The Micromax Canvas Duet II also called the Micromax EG111 is a dual SIM handset supporting GSM and CDMA networks. It is powered by 1.2GHz Cortex A5 qualcomm snapdragon quad core processor running Android 4.1. The EG111 is priced at approx Rs. 15,500.
EG111 Box Pack
Inside the box you will find the handset, data cable, travel charger, earphone, 2300 mAh battery, screen guard, warranty / SAR compliance and user manual. The SAR value is 0.55 W/kg (head) and 0.58 W/kg (Body).
Design, Display and OS
The Micromax EG111 looks similar to other Micromax models, however on the front face bottom the touch buttons are missing. Build quality is good; rear side is glossy finish with textures. Handset is bulky – weight with battery is 208 grams and dimensions are 79.02 x 153.82 x 10.37mm.
You can clearly see the dot matrix (sensor points) on the screen from specific angles – this is normal. The power button is on the right, volume rockers on the left, micro USB port at the bottom and 3.5mm audio jack on the top. There are dual Mics for noise cancellation.
The TFT LCD screen is 5.3 inches supporting HD resolution, however with the absence of dedicated navigational buttons the usable screen resolution is 1184×720 pixels. Touch is smooth. This handset runs on Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean OS. There are accelerometer, magnetic, light and proximity sensors.
Memory and Storage
There is 4GB onboard storage of which 1.2GB is assigned for apps (free space is 1.05GB) and 1.38GB assigned as phone storage. There is microSD card slot too (32GB support). You can set the external storage as preferred install location. OTG does not work.
Of the 1GB RAM the available RAM on first boot is 511MB.
Performance
The Micromax Canvas Duet II EG111 is powered by the same hardware that powers the Micromax Canvas Ego A113. Hardware is Qualcomm ARM Cortex A5 @ 1.2GHz with Adreno 203 GPU. Performance is good though I did face some issues with Google Play that did not work.
For some reason Google Play showed no connection even though the net was working. I could surf using the default browser but Play did not work. I had to manually install the benchmark apps (some of them, not all). I did try to fix the Google play issue by removing the account, clearing cache/data and even tried the factory reset.
Benchmark scores
- Quadrant Benchmark : 2022.
- Antutu Benchmark : 9632.
- Nenamark2 : 27.6fps.
- Multi Touch : 5 point Multi Touch.
Gaming
Since there was connectivity issue with the Google Play store. I could not install the games. Please do check the review of Micromax A113 that is also using the same hardware but with a smaller screen size and lower resolution. In general the EG111 performance will be lower than the A113 and it will affect the gaming performance.
Entertainment
This hardware cannot play full HD 1080p videos, however 720p videos work well.
Camera
The rear camera is 8MP with LED flash and front camera is of 2MP resolution. The still images – close up, long shots were pretty impressive. The 720p video recording was horrible.
Others
Sound output is good, loud and clear. Now this handset supports CDMA and GSM networks and there are separate settings options in Settings -> Mobile Networks. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS worked well. I could not test the CDMA as I am not subscribed to that network.
Battery
The battery is 2300 mAh capacity with talk time of up to 6 hours. You will easily get a battery backup of up to a day with moderate usage.
Verdict
The Micromax Canvas Duet II EG111 comes with the same qualcomm quad core processor that is used on the Micromax A113 Canvas Ego. The key highlight of EG111 is the dual network support the CDMA (unlocked – can be used with any provider) and GSM. The still camera output is impressive, however for the price of Rs. 15,500 (approx) it’s not worth it. The Micromax Canvas Blaze is available for approx Rs. 11K but it’s locked on to the MTS CDMA network.
Image Gallery
Sample Images
Micromax Canvas Duet II EG111 review video
HD Sample (720p) video recorded using the Micromax EG111 handset
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