Guess who joined the FHD band wagon. Out comes Micromax Canvas Turbo with its first ever shiny 5 inch FHD display and powerful(is it?) 1.5Ghz Quad Core Cortex A7 CPU and 2GB RAM. Micromax decided to go bold and remove external microSD card and locked down the backcover so there is no battery access as well. We review the device so read on.
Hardware
The 1.5Ghz Quad Core Cortex A7 CPU and PowerVR SGX544MP GPU seem to get older by the day since they remain the heart for three flagship generations. With an upgrade in RAM from 1GB to 2GB, we were expecting a jump in performance. It did jump alright but it felt kinda short in graphics performance all blame shining on the big, beautiful FHD IPS LCD display.
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The 5inch FHD moniker seems to be quite popular with top dawgs like Samsung and Sony but Micromax joining the league, it had to figure out ways to keep the device under 20K. For this it had to sacrifice on minor yet major role players like the lack of SD card expansion and battery removal option. With 16GB internal storage and no microSD slot, users have only 12.5GB of internal space and 0.98GB for apps. MicroSD card expansion may not be available but USB OTG is provided so you can hook up a pendrive or a card reader for storage expansion but this might be cubersome for many. The volume rocker is placed right below the lockscreen button on the right and each of them provide a good tactical feedback.
Software
The software doesn't seem to be compromised much but would have been better if we saw Android 4.3 or atleast 4.2.2 instead of 4.2.1 but its understandable. We do hope it recieves an update and Micromax keep its promise. With a customized UI but mainly icons and settings, the Micromax Canvas Turbo A250 rides on stock Android 4.2.1 with some neat software tricks under its magic hat. A new feature called iFloat Tray, a floating tray which when tapped gives you shortcuts to apps that can be configured to your usage. Another software goodie is that Micromax decided to put on a floating video feature which naturally lets you watch videos in a small window much like the one featured in the Galaxies. Moving through the UI, the casual, rare hiccups were expected(pointing fingers to the FHD display). With scores like 4168 on Quadrant Standard and 32.1fps on Nenamark 2, Micromax Canvas Tubo A250 is no speed demon but casual gaming and browsing wouldn't make it sweat too much.
Camera
The 13MP sensor on the back does feature a decent sensor although I wouldn't get my hopes up. The daylight photos seem to be pretty decent and filled in with good amount of detail but Canvas Turbo shies when shooting in the dark especially without the flash turned on. This is no DSLR and neither is any other smartphone camera but considering the price range, we'd say the camera is appreciable. Now the camera does feature 3D panorama and GIF image support and the video recording is FULL HD i.e 1080p at 30fps. The selfies from the 5MP come out nice and sharp when assisted with plenty of light. The videos are MPEG 4 format which means you get more detail and clarity.
Battery
I don't know understand why Micromax doesn't see the need to increase the battery inside its flagship. With 5inches of FHD glory and beefy 2GB RAM, the phone provides a measly 7hours of 3G talk time and 105hours of stand-by. With only 13 minutes of usage at full brightness, the battery was beaten down to 13%(from 84% to 71% in 13 minutes) which again is blamed to the FHD display. The battery size seems to be standard and Micromax looks to keep it that since the size of 2000 mAH hasn't bumped since the very first Micromax Canvas.
Canvas Turbo seems to have more sacrifices than gains, beauty over true power and almost-pocket-friendly over cost. Micromax had to make a bold decision with the rising need for a FHD display and so the sacrifices arise. With a price tag of Rs. 19800 from flipkart, many people say like its injustice to the price.
Micromax Canvas Turbo A250 - Full Phone Specifications
| Specifications | Micromax Canvas Turbo A250 |
|---|---|
| 2G Network | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900(SIM 1 & SIM 2) |
| 3G Network,4G Network | HSDPA 2100 |
| SIM | Dual SIM(Micro Sim) |
| Display Type | IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
| Display Size | 1920 x 1080 pixels, 5 inches (~441 ppi pixel density) |
| Features | Quad-core 1.5 GHz MediaTek 6589T Processor, Android OS v4.2.1 (Jelly Bean), 2 GB RAM |
| Phonebook | Yes, Practically Unlimited |
| Call Records | Yes, Practically Unlimited |
| Internal Memory | 16(12.5GB user available) Internal Storage, 2 GB RAM |
| Card Slot Memory | No |
| GPRS | Yes, Class 12 |
| EDGE | Yes, Class 12 |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, dual-band, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot |
| USB | Yes, microUSB v2.0 |
| Bluetooth | Yes, v4.0 with A2DP,LE,EDR |
| 3G | HSDPA, 42 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps |
| Camera Primary | 13 MP, 4128 x 3096 pixels, autofocus, LED flash |
| Video | Yes, 1080p @ 30fps |
| Secondary | Yes, 5 MP |
| Sound Alert Type | Vibration, MP3, WAV ringtones |
| Loudspeaker | Yes |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes |
| OS, CPU, Chipset, And GPU | Android OS, v4.4 (Kitkat), Quad-Core 1.5 GHz Cortex A7 CPU, MediaTek 6589T Chipset And PowerVR SGX544 GPU |
| Messaging | SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM |
| Browser | HTML5 And Flash (Download From Outside) |
| Radio | Yes |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS support |
| Java | Yes, via Java MIDP emulator |
| Colors | Black/White |
| Battery | Standard Li-Ion 2300 mAh battery |
| Talktime | Up to 7 h (3G) |
| Standby | Up to 105 h (3G) |
| Price | Rs. 19800 |
Author : Nadeem Ansari
Designation: Senior Editor
Bio: A gadget freak who can't make a day without his tiny little toys and is constantly trying to keep himself up to date with the latest events in tech history. Loves to read and write articles.
Bio: A gadget freak who can't make a day without his tiny little toys and is constantly trying to keep himself up to date with the latest events in tech history. Loves to read and write articles.
