Micromax Canvas Elanza 2 A121 Unboxing

The previous Canvas Elanza A93 was a horrible phone in every aspect, which you can gather with the 4.8 rating we gave it. Therefore we were a bit skeptical when we got the Canvas Elanza 2 A121 for review. But it comes with everything updated including a 5-inch HD display, quad-core Snapdragon 200 processor with 1 GB RAM running Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. The design has been updated as well with a leather-like backcover. The cameras too have been upgraded from 5 MP to 8 MP at the back, and VGA to 2 MP in the front. Overall, its an entirely new device, so it begs a new perspective. But at the price of about Rs. 10000, it comes in direct competition with the Canvas 2 Colours A120 which too features similar specs but a MediaTek chipset. So let's have a look at the Canvas Elanza 2, its build and first impressions in our Unboxing.

Unboxing Video

In the Box

The Canvas Elanza 2 comes with the bare minimum of accessories, in the box you just have the USB wall charger, data-cable, battery and the user-guides. But you also get a free screenguard which is always appreciated, as its hard to find these for new launches.

Box Contents

• Micromax Canvas Elanza 2 A121
• Screenguard
• USB Wall-charger
• MicroUSB to USB Data-cable
• Black Headset
• User Guides, SAR notification and Warranty Statements

All the accessories are good in quality, the charger also has a LED to tell that its working.

Hardware Overview

The Canvas Elanza 2 A121 is powered by the 1.2 GHz Snapdragon 200 quad-core processor with Adreno 302 GPU, you might find this chipset familiar as it made quite a splash with the Lava Iris 406Q which goes quite cheap for about Rs. 7000. Apart from that you have 1 GB RAM and the Elanza 2 A121 runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean right out of the box. There is a 2000 mAh battery which powers the phone.

You have a 8 MP AF camera with LED flash at the back alongwith a 2 MP Auto-focus front-facing camera. That's a first we have seen in any segment, plus the front-facing camera also comes with its own flash. Its one of the strangest things we have seen on a phone recently but a front-facing flash may come in handy when taking selfies.

There's 4 GB of internal storage which is expandable upto 32 GB using a microSD card. You also have an accelerometer, proximity and light sensors on the phone. Connectivity options include WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS as well as FM Radio. The Canvas Elanza 2 is a Dual-SIM phone with 3G support.

Build

Coming to the build of the Elanza 2 A121, its one of the most handsome devices I've seen from Micromax. In terms of design, aesthetics as well choice of materials, it seems premium and light-years ahead of anything Micromax has made before. It is just 8.8 mm thin, about 1 mm thinner than the Canvas 2 Colours and weighs in at 156 grams. It is 145 mm long and 72 mm wide, making it both thinner, smaller and lighter than the Canvas 2 Colours.

In the front you have the 5-inch HD display beneath the hardened plastic front-panel. The sides of the front-panel are raised slightly so that the display never comes in contact when laid face first on a flat surface. There are three capacitive buttons just below the display which do light up and there is no backlight bleed visible.

Just above the display is the 2 MP front-facing AF camera with a secondary flash, main earpiece alongwith the proximity and light sensors.

On the left you have a very sturdy volume rocker build of the same material as the side-trim which has a brushed aluminium finish, but is made of plastic. The side-trim makes the phone look even more elegant. The power lock/unlock button can be found on the right. Both the buttons are quite sturdy and offer good feedback, they do not wobble.

The microUSB data-syncing/charging port can be found at the top alongwith the 3.5 mm audio jack which is a bit shifted to the left. The bottom part is bare where only the metallic trim is visible.

The back-cover as I said earlier has a faux-leather finish just like the Galaxy Note 3, it also comes with the same stitching pattern on the sides. Strangely it looks good and feels good to hold in the hand as well. Being a texturized matte surface it doesn't attract fingerprints and adds to the overall rigidity of the phone. It doesn't bend or flex much when on the phone.

At the back you have the 8 MP AF camera which adds a slight hump alongwith the LED flash and a secondary noise cancellation microphone as well. Then you have the Micromax logo, with the speakerphone at the bottom. The speakerphone has two raised hoofs on its sides so that its never muffled when placed on a flat surface, a welcome addition there.

On the inside you have two full-size regular SIM cards alongwith the microSD card slot which can take upto 32 GB of storage with the battery compartment just below it to house the 2000 mAh battery. Everything is in the right place without any moving parts, the back-cover closes in tight without leaving any gaps.

The overall build quality of the device is excellent, the display seems bright with good viewing angles even if its not IPS. The faux-leather backcover as well as the brushed-aluminium finish of the side-trim make the device look elegant. There's no creaking or flex anywhere.

First Impressions

The Canvas Elanza 2 is probably the best looking phone ever made by Micromax and to top that it has excellent build quality. The display is vibrant and sharp with good touch response. The phone performed quite well after its first boot without any lag in the interface, which seems a more stock build of Android 4.3 Jelly Bean.

Although its not as colorful as the Canvas 2 Colours A120, but it is an elegant device which oozes simplicity and rigidity. We have already seen the performance of the Snapdragon 200 quad-core SoC but it remains to be seen what happens when the chipset is coupled with a HD display.

Unboxing Image Gallery