Micromax, once the leading smartphone manufacturer in India, hopes to ride the wave of Atma Nirbhar Bharat and make its comeback in a market dominated by Chinese handset makers with the launch of the ‘In Note 1’ and the IN 1B.
With the first sale on Flipkart on November 24, at a starting price of Rs 10,999, the Micromax will be competing with the likes of the Motorola E7 Plus, RealMe Narzo 10A, Samsung Galaxy M11 and Redmi Note 9.
Micromax has aggressively marketed the phones made-in-India credentials, touting the “swagger of Bharat” in the promotional video for it. However, what makes it stand out from the competition may well be its decision to avoid bloatware: The phone touts stock Android, guaranteeing a snappy experience and at least two years of updates.
On the specs front, it packs standard fare for the market with the additional bonus of reverse charging. The specs include a 1080x2400 resolution 6.67” display, a MediaTek Helio G85 Processor (which Micromax saying it had partnered with MediaTek to design smartphones powered by this chipset in India, with an R&D centre in Bengaluru), a quad-camera layout on the back including a 48MP main shooter, a 5MP wide angle, a 2MP depth sensor and a 2MP macro lens. A 16MP hole punch camera on the front handles selfies.
A massive 5,000 mAh battery comes packed with an 18W charger and wireless charging capability. Face unlock and a fingerprint sensor add to the functionality.
Performance wise, the Micromax easily overpowers the Motorola, which is the other major phone in this range with stock Android. RealMe, Samsung and Redmi all use their own UI interfaces and versions of Android.
A more budget offering comes in the form of the Micromax IN 1B, which packs a 6.52” HD+ IPS LCD display,a Helio G35 chipset and the now-standard 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, and a 13MP primary camera paired to a 2MP depth sensor.
Both phones come with a USB Type-C charging port.
Whether Micromax will be able to make its comeback in the Indian market will depend on its ability to outbrand and underprice its Chinese and Korean competitors in the world’s second-largest smartphone market. Once the number one smartphone maker (in 2015), Micromax could build on its Atma Nirbhar Bharat credentials to regain its foothold in the market, amid the rising anti-China sentiment. But, the company will also need to innovate if it wants to make a mark.
