Smartron srt.phone: A fine deal if you are a die-hard Sachin Tendulkar fan
Domestic information technology (IT) start-up Smartron, which counts Indian cricket legend Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar and former Motorola Mobility Chief Executive Sanjay Jha among its investors, recently launched the srt.phone smartphone, “inspired by the dependable traits of Tendulkar�. At the launch of srt.phone, the company claimed that the smartphone used the best antennas and other security features that made it an all-rounder. Indeed, Smartron has pleased investors with its manoeuvres to deliver solutions ranging from internet of things (IoT) to smartphones built specifically for Indian consumers. But how does the srt.phone fare against the claims of dependability and the inspiration it apparently draws from one of the tallest role models for India in recent times? To find out, Business Standard took the device for a spin and tested its real-life performance. Here is an in-depth review of the srt.phone: Design
The srt.phone offers a no-frills design, with rounded edges and curved sides. The smartphone might look appealing, but its polycarbonate built with metallic finish seems to somewhat spoil the experience. The plastic built is not loose or creaky – it fits perfectly on all sides and the matte touch adds to the aesthetics – but the pseudo metallic look was not necessary; it is way too prominent even at the first glance. The front of the srt.phone is dominated by a 5.5-inch full-HD display protected with Gorilla Glass 3. There are three capacitive keys below the display, but these are without any sign or icon, just three flat dots. These dots acts are the home button and navigation keys. The earpiece along with sensors are placed neatly on the top, next to the front camera. The fingerprint scanner is placed in the centre-top on the rear of the smartphone. The primary camera is placed on top left at the back, along with LED flash and microphone. The camera sits nicely within the frame and there is almost no bulge around the camera frame. Its orange antenna line seems to lift the otherwise regular looks of the device. The back cover, which needs to be removed for access to the SIM card slot, is another loose point in the overall design of the device. The speaker is placed at the bottom, along with the primary microphone. There is a USB type-C port at the centre, with grills on each side. While one set of grills covers the bottom firing speaker, the other carries the primary microphone. One thing that caught our attention while using the srt.phone is the placement of the power key. While the volume rockers are on the right side of the device, the power key-cum-screen locker is moved to the top of the device. The placement of the power key makes locking/unlocking the device rather inconvenient.
Display The srt.phone boast a 5.5-inch IPS full-HD screen, protected with Gorilla Glass 3. The screen is bright and crisp but fails to render vivid colours. For an IPS unit, the screen does not do justice to the colours, contrast ration and side-viewing angles, as the colours look washed out and the blacks are not deep enough. The only factor where the screen seems to perform very well is the sunlight legibility. The screen boosts the brightness to make it perfectly readable under direct sunlight.
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ARTICLE SOURCE – BUSINESS STANDARD