The Micromax A310 (Canvas Nitro) houses the 1.7 GHz Octa Core processor from MediaTek. Micromax launched this handset recently for a price tag of Rs. 12,990. It supports dual SIM and battery backup looks really good.
Inside the Box
Contents : A310 smartphone, screen guard, warranty card, user manual, travel charger, data cable, (Blinkscreen, QuickLook and Smart Gestures) guide, 2500 mAh battery and earphone. SAR Value : 0.29 W/Kg @1gm head and 0.58 W/Kg @1gm body. Operating frequency are WCDMA:900/2100MHz,GSM:900/1800/1900MHz.
Design and Display
The handset weight is 154 grams with battery and dimensions are 71.94mm x 141.33mm x 8.87mm. Nitro has got a premium look. The rear has got a leather finish, it looks like leather but actually made of plastic.
Build quality and finishing is very good. The handset is curvy and has got 3 dedicated touch button on the front bottom. Audio jack is on the top, micro USB at the bottom, volume rockers on the left and power button on the right.
It is a dual SIM handset, both SIM slots are micro SIM. There are no markings on the SIM slots or the icon showing the proper way to insert the SIM. 3G is supported only on one SIM slot. Check video review to know.
Touch screen IPS display is 5 inches supporting 1280 x 720 pixels resolution. The screen is not totally scratch resistant so better use the screen guard that is provided in the box. Colour reproduction, viewing angles are good. Touch is smooth and responsive.
There are 3 sensors – light, proximity and accelerometer. There is LED notification too.
Memory and Storage
The Canvas Nitro A310 comes with 2GB RAM (899 MB free on first boot) and 8GB storage (5.3GB available for apps). OTG is not supported and you cannot move / install apps on external storage.
Performance
The Nitro A310 is using the cortex A7 MediaTek True Octa Core chipset – MT6592 coupled with Mali 450 MP GPU. Performance is lag free and smooth. This octa core is clocked at 1.7GHz.
Benchmark scores
| App | Result |
| Quadrant | 13329 |
| Antutu | 28010 |
| Vellamo | Metal (874) Multi core (1384) Browser (2464) |
| Nenamark 2 | 59.9fps |
| Multi Touch | 5 point |
Camera and Entertainment
There is 13MP camera on the rear and 5MP on the front. The camera quality is very good, though low light shots are not that great. You can shoot 1080p videos at 30fps. Gesture shots are supported and the camera can be launched quickly from the home screen menu. The stable shot option will click the image only when the handset is stable. There is front / back camera option which is pretty interesting. It makes use of both the front and the rear camera. So you can shoot part of the image with rear camera and another part with the front camera. The LED flash is not that effective. Do check the sample images / videos at the end of this review.
Nitro A310 can play full HD videos.
Gaming
I installed the Asphalt 8 and the Modern Combat 5 games. Both the games got installed on the internal storage. Game play was smooth. Asphalt 8 was playable in high visual quality mode.
Others
No issues with the sound, it is loud and clear (both speaker / in call speaker). No issues found with 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth.
The handset also comes loaded with some new features listed below.
BlinkScreen : This is a new style for notification you will see the bar in Blue, Red or Green. It will show the alerts and missed calls. You can tap the icon to directly move on to the respective app.
QuickLook : There is a special section on the home page that takes over the full screen. You will get the date, time, weather and the latest news all in one screen.
Smart Gesture : You can use this option to make the usage more convenient.
The back panel is flat; if you keep the handset on a flat surface it will block the speaker-out vent and the sound.
In the Display Brightness settings there is economical back light option in manual mode. I prefer the auto mode. However in Auto mode the brightness drops too low in low light condition, some may not find it uncomfortable. It is even lower than the minimum manual brightness level. But this really improves the battery backup.
Battery
The Nitro comes with 2500 mAh removable battery that does a pretty outstanding job considering the octa core chipset.
| Task | Time | Battery drop (%) (max temp) |
| Running Benchmark apps | 25 minutes | 2% (35) |
| HD video playback (loop) with Wi-Fi on + full brightness | 37 minutes | 4% (33) |
| MC5 + Asphalt 8 GamePlay | 28 minutes | 2% (37) |
| Battery recharge (wall charger) | 3 hour 10 minutes | 11% to 100% |
The battery backup looks just too good, but such a performance is just not possible. I am still checking the battery and will keep posted. Yesterday at 4:10PM battery was at 100%. I used the handset for the review and now it is 5:22PM (more than 24 hours) and battery is at 23%. I am waiting for the handset to shut off on it’s own to get a better idea – it could probably be battery calibration issue. However the battery performance so far looks better than other 1.7GHz Octa Core powered handsets.
Battery Performance update:
date 22, 3:45 PM battery at 25% and now at 8:57PM battery at 14% (Wi-Fi or 3G is always on).
date – 23, 7:29 AM battery at 2% still alive (3G always on).
date – 23, 11:30 AM battery dead, phone shut down.
Verdict
The Micromax Canvas Nitro A310 is a very good deal for Rs. 12,990. It is octa core with 2GB RAM and 8GB storage. Though there are limitations like you can install apps only on internal storage and OTG is not support. If you are fine with this and looking for an octa core handset the A310 is a very good option, for now.
Buy the Micromax Canvas Nitro A310 for Rs. 12,990.
Micromax Canvas Nitro Image Gallery
Sample Images shot using the Micromax A310
Sample Images Front Camera
Micromax Canvas Nitro A310 video review
1080p sample video shot using the Canvas Nitro A310