Micromax Canvas Music A88

Overview

Music to the ears

As the name suggests the Micromax Canvas Music A88 is a music phone for people who like access to good music anytime and anywhere.

Micromax Canvas Music A88 Design and Build Quality

The phone’s built is quite sturdy. It has a rubberised back, which gives it a very firm grip. The phone has a slightly curved back, which tapers at the top. The phone weighs only 136 grams and feels very comfortable in hand. The screen is 4.5 inch, which is good by today’s standards. Back of the phone is a fingerprint magnet, which makes the phone look very unkempt. The front has the screen and three buttons at the bottom namely menu, home and back. The screen display colours are bright but the viewing angles are terrible and since there is no light sensor, viewing the screen in bright sunlight is a task. The screen is also a fingerprint magnet and scratches easily. The battery of the phone has a talk time of 5 hours, which is good.

User Interface and Comfort to Use Micromax Canvas Music A88

The phone runs on Android Jellybean 4.1.1 software. The phone has nine customizable home screens, which is very impressive. The lock screen also offers various options such as notifications, SMS, and dialler. The UI is very easy to use. The phone’s screen has a display resolution of 480x854. The phone has a 1GHz processor and 512MB of RAM. 2GB of internal memory is available for the user and it can be extended up to 32GB using a MicroSD card. The user gets only 115MB of RAM free for usage, which is very less, and many times the apps close due to low memory.

Telephony and Phonebook

The phone supports Dual SIM operations, which is a plus for the phone. Even the simple phones of today have 3G and Micromax has somehow overlooked the fact. The phone book is Android UI based and very easy to adapt according to your needs. The call quality of the phone is good and even the loudspeaker gives decent sound in quite areas. In crowded areas, the user will have to put in some effort to hear the voice on the other end.

Messaging and Emails

Micromax has not added anything new in terms of the UI and therefor the messaging and email features remain very basic.

Gallery, Photo Viewer and Video Player

The gallery is the Android gallery and lists the apps, songs, videos and other docs. The photo viewer has basic editing and sharing options. The video player supports AVI, 3GP, MP4, HD formats but the low resolution and lack of auto brightness on the screen throw a damper on the video watching experience.

Micromax Canvas Music A88 Music Player and FM Radio

The phone comes with high quality JBL headphones that add a new dimension to the music listening experience. The music player is simple and supports popular formats such as MP3, Midi, AAC, Amr, and Wav. Many options are available in equalizer pre-sets. The music player of the phone does not come with any enhancements, which is surprising since it is called a music phone. The output from loudspeaker is decent and does not get muffled when phone is lying on its back because of the slant back.

Micromax Canvas Music A88 Camera and Image Quality

There are two cameras on the phone. The rear camera is 5MP with dual LED flash and the front camera is 0.3MP. The camera is a huge drawback of the phone. While the day light pictures turn out to be ok, the pictures with flash turn out to be either too bright or scattered. Image stabilization is nil and therefore moving objects all appear to be hazy. Camera features include Auto Focus, Zoom Level - 5, Multi-shot Mode, Night Mode, and Camera Sensor Settings.

Video Camera and Video Quality

Video recording is limited to a max of 720p @ 30fps. Video quality is OK.

Micromax Canvas Music A88 Connectivity Options

The connectivity options on the phone include 3G, GPRS, USB, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi tethering is possible and this increases the connectivity with other devices.

Organiser and Other Utility Tools

English and Hindi Language Support, World Clock, Multiple Alarm, Calculator, Calendar, Auto Power On/Off, Voice Recognizing, CLID with Photo, CLID with Video, Bookmarks, Mobile Tracker, Incoming Call Guard, Fax Support, Concatenated Messages are some of the tools available on the phone.

Web Browser and Applications

Android browser is very good and we did not have any problems in visiting the common sites. Some important apps include Google, Fruit Devil, The Darkman, Hook Up , M! Live, M! Zone+, Gmail.

Google Maps and GPS

Google maps come preloaded on the phone. The GPS on the phone works at a normal speed.

Distinctive Features of Micromax Canvas Music A88

The user can download unlimited music for three months by using the M! Music app on the phone.

Value for Money

The phone is priced at approx. INR 9000 (approx., may vary) in the Indian market. The price of the phone is little on the higher side and the features and functioning of the phone do no justify the price.

Verdict

We would rate the phone a 3.8 stars out of 5.