Back with a bang, Micromax launched yet another smartphone yesterday. Called the Canvas 2 – 2017 edition, the phone appears to be a well rounded package aimed at the offline market. Let’s take a look at the hardware and features of the device.
Micromax Canvas 2 2017 (Q4310) specifications
- 5-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection, 400 nits brightness
- 1.3GHz Quad-core MediaTek MT6737 64-bit Processor with Mali T720 MP1 GPU
- 3GB RAM, 16GB internal memory, expandable memory up to 64GB with microSD
- Android 7.0 (Nougat) OS
- Dual SIM
- 13MP rear camera with LED Flash
- 5MP front-facing camera
- 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio
- Fingerprint sensor
- 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS
- 3050mAh battery
From the front the Canvas 2 is an attractive looking handset with a 5 inch HD display taking up space on the front. The fingerprint scanner is placed below the display but does not have capacitive keys on either side which is a strange choice since the on-screen controls take up valuable screen-real estate. Above the screen is a 5MP front facing camera module.
Micromax is being very vocal about the fact that this is perhaps the most affordable phone with a Gorilla Glass 5 panel. This panel is highly rated for drop resistance as opposed to some of the earlier iterations that focussed on shatter resistance.
Moving to the right side of the hardware, the phone has both the power button and volume rocker placed here. The entire construction of the phone is polycarbonate and this continues over to the buttons as well that have good enough ergonomics but don’t feel that great. The left side does not sport any buttons at all.
Over at the bottom you’ll observe dual speaker grilles. The stereo alignment is for aesthetic purposes only since the phone has a mono speaker. Finally you will see that the microUSB port and 3.5mm headphone jack are both placed at the top of the handset.
Flip the phone over and you can see the key design element on focus here. The Micromax Canvas 2 is equipped with an ultra glossy back cover in the same vein as the iPhone 7 Jet Black edition. A 13MP camera and LED flash are placed towards the top. The back cover on the phone is made of polycarbonate and is a scratch & fingerprint magnet.
Removing the cover reveals the sealed in 3050 mAh battery as well as the Dual SIM card slots. The phone retains a dedicated microSD card slot which is definitely appreciated.
The phone itself is powered by a 1.3GHz Quad-core MediaTek MT6737 Processor paired with a Mali T720 MP1 GPU. This is in addition to 3GB of RAM which keeps things running suitable smoothly. We haven’t had enough time with the phone to give a verdict on the performance of the handset but the customized interface was easy to navigate and did not seem to suffer from any lags or slow downs. We did observe quite a few pre-loaded applications that could not be uninstalled.
Priced at Rs. 11,999, the Micromax Canvas 2 certainly does not compete in terms of specifications but it does make for a unique proposition in the offline space. Where the phone lacks in terms of specifications, Micromax has bundled the phone with an unlimited phone calls and data offer courtesy Airtel and are also offering a free screen replacement guarantee, all of which should make this more interesting to a market segment that cares more about the experience, package over pure specifications.