Success stories: Six bestsellers that helped Micromax claim India bragging rights

From profit slump to losing the top spot in major markets, this year hasn’t been really great for Samsung.  Looks like Samsung’s loss has become Micromax’s gain, at least in India.

A new report by Counterpoint Research suggests that Micromax now dethroned Samsung to become the top mobile phone (not smartphone, where it’s still on the second spot) in India. Micromax only began its phone operations in 2010, but with its Canvas series took India by storm, aiming to bridge the gap between superior features and affordable pricing. Over the past two years, the company has managed to woo Indian audiences and create a mark for itself in the market, with some help from gimmicks . We’ve jotted down some of the most popular Micromax devices below:

Superphone Canvas A100

The original Canvas or the Superphone Canvas A100 was the first to break the barrier for Micromax. It was an instant hit, followed by its predecessors that managed to woo audiences one after the other. It even managed to change (to a a certain extent) the image about cheap phones that are accused of cheap quality.  Micromax called it the Superphone with a large 5-inch display (something relatively newer at that time), solid build, 1GHz Mediatek processor and 5MP camera, for an uber-affordable price of Rs 9,900. It didn’t look cheap or bulky, yet it was one of the cheapest, branded Android-based handset with the largest screen on the market available for a price below the Rs 10,000 range. Check out our   Micromax Canvas A100 review .

Canvas 2 A110

After the huge success of the  Superfone Canvas A100 , Micromax decided to do raise the bar once again for what a sub-10K Android smartphone should look like. While maintaining the same massive 5-inch display, the company managed to fit in a dual-core CPU – all for the same price as the previous one. Cashing on the popularity of its predecessor, the Canvas 2 turned out to be one of the most popular handset from the Canvas series. Last year the company also introduced a quad-core variant of the Canvas 2 dubbed A110Q Canvas 2 Plus. Check out our Canvas 2 A110 review .

Canvas 4

Continuing with its Canvas series, Micromax started targeting the mid-range Samsung phones and launched the Canvas 4 that clearly aimed at the Galaxy S4 (while the earlier Canvas HD launched a day ahead of the Galaxy Grand ). The Canvas 4, priced at Rs 17,999, was tactfully priced with specs on similar lines as the Grand that carried a price tag around Rs 20,000. The Canvas 4 A210 came with rugged build, good screen, generous onboard storage and the overall snappy performance. It also included a 13MP sensor. However, owing to the rising expectations from Micromax, it also faced criticism for its choice of iterative hardware upgrade .  Read our full  Canvas 4 review.

Canvas Turbo A250

Finally, the Full HD display was met with the Canvas Turbo. Micromax aimed at improving with each phone release and the Turbo was big improvement coming from the  Canvas 4  and easily one of the best MediaTek-based phones in that price range, at that time. More importantly, Micromax began a new endorsement tie-up with Hugh Jackman . It came with a 5-inch Full HD display, 1.5 GHz MT6589T quad-core processor, 13 megapixel camera,  Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean and 2000 mAh battery. Read our complete Canvas Turbo A250 review , to find out more about the device.

Unite 2

The Micromax Unite 2 isn’t a particularly feature-rich phone, but a good option for Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities as it bundles a good set of local languages without having to sacrifice usability. Available for online around as low as Rs 6,999, the specialty of the Unite 2 is that it features 21 pre-loaded local languages, widening the user demographic especially in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Sporting a 4.7-inches display with 800 x 480 pixels of resolution, it features 5MP camera, dual SIM ability, Mediatek 1.5 GHz MT6589T quad-core processor, 4Gb onboard storage and more. Read our Unite 2 review , to know everything about the device.

Canvas Doodle A111

After the Grand, Micromax also decided to take on Samsung’s highly expensive Note series with a cheaper Canvas Doodle range. It quietly launched the Doodle A111 sporting a 5.3-inch display coupled with a stylus. In fact, the company opted for 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm MSM8225Q processor, instead of a MediaTek MT6589 chipset. The Doodle also came with an 8-megapixel rear camera, VGA front shooter, expandable memory and 2100mAH battery. launched for Rs 12,000, it is currently available online for around Rs 9,500.