Micromax A116 Canvas HD vs. Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos: Performance Comparison

The Micromax A116 Canvas HD and the Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos, both devices can be considered as anticipated smartphones in their class. The Canvas HD brings with it a quad-core processor and a 720p HD IPS display for a budget of less than Rs. 15,000. For Rs. 21,500 though, with the Samsung Galaxy Grand, users get a slew of Samsung features usually found on premium devices.

Design and Build

Both the smartphones boast of 5-inch displays, although the resolution of the Micromax A116 Canvas HD is higher than the Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos. The front facing camera on both the device rests to the right of the earpiece. The rear of both the device is plastic. The Canvas HD has a pearl white finish and is glossy making it a fingerprint magnet. The Galaxy Grand also has a glossy finish. This makes the rear susceptible to fingerprints and scratches. The bottom of the Canvas HD has the three capacitive buttons that represent the back, home and the menu button. The Galaxy Grand Duos on the other hand has a physical home button and capacitive back and menu buttons.

In our use of both the devices, we found that the keyboard layout on the Canvas HD is a lot more comfortable to use than the one on the Galaxy Grand even though the Grand Duos offers number shortcuts and more features on the keyboard.

Specifications and Benchmark Performance

To start with, let us take a look at the specifications of the two smartphones.

Both the devices run on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean straight out of the box and it is very clear that on paper at least, the Micromax Canvas HD has brought with it the big guns in terms of the power. But does this translate with the benchmark scores?

From the above benchmark scores it is clear that even though the Canvas HD has better specifications under the hood, it doesn’t beat the Galaxy Grand Duos with the benchmark scores. The Galaxy Grand Duos outperforms the Canvas HD in the GLBenchmark, NenaMark2, Quadrant, and Rightware Browsermark benchmarks, showing that the hardware is very well optimized. It is only in the SmartBench and the AnTuTu benchmark score where the Canvas HD takes the cake.

It must be said that the interface of both the smartphones is very smooth. Scrolling through web pages, apps and navigating the menus, all feels smooth. The biggest problem plaguing budget devices is that coming to the home screen from an app usually causes a lot of lag. In both the smartphones, this isn’t a problem.

Both, the Canvas HD and the Galaxy Grand Duos have the capability to run all the apps we through at it with absolute ease. There is one problem though here. When we installed the Flipboard app on the Canvas HD, the launcher of the device crashed rendering it useless and this is a very bad thing, indicating some stability issues that need to be ironed out.

Interface and Features

Even though both the devices run on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the experience on both the smartphones is quite different. The Canvas HD has a very light skin giving it a more raw Android experience. The icons and the preloaded skin may be a bit gaudy for some.

The Canvas HD does come with a bunch of preloaded apps such as CricketFever, Fruit Devil, and a bunch of Micromax specific apps such as M!Live, M!Store, M!Zone and HookUp. The device also has an FM radio, something of a rarity in modern day smartphones. That’s about it. If users wish to customize the device more, the can with the apps available on the Google Play store.

The Galaxy Grand Duos on the other hand comes with quite a lot of preloaded content. To start with, the device is preloaded with the TouchWiz skin, which is one of the better preloaded skins available on Android. It brings with it a slew of features and customization options for the users. Apart from the Google Play store, users also have access to Samsung’s own app store on the device. Users also get free 50GB of Dropbox cloud storage with the device.

Samsung apps such as S Voice, Smart Stay (the display won't go to sleep if it knows that you are reading), All Share, Chat On and more are also present on the device.

With the Galaxy Grand Duos, Samsung has introduced a service called My Service. My Service gives users access to My Movies (a library of more than 2000 movies), My Music (3 lakh songs in collaboration with Hungama), My Education (1200 text books, 60 video books and 150 assignment papers based on the CBSE board) and My Mobile TV (100 live TV channels).

Camera

The megapixel rating of both smartphones’ cameras is 8MP. The Galaxy Grand Duos has a BSI sensor whereas the Canvas HD doesn’t. The camera of the Canvas HD requires you to keep your hand quite steady whereas the Grand Duos has nearly zero shutter lag and the image output is quite good. Below are the images clicked from both the devices.

Micromax A116 Canvas HD
Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos

Conclusion

Both the Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos and the Micromax Canvas HD are good devices. The specifications and the display of the Canvas HD are better than the Galaxy Grand Duos. So, if you are looking for a powerhouse in a budget, then go in for the Canvas HD. It has a much better display too.

The Galaxy Grand Duos on the other hand has a good build, good camera and comes with a slew of features that will appeal to anyone who has used a Samsung device running Android. The resolution of the 5-inch display may be low and it has a yellow tinge to it while watching videos but it is a good overall performer nonetheless.

Follow Us

Sameer Mitha

Sameer Mitha lives for gaming and technology is his muse. When he isn’t busy playing with gadgets or video games he delves into the world of fantasy novels. View Full Profile