The midrange smartphone market in Bangladesh is highly competitive. Local and international manufacturers constantly push for newer features and preach a greater bang for your buck to attract customers. In a place like this, can the Micromax Canvas Nitro 3 E352 standout and gain a following?
Design
The aesthetics department is where the Nitro 3 excels. The main highlight of this smartphone is the removable back which is made of a faux leather material. Our review unit was a nice brown colour which made it look more like leather from afar. Looks are only half the story, the material on the back actually feels good. Due to the texture, the device is quite grippy and is not prone to catching fingerprints.
The perimeter of the device is slightly rounded with a thin plastic band going through the middle. This flat surface offers a good spot to grip the phone. The finish on this plastic appears matte but is actually smooth. The phone is 8.7mm thin and is easy to use with one hand given its relatively small footprint.
Performance & Hardware
With an octa-core 1.4GHz processor and 2GB of RAM, the Nitro 3 handles games and other applications well. Transition animations are smooth and there is little frame skipping to be found. To test the device, we ran Modern Combat 5, Asphalt 8 and Nova 3. At default settings, the Canvas 3 went through these titles with no issue aside from some minor lag during intense segments of the games.
Battery life from the removable 2,500mAh unit was ordinary. I got a full day’s use and on most occasions the phone was dead by 11pm. I expected to get more time with power saving mode turned on but that was not the case. For the performance sacrifices, power saving is not worth it here.
The speaker is quite nice although audio tends to crack at maximum volume. Its position on the back does not help it much but for most occasions it is good enough. While we are on the subject of audio, call quality was great. I did not have any dropped calls and callers said they could hear my voice loud and clear.
The Nitro 3 comes with a microSD card slot which allows you to expand storage up to 32GB. This is available on top of the 16GB built in storage (10.82GB user accessible). You get two micro SIM card slots too.
Software
Android 5.1 Lollipop comes preloaded with a mostly stock flavour. There is a third party home launcher that comes with some customization features such as the ability to change transition effects. There is no app drawer so things tend to get a bit messy when you download a few apps and therefore need to start making folders. The rest of the user interface is pure stock Android. The launcher itself is smooth and has basic gesture functionality such as swiping down to open the notifications tray.
Camera
The main camera is a 13MP unit whilst the front facing camera is 5MP. Bothe of these come with a single LED flash. Yes, you read correctly. Both cameras come with single LED flash. You get features like HDR, Panorama, Multi Angle and Face Beauty mode but most of the time you will find yourself sticking to the default settings.
Images captured tend to get overexposed if there is a strong light source and they are of a cooler colour tone. Nevertheless, under the right conditions, photos turn out great with good detail. The front facing camera yields good results too but using the flash is a bit of a pain. It is overpowering and taking selfies with it will leave you disoriented. However, this works better when considering large group selfies as the flash is a usually not as close to the face.
Display
With a resolution of 1280 by 720, the 5 inch IPS display looks good. Viewing angles are great and so are the brightness levels. At maximum brightness, the display is easily readable outdoors. The brightness also goes low to a comfortable level for reading in the dark. The colours on the display tend to lean towards the cooler side but overall, things look pretty accurate. On top of that, Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3 will help protect your display from scratches.
Conclusion
The Micromax Canvas Nitro 3 E352 comes to the market with an interesting design material in the form of the faux leather back and also packs some capable specifications. The design is where companies play around to get consumers’ attention but usually the specifications land at about the same mark. What ultimately becomes the differentiator is the cost. The Micromax Canvas Nitro 3 costs Tk/-10,095. At that price, it is a very good deal because competitors offering similar specifications charge just a tad bit more for similar packages. If your budget has a constraint, go for this product. However, if you can afford to pay a bit more, there are some great options available.
Specifications Table
Display 5 inch HD (1280 X 720) IPS with Gorilla Glass 3
Dimensions 144.3mm X 72mm X 8.7mm
Processor 32-bit octa-core 1.4GHz MediaTek MT6592
RAM 2GB
ROM 16GB (10.82GB user accessible, expandable up to 32GB with microSD)
GPU Mali 450-MP
Battery 2,500 mAh
Talktime 9 hours
Standby time 375 hours
Camera 13MP main; 5MP front
Connectivity Options WIFI / BT 4/ FM GPS
Frequency Band GSM- 850/900/1800/1900MHZ WCDMA-900/2100MHZ
Video Formats Supported MP4, 3GP
Audio Formats Supported MP3, MIDI, WAV, AAC
FM Supported
