Sunday, September 1, 2013
Micromax, India’s leading handset manufacturer has finally launched the Canvas 4 (A210), its flagship smartphone at an event in New Delhi today. The Android smartphone is priced at Rs. 18,000 in India. The phone created a lot buzz with its add campaign during ICC Champions trophy. Micromax has received an overwhelming response with 11500 pre-booking orders in a week after the announcement.
The new Micromax Canvas 4 is powered by a 1.2GHz MediaTek MT6589 quad-core processor with PowerVR SGX544MP GPU. There is 1GB RAM onboard, and 16GB of internal storage, of which 10GB is user available. The processor is not a faster but better than the Canvas HD. The smartphone sports 5″ screen with 1280 x 720 IPS 720p HD IPS full touch display, which a lot of user expected to be 1080P full HD.
The other interesting feature is the 13 megapixel rear camera with five element lens, image stabilization, multiple face detection and vertical panorama view. It is capable of recording 1080p full-HD video and takes good quality videos depending on the ambient light. However, it saves video clips in .3GP file format, which is an older file format.
Micromax Canvas 4 also has a new Video Player app with features like ‘Pause on look away’ using the front camera to detect if you’re looking at the screen of the phone, and automatically pausing and resuming videos. Though it’s not new and is seen in the in high-end phones like the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the LG Optimus G Pro. You can increase and decrease the volume or brightness while playing a video by just swiping up and down the screen at the left and right hand sides. It also allows you to preview one video while playing another one, and view videos on a floating player window while doing other tasks through its pop-out feature.
The Music player has also been revamped with fancier controls in the Now Playing screen and integrates the Micromax Online music store. The Music Store is still a website wrapped into the app and allows you to download music tracks and videos. It only lets you download tracks when you access the site through 3G/ Edge as billing is integrated with the telecom operator. The Music Player app also features Equalizer settings.
The Micromax Canvas 4 packs in a 2000 mAh battery which is a bit disappointment considering the 4 core processor and a 13 MP camera. The phone runs on Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean OS. It also comes with dual Sim and dual standby time functionality.
Micromax Canvas 4 Specification :
1.2GHz MediaTek quad-core processor
PowerVR SGX544MP GPU
1 GB RAM
16GB internal storage expandable up to 32GB
Android 4.2.1 (Jelly Bean)
13MP rear camera with five element lens.
5MP front camera
2000 mAh battery
Dual SIM
Other features such as simultaneous video playback, video pinning to the home screen, video/browser pop out, look away to pause video, gesture control , four way panorama and blow to unlock.
The Canvas 4 seems an upgrade to the Canvas HD. Apart from the upgraded camera with slightly improved build quality and some intersting apps it doesn’t bring anything extra ordinary to the table. The smartphone is priced at Rs. 18,000 is on the higher side when you compare it to the Canvas HD. Though the phone seems a value pack but at this price, one may think of bigger brand phone such as Galaxy Grand or Xperia L.
What do you think? Will the Canvas continue to be the low-cost Android phablet benchmark or has Micromax slipped up this time? Let us know in the comments!
