Mobile Grudge Match: Micromax A116 Canvas HD vs Samsung Galaxy Grand

So it has come to this. We have taken a poll, followed your comments, looked into how Micromax has changed the game and also showed you why Samsung is still top of the heap. There is no doubt in our minds that the launch of the Micromax A116 Canvas HD has signalled the advent of cheap quad-core phones in India. But Samsung’s Galaxy Grand is still a very good handset (at least on paper) that can compete very well against its mid-range rivals. It is a fact that both companies have made the most of Android’s success. While Micromax has perfected the art of selling smartphones with decent specs at a low price, Samsung brings to the table better hardware, quality of service and the value of its brand. However, this grudge match is purely based on the specifications (on paper) and does not take into account the actual performance of the phones.

Micromax A116 Canvas HD

The Micromax flagship is powered by MediaTek MT6589 quad-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz that is more than capable of delivering a smooth, lag-free experience. The processor is highly power efficient thanks to a 28nm manufacturing process. Plus, it runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, which has Project Butter at its core.

Micromax A116 Canvas HD

The phone’s PowerVR Series5XT GPU is known to be highly efficient. The HD in the phones name is courtesy of the 5-inch IPS display with 1280 x 720 resolution, which means a pixel density of 294ppi. It has an 8MP camera on the back and a VGA snapper on the front. The A116 is touted to be sold for under Rs 15,000, which is a fantastic price for the specs. The A116 comes with 4GB onboard storage and it is possible to expand this thanks to the microSD slot, which supports cards up to 32GB. Its 2000 mAh battery should be enough to keep the device powered on for about 12 hours under medium to heavy usage.

Samsung Galaxy Grand

The Samsung Galaxy Grand also has a 5-inch WVGA TFT LCD, but offers less screen real estate with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels. The device also boots Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean and is powered by a 1.2GHz dual core Broadcom BCM28155 processor. The other standout feature of the phone is the 8MP camera on the back. Samsung’s cameras have generally had good image quality and we have no reason to doubt that the one on the back of the Galaxy Grand won’t follow this trend. It comes with a healthy 8GB of onboard storage with an option to expand memory using the microSD card slot.

Quite slim at 9.6 mm

The Galaxy Grand comes with various features that are normally seen in Samsung’s high-end handsets. Smart Stay, Direct Call, Smart Alert and Popup Play will all be seen on the Grand along with S-Voice and Face & Voice Unlock. The phone comes preloaded with ChatOn, Samsung’s cross-platform communication service as well as the company’s myServices suite, which gives access to multimedia and educational content. The phone is priced at Rs 21,500 and Samsung has bundled in a flip cover, free movies and music worth Rs 8,000 and 50GB of space on Dropbox.

Samsung Grand vs Micromax Canvas A116 HD

Conclusion

While on the face of it the Micromax A116 Canvas HD entices with a quad-core processor, an HD screen and the low price, the Samsung Galaxy Grand takes the cake due to a number of reasons. For one, the handset is lighter (only just) and sleeker than the A116. It also has the image stabilisation feature and a 2MP front-facing camera – something the Micromax doesn’t match up to. The Galaxy Grand also supports more audio codecs and has slightly advanced connectivity options.

We will be bringing you a more in-depth comparison of the devices along with full-fledged reviews as soon as we can. Until then, Samsung has got a TKO win over the Micromax.

We've given the Samsung Galaxy Grand 8 out 10 in our review. Read the review here.

Check out our full review of the Canvas HD here.