Micromax A116 Canvas HD v/s Samsung Galaxy S3: Battling the premium phones

With Micromax pulling out their big guns, smartphone manufacturers should have more to worry about especially when their entire sub-15k market is literally being eaten out by the host of Indian manufacturers. Here comes Micromax’s latest A116 Canvas HD. Let’s see how it stacks up against a high end premium phone such as the Samsung Galaxy S3 itself. We are not trying to prove that the Canvas HD is better or worse than the S3, but to show how close these two smartphones come to despite the Canvas HD being HALF the price.

Micromax A116 Canvas HD

A quick run down with the specifications of the Canvas HD.

Micromax A116 Canvas HD Specifications

• MediaTek MT6589 chipset
• 1.2 GHz quad-core ARM Cortex A7 CPU
• PowerVR SGX544 GPU
• 1 GB of RAM
• 5″ HD (1280 x 720 pixels) IPS (16.7 million colors) display
• 8MP rear camera with LED Flash
• VGA front facing camera
• 4 GB of internal storage
• up to 32 GB expandable memory via microSD card
• 2,100 mAh battery
• Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS

Samsung Galaxy S3

The Samsung Galaxy S3 is Samsung’s current flagship smartphone. Released nearly 8 months ago, the Galaxy S3 is one of the most popular smartphones (and wildly sold) in the planet. Despite receiving reviews such as not-so-amazing plastic build and so, the Galaxy S3 is an excellent piece of hardware.

Samsung Galaxy S3 Specifications

• Exynos 4412 Quad chipset
• 1.4 GHz quad core ARM Cortex A9 CPU
• ARM Mali400 MP4 quad core GPU
• 1 GB of RAM
• 4.8″ HD (1280 x 720) Super AMOLED display
• 8 MP rear camera, 1080p video @ 30 fps
• 1.9 MP front cam, 720p video @ 30 fps
• 16 / 32 / 64 GB internal storage
• expandable storage up to 64 GB via MicroSD card
• 8.6 mm thick, 133 grams weight
• 2,100 mAH Li-Ion battery
• Android 4.0 ICS, update to Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean

Micromax A116 Canvas HD v/s Samsung Galaxy S3

Chipset (CPU, GPU & RAM)

First up is the chipset. The Micromax A116 Canvas HD has a Mediatek MT 6589 chipset which packs 4 x 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex A7 cores. The Galaxy S3 has the more powerful 4x 1.4 GHz ARM Cortex A9 cores. While the Galaxy S3 wins in RAW power, the Micromax A116 has a far more power efficient architecture.

The GPU is PowerVR SGX544 v/s ARM Mali400 MP4. Both GPUs go head to head. Both are really powerful. Until benchmarks we can’t say anything definite.

Both devices have 1 GB of RAM.

Design, Multimedia & Display

The Micromax A116 is a plastic build, same as the Galaxy S3. The A116 has thin bezel and wastes very little space at the top or bottom with it’s 3 capacitive buttons (no hardware keys). The Galaxy S3 has one soft key, just like the A110 has (Canvas 2).

Both phones have 8 MP cameras. Although the chipset in the A116 is capable of 1080p video recording, we don’t know if it’s enabled in the A116. The S3 meanwhile has an excellent camera.

Both devices have HD resolution (1280 x 720 pixels) display. However the Micromax A116 has a bigger 5″ IPS display while the Galaxy S3 uses a 4.8″ Super AMOLED display. Both LCD and AMOLED have their own pros and cons.

UI & Storage

Micromax is going for Stock Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with subtle additions which is excellent and bloatfree. Samsung uses the TouchWiz UI which is a hit and miss. Some like it, some don’t (at all).

The A116 has only 4 GB of internal storage, while the S3 comes in flavors starting at 16 GB. Both devices have expandable storage.

Battery & OS

The A116 has a 2,100 mAh battery which is the same as the Galaxy S3. Pretty impressive. We think the A116 might actually last longer thanks to it’s power efficient cores.

PRICE

The Micromax A116 will cost less than Rs. 15,000 while the Galaxy S3 as of today costs Rs. 30,000. The Micromax A116 canvas HD packs a lot of features for a phone which will cost less than half the price of the Galaxy S3. Pretty impressive specifications and Value for Money as well!