Micromax Superfone Canvas A100 Review

Interface

The operating system installed is Android ICS v4.0.3 and it uses the stock ICS launcher. The interface is pretty smooth, but can feel a little sluggish at times. You would still need to use an app killer to keep it running smooth till the end. What we found a bit irritating is that the Menu option or button is not present on the main interface. This makes it difficult for older users to get accustomed to, as going directly to the system menu is a tad roundabout. You have to either pull up the app drawer and hit the settings icon or pull down the notification bar and then select the settings icon from there. The notification bar features toggle switches for quickly controlling the Rotate, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Data, Brightness and alike.

Stock Android ICS interface

Media

The A100 plays media as well as any other smartphone would. Regular standard definition videos played flawlessly and 720p videos played with a slight hitch, but were unnoticeable. The videos are brilliant and crisp with good colour details and sharpness. 1080p videos did play but started framing very badly and were almost useless. But streaming 1080p HD videos from a media server or from YouTube were good enough. Audio playback using the bundled headphones was decent and good enough for casual audio and videos. The headset does not have any inline playback controls and one would need to use the volume keys on the handset for controlling the playback.

Connectivity

The A100 Superfone features standard connectivity options just as any Android phone would. For interfacing between the PC, a microUSB interface and Bluetooth are present, while Internet can be availed using 3G, GPRS or Wi-Fi. The phone features dual SIM mobile networks for GSM + GSM or GSM + WCDMA options. But they feature in dual standby mode, which means you cannot use the two networks simultaneously.

Miscellaneous apps and Freebies

There are no freebies thrown in, but yes, a few preinstalled apps are beneficial to an extent. The best feature here is the pre-installed file manager app which allows you to get started with the phone by directly installing apps from your external SD card. Other free apps installed by Micromax are: SMS, Voice, Store and Zone. These entertainment and messaging apps need to be activated by your mobile service provider though.

Apps and freebies