Micromax Launched Smartphones Powered by Windows
Micromax is certainly taking its business head on. The company has launched two phones powered by the Windows 8.1- the Canvas Win W121 and the Win W092. The phones were earlier announced in the build conference but nothing on it was taken up before. The phones have been priced at Rs 9,500 and Rs 6,500 respectively. This certainly brings in some competition for Nokia in terms of Windows phones.
Here is a small glimpse of what the phones would be like.
Looks of the Phone
A lot has been borrowed by the company from its flagship designs for android phones below 10000. When you look at the phone from the front side, you would not notice any difference at all. However, the feature that stands out the most in the Win W092 is the monoblock plastic body. The back panel and all the four edges have been encased using a transparent material which offers a crystallized effect.
The Win W121 is slightly more polished than the Android phones made by the company although it is made of plastic. The rear panel seems to have been designed in faux leather, similar to the one on the Note 3. Compared to most of the Android Canvas phones, the Win W121 is slimmer and compact. The W121 is more stylish than the Win W092 when compared.
The WinW092 has a WVGA 800X480 pixels 4 inches screen with IPS whereas the Win W121 has a HD screen of 1280X720 pixels 5 inches screen that has IPS display. Both phones have 3 capacitive phone buttons customized for Windows- the Start, Back and Search. The light, lenses for front camera, earpieces and proximity sensors are placed above the screen. There is hardly any branding by Micromax on the panel.
The power button has been placed on the right hand side edge whereas the volume buttons are placed on the left. The keys have standard tactile feedback and feel nice. No ports have been placed on the bottom of the phone.
However, the display of the Win W092 is low in resolution and makes the text and images look pixelated. The Live tiles on the Start screen of the phone look pixelated when it is looked at closely. The Win W121 has a larger screen which improved the experience of video playback and looks nice.
Performance and Specs
Both the Win W121 and the Win W092 are centred on processors by Qualcomm which feel quite solid. They are powered by a Qualcomm Snaodragon quad core SoC 200 along with RAM of 1GB. They both come with a built in storage of 8GB while the storage space can be expanded using a 32GB microSD card.
The Windows 8.1 OS for phones is not very power hungry and the hardware is modified to provide performance even on low cost phones. Lags are not felt at the time of launching the apps or while browsing the internet. The speakers are quite good on both phones. Options of connectivity in both the phones are Bluetooth, GPS, 3G, Wi-Fi, GPRS/EDGE and Micro USB.
Camera
The Win W092 has a 5MP primary camera with an LED flash and a secondary camera of 0.3MP. The Win W121 has a 8MP camera at the back and a 2MP shooter in front.
The Windows 8.1 camera application provides users with options for tinkering with numerous settings such as ISO, camera effects, selecting scenes, contrast, white balance, flash mode and saturation and sharpness. A burst mode has been added by Microsoft on the Windows Phone 8.1 for clicking images continuously. The camera on the Win W092 is a weakness for the handset. Pictures clicked indoors look very grainy and do not have enough detail. The photos clicked in low light did not come out very well and contained a lot of noise. There was a bit of problem with focus and shutter lag.
When it comes to the Win W121 the back camera clicks pictures that look good indoors although they are not very bright when the actual scene was concerned. The photos seemed a little underexposed.
Software
The Win W121 and Win W092 are run using the Phone 8.1 Windows OS which has a number of additions and features on the Windows platform for phones. A notification shade similar to the Action Centre has been included by Microsoft in it. Users can swipe it downwards from the screen(TM)s top for seeing notifications, just as they do so in case of iOS and Android. There are 4 shortcuts included too- Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Brightness and Camera. Both the phones come with a number of applications that are preloaded such as MS Office, Xbox Games, HERE maps and Skype aside from others.
Final Verdict
The launch of the Windows Phone 8.1 certainly helps to cement the position of Micromax in the smartphone market of India. It wants its customers to have a taste of different products and is willing to experiment with an OS beyond Android. Microsoft also stands to benefit from this increase in exposure and the fact that a Windows Phone is available at a price lesser than that of the much popular Lumia 520.
The Micromax Win W092, priced at Rs 6,500 will act as a fierce competitor for a few Android smartphones like the Moto E; Micromax(TM)s own phone the Unite 2 and the Sony Xperia E1 along with the Xperia Dual E1. The most affordable smartphone running on the KitKat platform by Motorola has been creating headlines since its announcement in middle of May. Both the Xperia E1 and Moto E are better than the Win W092 when he overall packaging and build quality is concerned.
The Win W121 on the other hand shall be rivalling the Lumia 630, launched recently by Microsoft. The Win W121 has a price tag of Rs 9,500 while the Lumia 630 has a tag of almost Rs 11,400. When the specs are concerned, the Win W121 is much better than its competitors such as Nokia Dual SIM XL and the Lumia 525. Micromax certainly wants to be a leader in both windows and android phones below 10000
Here is a small glimpse of what the phones would be like.
Looks of the Phone
A lot has been borrowed by the company from its flagship designs for android phones below 10000. When you look at the phone from the front side, you would not notice any difference at all. However, the feature that stands out the most in the Win W092 is the monoblock plastic body. The back panel and all the four edges have been encased using a transparent material which offers a crystallized effect.
The Win W121 is slightly more polished than the Android phones made by the company although it is made of plastic. The rear panel seems to have been designed in faux leather, similar to the one on the Note 3. Compared to most of the Android Canvas phones, the Win W121 is slimmer and compact. The W121 is more stylish than the Win W092 when compared.
The WinW092 has a WVGA 800X480 pixels 4 inches screen with IPS whereas the Win W121 has a HD screen of 1280X720 pixels 5 inches screen that has IPS display. Both phones have 3 capacitive phone buttons customized for Windows- the Start, Back and Search. The light, lenses for front camera, earpieces and proximity sensors are placed above the screen. There is hardly any branding by Micromax on the panel.
The power button has been placed on the right hand side edge whereas the volume buttons are placed on the left. The keys have standard tactile feedback and feel nice. No ports have been placed on the bottom of the phone.
However, the display of the Win W092 is low in resolution and makes the text and images look pixelated. The Live tiles on the Start screen of the phone look pixelated when it is looked at closely. The Win W121 has a larger screen which improved the experience of video playback and looks nice.
Performance and Specs
Both the Win W121 and the Win W092 are centred on processors by Qualcomm which feel quite solid. They are powered by a Qualcomm Snaodragon quad core SoC 200 along with RAM of 1GB. They both come with a built in storage of 8GB while the storage space can be expanded using a 32GB microSD card.
The Windows 8.1 OS for phones is not very power hungry and the hardware is modified to provide performance even on low cost phones. Lags are not felt at the time of launching the apps or while browsing the internet. The speakers are quite good on both phones. Options of connectivity in both the phones are Bluetooth, GPS, 3G, Wi-Fi, GPRS/EDGE and Micro USB.
Camera
The Win W092 has a 5MP primary camera with an LED flash and a secondary camera of 0.3MP. The Win W121 has a 8MP camera at the back and a 2MP shooter in front.
The Windows 8.1 camera application provides users with options for tinkering with numerous settings such as ISO, camera effects, selecting scenes, contrast, white balance, flash mode and saturation and sharpness. A burst mode has been added by Microsoft on the Windows Phone 8.1 for clicking images continuously. The camera on the Win W092 is a weakness for the handset. Pictures clicked indoors look very grainy and do not have enough detail. The photos clicked in low light did not come out very well and contained a lot of noise. There was a bit of problem with focus and shutter lag.
When it comes to the Win W121 the back camera clicks pictures that look good indoors although they are not very bright when the actual scene was concerned. The photos seemed a little underexposed.
Software
The Win W121 and Win W092 are run using the Phone 8.1 Windows OS which has a number of additions and features on the Windows platform for phones. A notification shade similar to the Action Centre has been included by Microsoft in it. Users can swipe it downwards from the screen(TM)s top for seeing notifications, just as they do so in case of iOS and Android. There are 4 shortcuts included too- Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Brightness and Camera. Both the phones come with a number of applications that are preloaded such as MS Office, Xbox Games, HERE maps and Skype aside from others.
Final Verdict
The launch of the Windows Phone 8.1 certainly helps to cement the position of Micromax in the smartphone market of India. It wants its customers to have a taste of different products and is willing to experiment with an OS beyond Android. Microsoft also stands to benefit from this increase in exposure and the fact that a Windows Phone is available at a price lesser than that of the much popular Lumia 520.
The Micromax Win W092, priced at Rs 6,500 will act as a fierce competitor for a few Android smartphones like the Moto E; Micromax(TM)s own phone the Unite 2 and the Sony Xperia E1 along with the Xperia Dual E1. The most affordable smartphone running on the KitKat platform by Motorola has been creating headlines since its announcement in middle of May. Both the Xperia E1 and Moto E are better than the Win W092 when he overall packaging and build quality is concerned.
The Win W121 on the other hand shall be rivalling the Lumia 630, launched recently by Microsoft. The Win W121 has a price tag of Rs 9,500 while the Lumia 630 has a tag of almost Rs 11,400. When the specs are concerned, the Win W121 is much better than its competitors such as Nokia Dual SIM XL and the Lumia 525. Micromax certainly wants to be a leader in both windows and android phones below 10000