The Micromax Andro A60
is a cheap yet worthy smartphone, considering its rich feature set
including 3G, Wi-Fi, touchscreen and Android with GPS enabled
applications pre-installed. The icing on the cake - is its decent
all-round performance across the tests. At the price of Rs. 6,999, it is
seriously recommended for all those who want a taste of everything at a
cheap price.
- Lacks a hardware keypad
- Slow processor & sluggish UI
- Average ergonomics
Micromax is capitalizing on some of the hottest trends in the Indian
mobile market today, taking the Android operating system, a touchscreen,
as well as 3G connectivity, and then offering it to the masses in an
attractive low-cost package - the Andro A60. Certainly occupying a
unique place in the market, the Andro A60 holds the distinction of
being India's cheapest 3G, touchscreen Android phone till date (and for
now).
Micromax Andro A60 - 360 degree view
The Micromax Andro A60
is well built and comes with a matte black finish on the front &
back panels, which is resistant to smudges. However, the LCD screen is
too vulnerable to smudges sans the scratch-proof sticker. The standard
Android buttons, home, menu and back, are touch-buttons at the bottom of
the 2.8-inch touchscreen - no search button. There are four hardware
buttons including call answer, call disconnect, navigation control pad
below the touchscreen and the volume control button on the left side
panel. The battery cover is made of cheap build quality that gives us
the feeling it might just break when opening it - snapping off rather
abruptly due to the lack of a proper latch mechanism for smooth
operation. Removing the battery cover and the battery reveals one GSM
SIM slot along with a tiny motherboard battery at the bottom. This
signifies that the user has the convenience of replacing the motherboard
battery by himself when the battery dies out or becomes weak over a
period of time.
Sporting a near-vanilla Android 2.1, the menu and touchscreen UI are
their usual neat and well-organized selves. The phone also includes a
security lock feature, which requires dual-hand operation to unlock. The
menu screen incorporates Micromax's 3D cube interface, where the menu
icons are arranged sequentially into three pages that represent the
three faces of a cube. This popular interface design seems to be
inherited from the Micromax X550 QUBE, which we have reviewed earlier.
In terms of the phone's performance and responsiveness, the slow
processor and an equally sluggish resistive touchscreen definitely
hamper the potential of Android. The lack of touch responsiveness is
especially apparent when trying to type on the onscreen keyboard, and
perhaps Micromax should have considered squeezing in a hardware keypad -
like the Motorola Charm - to compensate. In terms of software however,
the phone's and Android's rich feature set, including Google maps,
Gmail, GPS navigation and RSS reader, go a long way in enabling some
decent productivity, networking and entertainment on the go.
Performance
The Micromax Andro A60 delivered consistent signal reception and voice
clarity in areas with good signal strength. However, the voice clarity
dropped slightly in areas with weaker signals. The loudspeaker produced
distorted sounds at volume levels higher than 60%, while the handsfree
voice clarity was good up to 80% volume levels. The camera test yielded
mediocre results, and drawbacks were the lack of colour accuracy (dull,
washed out colours), as well as sub-par image sharpness for distant
objects.
The music test yielded a mixed bag of results - the loudspeaker audio
distorted even at 50% volume levels, while the bundled earphones
delivered excellent sound reproduction sans distortion even at volume
levels up to 90%. The bass boost and noise cancellation features built
into the earphones enhanced the overall quality of sound during music
playback. The video playback is remarkably good, with no stuttering and
barely any colour banding (surprising on a 65K colour screen). The
quality of display is quite good in terms of viewing angles, however, it
offers poor legibility under bright sunshine. Overall, the Andro A60 is
a good performer in its price category.
Our Take
The Micromax Andro A60
is a cheap yet worthy smartphone, considering its rich feature set
including 3G, Wi-Fi, touchscreen and Android with GPS enabled
applications pre-installed. The icing on the cake - is its decent
all-round performance across the tests. At the price of Rs. 6,999, we
have very little to bargain for, except the lack of a hardware keypad
and a fast processor. So far, there is no real competitor for the Andro
A60 in this price bracket. But, we cannot ignore the future threat of
Intex's proposed launch of its super-cheap Android counterpart. Overall,
the positives far outweigh the negatives and hence we seriously
recommend the Andro A60 for those who want a taste of everything at a
cheap price!
Specifications: SIM (GSM/WCDMA); Display: 2.8-inch, Screen
resolution: 240 x 320; Memory: microSD expandable up to 32GB; Battery:
1280mAh, Talk-time: up to 4 hours, Standby-time: up to 10 days;
Dimensions: 106.8 x 59.2 x 14; Weight: 105 grams;
Ratings
Features: 7.5
Performance: 6.5
Build Quality: 6.5
Value for money: 8
Overall: 7
| rand |
Micromax |
| Model |
Andro A60 |
| Price (MRP, Rs) |
Rs. 6,999 |
| Features |
|
| Physical Specs |
|
| Form Factor |
Candy Bar |
| 2G Network Bands (MHz) |
GSM 900/1800 |
| 3G Network Bands |
WCDMA 900/2100 |
| Screen Resolution |
240 x 320 |
| Screen Size (inches) |
2.8-inches |
| Maximum Screen colours |
65K |
| Touchscreen / Dual Screen (Y/N) |
Y |
| Battery Rating |
1280mAh |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) in mm |
106.8 x 59.2 x 14 |
| Weight |
105 grams |
| Expandable Memory Type |
microSD |
| Hot Swappable (Y/N) |
Y |
| Available Colours |
Black |
| Other Features |
|
| Operating System |
Android 2.1 (Eclair) |
| Charging via USB (Y/N) |
Y |
| Hardware Keypad (Regular/QWERTY) |
N/A |
| Accelerometer (For auto rotate) (Y/N) |
Y |
| Address Book Capacity |
Unlimited |
| No of calls in register |
- |
| Talk Time / Standby Time * |
up to 4 hours / up to 10 days |
| No of Profiles # / Customisable (Y/N) |
- |
| Offline Operability (Y/N) |
Y |
| Inbuilt GPS / A-GPS support (Y / N) |
Y |
| Connectivity |
|
| Browsing (GPRS/EDGE/3G) |
Y/Y/Y |
| EDGE max speed |
- |
| 3G max speed |
7.2Mbps |
| Connectivity (WiFi/Bluetooth/IR/USB) |
Y/Y/Y |
| Bluetooth Version/A2DP support (Y/N) |
v2.1/Y |
| Accessories |
|
| Bundled Accessories |
Charger, handsfree headset, USB cable, 2GB microSD card |
| Size of memory card provided |
2GB |
| Overall Build Quality (So 10) |
6.5 |
| Overall Ergonomics (So 10) |
6 |
| Keypad Design (So 10) |
6 |
| Camera Specs |
|
| Camera Resolution (Mega Pixels) |
3.2MP |
| Video Capture Resolution |
- |
| Dual Cameras / Auto Focus / Flash (Y/N) |
N/Y/N |
| Mirror for self portrait (Y / N) |
N |
| Camera Settings (So 10) |
6 |
| Zoom (Optical/Digital) |
Digital |
| Multimedia |
|
| Music Formats supported |
MP3, WAV, AMR, MIDI |
| Video formats supported |
MP4, 3GP |
| FM Radio (Y/N) |
N |
| Performance |
|
| Signal Reception and Voice Clarity (So 10) |
|
| Zone 1 |
7 |
| Zone 2 |
7.5 |
| Zone 3 |
6.5 |
| Device Earpiece Volume |
6.5 |
| Device Loudspeaker clarity |
6.5 |
| Handsfree Clarity |
7 |
| Speaker Volume (on call) |
7.5 |
| Bluetooth Transfer Speed (kbps) |
Test failed |
| WiFi signal strength (Zone 2) |
Low |
| Captured Photo Quality (So 10) |
|
| Captured Photo Colour |
6.5 |
| Captured Photo Crispness |
6 |
| Captured Video Quality |
6 |
| Loudspeaker Audio Quality |
6 |
| Bundled Earphones Quality |
7.5 |
| Display |
|
| Quality of display |
7.5 |
| Viewing angle of display |
7 |
| Legibility in bright sunlight |
4 |
| Video Playback Quality (So 10) |
9 |
Contact: Micromax Informatics Ltd.
Phone: 011-45082591/92
E-mail: Info@micromaxinfo.com
Website: www.micromaxinfo.com
Price: Rs. 6,999
