Tech Review: Micromax Canvas HD

After a series of smartphone launches in India, Micromax India took a major plunge by introducing the first ever 5 inch smartphone with a quad core processor in the Indian Market called "Micromax Canvas HD". It's no easy going for the phone in the segment where reputed companies like Samsung, Nokia, HTC etc. have already made a mark for themselves. Will Micromax Canvas HD be able to stand the test of time or fizzle out in the process? Let's check it out.

Key Features

• Android v4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) OS

• 8 MP Primary Camera

• Expandable Storage Capacity of 32 GB

• 2 MP Secondary Camera

• 1.2 GHz Quad Core Processor

• 5-inch LCD Capacitive Touchscreen

• Dual SIM (GSM + GSM)

• HD Recording

• Wi-Fi & 3G Enabled

I have spent a couple of months with this phone and if I have to sum up my experience in a single word it'll be 'AMAZING'.

• The phone's body gives a premium feel to it and a touch of glossy look behind the back will give it an extra edge among the high end phones. It's available only in two colors namely Black & White. 

• A 5 inch LCD capacitive touchscreen is smooth around the edges and makes it easy for the user to navigate on the phone. The viewing angles are good and the brightness and density of the screen is up to the task as desired in a smartphone. It plays HD videos well without any interruptions. 

• It has been stocked with the latest Jelly Bean version of Android 4.1.2 which is currently upgradeable to 4.2 but there's a catch to it. There's no provision for" OTA" (Over the air) update in the phone as you to have rush to the nearest service center to get the update done on the phone. It's a stock Android with M!Live, Hookup and few other basic apps & games present on the phone to suffice your basic needs 

• The MediaTek quad core processor is all guns blazing. Clocking at 1.2 Ghz it is the latest in the Cortex A-7 series performing with some serious power under the hood coupled with 1 GB of RAM. There are no lags to experience while playing games or running multimedia on the phone. It's good for multitasking too. Personally I haven't found it in a spot of bother while runnings apps and games from playstore.  

• On the connectivity front its a Wi-Fi & 3G enabled phone with a USB port as well. GRPS & Edge can be found too along with these features for connectivity. So there's no worry on this part. I have been running 3G on this phone for 2 months now and it performs well without any troubles and with a good signal most of the times. 

• A strong 8 mp camera has been packed on the rear of the phone with a 2 mp snapper in the front for your video calls. The rear camera has a dual LED flash and is capable of HD recording as well. The photos taken from the phone were good images with a little bit of washed out colors at times but still it churned out a lot of very good images under natural light. The front camera is decent enough for a video call but a lot of noise and grainy images can make it a problem in low light situations.

• A meagre 4 GB storage won't please the users but a 32GB expansion slot has been provided in order to make your phone a huge storage machine. 

• Dual SIM is an advantage for the people who don't wish to carry two phones at a time. 

• Volume levels are decent enough but doesn't have very good output levels. The speaker located on the back of the phone manages a decent sound quality.  

• The battery is not the strongest but still manages to run through the day on a moderate use. For battery saving options few softwares in the "Google Playstore" might be of great help. 

 All in all Micromax attempts at making their mark in the smartphone segment with Canvas HD has been successful so far. My 1st hand user experience with the phone has been very good till now and as it turns out to be it'll be a serious competitor to some other phones in this particular segment with a very competitive pricing.

I'll definitely recommend this phone to the people who are in search for good features in a smartphone and are on a tight budget of 15k. In terms of performance it's a far better performer than Samsung Galaxy Grand with only a few blemishes when compared in terms of multimedia and speakers.

RATINGS:

4 OUT OF 5.