Micromax vs Samsung - Would you go for Better Specs or Better Brand?

[Gurjot95]

Just look at below comparison

*Information for Canvas HD is not updated as it does supports 1080@30fps video recording with USB on the go and ofcourse Gorilla Glass.
Micromax Canvas HD is available for under 15,000 INR (272$) while Samsung Galaxy S3 is available for 32,500 INR (590$).

For those who don't know, Micromax is an Indian Mobile Company and the Canvas HD will be successor of their previous model Canvas 2. Now would you prefer a phone with almost same features and less than half the price of other but risking with less known brand or will you go for branded and trusted model but by spending extra bucks for same specs.

I'll personally prefer Canvas HD but I don't really know about it's brand and it's after service support.The only downside for me will be the Front Facing VGA Camera which I don't really care about. Lack of Custom ROM's will always be missed. I have never used a Micromax product so anyone having used one can shed some light on it's quality?

 

[Villain]

Specs first. Micromax is not a bad or below average company either.

 

[BlitzBerg]

I would go with specs any day. As long as the touch response and the build quality is fine, I don't care what brand it is. Both are android devices, and I presume you know that there is xda for any software problem. Almost every android user has his phone rooted and unlocked, so you can keep flashing and installing custom ROMs and modifications - I think Micromax knows this.

BUT, if you are a basic user and do not plan to root and unlock your phone, you have to take in the brand factor. I hardly believe Micromax would release updates for its phones, where as Samsung will give atleast two. The service centers aren't as spread out as Samsung in India.

Coming to the specs, the two phones aren't quite comparable. A Mediatek quad-core clocked at 1.2 GHz cannot be compared to a 1.4 GHz Cortex A-9 quad-core processor. Micromax usually clocks its phones a bit high out-of-the-box, so overclock them isn't what you should be doing. Micromax doesn't not have a good software for processing images at all! So unless you are expecting a decent 5 mp image at higher resolution, you are going to have install filters and other apps on your own to get a good one. The PowerVR series isn't as great as Mali in terms of GPU. But, on paper, the phone shouldn't give any problems playing HD games as its got a quad-core processor and a gigabyte of RAM. As seen in all Micromax phones, this one too wouldn't have as great a contrast we have in Samsung's S3. Also you shouldn't be expecting a good software to take full advantage of the IPS display from Micromax, although it should be fairly good. The Canvas HD supports dual sim, but can only take a call at a time. Micromax hardly does anything to the original Android OS, other than adding bloatware. No other customization. Micromax sound quality is loud and nothing else, and is not at all good for listening to music. Again that needs customization, and I guess there will be a Sony Walkman port for it pretty soon. Samsung actually gives you a barometer, a compass and a gyro sensor to add. Bottom line, all though Micromax's Canvas HD is quite high with its features and can compete on paper, it is still not close to the S3, unless you take in the price of the phone into consideration where it beats Samsung badly.

If I were to buy, I would go for the Micromax Canvas HD. Simply because I am not going to be using two sim cards at all, I play a lot of games and it should handle it pretty well, even if does not, there are other easy ways. I don't intend to be on the Stock ROM for long and considering the hype there should be a lot of customisations for it on the net soon. Multitasking should be great on the phone, and this is the main reason I would want to buy it.

 

[Gurjot95]

Yeah, I do only care about Hardware because we have XDA and apps to take care of the Software. Hence I never go so deep for checking the software. About the Chipset, I did google search before posting and found out that the same chipset is used in iPhone 5, then I checked it's Benchmark scores which were twice as fast as of Mali-400MP. Did some research on IPS LCD and Super Amoled Screen as well and most people had opinion that they are almost equal and depends on usage. I am not sure about sensors as Micromax hasn't officially stated about this so we can hope for some more but I am okay with these too. As far as Custom ROM's are concerned as I said before in first post, there won't be many ROM's compared to any other branded mobile but it's matter of time when before Micromax goes worldwide with it's latest innovations.

PS: I wanted to do a comparison with Samsung Galaxy Grand at first (which will be around 21K INR) but Canvas HD blows it away so thought to compare with some higher end phone. Sure, it's not a fair comparison when we are talking about a new local company VS old and well known leading mobile company. But Canvas HD does look promising and it's a steal when you have all high end features at 15K price.

 

[BlitzBerg]

About the Chipset, I did google search before posting and found out that the same chipset is used in iPhone 5

No way! iPhone 5 uses Apple A6 chipset. Mediatek claimed their dual-core chip to be equally powerful, but it later on it proved it to be near about the same. This quad-core chip should be better though.

Then I checked it's Benchmark scores which were twice as fast as of Mali-400MP.

Surprisingly yes. The PowerVRX 5th Series has a better performance than Mali 400. But all phones using it haven't shown as good gaming experience as the Mali 400 has. Will have to wait for that and see.

Did some research on IPS LCD and Super Amoled Screen as well and most people had opinion that they are almost equal and depends on usage.

Not really. I've read about them and infact in a comparison between Super LCD, IPS LCD, Super AMOLED HD, True IPS HD and Super AMOLED plus, Super AMOLED HD was rated as the worst performer of the bunch and IPS stood as the winner. But I doubt Micromax works on the software for colour reproduction and other display softwares. Even, with the Full HD TVs released, they did not have good viewing angles, and until your set-top box had good decoding and processing, it was a total failure in putting up a decent HD image.

I am not sure about sensors as Micromax hasn't officially stated about this so we can hope for some more but I am okay with these too.

Its fine I think. You can always use a free app on the play store to know the weather around you. Compass isn't that a necessity when you maps as well. So for a regualer user, it should be enough.

As far as Custom ROM's are concerned as I said before in first post, there won't be many ROM's compared to any other branded mobile but it's matter of time when before Micromax goes worldwide with it's latest innovations.

I would disagree. The amount of hype it has received, I suspect a lot of phones to purchased, and there should be good ROMs available.

PS: I wanted to do a comparison with Samsung Galaxy Grand at first (which will be around 21K INR) but Canvas HD blows it away

Unless there's the brand factor involved or the new dual sim feature Samsung has brought, its not much sense to buy the Galaxy Grand.

Few things I forgot to mention where S3 dominates was S3 has simulataneous HD Video and Image Recording. The 1.9 MP front camera does HD recording as well on the S3. It supports Adobe Flash! so you should be able to watch flash videos on sites, which Micromax Canvas would not.

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Actually, just put up a poll in the thread and lets see how many go for the S3 and the Canvas HD.

 

[puddleduck]

The only thing to check if specs are better is relevant build quality. No good having better specs if it's made of paper and has a habit of breaking.

 

[Gurjot95]

Few things I forgot to mention where S3 dominates was S3 has simulataneous HD Video and Image Recording. The 1.9 MP front camera does HD recording as well on the S3. It supports Adobe Flash! so you should be able to watch flash videos on sites, which Micromax Canvas would not.

Surely there has to be some app that can do both HD Video and Image Recording? Even if there isn't, it's not a deal breaker. As for Adobe Flash, HTML5 is the latest technology where you can run any flash supported object without using Adobe Flash. I read it somewhere that this will be the future for other upcoming mobile models where you don't need to depend on Adobe Flash Player. HTML5 is way better. There is also Adobe Flash Player app available at google play if you're too concerned about it. I don't care about Front Camera though.

Actually, just put up a poll in the thread and lets see how many go for the S3 and the Canvas HD.

Good idea.

 

[BlitzBerg]

Surely there has to be some app that can do both HD Video and Image Recording? Even if there isn't, it's not a deal breaker.

Agreed. I'm having a Neo V and S2 at the moment, and I haven't clicked more than 10 for sure.

As for Adobe Flash, HTML5 is the latest technology where you can run any flash supported object without using Adobe Flash. I read it somewhere that this will be the future for other upcoming mobile models where you don't need to depend on Adobe Flash Player. HTML5 is way better. There is also Adobe Flash Player app available at google play if you're too concerned about it. I don't care about Front Camera though.

The front facing camera does affect me as I do a lot of video calls. As far as HTML5 is concerned, not many site use it (I know Youtube does) and still play flash videos. Adobe Flash is no longer supported on Google Play.

 

[cerande]

I checked it's Benchmark scores which were twice as fast as of Mali-400MP

I have a Galaxy Tab P1000 with Power VR.So I can tell you that it is actually quite good(it might be an older gen. though).I have no experience with Mali.

A friend of mine has a Micromax btw.He is pretty happy with it.Micromax has come a long way from where it started out.They are leagues ahead of brands like Karbon,Lava etc.
They are producing TVs now!

 

[aussie1st]

I usually go specs and that phone looks like what I wanted. I currently have one of those cheap chinese dual sim phones but got sick of the unreliability with messages not being sent, getting duplicate messages and lack of rom causing my apps to randomly close in particular the default messaging app closing off when I am sending a message.

Looking at this one though, seems like a better brand and specs are great. As long as other reviewers haven't had any problems then definitely go the specs and cheaper option.

 

[Abhas]

The problem with reviewers are that they generally start basing everything relative to the price, and this leads to a biased review.

eg, a review like: "The touch screen is surprisingly responsive"
would definitely mean it is being based on the price.

I have seen the Micromax canvas 2 (A110), and Samsung Galaxy S3, and must admit, the micromax phone is really good. It is far from giving samsung serious competition however, because, "although the touch screen is responsive, compared to the S3, it is still far behind."
I generally see the responsiveness of the phone and the camera by opening the camera and moving the phone around. If the screen has jerky motion, it is a strict no for me, on the contrary, if any phone gives a really smooth motion, I'm bowled over.
From my experience, iPhone has almost seamless movement, and Note 2 was very close to that. Micromax had a bit of lag.

Another technique I use to judge the sensitivity and responsiveness of the screen is using the phone dialer. Open the dialer, and try to dial your favourite number as fast as possible. Look for lag, look for missing numbers, and look at the speed of your input, and you'll get your answers yourself.

Although I'm not much of a brand person, but if given the choice between the S3 and Canvas 2 (not talking about the HD here, because I havn't used it), I would definitely prefer the S3. The price difference is however a very major factor ofcourse.

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If we Summarize,
Things where Samsung Beats Micromax:

• Touch Screen Sensitivity / Responsiveness
• Display
• Hardware

Things where Micromax Beats Samsung:

• Price

 

[aussie1st]

I could probably live with a small amount of lag, main thing is not having it impact on your tasks like the problems I was describing. Other issue is the frequency especially if you are going on holiday overseas, that frequency is good in the big cities but really drops off in the smaller ones as I have found out. That is the big reason why I started to stop mucking around with these cheaper phones and get a better one. Of course that would change if I moved back to a big city again.

 

[BlitzBerg]

If we Summarize,
Things where Samsung Beats Micromax:

• Touch Screen Sensitivity / Responsiveness
• Display
• Hardware

Things where Micromax Beats Samsung:

• Price

I'm talking relating to the Canvas HD. Micromax beats Samsung with the Hardware. Its the software that makes their phones not do as well as they would if it was made by a better known company.

 

[Gurjot95]

Yeah Abhas but you should give a try to Canvas HD also because it comes with Jellybean i.e Project Butter and it tends to provide a major difference in smoothness. Hardware wise, Canvas HD is very different phone to Canvas 2 and A110 shouldn't be compared with any higher end phone. Comparing it with Galaxy Grand will be a better option. With the inclusion HD screen (i.e more ppi) the experiences will be lot different from Canvas 2. (Watch Hands-On Review)

No way! iPhone 5 uses Apple A6 chipset. Mediatek claimed their dual-core chip to be equally powerful, but it later on it proved it to be near about the same. This quad-core chip should be better though.

A6 chips are made from PowerVR Series5XT. I don't think Apple will ever make processor from scratch.

Original Posted by Wiki

Series 5XT (SGXMP)
PowerVR Series5XT SGXMP chips are multi-core variants of the SGX series with some updates. It is included in the PlayStation Vita portable gaming device with the MP4+ Model of the PowerVR SGX543, the only intended difference, aside from the + indicating features customized for Sony, is the cores, where MP4 denotes 4 cores (quad-core) whereas the MP8 denotes 8 cores (octo-core). The Allwinner A31(quad-core mobile application processor) features the dual-core SGX544 MP2. The Apple iPad 2 and iPhone 4S with the A5 SoC also feature a dual-core SGX543MP2. The iPad (3rd generation) A5X SoC features the quad-core SGX543MP4.[3] The iPhone 5 A6 SoC features the tri-core SGX543MP3. The iPad (4th generation) A6X SoC features the quad-core SGX554MP4.

I would disagree. The amount of hype it has received, I suspect a lot of phones to purchased, and there should be good ROMs available.

I mean we'll never have a dedicated forum for model which is only available in India as compared to other low end Samsung phones. Micromax doesn't sell their mobiles worldwide either so we can't have experienced ROM developers from all over the world.

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If we Summarize,
Things where Samsung Beats Micromax:
Touch Screen Sensitivity / Responsiveness
Display
Hardware

Things where Micromax Beats Samsung:
Price

I won't comment on Touch Screen as long as I don't get hands on it but Micromax have almost equal specs on Display and Hardware if not better. I think Samsung is better only at CPU and Front Facing Camera. GPU of Canvas HD beats S3 any day.

 

[Abhas]

By Hardware, I mean the "feel" of the phone. Apple's hardware beats every other phone hand's down. It doesn't necessarily mean it's screen is better or the speaker's louder. It's that the phone looks impressive, feels impressive (Illusion/delusion you can decide )
The materials used in the Micromax Canvas 2 when compared to S3 are much cheaper-looking, hence, the phone doesn't seem as impressive.

*Sorry, I keep on going about the Canvas 2, because I haven't seen the HD, and a review based on reviews doesn't really help.

All this said, I'm not against Micromax in any way. Like I said, I was quite impressed with the phone, and I've simply outlined the things I felt when I used it.