Sony Xperia C vs Samsung Galaxy Grand vs Micromax Canvas 4: Specs comparison

In the past two weeks, we saw a slew of mid-range smartphones being launched in the Indian market. Quickly after being listed on online sites, Sony officially pulled the covers off the Xperia C yesterday. Though the company has priced the device over 21,000, it can be grabbed for as low as Rs 18,000 online, which means it could compete with the Galaxy Grand and the Canvas 4 which fall under the same price bracket. We’ve put all three smartphones in the ring for a specs face off, to see who emerges as the winner (on paper).

Sony Xperia C

Xperia C officially launched in India

With the Xperia C, Sony’s ready to take on the mid-range smartphone segment in India. Just like most of the smartphones these days, the Xperia C sports a 5-inch TFT capacitive qHD display with 960 × 540 pixels of resolution. Sony includes the low-priced Mediatek processor designed for budget phones. The Xperia C is powered by a MTK6589 quad-core processor that clock at 1.2GHz, with 1GB of RAM. It is a dual SIM smartphone that runs on Android Jelly Bean v4.2.2 version. It is fuelled by a 2,390 mAh Li-ion battery that promises 10 hours talk time. There’s 4GB internal memeory that can be expanded up to 32GB via microSD card slot. It is also fitted with an 8 megapixel rear camera and a 0.3 megapixel front-facing camera.

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Not altogether uncomfortable to hold or use

The Samsung Galaxy Grand also has a 5-inch TFT LCD, but offers less screen real estate with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels. The device boots Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean and is powered by a 1.2GHz dual core Broadcom BCM28155 processor. Just like the Xperia C, the Grand is also fitted with an 8 megapixel rear camera, but gets a better 2MP front-facing camera. It comes with 8GB of onboard storage with an option to expand memory using the microSD card slot. Samsung has also added some features that are usually seen in the company’s high-end crop of devices such as Smart Stay, Direct Call, Smart Alert and Popup Play along with S-Voice and Face & Voice Unlock. The company launched the smartphone early this year for 21,500, but it is now up for grabs at Rs 18,000.

Micromax Canvas 4 sports a 5-inch 720p display

Micromax has been ‘trying’ to give Samsung a run for its money for some time now. However, its last iteration, the Canvas 4, did match up to consumers’ expectations. The smartphone is still a decent competitor in the mid-range with a price tag that reads Rs 17,499. It packs a large 5-inch screen with 720p resolution. The Canvas 4 definitely comes across more polished than Micromax’s previous efforts, yet a bit bulky. On the specs front, it packs in a quad-core MTK6589 processor clocked at 1.2GHz with 1GB RAM, and runs on Android 4.2.1. The highlight is its 13MP rear sensor and a fixed-focus 5MP front camera. In burst mode, the camera shoots 99 pictures in 15 seconds, there’s video pinning and simultaneous video playback as well as auto-pausing of video. Micromax has also baked in a number of other gesture-based features like blow to unlock and auto-answer.

| | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" white;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Weight | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">153g | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">162g | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">158g | | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" white;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Sensors | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Accelerometer, Proximity, Compass | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Proximity, Compass | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Accelerometer, Proximity, Compass | |   |   |   |   | | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" white;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Processor | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Mediatek MTK6589, quad-core at 1.2GHz | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Broadcom VideoCore IV, dual-core at 1.2GHz | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Mediatek MTK6589, quad-core at 1.2GHz | | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" white;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">RAM | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">1GB | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">1GB | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">1GB | | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" white;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">OS version out of the box | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Android 4.2 | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Android 4.2 | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Android 4.2 | | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" white;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">On-Board Memory | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">4GB | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">8GB | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">16GB | | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" white;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Memory card Support | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Yes | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Yes | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Yes | | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" white;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Battery | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">2,390mAh | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">2,100mAh | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">2,000mAh | |   |   |   |   | | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" white;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">GPS | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">A-GPS | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">A-GPS + GLONASS | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">A-GPS | | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" white;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Wi-Fi | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">802.11 a/b/g/n | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">802.11 a/b/g/n (dual-band) | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">802.11 a/b/g/n | | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" white;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Bluetooth | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">v4.0 | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">v4.0 | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">v4.0 | | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" white;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">NFC | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">No | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">No | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">No | | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" white;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">AV Out Option | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">No | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">No | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">No | |   |   |   |   | | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" white;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Primary Camera | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">8MP sensor | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">8MP sensor | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">13MP sensor | | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" white;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Secondary Camera | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">0.3MP sensor | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">2MP sensor | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">5MP sensor | | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" white;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Flash | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">LED | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">LED | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">LED | |   |   |   |   | | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" white;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">FM Radio | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Yes | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Yes | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Yes | |   |   |   |   | |  <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" white;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"=""> Online Pricing (In Rupees) | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Rs 19,000 | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Rs 18,500 | <span style=“mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: " times=”" new="" roman";="" mso-hansi-font-family:="" calibri;="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" color:="" black;="" mso-fareast-language:="" en-in;"="">Rs 17,500 |

Verdict

There was a lot of cry about the low resolution display on the Grand as well as the disappointment that Micromax tagged along when it launched the Canvas 4 with a 720p display instead of 1080p. However, considering the 5-inch displays fitted on all three devices, the Canvas 4 appears to be a winner here with its pixel density that goes all the way up to 293ppi. Moreover, it also packs in an IPS display with scratch resistance, compared to TFT displays with no scratch resistance in the other two smartphones.

On the battery front, the Xperia C appears to be the strongest with its 2,390 mAh battery that promises up to 10 hours of talk time. But it offers just 4GB of onboard storage compared to 8GB offered by the Grand and 16GB by Canvas 4. All three devices support microSD card slot. So, obviously the Canvas 4 walks away with the points here. On the camera front, the Canvas 4 appears to be a clear winner with its 13MP rear and 5MP front-facing cameras.

In a nutshell, Sony’s new offering isn’t very hot considering there are much better offerings around this price point. We’re not going to discredit the Xperia C just yet as we’ll reserve our final judgement after we’ve done with the review.