Tenor G, an Amazon exclusive smartphone was launched a couple of months ago. Before the Tenor G, Amazon also introduced Tenor E smartphone, which offers decent specifications at Rs. 7,999. The Tenor G, on the other hand, takes the competition to a whole new level with its specifications.
The Tenor G comes in two variants- one with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, and the other one with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The 3GB RAM variant is priced at Rs. 10,999, while the 4GB RAM variant costs Rs. 12,999 in the country. Going by the price, the Tenor G is aimed at the likes of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4, Moto G5 Plus, and Lenovo K8 Note.
I have been using the Tenor G smartphone for over one and a half month now, and here's what I liked and disliked about the device.
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Things I Liked in the Tenor G
Build and Design
The Tenor G features the unibody metal design like other budget smartphones in the similar price range. And it seems like the company has taken some design cues from the Honor 7X. The phone comes with two colour options- black and silver, and the one am using is the black colour variant.
The smartphone offers decent in-hand feel, and it feels slippery too at times. At the right side, we have the power button and volume rockers, and all the buttons are of similar size. The back of the phone feels nice, and it's non-removable one. At the bottom, we have the micro USB port, and at the top, we get a 3.5mm headphone jack. The phone doesn't have any hardware capacitive navigation keys as it offers on-screen navigation options.
Display
Another highlight of the Tenor G is the display. The smartphone offers a 5.5-inch Full HD display, with a resolution 1920*1080 pixels. The display is crisp and sharp, even in outdoor conditions. Sunlight legibility is decent too, but the reflective panel might be underwhelming for some.
Performance, Software, and Battery
The Tenor G is the second smartphone in India to come powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 SoC, with the other one being the Moto Z2 Play priced at Rs. 27,999. As said earlier, the phone comes in two variants- one with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, and the other one with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage.
The performance of Tenor G is excellent. During my period with the smartphone, the Tenor G didn't lag a single tag, and the credit here goes to the software as well. Another thing to note is that the phone comes with near stock Android 7.1.2 Nougat out of the box, and Tenor promises Android Oreo update by the end of 2017.
Battery life is also excellent on the smartphone. The phone packs a 4000mAh battery, and it delivers a complete day battery life with a single charge.
What I Disliked in the Tenor G
Dual Cameras- HDR Mode to the rescue
Cameras on budget smartphones never impressed us, and it continues with the Tenor G as well. The smartphone comes with dual cameras at the back- a 13MP RGB sensor and another 13MP monochrome sensor for black and white shots. There's also an HDR and Portrait modes in the camera app.
Images captured with the Tenor G with HDR off lack details and the dynamic range is poor as well, but once you turn on the HDR mode, the details come back, but the dynamic range remains the same.
The Portrait mode on the Tenor G captures decent bokeh shots, however, they lack details. The Portrait images look stunning on the Tenor G screen, but once you put them on a bigger screen, you can see the noise levels.
There's a 13MP front-facing camera on the smartphone, which captures decent images when good light is available, but again, lacks details when the light goes down.
No Fast Charging Support
The Tenor G sports a 4000mAh battery, but Tenor did not include any fast charging support in the smartphone, which is underwhelming. The smartphone takes two hours to charge from 0% to 100% completely.
Ports
Aforesaid, the Tenor G comes with a micro USB port at the bottom. Well, almost all the brands are now moving to USB Type-C port, but Tenor stuck with the micro USB port. That said, it's a massive let down for the smartphone, but some would still prefer a micro USB port over a USB Type-C port.
There you have it guys, the Tenor G is an excellent budget smartphone, but there are some issues such as no fast charging support, and the images with both the cameras lack details.
The performance of the smartphone is buttery smooth, no issues whatsoever. If you want a stock Android smartphone with excellent specs, and can sacrifice the cameras, then get the Tenor G smartphone.
