Micromax has now made a new beginning with a dual series. And the first smartphone has launched dual 5. Talking about the specification, Micromax dual 5 looks strong and the software is also good. The company also claims that dual 5 has the best camera in its segment.
Micromax plans 19 percent market share in premium smartphone category (more than Rs 20,000) with this new series. But the road is not so easy. Will this new phone be able to compete with other big names in the market? Know in review.
Micromax dual 5 design
Micromax dual 5 is fully made of metal body and has chamford edges. The phone gives a strong feeling when holding in the hand. The 2.5D curved-edge glass on the next part gives attractive and premium feeling to the phone. The phone looks good when viewed from the rear. There are antenna bands on the top and bottom. Apart from this, there are two cameras, dual-tone LED flash and a fingerprint sensor on the rear. On the bottom of the rear is Micromax logo and we liked this method of branding because this phone looks clean without many people. Due to curved edges, the phone’s grip is good and it can be caught in a convenient manner in the hand. Micromax has named it ‘Arc Design’.
The phone has power and volume buttons on the right side. There is a ‘Smart Ki’ which can be customized on the left side. There is a hybrid dual-sim tray on the left side. The phone has a 3.5mm audio jack and an infrared ammeter to control the electronic appliance on the top. The phone has a USB Type-C port and speaker grill on the bottom. Dual 5 has a capacitive navigation button for Android navigation just below the display. These buttons are not backlit which is a problem for this price phone.
Despite the 5.5 inch display, it is easy to catch Micromax Dual 5 and can be easily used with one hand. However, we suggest that it hold the phone with both hands as it can slip due to the back panel made of metal. Given the dual 5 display comes with a light weight of 164 grams.
In our view, dual 5 is one of the most beautiful smartphones launched by Micromax. This phone looks better than the second smartphone coming in this price segment.
Micromax dual 5 specifications and software
Dual 5 has an Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor. The phone has 4 GB RAM and 128 GB of storage. Storage is one of the biggest features of the phone. This price has very few options in the market with 128 GB storage. Xiaomi Mi Max Prime is another handset coming with 128 GB storage and Snapdragon 652 processor, but there is no other feature of dual 5.
Micromax Dual 5 has a 5.5 inch full HD (1080×1920 pixels) Super AMOLED display that comes with 2.5D curved Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. Apart from this, storage can be increased by up to 128 GB microSD card by removing the second SIM card in dual 5. The phone has features like 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 AC and Blutotth 4.1 for connectivity. The phone has an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, gyroscope, infrared sensor and proximity sensor. This phone has a 3200 mAh battery which supports Quick Charge 3.0. The company claims that the phone’s battery is charged up to 95 percent in just 45 minutes.
This phone runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow on which the company’s UI has been given. Micromax has developed a new UI that can also be seen in other future devices. The new interface does not have an app drawer, which means that all apps will remain on home screen. The app icon, Quick Settings togle and Settings app have been fully given new look. There are many animations in the new skin and we liked the speedup memory management app that already installed. You can set ‘Smart Ke’ to launch the app without unlocking the phone.
The phone has a theme app from which users can choose wallpaper, ringtone and font in addition to six default themes. But, there is no way to add more themes to the phone right now, but it is expected to be in the coming times. The phone also has a separate wallpaper app from which the wallpaper can be replaced on a tap on the app icon. Through a freezer app, users can drag and drop less used apps. This helps in running the phone at speed.
Users can set an anti-theft app by linking a Google account in the phone. It can then be tracked in the event of the device lost. We liked Micromax’s new Safewich feature, which keeps the data safe in the event of the phone theft. At the launch of Dual 5, the company clarified that the physical buttons will automatically be locked on removing the SIM card from the phone and it can be disabled only by entering the password within 30 seconds. The phone will not turn off due to the button not being active and the user will help track the phone. Also, if no password is inserted within 60 minutes of removing the SIM, then the personal data can be deleted from the phone. Also, if someone tries to unlock your phone, then their picture will be drawn and it will be sent to the account you set.
Micromax says that dual 5 has a strong password and fingerprint and an independent security chip for EAL 5+ Military Grade Security. Dual 5 also has a feature named Securevolt. This is a place for which separate fingerprints can be set. The information stored here cannot be accessed without unlocking. This feature worked as expected in our efforts. Apart from this, the phone also has security apps like 360 security and 360 clone. With an app named Heat Source, you can know the app running in the background, due to which the phone is getting hot.
As you can see, this phone has many apps in advance. But the good thing is that many of these can be removed. We feel that if the phone came with Android Nougat, it would have been better. Nowadays it is becoming a common feature in this price segment.
Micromax dual 5 camera performance
According to its name in Micromax Dual 5, two rear cameras of 13 megapixels have been given. Photos can be taken simultaneously from both cameras. After this, the softest of the phone processes a single picture. These two sensors are used for focus and depth-off-field. Both cameras have used aperture F/1.8 and Faze Detection Autofocus (PDAF). The phone has a bokeh effect. This phone has been seen in very few phones so far.
The camera app contains dual sensor mode by default, although it can be replaced manually. The most important feature of the dual 5 camera is color reproduction, details and sharpness. Great pictures came from the phone in good light, especially close-up shot. We liked the specialty of focusing the Micromax Dual 5 fast. But it takes time to process photos, which may cause problems for the user. We were surprised to see that in regular mode instead of dual mode, pictures take the same time to process. It is expected that Micromax will improve this deficiency through the upcoming software updates.
Photos taken from dual 5 in low light are different according to the lights. We found some pictures attractive, but the phone quality decreases in the dark. Pictures taken in low light shows a lot of noise. However, texture and color remain fine. The pictures on the display of the phone looked good but noys can be seen in pictures on the big screen.
Dual 5 has a 13 -megapixel front camera with aperture F/2.0. The app has a smartbature mode, making selfie more beautiful. We got selfie taken from dual 5 in daylight with good color reproduction and detailing, but the same quality could not remain at night.
There are many modes in the phone’s camera app. Pro mode can manually set white balance, ISO, focus and shutter speed. Macro mode has been given for close-up photography. In addition to the video recording of Camera 4, Slow Motion, Jiff and Time Laps support video. The phone also has some filters.
Micromax dual 5 performance
The general performance of Dual 5 impressed us and we had no problem during multitasking. HD video in the phone runs without any problem. We also liked the sound coming from the speaker because even when there is more volume, the sound is clearly heard and it is fine for a room. We did not get a retail box with our review unit, so we cannot tell anything about the earphones coming together. However, the voice received from our earphones was fantastic.
The call quality in Micromax Dual 5 was excellent and supports VoLTE (Voice over LTE). According to Micromax, dual 5 has stereoscopic antenna, giving the signals 3 times faster. During our review, we found that there was no problem on the weakened area networks. The super amoled panel is shiny and sharp. The color was also fantastic and touch response. Viewing angles are extremely high. The fingerprint sensor also works rapidly. Dual 5 scored a great score in the benchmark test which is similar to another phone with this price segment.
During our review, we saw that the dual 5 benchmark app was heated during the time or prolonged camera use. The phone also gets hot during navigation while using Google Maps. The rear of the phone also gets a little hot while playing graphics games like Dead Trigger 2, Easfallt 8 and Super Mario runs. However, it does not cause much trouble but it attracts attention.
During normal use, the dual 5 battery lasted an entire day and we have no complaints about the battery. In our HD video loop test, the dual 5 battery lasted for 10 hours and 50 minutes, which is not bad. But in another phone with the same battery capacity, we have seen better battery performance. In 20 minutes of charging, the phone is charged up to 40 percent from zero and the phone is full charge in less than an hour.
Our decision
The overall performance of Micromax Dual 5 shocked us. According to the promise, high-quality photos were found from dual rear camera. The company is offering free replacement warranty for a year. Apart from this offer, Micromax also claimed that the company has improved its sales service network.
Looking at the price and specification of dual 5, its direct rival will be from Vivo V5 Plus (Review), Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) and Asus Zenfone 3 (Review). All these phones are found around this price. Dual 5 can also be seen as an alternative to Honor 8 (Review), which is expensive than dual 5. If you want to spend a little more money, then OnePlus 3T (Review) starts at Rs 29,999 and is a better package.