Smartphones on a Budget - Part II

Smartphones on a Budget

Let’s start round two 

Q4. OS and Apps (20 Points)

This segment is more like a direct comparison between Android and Windows Phone 8. Let’s take Micromax runs on ICS out of the box, where Samsung are provides the Ginger bread but Samsung has started pushing 4.1 Jelly bean update for the S advance about a month ago so not a problem. I am not really a fan of Samsung’s Touch wiz, somehow they manage to take the fun out of ICS, Jelly bean and what not!!! But that’s something you can work around with launchers available in the play store.  On the other hand you have Nokia Lumia 520 offering a premium more user friendly and snappy Windows Phone 8. I’ve been so in to the Androids multi Home screen and for me the minimalistic treatment on the WP8 felt surprising at first. The constantly changing dynamic and color full UI was always great to look at. But I was so used to the rich and full Android UI, I found it more of incomplete. Absence of a consolidated notification center is and always a concern. But still it’s a fun OS to play with, I am hoping for a bit more customization from Microsoft with their highly anticipated Windows Blue (8.1). The choice in this case is very personal.

There is however there is a catch, Samsung has announced its plans for Android 5.0, key lime Pie (Google is yet to reveal theirs). And the confirmed list is very limited to this years and previous years flag ships. So don’t expect to keep these android phones for the long run, well any way Samsung is not expecting you to keep it any way. On the other hand Microsoft has announced that the WP9 will be compatible with this generation hard wares, so yayJ.

The last to this section is Nokia battle to loose. The app support for android is over 700,000 where as that of windows store is just 145,000, and growth in windows store is not that much and ill blame Microsoft for this. And it’s just really bad marketing all-around. There are proprietary apps for manufactures, Samsung offers there on suit of offering for android and hardly any one of them are useful. Where Nokia are here suit and the other photo editing apps like smart shoot, cinema graph are a fun addition. Micromax however only consolation price in this section, and this is an area where established OEMs stand out.

Device
	OS	Apps		Extra
Nokia Lumia 520	8	2		4
Micromax A110 Canvas 2	7	5		1
Samsung galaxy s Advance	7	5		2

Q5. Design and build (10 Points)

Agree or dis agree, the Design is the Wow factor that’s lets you stand out from the crowed. And LUMIA is just too good at this. The Matt finished poly carbonate and peppy colors makes it the sand out hand set in this section. And it feels great in the hand. Both Micromax and Samsung opted for a more conventional design, and maybe that’s a good thing but playing it safe doesn’t make the day. But no company has ever proved this statement wrong than SamsungJ. S4 breaking the sales record set by S3 is the most apt example. But hey a company like Nokia who is playing the catch up game really needs to think out of the box. And the Lumia range is an example of this.

Device
	Design	Build
Nokia Lumia 520	4	4
Micromax A110 Canvas 2	3	2
Samsung galaxy s Advance	3	3

 

 

 

 

Q6. Usability (5 Points)

The question of usability depends on lot of factors, including the OS. Both Nokia and Samsung has a 4” screen compared to the 5” screen on Micromax. Which makes it a bit more impressive if you are in to the “Bigger is better” tag lines. In that perspective the 4” screen on the other two is nothing to brag about but certainly not something to laugh at either.

The Nokia includes Microsoft office suit which gives it an edge over the competition, even though you can get third party office suits from Play store. The key board on WP8 is more pleasing in terms of auto correct and feedback. But this is something you can fix by using a third party applications from the Play store. WP8 with its minimalistic design and thought out overall integration makes it better for day to day tasks. However the absence of a secondary camera on the Nokia is something that has to be considered here. 

Device
	Usability
Nokia Lumia 520	4
Micromax A110 Canvas 2	5
Samsung galaxy s Advance	5

 

 

 

Q7. As a “Phone” and an device (10 Points)

This could be the most ignored section in the whole smartphone universe. No matter what you do and how smart your device get, it really is a phone. In the battle to put more tech to the smartphone, the basic functions like voice call, battery life etc... Are only the second thoughts. Since we are on a budget, don’t expect anything special in this segment. The call quality on all three devices where ok, but on Nokia we had issues with call output quality. The Samsung and Micromax however were not terrible either, but the experience on Samsung was a bit more pleasing. Micromax sometime shown variation in tone more frequently. We had some call drop issues on Samsung but I am blaming my network for this. The noise cancellation on Nokia felt a bit better which the reason for the slight lower output quality was probably. Where are the noise cancellation on the other two handsets where terrible in many ways, and we had to call back after they managed to enter a respectably silent environment.

Both Samsung and Nokia has a respectable battery life and on WIFI you can squeeze a full day from it. But putting it on the mobile data connection is another story. We had seen Samsung dropping from 100% to 35% charge on in less than 2 hours on GPRS and GPS turned on.                                Micromax is plays the bigger hand here offering 2000 mAh capacity which is almost 600 mAh more than the rest.

 

Device
	Phone	battery
Nokia Lumia 520	3	3
Micromax A110 Canvas 2	3	5
Samsung galaxy s Advance	3	3

 

 

 

               

 

  

Results

Final word, Is it worth spending 3,000 extra for the Galaxy S advance? My answer would be No. here it goes, Nokia Lumia + 16 GB extra card can be brought for around 11,000. Plus you get a flashy new design, 7GB skydive space, super sensitive touch, and Windows Phone 8 which ensures a bit of future proofing. So I’ll bet money on 520. In my opinion 520 simply gives u more bang for your buck. 520 is like the dashing Romeo who can win over the Geek which in this case is the galaxyJ.