Preview: Micromax Canvas 4 Hands-On | TechTree.com

Preview: Micromax Canvas 4 Hands-On

Our initial impressions about Micromax's much-hyped flagship handset.

 
Preview: Micromax Canvas 4 Hands-On

As you may already know, Micromax is currently the largest Indian smartphone maker. Sales of its Canvas series of smartphones has recently hit a 1 million milestone. Little wonder then, this domestic brand is giving Samsung a run for its money in the budget segment. One of the important reasons behind the company’s success has been its aggressive pricing. For instance, the Micromax Canvas 2 A110 delivers almost all the features of Samsung's GALAXY Grand at half its price. However, with the Canvas 4, the company has decided to test waters in the mid-range mobile space. I got a chance to play around with the phone at its launch event, and here are my initial impressions about the latest Micromax handset.

Design And Build Quality
Although Micromax is charging Rs 18,000 for this phone; I don't think they have spent a penny on its aesthetics. The design has been completely ripped from Blu's Life One handset that was announced in March 2013. Each and every cut and curve on the Canvas is identical to the Life One. It features a plastic body and rounded corners. That being said, the aluminium frame is a nice touch that also makes the handset sturdy. According to Micromax, this metal band also acts as an antenna.

The phone features three capacitive navigation keys – Home, Back, and Options. These keys are backlit, and offer haptic feedback when touched. The Lock/Power button is placed on the right side, whereas the Volume Rocker sits bang opposite. Finally, the top of the device houses a 3.5 mm jack, while the micro-USB port is at the bottom. Like any smartphone with a 5-inch screen, this isn't ideal for single handed usage,

Display
The Canvas features a 5" screen with pixel dimensions of 720x1280. It's an IPS type panel with aspect ratio of 16:9. The colour reproduction is quite good, and the viewing angles are wide. The brightness levels are good too, but I didn't get a chance to test its sunlight legibility. The contrast is decent, but I feel that the blacks could have been better. Thanks to the Corning Gorilla Glass, the display is scratch resistant.

Basic Specs
The phone is powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor based on the MediaTek MT6589 SOC. There's 1 GB of RAM to help with multitasking. Other than that, you get 16 GB of internal storage, microSD card slot, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, 3G, and 2000 mAh battery. These specs are again similar to the Life One. So there's a possibility that Micromax is simply rebranding Blu's handset in India.

User Interface
In terms of software, the Canvas 4 features Android 4.2.1 (Jelly Bean). Micromax has made a few changes to the stock UI. For starters, there's a 'Pop Up' functionality that allows you to multitask with a split screen view. Needless to say, this feature has been inspired by Samsung's 'Multi-window'. Then, you have 'Video Pinning', which is inspired by the Korean giant's 'Pop up play'. The 'Smart Pause' feature, made popular by the GALAXY S4 has also been covered. Micromax has also spiced up the default video player with MXPlayer's swipey controls.

While there's plenty of gimmicky stuff, nothing beats the weird 'Blow To Unlock'. When enabled, you can unlock the phone by blowing air. This works on the same principle that's used in the popular Windows Phone and iOS game Blow Up The Frog — the air flow is detected by the phone's microphone. The phone comes preinstalled with a few apps such as File Manager, Opera Mini, Foneclay, Hike, and Spuul. Moreover, you also get Micromax's exclusive services such as M! Live, Music Hub, Game Hub, and M! Security.

The phone's performance is no different than the recently reviewed Zen Ultrafone 701HD. The swiping animations and transition effects are quite smooth, but become sluggish once in a while.



Camera
The phone comes with a 13 mp auto-focus camera with an LED lash. The snapper offers numerous features including a 4-direction panorama (works like Photosynth), HDR, Full HD recording, and Burst mode that can take 99 shots in one go. Since the lighting conditions at the venue weren't ideal to test the camera, I can't say much about the image quality. However, it delivers more details than similarly priced Android handsets for sure.

Canvas HD vs Canvas 4
One obvious question that everybody has been asking is - how different is the Canvas 4 from its predecessor, the Canvas HD A116? The answer - not very different. For starters, the processing hardware - CPU, GPU, and RAM, as well as the screen are very much the same. There are 3 noticeable differences between the two, though, and all in favour of the Canvas 4 - the camera (13 MP vs 8 MP), internal storage (16 GB vs 4 GB) and the Android version (4.2 vs 4.1). And let's not forget the price, of course. You will need to shell out a premium of Rs 4500 for these extras.

In A Nutshell
The Canvas 4 is priced at Rs 18,000 and comes with a free flip cover. There’s a strong possibility that this phone is a rebranded Blu Life One with some added software gimmicks. As far as the competition goes, the LAVA Iris 504Q comes with an inferior camera, but costs Rs 3500 less than Micromax's offering. Also, let's not forget the Micromax Canvas HD that I just mentioned, which is not a bad deal either at Rs 13,500. To find out whether the Canvas 4 is worth the premium, keep your eyes peeled for our upcoming review.

Specifications:

  • 5" IPS touchscreen with pixel dimensions of 720x1280.
  • 1.2 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6589 CPU, PowerVR SGX 544MP.
  • 1 GB RAM.
  • 16 GB internal storage (10 GB user accessible), Up to 32 GB microSD supported.
  • 13 megapixel rear camera with autofocus and LED flash, 4-direction panorama, HDR, Full HD recording, 5 megapixel front camera.
  • 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS.
  • Micro-USB 3.0, 3.5 mm audio jack, FM radio, Full HD 30 fps video playback.
  • Sensors: Gravity, Proximity, Ambient light.
  • 2000 mAh Li-Ion battery with up to 8 hours talk time and 220 hours standby time.
  • 5.7" (H) x 2.9" (W) x 0.35" (8.9 mm) (D), 158 grams.
  • Android 4.2.1 (Jelly Bean), Google Play Store.
  • Dual-SIM, Dual standby, GSM (2G): 900/1800/1900/850 MHz, UMTS (3G): 2100 MHz.
  • Apps and Games: Hook Up, M! Live, M! Zone +, M! Security, Spuul, Hike, Foneclay, Music Hub, Opera Mini, GMS, Game Hub, NFS, Fruit Devil, Dark man.


Tags : Mobile Phones, Multi-SIM, Android, Micromax

 
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