Sharp is also venturing back to smartphones in the Netherlands. Starting with the Sharp Aquos D10, a smartphone that is in the middle segment in terms of price. That makes it very difficult for Sharp.
Sharp Aquos D10
Price € 399,-Colors black
OS Android 8.0 (Oreo)
Screen 6 inch LCD (2160x1080)
Processor 2.6GHz octa-core (Snapdragon 630)
RAM 4GB
Storage 64 GB (expandable with memory card)
Battery 2,900 mAh
Camera 12 and 13 megapixel dualcam (rear), 16 megapixel (front)
Connectivity 4G (LTE), Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi, GPS
Format 14.9 x 7.4 x 0.8cm
Weight 165 grams
Other fingerprint scanner, usb-c, dualsim
Website www.sharpconsumer.eu 4 Score 40
- Pros
- Clean Android Skin
- Screen
- Build quality
- Negatives
- Price
- Copied design
- Old Android version without updates
- No headphone port
You may know the Sharp brand from televisions, but the company is active in many other product groups. Thus, the Aquos D10 is not the first smartphone from Sharp. In 2012, Sharp already presented the Aquos Phone 104SH, a waterproof smartphone that appeared a year before the first waterproof Xperia Z smartphone from Sony. However, the fact that Sharp suddenly appears on the scene again in 2018 with the Sharp Aquos D10 is quite unexpected.
Mid section
The Sharp Aquos D10 is a middle class in terms of price, at the time of writing the smartphone costs about 390 euros. In that middle segment, smartphone manufacturers are fighting each other with fantastic smartphones. Motorola, Asus, Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo and especially Nokia offer beautiful smartphones. In addition, last year's top smartphones are now in the same price range, such as the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the OnePlus 6 can still be picked up from a nice offer.
Unfortunately for Sharp, the other manufacturers are mowing the grass at the feet of the Japanese manufacturer. The Aquos D10 falls away from the competition. That starts with the appearance of the smartphone. The design is not subtly copied from the iPhone X, with the screen notch, placement of the cameras and the lack of the headphone port. Sharp is not alone with this, Asus, Huawei and countless other Chinese manufacturers also copy Apple's design. As a result, the Aquos D10 stands unobtrusively on the shelf among all other generic copy smartphones. For a relatively new smartphone brand you start with a 1 - 0 backlog, but that aside.
It also doesn't help that the specifications are unobtrusive for a smartphone in this price range. A Snapdragon 630 processor with 4GB of RAM and 64GB (expandable) storage space is neat, but other smartphones are just as smooth, even in benchmarks. The battery life is also in order, a charged battery lasts about a day and a half with a little economic use.
Sharp mainly focuses on the software.
Not recommended
But where Sharp especially leaves it behind is the software. The Aquos D10 runs on Android with its own skin. That skin, there's nothing wrong with that, it is very minimalistic so that your device responds quickly and you are not saddled with bloatware (but with two file explorers, strangely enough). Speaking of crazy, in the settings Sharp found it necessary to build in the 'S Boost' function, which gives you the option to defragment your device. Remarkable. This means that Sharp has placed a hard drive in the smartphone instead of flash memory like on all other smartphones, or Sharp has no idea how smartphone storage works. I suspect the second.
Sharp does not intend to update (the older) Android 8.0. So no Android 9 or upcoming versions. With this you are always behind the times with your new smartphone and you can not take Sharp seriously in the field of safety. To be a shame, and a reason to bluntly advise against the Aquos D10.
Screen
It's a shame that Sharp is failing on design, price and support. Because of course there are also positive points to mention about the Sharp Aquos D10. As you would expect from Sharp, the full-HD LCD screen panel is perfectly fine, it is clear and colors come into their own. Thanks to the very thin screen edges, a large screen panel has been placed, while the smartphone still remains very handy. In terms of screen quality, Sharp is therefore very positive for its price range.
Camera
The Sharp Aquos D10 features a dual rear camera that offers advanced photography options such as depth-of-field effect photos and an optical zoom. That works nicely. The photos that the smartphone takes are perfectly fine, but just don't expect the best performance from the cameras in difficult lighting conditions. Photos are then quickly a bit on the faded side and in low light you quickly suffer from noise. And in this area the camera does not disappoint, but it does not stand out positively either.
The same goes for the front camera, where you get a striking number of strange beauty filters and clumsy artistic effects at your disposal.
Alternatives
Unfortunately, as can be read in the review, I cannot recommend the Sharp Aquos D10 because the company does not live up to its responsibilities in the software field. But which smartphone should you choose? The Xiaomi Pocophone F1 is a better (and cheaper) smartphone on all fronts, with software support. Talking about the support. Many smartphones in this price range run on Android One, an Android version that is supported by Google itself, such as the Nokia 7 Plus. Why Sharp didn't choose to install Android One on the Aquos D10 is beyond me.
Conclusion
Despite the fact that the Sharp Aquos D10 is equipped with a beautiful screen, the smartphone falls away from the mass of the middle bracket in all other areas. The copied design emphasizes that, despite the build quality is perfectly fine. Unfortunately, Sharp does not fulfill its support responsibilities. As a result, you can unfortunately better ignore the Sharp Aquos D10 and opt for a Pocophone F1, Nokia 7 Plus, OnePlus 6. Even the Samsung Galaxy S8 (which costs about the same) from early 2017 has a better update prospect.
