Review: Micromax Canvas Selfie 2

Front facing cameras in smartphones have improved considerably recently, with a larger demographic of buyers expecting better quality selfies. And while a lot of phones released over the past few months have claimed to offer improved front camera optics, the performance when tested wasn’t always the best. Canvas Selfie 2, Micromax’s new phone, too focuses on the selfie bit, and is priced at Rs 5,999. Let’s find out how it really is.

Sturdy but simple

The Canvas Selfie 2 is a solidly built phone, made using quality material. It weighs 136g and is 9mm thick, which is pretty good for a 5-inch screen size. It has been put together well, but in terms of overall appearance, it looks plain. Even though Micromax has tried to spice it up with a nice textured finish on the back that almost looks and feels like leather, it still doesn’t really inspire visual brilliance. What we like more about the Canvas Selfie 2 is that it feels more comfortable to hold than phones with glossy plastic or glass finish back panels, which tend to smudge a lot and also become slippery eventually.

Display is a mixed bag

The screen quality and experience is a mixed bag. The 5-inch screen size means that the phone fits into the hand much better than bigger screen options, something that users who are upgrading from feature phones will appreciate. The ability to handle colours well makes it good with certain tasks such as reading and Internet browsing. However, low resolution (854x480pixels) and poor viewing angles makes movies and games a rather dull affair. It is a bit surprising to see Micromax take a step backwards in this regard, especially after coming with very good screens in recent phones such as the Canvas Xpress 2. We were also a bit disappointed with the display’s lack of protection against finger prints; smudges become visible on this after a few minutes of use.

Software tweaked for regional languages

It runs Android 5.0 (Lollipop) with hardly any customizations to the interface. It is easy to use and doesn’t eat up a smartphone’s memory, which results in smoother performance. However, Micromax has loaded an optional second and rather unique looking interface called First Touch, which supports 10 Indian languages, including Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi and Gujarati. Though this feature makes it really handy for people who are not proficient in English or Hindi, the layout and the icons seem a bit strangely designed. A good idea, but needs better implementation.

Basic performance

Canvas Selfie 2 runs on a 1.3GHz MT6582M quad-core processor, with 1GB RAM. It can handle most everyday tasks such as web browsing, social networking and movies easily if you stick to a few apps at a time. It can handle eight apps simultaneously, before things become a bit sluggish. The device has a 2,000mAh battery, and this barely gets through a full day on a single charge if you use the phone for clicking a lot of photos or playing games.

Has a good selfie camera

The phone’s key highlight is the front-facing camera. This 5-megapixel camera has a fairly wide angle and can be used comfortably for group selfies. However, it needs good ambient light to click clear photos.

The main camera, also a 5-megapixel snapper, is a bit disappointing. It is slow, struggles in low light, takes a while to focus properly and even when it gets it right, the picture looks blurry and lifeless.

Verdict

The Canvas Selfie 2 is a basic smartphone meant for first-time users. The support for local Indian languages will be useful for a lot of regional users. However, don’t get too caught up by that entire selfie claim, because that isn’t this phone’s strongest point.