Micromax A90s Superfone Pixel 2 Review
December 14, 2012
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Android - iGyaan - Latest - Mobile Phone Reviews - Smartphones - Unboxing and Hands On
Many have asked us for a review of the Dual Core version of the first budget Super AMOLED screen based phone. Micromax’s A90s Superfone Pixel 2 is a replacement for the A90 Superfone Pixel which was a highly popular device from Micromax. Let us see if the A90s up-s the game when comes to capability.
Build Quality and Design
The Phone reflects on the build quality of the Micromax A90, so similarly the Micromax A90s has a Gorilla Glass front with no physical buttons. There is a textured back panel which feels nice to touch and adds a bit of extra grip but squeaks a little when pressed, this has not been fixed with the A90s.
Overall, the device is very lightweight but is solidly built and has a very premium feel to it. It fits comfortably in your hands, and replicates the looks of the Samsung Galaxy S2.
Hardware
More or less the phone has the same hardware found in its predecessor with a slight upgrade to the A90 Superfone Pixel. The new Micromax A90s has a Dual Core 1 GHz processor vs the single core found in the older variant.
This Dual-Sim Dual-Core phone is powered by a MediaTek chipset combined with a PowerVR SGX GPU The chipset hums at 1GHz and the A90s has 512 of RAM. We found that the processor is still a bit sluggish and the phone tends to slow down slightly when heavy applications are used as was the case with the A90.
Camera
One thing we are really happy about is the Camera on the A90s. The newer camera on the Micromax A90s is much more refined and much more accurate in reproducing colors when compared to the A90, which had an atrocious white balance problem especially while capturing video.
Video quality is also much improved when compared in retrospect. The 720p video is decent and will not disappoint a moderate camera user. The in video Audio is also well balanced and does not reproduce the hissing found earlier.
Software, OS and Gaming
While the Micromax A90s comes pre loaded with ICS or Android 4.0.4 out of the box, we really have no hopes for updates to Jelly Bean with the device. Micromax is known to have had little or no software updates to its major devices, and the A90s belongs to the same league.
The OS is fairly smooth and operational, and does not show any lag. The Micromax A90s also has a bunch of preloaded apps from Micromax including the HookUp messenger and their MStore, which allows you to download many of their freebies.
Gaming on the Micromax A90s is also limited to many of the traditional games, where are High Graphic games, show up as incompatible on the Micromax A90s in the Play Store. We have a Gaming review which will follow up the phones review so stay tuned.
Display and Audio
The same display found on the Micromax A90, the A90s has a Super AMOLED display. The reason why the phone is still cheap is because the Super AMOLED display is a cheaper 256k color panel vs the traditional 16million color panel, which will become quite easily visible when the phone is compared to a high color depth panel laden phone. Outdoor visibility is also great but the letdown being that the screen has only 3 multi-touch points which hampers the gaming experience.
The Audio quality of the phone is excellent. It delivers loud and clear audio and the overall multimedia experience was great. Videos up to 1080p run on the device, although all may not be so smooth.
Multimedia & Internet
Although the Micromax A90s has some flaws, it is much better at Multimedia use than the A90. Video play back is much more smoother and the audio sounds a lot less plastic. With the improved camera and better processor, you will get better image qualities and image processing capabilities.
Online capabilities also drastically improve with the A90s, with a faster more “instant” response from the device, you will enjoy online experiences, whether it is browsing the web, sharing images or statuses, or even sending across presentations. The A90s also has portable WiFi Hotspot capabilities, which makes it a very convinient internet sharing device as well. You can play host to up to 5 devices including other smartphones and laptops aswell.
Battery Life
We found little or no change in the overall battery life, however, it seems that the A90s looses battery faster than before, requiring a charge more frequently.
- Talk Time 3G network(data off): 5 Hours
- Talk Time 2g (data off) : 6.5 hours
- Internet : N/A
- Music : 8 Hours
- Video : 6 hours
- Talk Time 3G network(data on): 4 Hours
- Talk Time 2g (data on) : 6 hours
- Internet : 6 Hours
- Music : 8 Hours
- Video : 4 hours
- Talk Time 3G network(data off): 5 Hours
- Talk Time 2g (data off) : 6 hours
- Internet : 6.5 Hours
- Music : 8 Hours
- Video : 4.5 hours
Conclusion
While Micromax has delivered with the A90s, which the company had initially said they will do with the A90 (was supposed to be Dual Core). The Dual core moniker seems more so for show than for use. The overall usage does not seem different, except a few minor upgrades to the phone including the camera. Battery life seems to run out sooner, and networks seem as stable as the Micromax A90. But, Micromax truly left out on things they could have drastically improved, like the 256k display, battery life and primarily a increase in RAM. These small and inexpensive but highly significant increases would have put the phone in a different league all together. At present the Micromax A90s remains
So why should one buy the A90s over the A90? In theory or atleast on paper, the A90s has better specs, slightly improved camera and absolutely nothing else. In Practicality , the A90 is discontinued and replaced by the A90s, So one really has no other option. Unless you wish to choose another brand, where finding a Super AMOLED display at this price may be practically impossible.
