During the Google I/O this year Sundar Pichai, the senior vice president at Google said "I am used to cutting edge phones and I have been using this one for a while and its really good". Android one is Google's mega strategy to take over the world of information.To achieve this they had to target the 'mass market' and the take on the biggest challege of combining 'affordability' with 'latest technology'.
Micromax Canvas A1 was one among the new breed of smartphones created to achieve this purpose.
Since this phone is more about how Google intended to combine hardware and software, my review is divided into hardware and software and find out how much they were successful.
Hardware:
It seems that Google and Micromax have drawn a lot of inspiration from the current Nexus 5 while designing this phone. The phone is well built with a rubberised type back which feels really good while holding the phone. The front bears the FWGA IPS 4.5 inch screen with a resolution of 480 x 854 pixels. The lower resolution with a larger screen size gives it a decent pixel density of about 217 ppi which is decent. Color reproduction is not the best with darks more like greys but the ambient light sensor makes sure that you don't struggle when under direct sunlight.One thing worth mentioning about is the excellent sensitivity of the screen. The lack of Gorilla Glass means that you have to be extra careful about the Canvas A1. | |
| Unboxing |
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| Free ram available |
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| storage |
The 5Mp shooter on the back may not be an excellent performer but not a disappointment like the one on the Moto E. Under well light conditions, the photos are impressive considering the price.With the Google camera application you get features like motion blur, panorama, photosphere but controls are limited to turning ON/OFF HDR ,flash and manual exposure control. Video recording is possible at 1080p with the back and 720p with the front camera. The camera while recording faces the problem of focusing and produces videos that are shaky. The front 2Mp camera is just enough for video calls with average performance in well lit conditions.The single loud speaker on the back is loud enough but will not compete with you dock in loudness. Connectivity features include everything from bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
| ,EDGE ,3G(21Mbps up /5.7Mbps dwn) to GPS except NFC and LTE. Sensors include gyro, proximity, light and magnetic .The battery being a 1700mAh and powering a quad core CPU will last you just about a day's use under heavy usage. |
Software:
'Always
on the latest version of Android' is the catch phrase that is linked to
everthing associated with Android One. So it's just like the Nexus and
Play edition devices, where you are sure to have your phone running the
latest version of Android. Out of the box, the phone runs 4.4.4 with
Google Now (aka Google experience) launcher and all Google apps and few
bloatware.
The Stock OS ensures smooth and fast performance. Stock Android is the best in terms of aesthetics and is prettier and more intuitive to use than the Android skins that are created by most of the Chinese and Indian smartphone manufacturers .There are also region specific features in softwares like Search and translate. Some app settings are frustrating it requires you insert a memory card to just start clicking pictures. Also, the phone doesn't allow you to receive .apk file another phones.But there are ways around this and the phone will not let you down in any manner.
The Stock OS ensures smooth and fast performance. Stock Android is the best in terms of aesthetics and is prettier and more intuitive to use than the Android skins that are created by most of the Chinese and Indian smartphone manufacturers .There are also region specific features in softwares like Search and translate. Some app settings are frustrating it requires you insert a memory card to just start clicking pictures. Also, the phone doesn't allow you to receive .apk file another phones.But there are ways around this and the phone will not let you down in any manner.
