Micromax Canvas Infinity first impressions: Makes all budget smartphones look inferior

After the Chinese brands took over the Indian smartphone market by storm, the Indian-origin companies had little room to breathe. Micromax, the largest Indian smartphone brand in the country, took a step back to analyse the trend set by the new brands, and finally made a comeback.

Micromax Canvas Infinity is the latest smartphone by the Indian brand, which puts the company back on the race track with full throttle. International Business Times, India, was present at the phone's launch event in New Delhi on Tuesday and witnessed the love the Canvas Infinity received for its refreshing design and comeback strategy.

Micromax Canvas Infinity is priced at Rs. 9,999 and puts a mark on all the other sub-Rs. 10,000 smartphones in the country with its compelling looks and complementing features. While we review the phone to test its full potential and how it fares against rivals like Xiaomi Redmi Note 4, Lenovo K8 Note and to an extent Samsung Galaxy S8, here's our first impression of the mighty Canvas Infinity.

Design and Display

Micromax Canvas Infinity's design is its impenetrable armour and the one aspect that would guarantee its success. While other companies are fighting over who offers better cameras, bigger batteries and faster chipset, Micromax tapped the largely-ignored aspect and did the best it could.

If you loved Samsung Galaxy S8 and LG G6 design, Micromax Canvas Infinity is sure to seed a doubt in your mind on whether you should shell out 4-6 times more money. Canvas Infinity is the cheapest smartphone with 18:9 aspect ratio with a bezel-less frame. The display measures 5.7 inches, but it surely doesn't feel like it.

As premium as it looks from the front, the rear back design is pretty standard. Removable polycarbonate back cover is a quite old pattern, but it makes sense as the battery can be separately replaced without the need of an expert after a few years of use.

Nothing else stands out in the phone as loudly as its infinite display. The volume controls and the power button are on the right, the microUSB port is at the bottom and a 3.5mm audio jack sits at the top. Inside the removable back-cover, you find the microSD card slot and two dedicated slots for SIM cards. There is a fingerprint scanner placed just below the rear camera, and we've tested it and it works in an efficient manner.

Overall, Canvas Infinity is by far the best-looking smartphone in under Rs. 10,000 segment.

Camera

Micromax Canvas Infinity is not all about looks. It also packs a punch when it comes to the camera. There is a 16MP selfie camera with f/2.0 aperture, 5P lens and 81.5-degree field of view. On the rear, the phone packs a 13MP camera with same f/2.0 aperture, 5P lens and 81.5-degree field of view.

To make your photos better, there are a plethora of modes and settings. The main ones are real-time bokeh, super pixel, smile shot, Beauty, and Portrait.

We briefly tested the camera and got some interesting results. We will be further exploring the camera performance in our upcoming review, until then relish on these sample photos below.

Rest of the specs

Under the hood, the Canvas Infinity isn't the one to disappoint. Much like other sub-Rs. 10,000 phones, this one too is powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 425 chipset paired with 3GB RAM and 32GB expandable storage. There is a 2,900mAh battery, which will be tested extensively by our tech team to see how long it lasts. We reserve our doubts on the battery performance, but the company promises 11 hours talk time.

Moreover, the phone runs Android 7.1 Nougat out-of-the-box. Some of you might be surprised, but the phone is sure guaranteed to get Android Oreo in the future.

For the uninitiated, the Canvas Infinity will be available exclusively on Amazon India from September 1 onwards. If you can wait, the phone will also be available in stores as soon as Micromax balances the demand and supply. Stay tuned for our detailed review coming up in the next few days.