Micromax Canvas Turbo smartphone: An Overview
We take a look at the specifications and features of the Micromax Canvas Turbo and see how it compares to other smartphones in the same price range.
Micromax has created quite the hype around the Micromax Canvas Turbo and even brought in the Wolverine to grab our attention. That said, is the product any good or is it merely propped up a great marketing campaign? That question will be answered when we get the smartphone in for review, but here, let’s take a look and see how the device compares to the competition in terms of the specifications and the features on offer.
Starting off with the specifications of the Canvas Turbo, the device has a 5-inch Full HD CGS (Continuous Grain Silicon) display. A 1.5Ghz quad-core MediaTek MT6589T chipset along with 2GB of RAM. The rear of the device houses a 13MP camera and the front has a 5MP camera. Read: Price of Micromax Canvas Turbo
The Canvas Turbo has 16GB built-in storage. A 2000mAh battery powers the entire package. The smartphone runs on Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean and Micromax claims that the OS will be updatable OTA. It is priced at Rs. 19,900. Below is a quick specifications comparison between the Canvas Turbo and other competing smartphones in the same price range.
A quick look at the specifications tablet will help you see that the Canvas Turbo is at par with what the competition has to offer. It has the same processor and RAM as we have seen on the Gionee Elife E6, which gave us laggy performance. This is probably because the E6 has a skin overlaying it. As of today, the title of the best performance in terms of the benchmark scores lies with the Xolo Q1000S (in the sub 20k price range). The smartphone has the MT6589T chipset and a 720p display. Read: Leaked! Micromax Canvas Turbo Specs
| Particulars | Micromax Canvas Turbo | Micromax Canvas 4 | iberry Auxus Nuclea N1 | Xolo Q1000S | Gionee Elife E6 | Lenovo P780 | WickedLeak Wammy Passion Z Plus |
| OS | Android 4.2 | Android 4.2 | Android 4.2 | Android 4.2 | Android 4.2 | Android 4.2 | Android 4.2 |
| Display Size | 5-inch | 5-inch | 5-inch | 5-inch | 5-inch | 5-inch | 5-inch |
| Thickness | 8.6mm | 8.9mm | 9.6mm | 7mm | 7.9mm | 9.95mm | 8.9mm |
| Display Type | IPS LCD | IPS LCD | IPS LCD | IPS LCD | IPS LCD | IPS LCD | IPS LCD |
| Display Resolution | 1920×1080 | 1280×720 | 1920×1080 | 1280×720 | 1920×1080 | 1280×720 | 1920×1080 |
| Built-in storage | 16GB | 16GB | 4GB | 16GB | 32GB | 4GB | 4GB |
| Expandable storage | No | up to 32GB via a microSD card | up to 64GB via a microSD card | No | No | up to 32GB via a microSD card | up to 32GB via a microSD card |
| Processor | 1.5GHz quad-core | 1.2GHz quad-core | 1.5GHz quad-core | 1.5GHz quad-core | 1.5GHz quad-core | 1.2GHz quad-core | 1.5GHz quad-core |
| RAM | 2GB | 1GB | 1GB | 1GB | 2GB | 1GB | 1GB |
| Rear Camera | 13MP | 13MP | 13MP | 13MP | 13MP | 8MP | 13MP |
| Front Camera | 5MP | 5MP | 8MP | 5MP | 5MP | 0.3MP | 2MP |
| Dual-SIM | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Battery | 2000mAh | 2000mAh | 2800mAh | 2500mAh | 2020mAh | 4000mAh | 2500mAh |
| Price | 19,990 | 17,499 | 17,599 | 16,999 | 21,390 | 17,790 | 15,990 |
More RAM is good for smooth performance
When we reviewed the Lemon A4, we found that the smartphone consumed more RAM as the device needed to render content for a 1080p display when compared to the same content being rendered for a 720p display. Since the Canvas Turbo has a 1080p display and 2GB of RAM, we speculate that the device should perform smoother than the Lemon A4.
No expandable storage is a bummer
Just like the Xolo Q1000S and the Elife E6, the Canvas Turbo doesn’t give consumers the option to expand the storage. Earlier on we have seen this move on devices such as the iPhone and the Nexus 4, but a lot more manufacturers are adopting it such as HTC and more. The Canvas Turbo too limits the built-in storage to 16GB.
Preloaded camera features for the photographer in you
Coming to the camera, we expect the performance of the Canvas Turbo to be at par with what we have seen on the Canvas 4 if not better. Apart from adding a number of filters to the Canvas 4’s camera, a few nifty features are present too. You have the usual array of shooting modes and panorama. An interesting thing is that you not only have access to horizontal, but vertical panorama as well. You also have a burst mode with the ability to click 99 images.
Adding to these features, the Canvas Turbo shows off the ability to shoot 360-degree panorama, something that we have seen on the Nexus 4. The camera also gives users the ability to capture a video and create a GIF by animating any object. You also have the ability to erase objects from an image giving you the perfect click you want. How these features translate to real world usage is something we will tell you when we review the device but on paper, they sound interesting.
Battery life may be an issue on the Turbo
One thing that concerns us is the battery life the smartphone will give. We have seen smartphones such as the Lenovo P780 show off a 4000mAh battery, so the possibility of a large battery life is there. The downside of the Canvas Turbo is that it brings a mere 2000mAh battery to the table. The only smartphone to have a lower battery capacity is the Lemon A4 at 1850mAh and its battery life wasn’t impressive.
Aluminium design looks promising
Coming to the build of the smartphone, it is made out of aluminium, which means that it will be well built, something on the lines of the Canvas Doodle 2. The down side is that users wont have access to replace the battery on the device.
Not the slimmest, but still sleek
The Canvas Turbo measures in at 8.6mm in thickness and isn’t the slimmest out there. The current title for the slimmest smartphone under the 20k price range is the Xolo Q1000S. The device measures in at 7mm in thickness. The thickest here is the iberry Auxus Nuclea N1 measuring 9.6mm in thickness.
Preloaded apps
Coming to some of the software features, they are the same that we have seen on the Canvas 4 and the Canvas Doodle 2. Some functions that the phone offers include:
- Answer a call simply by placing the phone on your ear.
- To put your phone on silent during an incoming call, just flip over your phone upside down.
- To put your active call on speaker, simply flip over the phone.
- To dial a contact, select the person in your contacts list and place the phone on your ear to call.
- Slide your hand over the screen to unlock the phone and save battery by switching off your screen automatically with the proximity sensor.
- Click photos by putting your camera in proximity mode and wave your hand at the screen to click a photo.
- Blow/shake to unlock.
You also have the ability to pop out the video player and the browser so you can use the rest of the display for other apps. You also have the option to view two videos simultaneously. The last time I saw this feature in action was on the Sony Xperia Tablet Z where users can watch 4 videos simultaneously and can pick one to go to full screen mode.
With the Canvas Turbo, Micromax has introduced a feature called ifloat. The app gives you the ability to easily access the most frequently used apps from anywhere on the device. No need to come back to the home screen or the apps listing page.
Sticking with the preloaded apps, the Canvas Turbo bring with it BBM & Hike for Instant Messaging, Spuul to watch free movies, Kingsoft Office, M!Security for anti-theft and anti-virus protection, M!Unlock to access “Blow to Unlock” feature, M!Live to download games, videos, wallpapers & music, Opera Mini browser and Game-hub.
Conclusion
Just like the Canvas Doodle 2 and the Canvas 4, the Canvas Turbo brings with it a slew of features, which we have seen on a lot of Samsung devices too. The hardware under the hood looks promising except for the 2000mAh battery. The aluminium build should give the smartphone a premium look and feel. The lack of expandable storage though is a bummer. Stay tuned, as we will give our final verdict once the smartphone is in our test centre for review.