I usually change phone once a year or two with exception of an indestructible Nokia 6600 that’s lasted 3 years of torture. And mostly I stick to brands Nokia and Motorola, Samsung always felt a lil flimsy and LG seemed tastelessly designed and Sony Ericsson Interface was plain sick till Android came in.
Coming to the Canvas 2, the only previous exp I had with Micromax was a Bling Q55, that I had gifted someone, and though the quality of the phone was pretty good, there were many glitches and bugs. After seeing the ad a few times on T.V. and watching the unboxing a Zillion times on Youtube was itching to upgrade my Moto Droid with the Canvas 2. a week later bought one finally!
Quickly to the Review,
Buying Exp: Most shops around Bangalore did not have stocks, and they were trying hard to push other phones like Samsung Dous, HTC Desire and even XOLO 800. Some even saying that the Canvas is a flop, knowing well these were tactics to make the days sale waited and finally found one. Am sure MMax would have expected this sort of response for this phone, so the unavailability can be pardoned. But they sure dont have the dealers on their side for the moment.
First impression: Surprisingly well built, panels fit properly, not squeaks not wiggles, solid feel when held. Passes off easily for a S3 or a Note, every one who saw it first thought it was a S3. I dint buy it for its similarity to the S3 though.
Display: Though not the best, it pretty good and plays Videos upto 720p very crips and vivid. the brightness and color depth is adequate. and meets expectations.
Camera: 8MP is what the spec sheet says, but I can say it click pics on Par with the 5MP Cam on my Moto Droid. so even though its a let down, still would say it meets expectations, cosidering the fact that my Moto cam quality is pathetic in low light conditions the MicroMax fares pretty well in low light and night mode. so the pros and cons even out. The photo quality is defintly acceptable.
Performance: 1Ghz dual core proc impresses with great performance even though its not the fastest around. Adequate for games with 3D rendering and all the day to day apps
Memory: Internal Storage of 4GB with usable 2.5 GB is good. 512MB RAM is a let down, this should have been 1GB. External SD support upto 32 GB is the norm these days and is fine.
Battery: On full Charge lasts 48 hours, with 100% 3G and Dual SIM stand by some music and radio few minutes of games and a few pics and 2-3 video songs. Thats a huge+. My Moto batter hardly lasts 12-16 hours!
Cons:
No Ambient light sensor, cannot put brightness in Auto mode. In Bright sun need to manually up the brightness.
Doesnt play Full HD Videos
1GB RAM was a must
Very few aftermarket accessories available.
Speaker output should have been louder!
Overall: Bang on deal for 10K, its cant get more VFM than this, people who complain about display camera and battery need to do a reality check. I would be more than happy and a satisfied customer if it lasts about a year or two. Dint see a point in spending 38K for a Note2.