Micromax Canvas Win W121: Is the budget Windows phone a step towards breaking Android dominance?

Micromax is going beyond Android and the company has launched its first set of Windows Phone 8 devices in India with Canvas Win W121 and the Canvas Win W092 at highly competitive prices. The 5-inch W121 is priced at Rs 9500, while the 4-inch W092 is priced Rs 6500 (Moto E competitor anyone?) and it’s evident that Micromax and Microsoft are trying to woo the budget user by launching a Windows Phone 8.1 device at these prices. The smartphones will be available in India from July.

In terms of specs, the Canvas Win W121 runs Windows Phone 8.1 OS has Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor with 1.2 GHz Quad Core CPU, 5-inch HD IPS display, 2000 mAh battery, 8MP rear camera with flash; 2MP front camera, 1 GB of RAM, 8 GB total memory space and microSD slot with 32 GB as the limit. This is a dual SIM device. It also has an in-built proximity sensor, gravity sensor or gyroscope, ambient light sensor and an accelerometer.

The Canvas Win W092 has a 1.2 GHz quad core CPU but a 4-inch IPS screen, 1500 mAh battery, a 5MP rear camera with flash and 0.3MP front camera. In terms of software, both phones are identical, so user experience should be more or less the same. Many users associate the Canvas brand with Android, and Windows Phone 8 would come as a surprise, but has Micromax done justice to the OS?

We got a chance to play with the Canvas Win W121 smartphone during the launch event and here’s our first impression of the smartphone.

Canvas Win W121 doesn’t stand out in terms of design.

Design, Build and Screen

The Canvas Win W121 has a 5-inch HD screen with IPS and a leather-design back cover. Where design is concerned, the smartphone looks a lot like the other Canvas devices we’ve seen such as the Canvas Turbo. The only difference is that this one has a Home button, a Back Screen button and a Bing Search button since it is a Windows Phone device.

The leather back doesn’t really add a premium feel to the smartphone, and compared to Nokia devices in the same range such as the Lumia 630 (which is priced at a slightly higher Rs 11,500 but is retailing for closing to Rs 10,500) the Canvas Win W121 doesn’t offer any spark in term of looks. For Nokia’s Windows Phone 8 devices, coloured back-covers have helped the phones stand out, which is not the case here.

Hardware

In terms of specs, Micromax is making a pretty decent offer to users for Rs 10,000. The screen is a HD one, it has 1 GB of RAM, 8 GB storage space with 32 GB microSD slot. The processor is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor which is quad-core and clocked at 1.2 GHz. It also comes with an eight megapixel camera and LED flash, a 2 megapixel front camera.

The camera resolution is higher than the Lumia 630 which has a 5-megapixel camera, as is the screen size ( Lumia 630 has a 4.5-inch screen) and the smartphone offers more RAM. However the Lumia 630 has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor clocked at 1.2 GHz.

If specs is what you’re looking for the Micromax device is offering a lot more than the Lumia 630, at least on paper, and appears to be a solid Windows Phone option for under Rs 10,000.

Canvas Win does offer strong specs for its price point

Battery

The Micromax Canvas Win W121 has a 2000mAh battery but Micromax has not specified how long the standby time and the talktime is. Nokia devices stand out in the smartphone market for their superb battery performance. The Lumia 630 has a Li-Ion 1830 mAh battery with talk time of up to 16 h 20 min (2G) and 13 h 10 min (3G).

Will the Micromax device offer something as strong? That can only be determined once we’ve had some time to test the device more thoroughly, but there’s no doubt that if users do want to make a switch from a Micromax Android to a Micromax Windows Phone, they would surely want better battery life.

The Canvas Win W121 has a leathered back.

Software

The good thing we have here is that both devices are running Windows Phone 8.1 without any bloatware. We did see Cortana, Microsoft’s answer to Siri and Google Now, on the Win W092 device, but couldn’t spot it in the Win W121 which is a little strange given that this is the more high-end device. Of course, it could be that the software build wasn’t final, which is likely to be the case.

The advantage with the Microsoft software is that users will get access to Office 365, which is great for a device that is priced under Rs 10,000. There’s also the Xbox app for games, Internet Explorer for browsing and of course the Windows Phone Store for access to apps. What users will miss here is the Nokia HERE maps, which is another strong feature of the Nokia devices, along with proprietary Nokia apps such as Smart Camera or the Lenses.

Where apps are concerned, Windows Phone 8 is starting to get all the apps, from Facebook to Instagram to Flipboard to Twitter. But again for those who are used to accessing these apps on a low-budget Android device, the experience on Windows Phone 8 is very different and not always very smooth.

For example, Facebook doesn’t have the full functionality you see in Android or iOS, and in my experience, the app is slow to load News Feed stories.

Microsoft Office is seen in the Canvas Win W121 smartphone.

Microsoft’s app market has been growing but when it comes to the new games such as Quiz Up, Dots, even Candy Crush Saga are not yet available on Windows Phone, which is surely a setback for potential buyers.

In conclusion, there’s no denying that Micromax has launched a Windows Phone 8 device at a very competitive price. Windows Phone 8 still has a long way to go where the app market is concerned, but it is catching up. Given that this is what most people use their smartphones for, Microsoft has to ensure more big name apps embrace the platform.

This is something Nokia phones avoid by offering something different in terms of software and hardware, especially when it comes to the Nokia MixRadio and the camera, so the Canvas Win W121 might not be the first option for many, despite its low price.