Micromax Canvas Infinity First Look: Bezel-Less Display for Masses

The latest Micromax Canvas smartphone gets you Android Nougat, and a 18:9 ratio display for under 10K.

Micromax Canvas Infinity smartphone with so-called 18:9 ratio. 

(Photo: The Quint)

Micromax has unveiled its Canvas Infinity smartphone, which boasts a 18:9 ratio on a near bezel-less display. While other phones that come with this feature would require you to shell out over Rs 15,000, Micromax has opted for a price point of Rs 9,999.

The Quint spent some time with the Canvas Infinity on the sidelines of the launch, here’s our take on the phone:

Design and Display

The phone has a 5.7-inch screen with 720 pixels resolution. 

With the Canvas Infinity, it’s quite clear that Micromax has focused its attention on the display. The overall design of the phone ensures it can be held and used with ease. Micromax has balanced out its design, by retaining the same thickness, while streaming its size without opting for a big size battery.

Thin bezels can be seen on the Canvas Infinity. 

The phone comes with a 5.7-inch display with 1440x720 pixels. This may not be the brightest in the segment, but its under Rs 10K price point gives the Canvas Infinity an undeniable edge. The bezels are thin, but we’re not sure if the 18:9 ratio (first seen on the Galaxy S8) stands its ground here.

That all-too-familiar design at the back on the Canvas Infinity. 

The outdoor visibility of the display left us disappointed. It’s evident that Micromax has opted for an affordable display unit, another way to bring down the price of the phone.

Outdoor visibility could have been better. 

The Canvas Infinity is likely to appeal to buyers solely for the display, but we expect better from the brand.

Hardware – Entry-Level at Heart

The phone packs a Snapdragon 425 processor, with 3GB RAM and 32GB of onboard storage. But what caught our attention was the processor, which we’ve only seen in the Xiaomi Redmi 4A, and other sub-Rs 8K devices up until now.

We’ll have to try out its gaming prowess, and how it fares in the hands of power users who engage in heavy multi-tasking.

Metal body design at the back of Canvas Infinity. 

You get a fingerprint scanner at the back, a microSD slot for storage expansion, a microUSB port for charging and a 3.5-mm audio jack. The phone comes loaded with a 2900mAh battery. Let’s hope that the lacklustre power unit on board and the frugal display means the phone can be used for a long period on a single charge.

Camera and More

The phone comes with a 13-megapixel camera at the back, and a 16-megapixel front camera. For the first time, Micromax CEO Rahul Sharma decided to keep his presentation short (phew), without too much mention of the camera and its overall capability.

Micromax claims that Netflix and Amazon Prime content are being tailor made for 18:9 screen. 

The Canvas Infinity comes with Android 7.1 Nougat for now, and Sharma has confirmed that the device will get Android Oreo soon (how soon, we can’t say).

The phone will be available via Amazon for now (first sale on 1 September) and is expected to hit the stores soon.

Worth the Money?

It depends how you see the Canvas Infinity. A phone under Rs 10K with a display feature that no one else is using is hard to ignore. Having said that, beyond the display, there isn’t much that excites us about the features, hardware, and even the camera in tow.

Will Canvas Infinity do the trick for Micromax? 

All we can say is, the Canvas Infinity looks and feels like we’re playing with the feature-for-price quotient, something that has been Micromax’s go-to strategy from the early days of Canvas smartphones.

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