Micromax Canvas Juice A1 Plus smartphone review: modest, but tasteful. Micromax Canvas Juice A1 Plus - Best Available

During its relatively short existence, the micromax company managed to release many different devices, from which successful and not very good samples come across. Today I have in my hands a rather controversial device Micromax Canvas Juice A1 Plus, which has many strengths and weaknesses, and it is about them that will be discussed in this review.

Packaging and equipment

The first thing that the buyer sees is the packaging, here Micromax pleased with a rather unusual box, although not very reliable. On the front side there is a picture of the device and the model name, on the back side you can find detailed specifications.

With the package, everything is also very good, the package contains:

1. The device itself with a sticker on the front panel;
2. microUSB cable for charging;
3. USB plug for 2A;
4. Headset;
5. Film with a miniature cloth for cleaning the screen;

The headset can be thrown away immediately (unless, of course, you have something to replace them), everything else is of sufficient quality and does not cause any complaints during use. We can unequivocally say that the Canvas Juice A1 Plus bundle is at an average level, like most state employees in this price segment.

Appearance

Now let's take a look at the appearance of the smartphone. The front side of the device is completely covered with glass with a plastic frame, the display takes up a fairly small percentage of the total area by the standards of 2017. At the top is the earpiece, proximity sensor and front camera. The lower strip of glass acts purely for decorative purposes and does not contain any control elements.

The back of the case looks like metal outwardly, but it is just stylized plastic, by the way, very pleasant to the touch. In the center there is a recessed camera with a shiny silver edging, a monophonic flash and a fingerprint sensor (fingerprint sensor) are placed under it. The reflective micromax logo flaunts on the underside, under which the speaker is placed. It seems to me that making a stripe of a separate color on the bottom of the case is quite a good solution, which sets the back side of Canvas Juice A1 Plus apart from the endless variety of budget Chinese smartphones.

The side edges of the smartphone are made of rubberized plastic with a mesh texture that will not allow the device to slide in your hand. On the upper edge you can find a 3.5 mm Jack and a microUSB connector. On the right side there is a power button and a volume rocker (both with a fairly soft stroke), the left side has no control elements. The bottom edge contains only the microphone hole.

In my opinion, the fingerprint sensor on the back is a rather controversial decision, although many people like this particular arrangement. I liked the rubberized side edges very much, although it affects the appearance, but it is very practical. The case is assembled very well and looks nice. We can definitely say that when people see Canvas Juice A1 Plus in your hands, only pleasant sensations will arise)

Screen

Now let's talk about the screen, which is not far from the younger models of the company. The device has a 5-inch screen with HD resolution, viewing angles are at an acceptable level (up to 45% of the picture does not change), colors are rich and natural. You can find fault with a fairly low brightness, in strong sun it will be problematic to work with a smartphone. In the presence of a multitouch for 5 touches.

Another very important nuance is the on-screen buttons, which could be brought to the bottom of the glass (with these dimensions, this does not seem to be a particularly difficult task), the real working area of ​​the phone turns out to be very small.

Camera

On the 8-megapixel main camera, you can get very average photos, in the daytime everything is relatively normal, but with an insufficient amount of light, the picture quality seriously deteriorates. In general, the camera has enough detail, but not for masterpieces.

The front camera can definitely take pictures in the daytime, the quality is again at an average level.

Micromax Canvas Juice A1 Plus cannot be called a camera phone, but you can get good pictures from both cameras and in its price segment the results look very good.

Performance

Now let's talk about performance, Micromax Canvas Juice A1 Plus is equipped with a MediaTek MT6735 quad-core processor with a clock speed of 1.25 GHz, Antutu shows 27200, 3D Mark in Ise Storm Ultimited test results in 3745.

Battery

With low performance and, accordingly, low energy consumption, Micromax Canvas Juice A1 Plus has a large 4000 mAh battery, which will allow you to watch videos for up to 13 hours and keep the phone in sleep mode for up to 350 hours. The phone is charged for about 3 hours from the native 2 ampere plug. In practice, it was enough for me for about 1.5 - 2 days with fairly active use (surfing, social networks, sometimes Youtube).

Communication and sound

Mobile LTE networks, like wi-fi, the smartphone catches perfectly and keeps a stable connection. GPS, similar to networks, works flawlessly (when turned on, it almost immediately caught several satellites).

The sound from the speaker is very mediocre, but in the headphones everything is more or less good, although for music lovers it is worth looking for something better. The microphone works well, the sound is of more or less quality, and no external noise is heard.

Shell

Out of the box, the device has a slightly modified Android 6.0 Marshmallow, in addition to several applications (several pre-installed games) and minor adjustments to the appearance of the launcher, Micromax did not touch the standard system.

So far, there is no information and dates about a future firmware update. Hopefully the device will receive Android 7.0 before the official release of the 8th version.

Micromax Q4260 Canvas Juice A1 Plus - this long name hides a fashion smartphone with a capacious battery and modern functionality. The device is positioned on the market as a mid-budget, and therefore affordable. A quad-core processor from MediaTek, a fingerprint scanner, a capacious battery, stylish design and almost pure Android 6.0 Marshmallow - the price for all this pleasure is only 7,990 rubles. Great offer for today. More details in the review below.

Micromax Canvas Juice A1 Plus review

Micromax smartphones always look expensive; they are stable, adapted to the Russian market and have a low cost. The Q4260 is no exception. For 8,000 rubles, the buyer gets that basic set of functions, thanks to which he can feel confident in almost any situation. Be it everyday work with mail, instant messengers and social networks or a serious business meeting with a number of presentation material. The powerful stuffing allows you to quickly work with tasks, and the stylish appearance of the smartphone makes it possible to handle these very tasks with pleasure. Perhaps this is the very ideal formula for a budget smartphone that Micromax has developed for itself.

Specifications

• CPU... The Micromax Q4260 Canvas Juice A1 Plus is equipped with a MediaTek MT6737V quad-core processor, 1.25 GHz core frequency. Not a bad budget solution. It should be noted that the processor is not designed for serious games, maximum 2D or light 3D. Video accelerator - Mali-T720.
• Display- 5 inches with HD 720 x 1280 px resolution. The screen has an IPS matrix, which gives a rather juicy and contrasting picture. I liked the display, the brightness is enough, the eyes do not bother. An obvious plus! One of the strongest points of the smartphone.
• Memory... The Micromax Q4260 has 1 GB of RAM. Built-in - 16 GB. It is worth considering that some of it goes to system files, which is why a slot for micro SD cards comes in handy, with which you can expand the volume.
• Wireless connection in the phone according to all the canons. Support for 2G / 3G / 4G (3/7/20 Band) is declared - everything is fine here, the presence of LTE is good news. Naturally, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are available. Geolocation can be tracked using GPS.
• Camera in a smartphone shoots at the level of a budget device. I didn't expect any superpowers from her. The main camera has an 8MP matrix, the front one is 5MP. Both cameras take good pictures, naturally, in low light conditions the result will not be very good. The ability to record videos in Full HD mode at 30 frames per second is available. Yes, Q4260 has Slow motion! Examples of photos and videos taken with Micromax Q4260.
• The fingerprint scanner serves to reliably protect information on the gadget. I believe that this protection should be in every modern smartphone, it is very convenient and safe. The scanner works fine. No delays in unlocking, comparable to the operation of a scanner in the same iPhone 6S! Let's continue the review, then the battery and autonomy.
• Battery a very capacious 4000 mAh is installed, which is a rarity for a state employee. An energy efficient processor coupled with an optimized system gives excellent results in terms of autonomy. At maximum load, Canvas Juice A1 Plus is able to work for about 5 hours. Talk time - 20 hours, standby time up to 350 hours, that is 2 weeks without charging.

Appearance, usability

Micromax smartphones have always delighted with their appearance; it feels like the designers did a good job on the Micromax Q4260 as well. The device fits perfectly in the hand, you can feel confidence in it (which, apparently, is set by the weight of a rather large battery). The back cover has an aluminum coating and looks decent. The perimeter of the case has a rubberized frame for additional protection in the event of a fall. The body color is Champagne, it is the only one, the manufacturer does not offer other color solutions.

Reviews. Who is it for?

You can find a lot of positive feedback on the use of the Micromax Q4260 Canvas Juice A1 Plus on the net, with many I agree. The smartphone turned out to be excellent - the optimal combination of "price / quality / appearance"! I liked the capacious battery and the optimized operating system, the smartphone is pleasant to use, it fits perfectly in the hand. The disadvantages include rather wide screen bezels, this is noticeable with an active display and a budget camera, but the phone is also a budget one, you should not forget about the price. I would also like more RAM, but I was dreaming about it!

Micromax has been storming the market of inexpensive smartphones for several years already, but only now the company decided to install in them fingerprint scanner starting with Canvas Juice A1 Plus. However, the desire to fit into a certain financial framework affected the other stuffing of the device negatively, however, first things first.

Appearance and ergonomics

Micromax Canvas Juice A1 Plus is not very remarkable in appearance and looks like most smartphones of this class. However, there are a couple of interesting points in its design: a protective glass covering the entire front with sloping edges, and a very nice black textured side at the end. Both of them significantly improve the visual and tactile perception of the device.

It was not possible to determine the material of the cover, namely the removable and rather tight cover. He clearly wants to seem like metal, however, most likely, it is plastic. Under the cover there is a battery, which can be removed only with a screwdriver and will result in a disclaimer of the warranty, as well as a couple of slots for cards. One of them is only compatible with MicroSIM, and the second can be inserted into either MicroSIM or MicroSD.

From Features of Canvas Juice A1 Plus I will only note the micro-USB connector located on the top end, next to the mini-jack. This placement of connectors has both disadvantages and advantages, for example, it is convenient if the charger is right in front of you.

In general, this Micromax smartphone lies well in the hand and does not slip out of it, including due to the textured sides. The thickness of 9.65 mm gives it some awkwardness. and obviously overstated for such a baby weight of 167 grams. Just because of its weight, many who took the Canvas Juice A1 Plus in their hands called it a brick for the first time.

The novelty Micromax received a good stylish packaging, which is not typical for this price category, as well as an extended set of accessories. In addition to the cable and charger, it includes a film on the screen and even headphones. Of course, you shouldn't expect miracles from the bundled headset, but someone will have enough of it.

Screen

There is only one complaint about the screen installed in Micromax Canvas Juice A1 Plus - the lack of an oleophobic coating in Gorilla Glass. It would be more useful than a film and headphones included, but the manufacturer decided that way. The maximum brightness is sufficient for reading information in direct light, especially if you erase prints and streaks.

In general, this is an inexpensive 5-inch IPS-display with a resolution of 1280 × 720 pixels, typical in terms of color rendition and viewing angles. Fortunately, it is difficult to come across absolutely disgusting matrices now. For some, very thick black frames on all sides of the screen can become a critical disadvantage; personally, I find them acceptable in a smartphone of this class.

Sound

Micromax Canvas Juice A1 Plus does not belong to audio solutions at all, even to a greater extent than other inexpensive smartphones that came into my hands lately. To the usual for available MediaTek solutions, the low sound quality in this device is added and extremely low output power.

That is, sufficient volume to drown out the surrounding sounds can be achieved only by unscrewing the slider to the maximum. It is advisable to use low-impedance headphones, for example, complete ones. By the way, the main speaker also does not shine with high volume, you can not talk about quality at all.

Filling and performance

The Micromax Canvas Juice A1 Plus is built on the basis of the MediaTek MT6737 platform, which is already well known to me from other smartphones and has shown itself well there. However, it uses its low-power version with a maximum frequency of all four Cortex-A53 cores at 1.25 GHz. The situation is aggravated by only 1 GB of RAM, albeit LPDDR3. The storage capacity is 16 GB, there is a slot for microSD.

The system's shell interface works fine, but any application takes a few seconds to launch. And if the program is rich in media content, also downloaded from the network, the waiting time increases even more seriously, and the animation inside works with lags. The small amount of RAM led to a very aggressive cleaning: switched from YouTube to the desktop, and then back - you will get a full launch of the application from scratch in 6-8 seconds.

Summing up, I will say that Micromax Canvas Juice A1 Plus for me personally is on the very edge of acceptable performance for use, even considering availability. I will not even talk about the gaming capabilities of the device: it is reasonable to install only the simplest titles.

A good confirmation of all of the above are the benchmark results. AnTuTu gave the Micromax Canvas Juice A1 Plus a rating of 29,907 points, and GeekBench - 531 and 1,459 points in single-core and multi-core tests, respectively.

The manufacturer separately notes that the smartphone supports not only LTE, but also VoLTE, that is, voice transmission over 4G networks. Someday this technology may work everywhere and in our country.

System

Powered by Micromax Canvas Juice A1 Plus running Android 6.0 with minor additions. In general, the system is practically clean, except that by default it is packed with applications and games from partners, including Russian ones. Fortunately, they can all be removed manually without any problems., so I don't consider such a Micromax move to be a problem. The company is doing its best to keep the price of the smartphone low.

Fingerprint scanner

The main feature of Canvas Juice A1 Plus is the fingerprint scanner, because this is the first Micromax smartphone with it. The module is installed from the rear side, it is slightly recessed inside the case. It works quickly and without errors, only very wet hands can be a problem. The functionality of the scanner is completely standard for Android 6.0, so it can be used for more than just unlocking a smartphone.

Cameras

The main camera of our hero is built on an 8-megapixel module with autofocus. For a smartphone officially sold in Russia for less than 10,000 rubles, Canvas Juice A1 Plus takes off quite well. Problems with brightness, color rendering and sunlight glare are perfectly compensated for by the price. Of course, you don't have to talk about the quality of night photos, they turn out blurry and noisy.

The front 5-megapixel module takes bearable pictures with almost no noise, but for some reason turns them over to portrait mode.

Autonomy

The built-in 4,000 mAh battery is another pride of the smartphone, according to the manufacturer. However, the results in terms of autonomy of Micromax Canvas Juice A1 Plus are far from fantastic. In the mode of intensive use with watching videos through YouTube in large quantities, he will live a day and a half. In a typical weekday mode, the novelty can last a couple of days, although it is dangerous to experiment like this - you can be left without connection at the right time.

Micromax Canvas Juice A1 Plus gets very hot when charging, which was surprising, because it does not support ultra-fast replenishment technologies.

Summary

In general, the Micromax Canvas Juice A1 Plus would be nice if not for one thing - performance. It will satisfy only a very undemanding owner who, apart from calls, SMS and some messenger, uses a couple of other programs and is not in a hurry to go anywhere.

Micromax Canvas Juice A1 Plus Official Price is 8,990 rubles. For this money in Russian retail it will hardly be possible to find a competitor with an impressive battery and a fingerprint scanner. However, if we neglect the last condition and reduce the requirements for the battery, the list of smartphones close to hardware will expand significantly. There will even be models, albeit not very fresh, from well-known brands, although the main part, of course, will be devices from companies of the same age. This is absolutely a pig in a poke, I would not consider them as a serious alternative to Canvas Juice A1 Plus.

Micromax Canvas Juice A1 Plus specifications:

OS: Android 6.0;
screen: 5 inches, 1280 × 720 pixels, IPS-matrix;
processor: MediaTek MT6737V, 4 × 1.25 GHz Cortex ‑ A53;
RAM: 1 GB;
memory: 16 GB;
modules: 4G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS / GLONASS;
cameras: main 8 Mp + 5 ‑ Mp front;
battery: 4000 mAh;
dimensions: 144.3 × 72.4 × 9.65 mm;
weight: 167 grams.

Micromax recently released the Q4260 Canvas Juice A1 plus, which can now be found on store shelves in Moscow. One sample of the device came to our editorial office, and therefore let's figure out what to expect from this device.

How is it on paper?

If you look at the specifications, and this is probably the first step that most of our readers will take, we will see the following characteristics.

5 inches screen with a screen resolution of 720p, 1 gigabyte of RAM, 16 gigabytes of internal memory and the ability to expand it with a microSD memory card (up to 32 gigabytes). A memory card can be installed instead of one of the SIM cards.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 processor, clocked at 1.2 GHz, 4 cores.

There is also support for two SIM cards, the ability to manage 4G networks, and a capacious 4000 mAh battery. The manufacturer claims that it will last about 350 hours of standby time or up to 30 hours of talk time.

The main camera of the device is 8 megapixels, the front camera is 5.

Of the interesting things here is the fingerprint scanner, which seems to have already penetrated all classes and types of devices.

The system is Android Marshmallow.

Dimensions: 144.3 x 72.4 x 9.65 mm. Weighs 167 grams.

Equipment

The device is delivered in a square box with a picture of the device itself.

Inside the smartphone itself, paper documentation, a warranty card, a charger, in-ear headphones, as well as a traditional microfiber protective film to protect your screen from shocks and scratches.

By the way, it is probably worth sticking it on, because the original display of Micromax Q4260 seems to be devoid of an oleophobic coating, it is quite difficult for a finger to slide on it. As a result, the film kills two birds with one stone.

In hand and at work

When you take the Canvasjuice A1 Plus in your hands, it feels good enough. The metal body makes itself felt, adding a pleasant weight and tactile sensations. It immediately seems as if the device is more expensive than it really is.

It is not very easy to get to the SIM card here. We'll have to remove the back cover along with the frame. It is so tightly fitted that, most likely, you have to tinker. But no one squeaks or backlash - a really good build.

Micromax is in trend - here is the now fashionable 2.5D glass.

Below it, on top, there are light and proximity sensors and a speaker grill.

Below is a symmetrical strip, on which you would expect to see system control buttons, but they are not there. This is where the Android virtual touch buttons are used.

A microphone is located at the bottom end. The left is empty. On the right is the power button and volume rocker. Above is a standard headphone jack and a MicroUSB jack.

On the back of Micromax Q4260 is the main camera, LED flash (can be used as a flashlight), a fingerprint scanner, and at the bottom there is a logo and a speaker.

It is interesting that the ends are framed by a frame, but not metal, as we are used to, but plastic, black with a fine texture. It looks unusual. A kind of inversion. Probably, this frame will appeal to those who like to drop their devices. When dropped at an angle, it should soften the impact, protecting the screen and the motherboard from microcracks.

The smartphone screen is bright, the colors are rich, with maximum illumination you can use it even outdoors on a sunny day, information is read without problems. When turned off, it fades out smoothly and nobly.

If we're talking about improvements, it's worth noting that there are also various sound gadgets that allow you to increase the volume in the headphones or raise the volume of the external speaker. Also emulation of surround sound.

I also liked the vibration feedback. Not too "shrill", rather delicate and "bass".

The fingerprint scanner is good. He will like that children play, that adults who care about their privacy, and also just want a comfortable work with the device. Well located. When you take a smartphone in hand, it falls right under the index finger. It works on touch quickly - instantly lighting up the screen and unlocking the system.

Here we see immediately pre-installed toys and applications: 2Gis, the application of the Bayon.ru online store, File Manager, E-book Reader, Yandex Search and WPS office suite. Also a number of small toys and even Asphalt Nitro. The rest is standard Google applications and services.

By the way, there is also an FM radio here. Remember you need headphones to work.

The smartphone lives on battery power for a really long time. You don't have to worry that it will be discharged at the most inopportune moment if you recharge it from the battery at least once every couple of days.

The battery here, by the way, is removable. It is screwed in with only 4 screws, which can be removed with a thin Phillips screwdriver.

You shouldn't expect any special miracles from the camera. It's not a flagship device, though. The viewfinder slows down a little, because some sharp and fast frames are unlikely to be made spectacular. They will most likely be smeared. The focus here is on static, since there are even manual settings for those who are ready to set the optimal shooting mode on their own.

Here are the modes of decorating the picture, if, for example, you are taking a selfie. And also a gesture-based shutter mode.

It also knows how to HDR and electronic stabilization, as well as continuous shooting (up to 40 frames).

– Charger with a current of 2A.

– Film on the screen, with a cloth.

– Wired headset for calls.

– Instructions.

Micromax Q4260 - package content

Micromax Q4260 - package content

Micromax Q4260 - package content

Specifications:

- A quad-core chip from MediaTek MT6737 is used as a processor. Mali-T720 graphics.

- Memory: 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of flash memory (just over 9 GB available) + support for Micro SD memory cards.

Plus there is support for USB OTG devices.

- Display: 5 inches, IPS matrix 1280 × 720 pixels (294 dpi). The touchscreen recognizes 5 finger touches.

- Communications: 2 SIM cards / Bluetooth 4.0 / Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n 2.4 GHz / GPS and 4G up to 150 Megabits / s.

- Battery: non-removable 4000 mAh.

- Cameras: main at 8 MP with autofocus + front at 5 MP.

- Dimensions: 144.3 / 72.4 / 9.65 mm, weight 167 grams.

- Add. Options: fingerprint scanner.

- OS: Android 6.0.

Design and controls:

I have a version in a gold case. Along the edge, the smartphone has a black plastic coating with notches.

Due to this, the device is very pleasant and comfortable to hold in the hand.

Plus, in addition, the edging protects the corners of the smartphone when dropped on a hard surface.

The front of the smartphone traditionally contains an earpiece, a 5MP camera and all the necessary sensors.

On the right side there are volume control and power on / off keys.

At the top there is a Micro USB jack and a 3.5 mm headphone jack, and the bottom edge houses a microphone.

All the most interesting is located on the back cover of the smartphone.

The lid is removable, slightly rounded and made of metal.

Here we find an 8 MP camera with autofocus, a flash and a fingerprint scanner.

Going down a little below we find the main speaker of the device.

The fingerprint scanner itself works pretty well and is error free. Of course, there is a small idea when unlocking, but this is acceptable for the class of inexpensive smartphones.

Under the cover there are two slots for micro SIM cards.

The memory card can also be installed in a sandwich format (above is a memory card, below is a SIM card).

P. S. Unfortunately, in my particular smartphone, the lid does not close tightly on the side with the volume buttons.

At the same time, everything is fine with the latches on the lid and the smartphone.

Again, the problem may only concern my instance. Since in other reviews about this device, I have not heard of such problems.

Display:

As I said above, the display is made using IPS technology with HD resolution (1280 × 720 pixels).

The viewing angles are maximum and I have no complaints about the color rendition. There is also no graininess, the display has a diagonal of 5 inches.

The backlight brightness margin is good, and the minimum brightness allows you to correctly perceive content in the dark.

Camera:

You can see examples of photos from the main camera and evaluate their quality.

P. S. I would like a slightly better autofocus performance.

Performance:

No lags, friezes and glitches were noticed when working with the interface. Everything opens very quickly, and moving between open applications is almost instantaneous.

Now a little about parrots.

AnTuTu scores almost 30,000 points.

There are 8925 points in the Quadrant.

This is all well and good, but it's more important to understand the real performance in 3D applications.

In Epic Citadel at High Quality settings, 47 frames per second are obtained.

Of course, I also played games, the graphics of the Mali-T720 allows me to do this.

For example, Asphalt 8 can be played comfortably at medium graphics settings.

So, games like asphalt can be easily run, while getting an acceptable picture quality and performance.

Autonomy:

A non-removable 4000 mAh battery is responsible for the autonomous operation of the smartphone.

Traditionally, I test autonomy using a real 3D load.

Epic Citadel is launched, Wi-Fi is on (SIM card is off), maximum screen brightness and maximum volume in headphones connected.

As a result, the Micromax Q4260 smartphone worked for 6 hours and 25 minutes, and then turned off.

Micromax Q4260 smartphone - autonomy

The result is more than good! So you can count on two days of battery life with balanced use of your mobile gadget.

Sound and communication:

There were no problems with the level of reception of the mobile network signal.

The sound in the conversational dynamics is legible, so that the interlocutor is always heard and understood correctly. There are also no complaints about the microphone.

The main speaker does not creak or crack even at maximum volume.

The speaker is very conveniently located on the back cover and does not overlap, even when the smartphone is lying on the surface or when you are playing.

The volume of the ringtone when making a call is sufficient, and the power level of the vibration motor is average.

In general, there is no problem in order to hear the incoming call melody.

When connecting third-party headphones, the sound volume is insufficient.

Outcomes:

It's time to take stock.

For 8.990 rubles we get an interesting design, bright display, fingerprint scanner and good battery life.

Of the minuses, it is worth noting the incorrect operation of the GPS receiver, I still could not catch a single GPS satellite in the GPS Test program.

Perhaps this problem is only in my copy.

Video version of the review :

This concludes my review.

I will be pleased that more readers will know about my useful publications.

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