Micromax A116 Canvas HD vs. Galaxy Note II: Half the price, double the value?

The phablet market is in a tizzy, with the launch of the sub Rs.
15,000 Micromax A116 Canvas HD sporting a quad-core
processor and a five-inch display.
Micromax
managed to stir
up quite a bit of
interest
yesterday when
they unveiled
the A116
Canvas HD, a
“phablet” with
a five inch
display and a
quad-core
processor.
Naturally, it
drew
immediate comparisons with the current reigning king of the
large screened handsets - the Samsung Galaxy Note II . The
Galaxy phone boasts of similar specs but also of a much higher
price-point- it's currently selling for about Rs. 37,000.
Let's take a quick look at how the two phones stack up against
each other:
1. Under the hood: Both the Canvas HD and the Galaxy Note
II are powered by quad core processors - a 1.2GHz Cortex A7
on a MediaTek MT6589 chipset in the former and a 1.6GHz
Cortex A9 on an Exynos 4412 chipset in the latter. It's worth
pointing out here that although both processors may seem
similar, the Exynos 4412 powers a bunch of premium, high
performance devices such as the Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy Tab
10.1, the MediaTek SoC is currently only being used in budget
phones.
The Galaxy also boasts of 2GB of RAM while the Canvas has
half that number. Also, the Samsung phone is available with
16GB of internal storage and supports microSD cards up to
64GB. The Canvas, on the other hand, supports external
storage up to 32GB and comes with 4GB of internal storage.
2. Display: At 5.5 inches, the Galaxy Note 2 has a slightly
larger display than the Canvas HD- 0.5 inch larger, to be
precise. However, both displays offer a resolution of 1280x720
pixels, which means that the Canvas HD, with its slightly
smaller display, offers a higher pixels per inch (ppi) count than
the Note 2. The Samsung's display uses Super AMOLED display
that leads to lower power consumption and more vibrant
colours. The Canvas HD's IPS display means high brightness,
better viewing angles, and sharper and more readable text.
3. Battery: The Canvas HD has a 2100mAh battery while the
Galaxy Note 2 has a 3100mAh battery. Couple that with the
AMOLED display and it seems evident that the Samsung phone
will be able to last longer on a single charge.
4. Price: This is where the Micromax Canvas HD pulls ahead of
the Galaxy Note 2. The Galaxy is currently priced at about Rs.
38,000 while the Canvas HD is expected to cost below Rs.
15,000. If value for money is the primary deciding factor for a
user, the Canvas HD does appear to be a much better deal,
especially when you consider that it also lets you slot in two
SIM cards.
We hope to get our hands on the Micromax Canvas HD soon
for a much more exhaustive analysis.