GADGET GIZMO REVIEW – REVAMPED FEATURES BUT MANY OLD ISSUES REMAIN

GADGET GIZMO REVIEW – REVAMPED FEATURES BUT MANY OLD ISSUES REMAIN   Micromax launched a slew of devices when they unveiled their new identity last month. One of the main devices announced was the Canvas 6pro -a smartphone that they refer to as their `mid-range flagship'. What makes the Canvas 6pro stand out from the crowd is that it's the first phone in the sub `15000 price bracket to offer 4GB RAM. Apart from this, you get a 2Ghz Octa core Mediatek Hello X10 processor, 16GB storage and a 3,000mAh battery . Micromax claims that this is the first phone with a 2Ghz Helio X10 processor -they have conveniently forgotten that the LeEco Le 1s also uses the Hello X10 Turbo processor and has been around for more than a few months now. As expected, performance on the Canvas 6pro was great. We downloaded various games including Asphalt 8, NOVA 3 and Dead Trigger 2 -all games ran without a hitch. The phone had no issues with playback of full HD videos, even with over 10 apps running in the background. Switching between running apps was smooth and there were no issues of the device heating up. While most phones at this price are moving to 32GB internal storage, Micromax has continued with 16GB on the Canvas 6pro. Of the 16GB, you get about 9.27GB free. Thankfully , there is a microSD slot for expansion as well as support for USB OTG. The big let down was the phone's battery life. The 3,000mAh battery struggled to last a full day and this is with the intelligent power saving enabled. With heavy usage including constant 4G WiFi connectivity , we had to regularly charge the phone twice a day . Apart from hardware, software is another area where Micromax has innovated. While the user interface is stock Android, icons are modified for a smarter look. They have included a service called `Around'.This is the same ` AroundYU' service launched on the Yutopia flagship device (from their sister concern, YU Televentures). Swiping to the extreme left home panel on the home screen brings up the Around home screen. It uses your phones GPS to detect your precise location and then shows you various service vendors available in your vicinity (requires data connection to work).You can choose to filter the results using heads like food delivery and shopping. Or, you could view availability of cabs, flights, hotels, buses or just search for what you need across all categories. You can get upto-date cricket scores and restaurant ratings. If a restaurant strikes your fancy , you can place a call to it from the Around screen itself. We found that the service works great and offers relevant results -and it's great that you don't have to install individual apps for services, all thanks to Around. What we did not like was that the phone came preloaded with a bunch of bloatware apps. The multiple installed apps together take up 2.4GB of storage. The good thing is that most of these apps can be uninstalled completely and we recommend doing this as the first step to free up the internal storage as soon as you get your phone. Design is one aspect where the Canvas 6pro shines. While it's not a full metal body like the Redmi Note 3 and Le 1s, the matte plastic finish on the Canvas 6pro and 2.5D curved glass front looks stylish. The curved edges of the phone make it comfortable to hold and you get a removable battery -a useful feature which is becoming rare on mid-range smartphones. In terms of layout, the power and volume keys are ergonomically placed on the left while the charging port is at the bottom and headphone jack on the top. Adding further to the design and looks is the 5.5-inch display . The bright screen has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels with slim bezels and excellent viewing angles. Overall, we like the design and build quality but considering how competitors are moving to metal unibody design, Micromax should have done the same on a device that they're calling their mid-range flagship. Another feature that is missing on the phone is a fingerprint scanner -this is something available on phones that cost half as much now. You get a 13MP rear camera with single LED flash and phase detection autofocus. It impressed with its instant focus and shutter speed as well as exposure adjustment as per ambient light. Image quality in daylight is excellent while indoors photos have some noise visible. Low light photos are good enough to view onscreen only as they suffer from excessive noise. The front camera takes bright images but there's always a loss in detail. What we missed most was a manual control mode -many phones at this price offer manual shutter speeed, ISO control and multiple shoot modes. Overall, the Canvas 6pro scores on the hardware and design but suffers with battery life. 4GB RAM might sound enticing on paper, but in dayto-day usage, you won't be able to tell the difference between 3GB or 4GB RAM. Infact other than syntheic benchmarks, the differnce will not be visible anywhere for majority of the users. For a lower price, both the LeEco Le 1s (`10,999) and Redmi Note 3 (`11,999) deliver better battery life, a metal unibody design, fast fingerprint scanners, 32GB internal storage (non-expandable on LeEco Le 1s), IR port and support for fast charging (Le 1s has USB Type-C). The Redmi Note 3 with the Snapdragon 650 is way ahead on performance, despite having 3GB RAM and offers a feature loaded MiUi interface.

Karan Bajaj

ETMAY4 2016