Micromax Canvas Mega 2 smartphone was launched in April 2016. The phone comes with a 6.00-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 540 pixels by 960 pixels 

The Micromax Canvas Mega 2 is powered by 1.3GHz quad-core and it comes with 1GB of RAM. The phone packs 8GB of internal storage that can be expanded up to 32GB via a microSD card. As far as the cameras are concerned, the Micromax Canvas Mega 2 packs a 8-megapixel primary camera on the rear and a 5-megapixel front shooter for selfies. 

The Micromax Canvas Mega 2 runs Android 5.0 and is powered by a 3000mAh removable battery. 

The Micromax Canvas Mega 2 is a dual SIM (GSM and GSM) smartphone that accepts two Micro-SIM. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, FM, 3G, 4G (with support for Band 40 used by some LTE networks in India). Sensors on the phone include Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor, Accelerometer. 

About Micromax

The largest Indian mobile manufacturer, Micromax is a major player in the budget segment. Apart from feature phones and smartphones, the company also manufacturers tablets and two-in-one devices. Micromax recently launched a sub-brand called Yu, whose products were made available only on e-commerce portals in India. Through the Yu brand, Micromax stepped into the health and fitness gadgets segment as well.

Continue Reading

Lenovo is all set to introduce its new online-only sub-brand Zuk in India. The Chinese company will launch the Zuk Z1 smartphone in the second week of May. The new sub-brand was developed byLenovo to counter the rise of Xiaomi in China, and will allow the company to exploit the low-cost online-only sales model. This will be along the same lines as what we've seen from Huawei's sub-brandHonor and Micromax's Yu, which have both been online exclusives so far.

Lenovo's Zuk was expected to start operations in China in April last year, but its first product was launched there only in August. Ahead of the India launch, Gadgets 360 got a chance to play with the new "Lenovo Z1 powered by Zuk" as it was called by Anuj Sharma, Head of Product Marketing, Lenovo.

To start off, the new Lenovo Z1 smartphone doesn't look at all like Lenovo's current devices, and sports a new design altogether. The front of the smartphone is dominated by a 5.5-inch display. The glass on the front extends to the device's frame. The rear panel of the Zuk Z1 is slightly curved, offering a decent grip. 

The back panel feels plasticky but is non-removable. There's no branding in front but a Zuk logo is seen on the back. It's worth noting that there was no Lenovo logo anywhere on the sample device we handled.

The chamfered edges give the handset a neat look, and one can see plastic antenna stripes running across the top and bottom panels of the Zuk Z1. The volume rocker and power buttons are on the right, where a user can easily reach using just one hand. The 3.5mm audio jack is on the top, while the speaker grille and USB Type-C charging port are on the bottom. The USB Type-C connector and cables are reversible and can be plugged in either way. Apart from that, Lenovo says that the phone supports 5Gbps USB 3.0 transfer speeds, making data transfers 10 times faster than USB 2.0.

Overall, the design of the Zuk Z1 looks above par and the phone feels quite sturdy as well. At 175 grams, it's a bit heavy for a phone with this screen size, compared to, for example, the OnePlus One (162 grams). The Zuk Z1 measures 155.7x77.3x8.9mm and is comfortable to hold.

The Lenovo Zuk Z1 smartphone has a rectangular physical home button which also integrates the fingerprint scanner, just below the 5.5-inch display. The placement was helpful in one-handed operation. We were told that the fingerprint scanner on the Zuk Z1 can recognise fingerprints at any angle and has a quick response time, but were unable to test that for ourselves in the limited time we had with the device.

The 5.5-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) IPS display on Z1 is claimed to have a 100 percent of the NTSC colour gamut, a high contrast ratio of 1500:1, and viewing angles of up to 178 degrees.

Under the hood, the Z1 smartphone packs a dated Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor clocked at 2.5GHz with integrated Adreno 330 graphics, coupled with 3GB of RAM. The Snapdragon 801 was Qualcomm's flagship processor back in 2014 and was seen in smartphones such as the Xiaomi Mi 4,OnePlus One, and LG G3. When asked why Lenovo chose to go with this particular processor, Sharma explained "This is obviously the final version of the Snapdragon 801 and comes unlocked with all the bells and whistles. Also, this is one of the most stable chipsets from Qualcomm. The most important reason to go for the Snapdragon 801 is that the Cyanogen team knows the chipset really well. If we were to change the processor now, then the entire optimisation would go for a toss."

The Zuk Z1 packs 64GB of storage, but there's no option for storage expansion. Another notable feature of the Zuk Z1 smartphone is that it packs large 4100mAh battery. The dual-SIM phone supports two Nano-SIMs and works with 4G on both SIMs using the FDD Band 3 (1800MHz) and TDD Band 40 (2300MHz) standards common in India.

The biggest highlight of the Lenovo Zuk Z1 is that it runs Cyanogen OS 12.1 based on Android 5.1 Lollipop, which means that users will get tons of options to customise their phones. The Themes app will let users change wallpapers, fonts, icons and even boot animations. The Zuk Z1 also comes with some preloaded apps such as AudioFX which offers equaliser settings for music, and a browser based on Opera Mini. Much like other Cyanogen 12.1 devices, the Zuk Z1 also gets Truecaller integration. In our limited time spent with the Lenovo Zuk Z1, we noticed that it handled multitasking without lags and responded well to touch inputs.

The smartphone sports a 13-megapixel rear camera with a Sony IMX214 sensor and optical image stabilization (OIS), a feature usually found only in high-end smartphones. There is also an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. We found the camera app easy to use, and it launched quickly whenever we tried to launch it. In our limited camera testing, we found that images taken with the Zuk Z1 in daylight conditions to be crisp. The low-light performance of the rear camera was impressive as well, and photos came out with a good amount of detail. The shots taken by the front camera were however slightly below par.

We will have to reserve our verdict on the Zuk Z1's overall performance till we get a chance to put it through our detailed review process.

Final thoughtsConsidering that Lenovo's Zuk Z1 was launched in China priced at CNY 1,799 (approximately Rs. 18,250), we can expect the India pricing to be around the same level. We will have to wait for the company's official announcement which is due in the second week of May.

As expected, the smartphone will be available only via online channels and will compete against theOnePlus 2 and other models at this price level.

Continue Reading

Microsoft's Surface phone has been making headlines for months now and is rumoured to be unveiled only in "early 2017." Now, a new clue has given details about the handset's innards including the processor and memory.

The company recently updated its 'Minimum hardware requirements' page for Windows 10 Mobile, and added MSM8998 SoC as a compatible processor with the OS. Notably, Qualcomm is yet to debut the MSM8998 SoC. After seeking reports claim that Microsoft had added support for the MSM8998 SoC, the company removed the reference from the page.

Forbes reports that the MSM8998 could be Qualcomm's next-generation high-end chipset, the Snapdragon 830. Considering the Snapdragon 830 will be the successor to the Snapdragon 820 SoC, the report adds citing analysts that it could support up to 8GB of RAM, and be built using Samsung's 10nm fabrication process.

An earlier report claimed some of the early Microsoft plans that the company may unveil three models targeted at regular consumers, business-specific, and enthusiasts. Unfortunately, there were no details about what features would separate the smartphones in the specific categories. The Surface phones for different categories are expected to vary based on processor, storage, and other features. The three Surface phones are also rumoured to be priced in different price tiers and markets.

One of the reasons to delay the launch of the Surface phones is said to be due to developments inWindows 10 Mobile OS. There have been reports saying that "any Surface phone by Microsoft" will not be unveiled until sometime in 2017. It added that Microsoft pulled back development of the Lumia line and also cancelled product launches for the time being. Late last year, the Microsoft CMO tipped the company was developing a 'breakthrough' Surface phone.

Continue Reading

Lenovo India has confirmed that its Z1 smartphone, under its online-only sub-brand, Zuk, will be launching on May 10. Lenovo India  announced the launch date for the new Z1 smartphone via facebook.

The company wrote, "Announcing the world's first crowd sourced product launch where you take center stage to launch the #LenovoZ1." 

Unlike the Chinese market where it is sold as the Zuk Z1, the smartphone in India will be dubbed "Lenovo Z1 - powered by Zuk." The biggest highlight of the Lenovo Z1 is that it runs Cyanogen OS 12.1 based on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, which means that users will get many options to customize their phones.

Under the hood, the Z1 smartphone packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor clocked at 2.5GHz with integrated Adreno 330 graphics, coupled up with 3GB of RAM. The Lenovo Z1 has 64GB of inbuilt storage, without an option for storage expansion. Another notable feature of the Lenovo Z1 smartphone is that it packs large 4100mAh battery. The dual-SIM phone supports two Nano-SIM cards, both of which support 4G LTE connectivity and Indian LTE bands - FDD Band 3 (1800MHz) and TDD Band 40 (2300MHz).

The smartphone sports a 13-megapixel rear camera with a Sony IMX214 sensor and optical image stabilisation (OIS), a feature usually found only in high-end smartphones. There is also an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. The smartphone weighs 175 grams and measures 155.7x77.3x8.9mm.

Notably, Z1 embeds the fingerprint scanner on home button. Much like recently launched flagship smartphones, Lenovo's Zuk Z1 features the USB Type-C 3.0 port. Other connectivity options on the Zuk Z1 include Bluetooth 4.1, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, GPS, and Glonass. It features an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, gyroscope, digital compass (magnetometer), and proximity sensor.

Continue Reading

Honor made a last minute swipe at CES and blew all of us away with what its 200 dollar phone could offer: a metal body, a large 3000mAh battery, quick fingerprint unlock, and a 5.5" 1080p screen. Honor is also entering the US market with the launch of the Honor 5X, selling it as an unlocked and dual-SIM smartphone.
Honor is a sub-brand of Huawei, but it is not a totally separate company seeing as the charger in the box says "HUAWEI" on it. Also, as seen on some of the built-in apps, "Huawei" and "Honor" are used almost interchangeably.
 
The Honor brand has grown quite fast and will grow even faster with its US launch. As of now, Honor only sells the Honor 5X through Amazon, Newegg.com, and directly from Honor's own online store.
Honor has started focusing on making mid-to-low end hardware for the low-cost markets. With this iteration of Honor's X Series, there is a fresh new design language and a reason for it. It wants to give you bang for your buck. The Honor 5X is targeted at the millennial demographic, younger adults who would like to individualize themselves while also making a statement (or maybe college students who can't afford an iPhone).

Key Features

• Dual-SIM functionality
• Full metal body design
• 5.5-inch LCD IPS 1,080 x 1,920px resolution, 401ppi
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 - Octa-core 1.5GHz Cortex-A53 w/ Adreno 405
• Android 5.1.1 with Huawei's EM UI 3.1 on top (plans for Android 6.0 Marshmallow)
• 13MP rear-camera sensor, f/2.0, dual-LED flash, 1080p@30fps video, 5MP front-facing camera sensor
• 16GB of storage, expandable up to 128GB via microSD
• LTE Cat.4 150 Mbps, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, GPS/GLONASS, Bluetooth 4.1, FM radio
• 3000mAh battery
• Fingerprint reader

Main Disadvantages

• No NFC
• No 5GHz Wi-Fi
• No Marshmallow (yet)
• No Quick Charge support

For this price, the lack of 5 GHz Wi-Fi and NFC are more than forgivable, though the lack of the latter would mean no Android Pay support. We can live without both, but we wish this device came with support for Qualcomm's Quick Charge 2.0. Some might wish it had a removable battery, that's one compromise you have to accept.
While the Honor 5X currently does not have Marshmallow, the company has promised an update down in the line.
On the positive side, the Honor 5X has a fingerprint scanner and a metal backside, features that other phones of this price range do not offer.
The Honor 5X comes in 3 colors: Silver, gold, and gray (not pictured). The gray unit is the only one that has a black front side which the metal backing is a few shades darker than the silver unit.
Compared to the Honor 4X, its predecessor, the 5X comes with a bump in the display resolution from 720p to 1080p, increased internal storage of 16GB, a modest increase in processing and graphics power, and greatly improved hardware design that no longer looks generic and boring.

Continue Reading

 
Xiaomi's popular Redmi Note 3 budget handset will be available via its first open sale on Wednesday. The open sale, which doesn't require users to register in advance, will kick off at 2pm IST via Mi.com.
(Also see: Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review)
To recall, at its India launch, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 was announced to be available via Mi.com as well as Amazon, and was promised to be made available via more e-commerce partners including Flipkart and Snapdeal. The open sale is only applicable to Mi.com as for now. Other products available in the open sale include the Xiaomi Mi 5, and the 20000mAh Mi Power Bank.
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is available in two RAM and storage versions - one including 2GB of RAM and 16GB of inbuilt storage, and other 3GB of RAM and 32GB of inbuilt storage. The 2GB variant is priced at Rs. 9,999, while the 3GB variant is priced at Rs. 11,999.

The highlight of the new Redmi Note 3 is that it packs a hexa-core Snapdragon 650 processor (four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.4GHz and two Cortex-A72 cores clocked at 1.8GHz). Other specifications of the smartphone are identical with the original version, including a 5.5-inch full-HD 1080x1920 pixels IPS display and offers 178-degree viewing angle. It runs MIUI 7 based on Android Lollipop and supports dual 4G SIM cards (Micro + Nano).

The Redmi Note 3 packs a 4050mAh battery with fast charging support that can charge up to 50 percent in 1 hour. The front camera sports a 16-megapixel rear camera with phase detection autofocus (PDAF) and two-tone flash. It also houses a 5-megapixel front camera. It measures 150x76x8.65mm and weighs 164 grams.

For connectivity, the handset supports 4G LTE (compatible with Indian LTE bands), VoLTE, Bluetooth, 3G, GPRS/ EDGE, GPS, Glonass, Wi-Fi, and Micro-USB options.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3

₹ 9,999

Good

• Great looks and build quality
• Vivid display
• Strong CPU performance
• Very good battery life
• Offers good value

Bad

• Expandable storage limited to 32GB
• Camera could have been better

Continue Reading

 
The latest data released by the International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that the smartphone shipments in the first quarter, saw the smallest year-over-year growth in the records. The greatest change that the new data from IDC reveals is that Chinese smartphone makers Oppo and Vivo in Q1 2016 for the first time made it to the top 5 smartphone vendors based on the number of units shipped.
Oppo (fourth) and Vivo (fifth), also replaced the previous fourth and fifth vendors Lenovo and Xiaomi respectively. According to IDC, smartphone vendors shipped 334.9 million smartphones worldwide in Q1 2016 which was slightly more from the 334.3 million units shipped in the first quarter of 2015.
The company attributed the drop in shipments to smartphone saturation in developed markets. The data explicitly said that the Chinese market matured and the demand for smartphones had drastically slowed down in the market. It also said that top smartphone vendors like Samsung and Apple also recorded a year-over-year decline.
Samsung maintained the lead in the worldwide smartphone market though it recorded a year-over-year decline of 0.6 percent in shipments. It shipped 81.9 million units in Q1 2016 compared to 82.4 million units in Q1 2015. The report said that the new high-end Galaxy smartphones from Samsung sold "vigorously in the month of March" and helped the company to push the volume. Talking about the emerging markets, IDC said that Samsung performed well with its more affordable Galaxy J-series. Apple saw a huge drop in shipments and saw 51.2 million units shipped in Q1 2016 dropping from 61.2 million units in Q1 2015 - a decline of over 16 percent. Apple recently reported it's first-ever decline in iPhone sales and also announced its first revenue drop in 13 years.
Chinese smartphone maker Huawei saw a boost in smartphone shipments with 58.4 percent year-over-year growth. The company shipped 27.5 million units increasing from 17.4 million in Q1 2015. IDC says that Huawei's strategy to focus on both premium and budget segment saw impressive response in China as well as European markets.
Oppo's entry into top 5 smartphone vendors is credited to its year-over-year growth of over 150 percent. The Chinese company shipped 18.5 million units in Q1 2016 while the company managed to ship 7.3 million units in Q1 2015.
Vivo also saw year-over-year growth of over 100 percent. The company managed to ship 14.3 million units in Q1 2016 while last year same time Vivo shipped 6.4 million units.
Commenting on the new figures, Melissa Chau, Senior Research Manager with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker said, "Along China's maturing smartphone adoption curve, the companies most aligned with growth are those with products serving increasingly sophisticated consumers. Lenovo benefited with ASPs below US$150 in 2013, and Xiaomi picked up the mantle with ASPs below US$200 in 2014 and 2015. Now Huawei, Oppo, and vivo, which play mainly in the sub-US$250 range, are positioned for a strong 2016. These new vendors would be well-advised not to rest on their laurels though, as this dynamic smartphone landscape has shown to even cult brands like Xiaomi that customer loyalty is difficult to consistently maintain."
Anthony Scarsella, Research Manager with IDC's Mobile Phone team said, "Outside of China, many of these brands are virtually unknown and the ability of these rapidly growing Chinese vendors to gain entry into mature markets such as the United States and Western Europe will be essential if they have aspirations of catching Apple or Samsung at the top. Huawei has proven that it can sell increasingly premium devices."

Continue Reading

The Indian smartphone segment saw a buzz in February when Ringing Bells unveiled its Freedom 251 smartphone at an incredible price of Rs. 251. The smartphone made headlines for few weeks, and caught attention of the entire nation. The Freedom 251 from Noida-based start-up Ringing Bells however soon lost its sheen. The smartphone was surrounded by controversies that even lead to an FIR registered against the makers. The biggest highlight of thesmartphone was its pricing rather than any specifications under the hood. The company received close to 60 million registrations in few days but after taking initial bookings for the handset, the Freedom 251 makers announced pre-booking money to be refunded to users and also confirmed that it would take cash on delivery, upon delivery. The first orders will be delivered in June.

Since then, another India-based brand - mPhone - made headlines about its range of smartphones, offering great specifications at good prices. Unlike with Ringing Bells, the controversy surrounding the makers of the mPhone 'Mango' smartphones was due to the financial state of the proprietors, who were reportedly arrested at the launch of the brand in India for bank fraud.

It is in this atmosphere of doubt for new Indian brands that a Jaipur-based company named Docoss has announced an entry-level smartphone for as little as Rs. 888. Deliveries of the smartphone are in the company's promotions said to begin from May 2, while pre-bookings close on Friday. 

The Docoss X1 is now available to pre-book, however, we recommend users stay away from the deal for now - as the transparency level of the makers in this case is even worse than Ringing Bells or mPhone. Apart from website issues, the entire pre-booking process is a little fishy, and the customer care evaded most of our questions.

After failing to pre-book the smartphone via its website (we were shown an error), Gadgets 360 tried to reach out to the company via its customer care numbers. We were informed that customers will have to use the SMS booking system, detailed on the company's social media handles.

On checking about the delivery of the Docoss X1, a company representative repeated the steps to pre-book without talking about the availability of the handset. Much like Freedom 251, the Docoss official site keeps crashing but opens up after several refreshes. We tried to understand why the company isn't accepting the bookings via its official site, and the representative said that the pages are under maintenance. The launch was first reported by Phoneradar.

Continue Reading

 Introduction

Affordable smartphones with good specs don't just scratch the spec sheet surface - those are getting quite popular, and Lenovo is keen on being a part of it with the Vibe K5 Plus.
A 5-inch Full-HD screen, last year's top-selling mid range chip set rehashed for 2016, 2GB of RAM, a 13MP camera, dual-SIM connectivity, and a dedicated microSD slot sound like Lenovo's been paying attention to what's in demand. Certainly not going to shake up the Galaxy S7, but at around $130 or Rs 8,700 , it's a whole different piece of the pie the Vibe K5 Plus is after.

First things first- the name calls for a little clarification. The K5 family consists of three models so far, the Vibe K5, the Vibe K5 Plus we are gonna review, and the Vibe K5 Note. While some makers use the Plus to identify a larger screen, here it denotes the Full-HD resolution higher than the the regular K5's 720p, and a Snapdragon 616 instead of a Snapdragon 415. And that's the entire list of differences.
It's the Vibe K5 Note that stands out, being a phablet from the bunch. A 5.5-inch Full-HD screen, Helio P10 chipset and a fingerprint sensor, an 8MP selfie camera and a larger battery clearly put the Note a notch above its siblings. It's a whole different matter why Lenovo has the K4 Note and the K5 Note both at the same time with only marginal differences in specs.
Back to the task in hand - the Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus.

Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus key features:-

• Dual-SIM support
• 5.0-inch LCD IPS 1,080 x 1,920px resolution, 441ppi
• Snapdragon 616 chipset: Quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 & quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A53, Adreno 405 GPU, 2GB of RAM
• Android 5.1 Lollipop
• 13MP rear-camera, f/2.2, autofocus, single-LED flash, 1080p@30fps video
• 5MP front-facing camera, f/2.8
• 16GB of storage, expandable by up to 32GB via microSD (dedicated slot)
• LTE Cat.4 150 Mbps, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, GPS/GLONASS, Bluetooth 4.0, FM radio
• Removable 2,750mAh Li-Ion battery
• Noise canceling dedicated secondary microphone, rear-firing stereo speakers, FM radio

Major disadvantages

• Limited regional availability
• No Marshmallow
• Effectively 48GB of maximum storage

For $130 that's a very long list of features, and the disadvantages are far from deal-breakers. Perhaps the Android version is the one that stands out. With budget phones rarely getting updates, Lollipop is likely what the Vibe K5 Plus will spend its entire life with.

The limited availability is more like the reason for the Vibe K5 Plus' existence, rather than an issue with the phone itself - after all, it was made to compete in emerging markets where price is a decider. The storage cap is but a minor hassle that is having to swap 32GB microSD cards, but we're not seeing it as a major turn-off.

Continue Reading

Chinese smartphone brand Vivo has launched two new smartphones in India - the V3 and V3Max, priced at Rs. 17,980 and Rs. 23,980 respectively. This is the first time the company has unveiled the smartphones globally, and is touting their 'premium features' and speedy fingerprint recognition.

The Vivo V3 runs the company's Funtouch OS 2.5 based on Android 5.1 Lollipop. It sports a 5-inch (720x1280 pixels) display, and is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 SoC coupled with 3GB of RAM. The smartphone bears a 13-megapixel rear camera, and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. It sports 32GB of inbuilt storage that's expandable via microSD card (up to 128GB). It offers the standard connectivity features, including 4G LTE support in India. It runs on a 2550mAh battery.

The Vivo V3Max is nearly identical to the Vivo V3, with differences in battery, display size, memory, and processor. It sports a 5.5-inch (1080x1920 pixels) display complete with 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass, runs on an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 SoC, bears 4GB of RAM, and is powered by a 3000mAh battery. The other specifications appear to be identical to the Vivo V3.

Apart from the fast fingerprint unlocking, the company is also selling a newly-incorporated split-screen feature that allows users to multitask - for example, watching a movie while chatting with a friend.

Commenting during the launch, Alex Feng, CEO of Vivo India said that , "The V Series designed with creativity and equipped with state of the art technology will be a landmark for Vivo India. India remains our prime focus and the launch of these models is a testimony to our commitment to cater to the ever growing demand of meticulous customers in India and worldwide. The V3 and V3Max offer an unbeatable position of cutting edge technology, impressive looks, and Hi-Fi music quality in the industry."

General

Form factor	Touchscreen
Dimensions (mm)	143.60 x 71.00 x 7.50
Weight (g)	138.00
Battery capacity (mAh)	2550
Removable battery	No
SAR value	NA

 DISPLAY

Screen size (inches)	5.00
Touchscreen	Yes
Resolution	720x1280 pixels

HArdware

Processor make	Qualcomm Snapdragon 616
RAM	3GB
Internal storage	32GB
Expandable storage	Yes
Expandable storage type	microSD
Expandable storage up to (GB)	128

CAMERA

Rear camera	13-megapixel
Flash	Yes
Front camera	8-megapixel

SOFTWARE

Operating System	Android 5.1
Skin	Funtouch OS 2.5

CONNECTIVITY

Wi-Fi	Yes
Wi-Fi standards supported	NA
GPS	Yes
Bluetooth	Yes
NFC	No
Infrared	No
USB OTG	Yes
Headphones	3.5mm
FM	Yes
Number of SIMs	2
SIM 1
GSM/ CDMA	GSM
3G	Yes
4G/ LTE	Yes
Supports 4G in India (Band 40)	Yes
SIM 2
GSM/ CDMA	GSM
3G	Yes
4G/ LTE	Yes
Supports 4G in India (Band 40)	Yes

SENSORS

Compass/ Magnetometer	Yes
Proximity sensor	Yes
Accelerometer	Yes
Ambient light sensor	Yes
Gyroscope	No
Barometer	No
Temperature sensor	No

Continue Reading

Micromax, as promised, has unveiled its new Canvas Spark 2 Plus smartphone in India. Priced at Rs. 3,999, the new Canvas-series smartphone will be exclusively available to purchase via Snapdeal, an e-commerce website, from Friday.

To recall, Micromax showcased the Canvas Spark 2 Plus at the Canvas 6 and Canvas 6 Pro launch last week and had promised that it will be revealed in the coming weeks.

The domestic handset maker said that the Micromax Canvas Spark 2 Plus is targeted at first-time smartphone users. The biggest highlight of the handset is that it runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow out-of-the-box and is also the company's first smartphone running the OS. The smartphone will be available in Metallic Grey, Copper Gold, and Champagne Gold colours.

For specifications, the Micromax Canvas Spark 2 Plus features a 5-inch FWVGA (480x854 pixels) display and is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core processor. It comes with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of inbuilt storage. The smartphone supports expandable storage support via microSD card (up to 32GB). There is a 5-megapixel rear camera with flash and a 2-megapixel front camera also on board. It is backed by a 2000mAh battery. Connectivity options on the handset include GPRS/ EDGE, 3G, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Micro-USB.

Shubhajit Sen, Chief Marketing Officer, Micromax, said that, "With the launch of the Canvas Spark 2 Plus, we are offering first time users, with a smooth transition at a wallet-friendly price. Our objective is to convert feature phone users into smartphone users, and synthesize technology and affordability in for this device. Through our partnership with Snapdeal for exclusive Spark series, we have very successfully expanded the overall entry smartphone market and created a favourable impact in the e-commerce channel capturing over 11% of the exclusive online market last year."

GENERAL

Release date	April 2016
Form factor	Touchscreen
Battery capacity (mAh)	2000
Removable battery	Yes
Colours	Metallic Grey, Copper Gold, Champagne Gold
SAR value	NA

DISPLAY

Screen size (inches)	5.00
Touchscreen	Yes
Resolution	480x854 pixels

HARDWARE

Processor	1.3GHz  quad-core
RAM	1GB
Internal storage	8GB
Expandable storage	Yes
Expandable storage type	microSD
Expandable storage up to (GB)	32

CAMERA

Rear camera	5-megapixel
Flash	Yes
Front camera	2-megapixel

SOFTWARE

Operating System

Android 6.0

CONNECTIVITY

Wi-Fi	Yes
Wi-Fi standards supported	NA
GPS	Yes
Bluetooth	Yes
NFC	No
Infrared	No
USB OTG	Yes
Headphones	3.5mm
FM	Yes
Number of SIMs	2
SIM 1
SIM Type	Regular
GSM/ CDMA	GSM
3G	Yes
4G/ LTE	No
SIM 2
SIM Type	Regular
GSM/ CDMA	GSM
3G	No
4G/ LTE	No

SENSORS

Compass/ Magnetometer	No
Proximity sensor	Yes
Accelerometer	Yes
Ambient light sensor	Yes
Gyroscope	Yes
Barometer	No
Temperature sensor	No

Continue Reading