Few weeks back Micromax announced their new budget 4G LTE enabled smartphone, the Canvas Xpress 4G. The Canvas Xpress was first launched in December 2015 and now the company has announced the 4G variant with impressive and competitive specs. The Micromax Canvas Xpress 4G comes with 5 inch HD display (1280 X 720P) and is powered by 1Ghz quad-core 64-bit MediaTek MT6735P processor coupled with 2GB of RAM. There is also 16GB internal storage along with Android 5.1 Lollipop.
Here is the detailed review of the device.
Related Reading: Micromax Canvas Xpress 4G Unboxing
Design and Build:
Design wise, the Micromax Canvas Xpress 4G has retained the same look and feel of Canvas Xpress launched last year. The phone has sharp edges with a metallic finish on either side. On the right side, you have the power key and the volume key is on the left side. The top panel houses the micro USB charging slot and the 3.5mm audio jack.
The rear panel has matte finish and has the 8MP camera with flash, the Micromax logo and the speaker at the bottom. The front panel has the three capacitive buttons, but they are not backlit. It also comes with the usual set of sensors. Overall, the design and build quality of the device is decent considering Micromax has tried with a new design. The device feels good in hands as it is pretty compact at 5 inch display size.
Display:
The phone comes with a 5 inch HD display (1290 X 720p) which is now offered by most of the OEMs even in the budget segment. The display looks decent, but the colors aren’t vibrant and the brightness levels also slightly lower. But the touch response was quite good and so were the viewing angles.
When you compare the display quality of Redmi 2 Prime or Meizu M2, the Canvas Xpress 4G falls short of expectations. Micromax could have definitely done some more work on the display.
Software:
Micromax Canvas Xpress 4G runs on Android 5.1 with a custom UI from the company. While the UI is a custom one, it looks more or less like stock Android and you have the stock like notification center and settings menu. Micromax has given a new icon pack to the UI which looks dull and boring.
As usual the company has loaded the phone with lots of bloatwares which we feel could have been avoided. The phone comes with an app drawer.
The phone comes with another useful feature called Picture mode, which we mentioned in the display. The MiraVision display picture quality optimization included where in you can choose the picture mode (standard or Vivid) or even set a custom mode where you can change the contrast, saturation, brightness, sharpness, temperature etc.
The UI does not come with any added features like gestures or support for themes.
Performance:
The device is powered by Mediatek MT6735P Quad-core processor clocked at 1.0Ghz with 2GB RAM. The overall performance was quite good and there weren’t any major issues with day to day usage. The gaming experience was just decent and may not be the best in the class as we have seen better overall performances on other devices.
The phone has 16GB storage and is expandable via micro SD card. There is close to 11GB of storage available in the first boot which is decent storage for a budget smartphone and the device comes loaded with too many bloatware from the company. You can also install SD card and directly install apps on the SD card.
The call quality on the device was decent and we didn’t have any issues like call drops. The speaker output is again decent quality.
Camera:
The phone comes with 8MP rear camera with LED flash and a front facing 2MP camera. The camera interface is the same which we have been seeing on most Micromax phones. It is high time the company worked on the camera UI which is now dated.
The camera comes with decent features, but it is not the quickest cameras around. The quality of the photos taken was also not impressive with washed out colors and photos lacked detailing. Even in bright sunlight, the colors were totally washed out. Overall, the 8MP camera is a disappointment on the device. The front camera is again a 2MP which isn’t any good for selfies. Here are some of the samples taken with the device.
Battery Life:
The phone comes with 2000mAh battery and the capacity of the battery is pretty low comparing with the competition which now offers more than 2200mAh. The battery performance was average and with moderate usage, you can get a day of battery life with the 2000mAh battery on the Micromax Canvas Xpress 4G.
Verdict:
Priced at Rs 6599, is the Micromax Canvas Xpress 4G value for money? While the Micromax Canvas Xpress 4G is an all round package with decent hardware and also good pricing, it does not excel in any area and the if you compare the competition, it falls shorts in many areas including camera, battery life, and overall quality.
If you are looking for a 4G device in the budget category, we would suggest you to check Redmi 2 Prime, Meizu M2 or even the Yu Yuphoria.
