camera app opens.
Smartron SRT.Phone Performance, Camera and Battery Life
The SRT.phone performed well in almost all tests. In Antutu, we got a score of 80,790 points from the phone while in GFXBench we got a score of 35 frames per second. The phone has 3D games like NOVA. Legacy and Asphalt 8 ran smoothly without any issues. Due to the stock Android phone, the performance of the phone was good and the interface also remained clean. Multitasking also happens well in the phone. The call quality coming through the earpiece was good and we did not face any problem of heat in the phone. The edges of the frame get hot quickly while shooting video or using the camera, but during normal use there is no such problem.
Media playback on the SRT.Phone was a fun experience thanks to its large display. The single speaker at the bottom produces good sound but when there is external noise, the sound seems weak. The audio coming from headphones is good but no audio enhancement feature is provided.
The camera is the most disappointing in SRT.phone. The 13-megapixel rear camera comes with PDAF and aperture F/2.0, so focusing in daylight is not too bad and due to the wide aperture, the Bokeh effect is available in macro shots. However, the quality of the photos remains very average. Landscape photographs taken in daylight lack depth. Closeup shots come out very flat and appear overexposed in sunlight. Focus speed remains poor. In daylight, selfies are taken well with the 5 megapixel sensor, but in case of poor lighting, the quality is not very good.
The camera app is well designed and the user has access to auto HDR, scene mode, filters and ratio controls on the left side. While the shooting mode is on the right. Manual mode allows you to control shutter speed and ISO, but these settings are not visible in real time in the viewfinder. Apart from this, Auto HDR also does not always work, so it would be better to select HDR mode manually if needed.
The phone can record video up to 4K (up to 10 minutes at a time) and the quality is really good. The slow motion mode helps and the timelapse video mode is also useful.
The phone has a 3000 mAh battery, but its performance in our HD video loop test was not very good. We could use the phone only for 8 hours and 43 minutes. During actual use the phone could last for a whole day. The good thing is that the phone’s battery supports Quick Charge 2.0, so the battery does not take too much time to charge.
our decision
Smartron has done a good job the second time too. The SRT.Phone is a very good performing handset, except for the camera performance. Spending Rs 14,000 for a phone that’s more powerful than the Honor 6X and Moto G5 Plus (Review) isn’t bad. The SRT.Phone has a good screen, build quality is solid (despite being plastic) and app performance is very good. On the other hand, it is not the best looking phone in its price segment and the battery life of the phone could have been improved.
SRT.phone is a good option, Honor and Moto smartphones also have many of their own features due to which they are also good options. But, if you want a richer UI then the Honor 6X might be better and system performance is also expected to improve with the rollout of the Nougat update. If you like stock Android but want a good camera then Moto G5 Plus (Review) will be better for you. If you choose the Smartron SRT.Phone, you will be paying more for the 64GB variant as there is no option for expandable storage in the phone.