If you are longing to get yourself a suitable smartphone within your budget, here are some options worth considering. We picked the newly-launched Canvas Xpress 4G and compared it with the Meizu m2 smartphone to enable readers to decide on the one that offers better value for money.
Display and design
The Meizu m2 offers an elegant design with a sealed polycarbonate unibody with curved edges. It features a 5-inch HD screen with Dragon Trail glass GFF full lamination technology to minimise reflection on the screen and improve readability. The budget smartphone measures 140.1 x 68.9 x 8.7mm and weighs 131gm, and feels comfortable in hand.
The Micromax Canvas Xpress 4G design is pretty appealing and has moved slightly away from the regular look. The sharp edges and the rectangular block design give a fresh feel. The Canvas Xpress 2 also features a 5-inch HD screen with 1280 x 720 pixels with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection.
Camera
When we reviewed the Meizu m2, we found its camera to be impressive. It features a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera with f/2.2 aperture and LED flash. On the front side, there is a 5MP snapper with f/2.0 aperture and upgraded FotoNation beautifying system. The customisation adds to the appeal and lets you change between different modes to take the best shot.
[Also read: Meizu m2 camera tips and tricks: How to take beautiful photos from your budget smartphone?]
The Micromax Canvas Xpress 4G has an 8MP primary camera with LED flash and a 2MP front snapper.
By the looks of it, Micromax may fall behind Meizu m2 in terms of camera and its features.
Processor, RAM and Storage
Meizu m2's performance was at par with several rivals in its price range. It is powered by a 64-bit MediaTek MT6735 quad-core processor clocking speeds at 1.3GHz, combined with Mali-T720 GPU for graphics and 2GB DDR3 RAM. It scored 27,760 on AnTuTu 64-bit and 619 in single-core and 1788 in multi-core on GeekBench, which is higher than Xiaomi Redmi 2 and Lenovo A6000.
Comparatively, Micromax Canvas Xpress 4G is powered by a 1.0GHz MediaTek (MT6735P) quad-core CPU and 2GB RAM. We do not have the benchmark scores to compare but we are guessing the Meizu m2 to outperform the Micromax handset.
Both phones support 4G LTE and have 16GB expandable storage. They run on Google's Android 5.1 Lollipop platform but the Meizu m2 has its own Flyme OS that delivers a unique user experience.
Battery
The Meizu m2 is powered by a 2,500mAh battery while the Micromax Canvas Xpress 4G packs a 2,000mAh unit. The Meizu m2 has several power saving options - which we had detailed in our product review - in order to boost the battery life of the handset. With mixed usage, the handset survived the day and required a re-charge at the end of the day.
[Read: Meizu m2 review: Can it beat Lenovo, Motorola, Xiaomi, Coolpad and other sub-Rs 10,000 smartphones?]
We are unsure how good the Micromax Canvas Xpress 4 G battery is but we are not expecting any major difference here.
Price and availability
The Meizu m2 is smartly priced at Rs. 6,999 but the availability of the handset has been inconsistent. The handset is exclusively available on Snapdeal through flash sales but there is no fixed day or time for those sales. You can register and Snapdeal will communicate the details of the next flash sale via email and SMS.
The Micromax Canvas Xpress 4G is priced slightly lower than Meizu m2 and costs Rs 6,599. The handset will be available exclusively on Flipkart starting 18 November.
