When was the last time you heard that Micromax has launched a phone that looks so well? Probably a bit when the company launched its Dual 5, but that phone received a flak for being a rebranded device. But do you really need to care about it? Ask me, you shouldn’t. You are going to buy a phone for what it offers and not based on what it carries an original form factor or if the phone is a rebranded one.
Here, we welcome the Micromax Canvas Infinity. The phone boasting a new resolution on its display taking a step aside from the regular 16:9 aspect ratio that most of the smartphones in the market have, and rather include a 18:9 display, and thanks to this, even though the display is big in size, the phone isn’t. The display tries to stretch to the corners and extends itself to have a 2:1 ratio, and it does look like the flagships of 2017 since companies like LG and Samsung have come up with wide bezel-less displays.
But, is it all about the display here and is the Micromax Canvas Infinity another attempt from Micromax to show the possibilities but only in one segment? Let’s dive into the review, mainly talking about what we liked and what we didn’t.
If it was only about the display for someone, you might have to change that thought. The Canvas Infinity has a very good build, a perfect size that fits in the palm and not makes you feel uncomfortable at all. In fact, in the age of non-removable batteries and unibody designs, this phone lets you pull out the back cover and remove the battery as well. This is not a plus point in any way, but worth a mention because I’d rather have an extra battery alongside when I am running out of charge, the traditional way we used to do in the recent past. The speaker should’ve been in the bottom frame, though, because even though there is a tiny lift-up notch given beside the speaker grill on the back of the device, the phone placed flat on any surface has a muffled sound output.
Other basics are well offered, with two microphones, one in the bottom and one just above the rear camera, and the device also has the 3.5mm headset jack for the music listeners who choose to consume it through headphones.
But now, let’s jump to the talking point – the 18:9 display. It isn’t the sharpest of the screens because it isn’t even a Full HD resolution with the Canvas Infinity having a 5.7-inch display with the 720 x 1440 pixels resolution. It extends wide enough to be noticeably offering a high screen to body ratio, but then, there is almost a centimeter wide area on the top and bottom, where while the top has the set of sensors, the flashlight, earpiece grill, and the front-facing camera, the bottom doesn’t have anything but that space had to be given for internal hardware to be packed.
Everything seems decent enough for the price you are being asked, but then, you can easily notice that it isn’t still competitive enough with the displays offered on the top flagships. Not a fair comparison, we know, but that’s what you get to do when there is not much offered in this price range. Only the LG Q6 can be talked about, which is no different in this case. The viewing angles are not the best and it doesn’t have the brightness to hold it up perfectly under bright sunlight, but it isn’t so bad that you just write it off.
One thing that Micromax thankfully has done well here is with the user interface. Inspired it is, from the iOS, but who cares. You are getting the latest Android OS version, i.e. Android 7.1.2 Nougat, and with the Android Oreo update getting released, we’re told that the phone will surely receive the update to Android 8.0 very soon. That not being a modified ROM, you will be able to take advantage of all the features that come along with the new Android OS version. But there is a little lag that is noticed while browsing through the interface itself, when you scroll among the home screens, or even while switching between the apps. Positively, this is something that can be taken into account and fixed with the software updates, but it is more of a hope that the company works on this to make the interface smoother to make the user experience better.
There are some good gesture features made available for the better user experience. That includes the Smart Actions like the Flip to Mute, Wake up screen or lock it by double tap on the display, Get the call by putting the phone near to your ear, Direct call, one-handed mode, and the Auxillary mode. Some apps are unnecessary, though, and one of them is the App Center that works to bring out ads as pop-ups to give some recommendations.
How powerful is the phone for the daily usage? Technically, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor isn’t so heavy or powerful and there are smartphones with better chipsets in the same price range but then, if the one that is included here is doing the job well, you don’t have to worry. Except for the lags we noticed in the interface, the performance of the Canvas Infinity has actually been very good. The smartphone doesn’t do any bad while gaming and that too while playing some high-end games.
Just as we talk about the selfie craze in the market, Micromax has taken care of that by offering a 16-megapixel front-facing camera in conjunction with a 13-megapixel camera on the back. Both the cameras have a F/2.0 aperture and interestingly, both even have a flash light support.
To begin with, the Canvas Infinity’s display here plays a part in bringing out a lot more from the camera app itself. The app presents itself in the 18:9 resolution and thus, there is a wider area in the frame. Thanks to this, you can actually have a carousel of pictures previewed to show what were the recent captures, so you don’t have to go into the Gallery to check them all the time.
There are some other features offered as well and talking about the quality, the captures in day light came out pretty well with a good color reproduction and retaining the details was also noticeably well done. Only in the low light, we could see that there is lack of colors even though the noise is at minimum. Some of these captures held on to the details very well but the color reproduction is where it fails.
For the selfies, these are actually very good. The details are well retained, the contrast is managed well without the user having to control that in most of the conditions. The camera samples below would give a better idea.
While it has been a not-so-great experience with the display quality because of the HD resolution, it is this one that keeps the battery consumption low and thus, the battery life is decent enough. It is a 2900 mAh battery offered on the Canvas Infinity and while using this with a single SIM and active data all the time with occasional Wi-Fi connectivity as well, the phone has enough to hold on towards the end of the day.
The battery is removable and there is not much of a heating problem seen when charging the device and using it while that happens. The device doesn’t have fast charging support, so that should hurt a bit as it takes a bit longer for the device to be fully charged.
The Canvas Infinity has a fingerprint sensor on the back, just below the camera. It does a fair job of recognizing the fingerprints to unlock the phone. Also, for the entertainment, it shouldn’t only be the video performance but the audio as well, which seems like a good one here on the Canvas Infinity with a speaker on the back. It doesn’t have a heavy level of output and that presence of the speaker on the back of the device puts out a muffled sound rather than a full output.
The call quality is good and the smartphone works well with the connectivity options provided, especially the 4G connectivity that is seamless and the signal reception is not bad too.
Final Verdict
The Canvas Infinity brings back Micromax with a bang. The smartphone is priced very rightly at Rs. 9999 and there is so much on offer including the 18:9 display and the Snapdragon chipset offers a decent performance. It isn’t the question of whether that display is offering something very different, but it is about whether the smartphone is able to offer everything as a package for the price that doesn’t hurt your pocket. Or at least the price should be good enough for what is offered in terms of specifications and features.
The selfie camera is better than the rear camera in this case, and the interface for a change is very good with the features offered. The design too isn’t any unique or different and with a plastic body, the Canvas Infinity is not the best of the lot with the build but then, it doesn’t feel like a plastic back until you see scratches on it after a considerable amount of time.
