When running on Android Lollipop is a phone's USP, your expectations shouldn't be much. But if that phone also happens to be the lowest priced Lollipop-powered phone in the market, there might be more to it. We're talking about the Micromax Canvas Spark, of course, which was launched in India yesterday. The phone was launched at a price point of Rs. 4,999. It will sell exclusively on Snapdeal and registrations for the device start today.
Display
The Micromax Canvas Spark has a 4.7 inch qHD display, which is not the best in the market, but fits the price tag that the company has set for this device. It seemed quite fingerprint intensive though.
Performance
The device is powered by a 1.3 GHz MediaTek quad-core SoC and 1GB of RAM, similar to the Android One smartphones. This actually begs the question, whatever happened to that project? At first glance, the Canvas Spark is almost the same as the Micromax Canvas A1, but with a better camera.
Build
That brings us to the build. The Canvas Spark is a better built device than the Android One phones. The matte finish plastic on the back feels nice and the metallic finish on the sides adds a bit of a premium touch to the phone.
Battery
It runs on a 2,000 mAh battery, which should be fine for this device. We don't expect a marathon battery, but something that should get you by.
Rear Camera
The 8MP rear camera on this phone is a surprise. While we can not comment on the quality just yet, the megapixel count will add some value to the phone's spec sheet. Let's hope the quality is the same.
Front Camera
There's also a 2MP front camera on the Canvas Spark. Of course, that doesn't make this a selfie centric device, but again, remember the price tag.
Android Lollipop
The USP of this device, as mentioned before, is Lollipop. The new version of Android is very lightly skinned and seems to run fine on the Canvas Spark.
Internal Storage
Micromax is pre-loading apps like Snapdeal, Hotstar, Quickr and a bunch of others on this phone. We're not quite sure if this is a very good idea for a phone that has only 8GB internal storage. Lollipop does offer better SD card support, so you will be able to make more use of the 32GB expandable storage, but only just.
Colours
The phone will sell exclusively on Snapdeal and will be available in Black and White colour options.
The white version of the phone also has the same matte finish plastic back, but we think it looks better in black.
The event demo area didn't offer very good conditions, but the screen looked like it had some contrast issues. We'll have to test this out under controlled surroundings in the Digit test labs.
The physical buttons here are unnecessary, since on-screen buttons would have allowed for a smaller phone. It seems Micromax has put the buttons in just to maintain the symmetry between the top and bottom bezels.
Bottomline
Overall, the Canvas Spark looks like a good buy at Rs. 4,999. It is a quintessential budget device and will suit the needs of entry level smartphone buyers.