Entertainment
Micromax Canvas Infinity: Ups the ante in Rs 10,000 segment (Tech Review)
By Krishna SinhaChaudhury
New Delhi, Aug 28 (IANS) Homegrown handset manufacturer Micromax has become the first company to launch a bezel-less smartphone at Rs 9,999 with a display aspect ratio of 18:9, instead of the usual 16:9.
Bezel-less smartphones have begun gaining popularity but the ones that are offered belong to the premium segment such as Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+, LG G6 and the recently-launched Galaxy Note 8.
Is the Canvas Infinity worth your time and money? Let us find out.
Micromax has used minimal bezels to accommodate a 5.7-inch HD IPS display topped with 2.5D curved glass in a frame that is slightly taller than wider.
The screen has been stretched from all sides to give more screen space to the user. This is a good over 80 per cent screen-to-body ratio, similar to what Galaxy S8 offers.
That being said, a first glance at the front of the Canvas Infinity is sure to remind you of the Samsung Galaxy S8.
The metal frame around the phone makes it quite sturdy.
Users with small hands would feel comfortable using the device. In fact, the phone is ergonomic enough for single-handed use.
The rear side houses a single-lens primary camera with 13MP sensor, 81.5-degree field of view, 5P lens and LED flash and an aperture of f/2.0.
Another highlight of Canvas Infinity is 16-MP front camera that comes with soft “selfie” flash and an aperture of f/2.0.
The company says that the device sports “Super Pixel” that can shoot multiple images at the same time and combine them to give you a higher-resolution image with more details.
The camera interface is pretty simple and offers options such as time-lapse, panorama, video, beauty, and portrait mode.
The imaging capability of the primary camera is decent with good colour reproduction. We think the front camera does a better job at clicking images with sharp details.
At a time when unibody smartphones are a rage, the company has opted for a removable plastic back with metal finish for Canvas Infinity.
Similar to the Moto G5, Canvas Infinity’s back can be removed to reveal two SIM card slots and a dedicated microSD card slot to expand memory up to 128GB.
“Smart Action” is a handy feature that lets the user call a contact by placing the phone close to the ear, wake and lock screen by double tap, flip the phone to mute or snooze alarm and more.
The phone supports smart gestures such as draw O to open the camera, M to launch music app and C for the phone.
Users can also also choose from handy options such as Android Nougat’s split-screen feature.
“Canvas Infinity” is powered by a Snapdragon 425 chipset which is capable of handling day-to-day tasks.
There was no noticeable lag while browsing videos or running multiple applications during our review.
Canvas Infinity runs Android 7.1.2 Nougat OS that would update to the just-launched Android 8 Oreo OS, the company said during the launch.
The customised UI looks like it has been “borrowed” from iOS. The phone’s recent apps have a card-based view which is quite like what we see on the iPhone.
What does not work?
The primary camera struggled while taking images in low light conditions. The photographs taken at night had noticeable noise.
The battery lasted less than a day when we used it rigorously to play videos, play games and browse the internet.
The 5.7-inch display loses some of its sharpness due to 720p HD only resolution.
Conclusion.
It would be unfair to compare Canvas Infinity to Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ phones because the former falls in the Rs 10,000 segment and the company’s strength has been catering to the masses.
In fact, LG Q6 with 18:9 aspect ratio is the real competitor albeit, it costs almost Rs 5,000 more.
The company has taken a step towards innovating and it is not something that we have seen the Chinese handset makers do.
(Krishna SinhaChaudhury can be contacted at [email protected])
–IANS
ksc/vm
International online casino Casino Days has published a report sharing their internal data on what types and brands of devices are used to play on the platform by users from the South Asian region.
Such aggregate data analyses allow the operator to optimise their website for the brands and models of devices people are actually using.
The insights gained through the research also help Casino Days tailor their services based on the better understanding of their clients and their needs.
Desktops and Tablets Lose the Battle vs Mobile
The primary data samples analysed by Casino Days reveal that mobile connections dominate the market in South Asia and are responsible for a whopping 96.6% of gaming sessions, while computers and tablets have negligible shares of 2.9% and 0.5% respectively.
The authors of the study point out that historically, playing online casino was exclusively done on computers, and attribute thе major shift to mobile that has unfolded over time to the wide spread of cheaper smartphones and mobile data plans in South Asia.
“Some of the reasons behind this massive difference in device type are affordability, technical advantages, as well as cheaper and more obtainable internet plans for mobiles than those for computers,” the researchers comment.
Xiaomi and Vivo Outperform Samsung, Apple Way Down in Rankings
Chinese brands Xiaomi and Vivo were used by 21.9% and 20.79% of Casino Days players from South Asia respectively, and together with the positioned in third place with a 18.1% share South Korean brand Samsung dominate the market among real money gamers in the region.
Cupertino, California-based Apple is way down in seventh with a user share of just 2.29%, overshadowed by Chinese brands Realme (11.43%), OPPO (11.23%), and OnePlus (4.07%).
Huawei is at the very bottom of the chart with a tiny share just below the single percent mark, trailing behind mobile devices by Motorola, Google, and Infinix.
The data on actual phone usage provided by Casino Days, even though limited to the gaming parts of the population of South Asia, paints a different picture from global statistics on smartphone shipments by vendors.
Apple and Samsung have been sharing the worldwide lead for over a decade, while current regional leader Xiaomi secured their third position globally just a couple of years ago.
Striking Android Dominance among South Asian Real Money Gaming Communities
The shifted market share patterns of the world’s top smartphone brands in South Asia observed by the Casino Days research paper reveal a striking dominance of Android devices at the expense of iOS-powered phones.
On the global level, Android enjoys a comfortable lead with a sizable 68.79% share which grows to nearly 79% when we look at the whole continent of Asia. The data on South Asian real money gaming communities suggests that Android’s dominance grows even higher and is north of the 90% mark.
Among the major factors behind these figures, the authors of the study point to the relative affordability of and greater availability of Android devices in the region, especially when manufactured locally in countries like India and Vietnam.
“And, with influencers and tech reviews putting emphasis on Android devices, the choice of mobile phone brand and OS becomes easy; Android has a much wider range of products and caters to the Asian online casino market in ways that Apple can’t due to technical limitations,” the researchers add.
The far better integration achieved by Google Pay compared to its counterpart Apple Pay has also played a crucial role in shaping the existing smartphone market trends.
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