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Business News/ Mint-lounge / Features/  Face-Off | The fight for phablets
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Face-Off | The fight for phablets

In the emerging value-phablet market, do Samsung's models limit its options? We review two new launches

Micromax CANVAS HD: Size: 5 inches; Resolution: 1,280x720; Display type: IPS; Storage: 1 GB user-accessible; CPU: 1.2 GHz quad-core; RAM: 1 GB; Camera: 8 MP; Battery: 2100 mAhPremium
Micromax CANVAS HD: Size: 5 inches; Resolution: 1,280x720; Display type: IPS; Storage: 1 GB user-accessible; CPU: 1.2 GHz quad-core; RAM: 1 GB; Camera: 8 MP; Battery: 2100 mAh

Growing smartphone numbers are being matched by growing screen sizes—as bigger and better screens become cheaper, budget handsets too have gotten bigger.

Not only does this mean that the “phablet", that oversized device that falls somewhere between a phone and a tablet with a screen size of 5-7 inches, is now developing into a proper category, but that a budget category of phablets has now emerged.

Samsung, which created the category with the first Galaxy Note in 2011, just announced its budget phablet, the 5-inch Samsung Galaxy Grand, while its biggest Indian competitor, Micromax, has also announced its newest handset, the A116 Canvas HD. The Canvas HD is a quad-core phone, like Samsung’s top-end (and far more expensive) Galaxy Note II. Given the strides mobile hardware has made, these budget phones too deliver amazing value, so what’s the difference?

Samsung Galaxy Grand: Size 5 inches; Resolution: 800x480; Display type: TFT; Storage: 4 GB user-accessible; CPU: 1.2 GHz dual-core; RAM: 1 GB; Camera: 8 MP; Battery: 2100 mAH
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Samsung Galaxy Grand: Size 5 inches; Resolution: 800x480; Display type: TFT; Storage: 4 GB user-accessible; CPU: 1.2 GHz dual-core; RAM: 1 GB; Camera: 8 MP; Battery: 2100 mAH

The new Galaxy Grand is smaller than the 5.5-inch Note II—at 5 inches, it’s closer to the 4.8-inch SIII in size—but its shape manages to evoke its bigger sibling. Unfortunately, its squared-off design isn’t very comfortable to hold.

Samsung’s displays are usually more saturated than most others, and here too the 5-inch display looks a little too bright. Given the screen size, its display resolution is a little disappointing; running at WVGA (800x480), it looks all right, but the fine details can end up looking a little jagged.

Aside from its size, the one thing that sets this phone apart from other handsets with similar hardware is the presence of Samsung’s suite of customizations to Android—such as keeping the screen active when using eye-tracking technology, or auto-dialling the person whose mail or text is on the screen when you hold the phone to your ear, as well as Samsung’s split-screen multitasking. Watching a video while sending an SMS or looking up something on the Internet is a nice touch.

There’s an 8 MP camera which produced good results considering this is a mid-range phone; you won’t impress people the way you would with a Nokia Lumia 820, but it won’t disappoint either.

Powering this is a 1.2 GHz dual-core CPU, 1 GB of RAM, and 4 GB of user-accessible internal storage. The phone also supports two SIM cards, and has a 2,100 mAh battery which lasts around a day between charges with moderate use.

That’s modest compared to the Galaxy Note II, which has a bigger and sharper screen too. However, this is the most expensive budget-phablet available; to make up for the difference, Samsung is also bundling streaming and downloadable music and movies with the phone, and 50 GB of storage space on Dropbox.

The Samsung Galaxy Grand will cost 21,500 and is expected in the next few days.

Micromax A116 Canvas HD

The new Canvas HD is Micromax’s third phablet, launched just under six months after it first entered the category with the A100 Canvas in September. Each iteration has brought hardware improvements and the Canvas HD represents a big step forward from the Canvas 2.

The big change is in the display—at 5 inches, it’s the same size as the Galaxy Grand, but it’s running at 1,280x720, a much higher resolution that has a positive effect on the clarity of text on screen. The text remains clear at smaller sizes, letting you zoom less while reading a Web page or a book, giving you more content on screen.

Like the Galaxy Grand, the Canvas HD also comes with an 8 MP camera, with similar results. Social networking enthusiasts will definitely be happy, though there are certainly phones with better cameras available.

Micromax is using a 1.2 GHz quad-core CPU; this makes it sound much more powerful, but Micromax is using the Cortex A7 core, which actually puts it only on a par with Samsung’s Cortex A9 dual-core. While it has 1 GB of RAM, it also has less storage, 2 GB, two active SIM slots and the same 2100 mAh battery.

The Micromax A116 Canvas HD feels a little flimsy though and like all phablets, it’s awkward to use something that is as big as a phone. Of course, talking is just one of the many uses for phones these days, so that might not be an issue.

While the Canvas HD definitely falls short of the Galaxy Note II, it offers good value for money, so it’s worth a look. It has been announced that the Micromax A116 Canvas HD will cost 14,990—it is expected in the next few days.

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Published: 01 Feb 2013, 03:53 PM IST
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