Like most announcements from Micromax, there was a big hoopla behind the launch of its latest flagship, only this time; there was a good reason for it. Roping in Hollywood superstar Hugh Jackman as the brand ambassador for its Canvas line up was a bold move. While that’s a big statement coming from an Indian brand, our main concern is can Micromax offer the complete package? And by that, I mean getting its flagship phones to actually look the part and sorting issues with its after sales services. The most important step however is in finding the right ODM and we feel that the company may be one step closer in achieving this with the Canvas Turbo.
Unlike the Canvas 4, the Turbo sports a full aluminium body, which immediately adds to the aesthetics and durability. With minimum use of chrome around the phone, the Turbo looks smart and feel sturdy in your hands. It has a very Nexus 4-ish feel from the front which is not a bad thing. It doesn’t seem like the Turbo has any sort of screen protection though, as there’s no mention of it on the site and we haven’t gotten any reply yet about this from the company either. Fingerprints are a real problem here, and more so than usual. It’s a real task to keep the screen smudge-free.
The Full HD display is a refreshing change from Micromax as the company has finally embraced higher pixel density on its phones. Mercifully, Micromax hasn’t messed with the interface too much like Gionee so it’s still very familiar and not laggy. However, despite having Jelly Bean 4.2.1, 2GB RAM and the faster 1.5GHz MediaTek chipset, the UI is not ‘Project Butter’ smooth as the UI is not being rendered at 60fps. One can easily see framing when swiping through menus and during transition effects.
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We haven’t dug too deep into the camera’s capabilities yet but we’re quite impressed from our initial tests. It still takes forever to focus however which means capturing that ‘Kodak moment’ is a lot more challenging. Micromax has added new modes which we’ll take a look at in more detail in our full review but it’s something that Nokia has had since the Lumia 920.
Pretty good at macros
The Micromax Canvas Turbo has a bunch of competitors at its current pricing of Rs 19,900. Above it, we have the Gionee Elife E6 and the Intel Aqua i7 which sport slightly better specifications in the storage department while below, we have more diverse offerings from bigger companies like the HTC 8X and LG G Pro Lite. It’s a tough choice, to be honest, and it will ultimately depend on the type of features you’re willing to sacrifice for that price. The Turbo shouldn’t be too worried though as it is an improvement over its predecessor and that’s always a good thing. We’ll be putting the phone through the ringer over the next couple of days so stay tuned for the full review. In the meantime, don’t forget to stop by our specs comparison between the Gionee Elife E6 and the Canvas Turbo.