:
We Like ! :
AMOLED Screen, Audio Quality, Build Quality, CameraWhat we Don't Like !:
Sluggish Processor, Gaming
The Bottom Line
A smartphone with a large AMOLED screen and dual-sim capabilities coupled with an 8MP Camera for just Rs 12,499/-. Micromax seems to have hit all the right notes with the A90.
Performance
The chipset here is a MediaTek MT675 combined with a PowerVR SGX 531 GPU. A potent combination, Android 4.0 runs like a charm on it with no lags whatsoever. RAM is 512MB which might be a bit low for all the power users but is generally enough for day to day usage.
As indicated by the Quadrant scores, the A90 (2370) comes close to and in some cases even beats higher range devices like the Sony Xperia U (2248).
With a score of 3950 in Antutu, the A90 has decent scores for its class of devices. The dual core Xperia U fares much better here.
A score of 2900 in Sunspider Javascript is not bad at all for a device of its class. The dual core Xperia U scores marginally better at 2435 but in real life usage, the difference was minimal. Synthetic benchmarks tell only half the tale. In terms of usability, there is no reason to be concerned as the phone remains speedy even under fairly heavy usage.
Software
Software wise there isn’t much to say. The A90 is running stock Android 4.0 ie Ice Cream Sandwich with the only customizations being a few custom icons.
Micromax has also bundled in a few apps but most of them turn out to be useful ones like Whatsapp instead of bloatware. Given that the phone comes pre rooted, it shouldn’t be too hard for a user to remove these manufacturer installed apps. We really wish more manufacturers would go down this route instead of providing customers a sub par experience. We’re looking at you, Touchwiz !
Multimedia
The inbuilt storage on the Micromax A90 is 4GB of which about 2GB is available. Memory can be extended by 32GB via the microSD slot. The smartphone supports the usual mp4, mkv and avi file formats for video playback. The MediaTek MT6575 chipset supports video playback up to 720p.
Camera
The camera on the Micromax A90 is an 8MP unit which takes remarkably good stills in sufficient light. Low light performance predictably suffers with a fair amount of noise and visible banding.
Day light images are crisp and noise free for the most part. Auto focus is very quick as long as conditions are ideal.
Battery Life
For a 1600 mAh battery, you won’t expect battery life to be anything out of the ordinary. You’re in for a pleasant surprise ! The phone keeps going on and on. Between the optimized software, low power processor and fairly large battery, the A90 is able to squeeze in over a day of usage. Even after heavy usage, the phone always had battery life left over to use the next day in our tests.
Conclusion
The Micromax brand name is still associated with low end cheap phones and this legacy baggage might hold back what is otherwise an excellent product. With the perfect mix of good performance, brilliant display and fantastic pricing, it is hard not to recommend the A90.
We loved the display and the fact that the phone comes with stock Ice Cream Sandwich. Additional RAM is one area where we believe Micromax could have worked on. We would wholeheartedly recommend this phone to anyone looking for a good Android experience on a budget.
Pros
1. Fantastic display
2. Stock Android 4.0
3. Smooth performance
4. Great battery life
Cons
1. Update to Jelly Bean unlikely
2. 512MB RAM may be limiting for power users
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