The Canvas Spark Q380 from Micromax Mobiles is available for Rs. 4,999 (flash sale). This is a 1.3GHz quad core powered smartphone, competing directly with the InFocus M2 that is also priced at Rs. 4,999 with near about the same hardware. Is it better than M2, find out!
Micromax Canvas Spark Q380 Unboxing
It is a big rectangular box that houses the handset, screen guard (yes there is one even though the screen is protected with corning gorilla glass), travel charger, data cable, user guide / warranty card and good quality earphone (at least better than the standard earphone that you get with low cost Micromax handsets).
Design, Display and OS
The Canvas Spark, looks really good it is available in black and white colour options. I bought the black colour (retail version) for the review. Build quality is good considering the price tag. The metallic silver side give a unique look to the handset and also creates an impression that the handset is very slim, though in reality it is not that slim. Spark weight with built in battery is 139 grams and dimensions are 68.71 x 137.95 x 8.67 (mm). SAR value as mentioned on the box : 0.29 W/Kg @ 1 gm head and 0.42 W/kg @ 1gm body.
The power button and volume rocker is placed on the right. 3.5mm audio jack is placed on the top and micro USB port is packed at the bottom. This is a dual SIM handset with 3G support. SIM 1 and SIM 2 are micro SIM slots and 3G is supported on both these slots.
This handset sports a 4.7 inch screen with qHD – 960 x 540 pixels resolution. Colour reproduction is good, touch is smooth and responsive but the viewing angles are okay not that great. The screen is with corning gorilla glass 3 protection.
There is LED notification (tinny light), native video calling is not supported and Spark is loaded with the following sensors – accelerometer, light, proximity and gyro.
The Canvas Spark is running Android lollipop 5.0 out of the box.
Memory and Storage
There is 1GB RAM you will get about 451MB free and of the 8GB storage you will get about 3.73GB free. There is micro SD card slot, however you cannot install apps on the external storage. OTG is supported.
Performance
The MMX Canvas Spark is using the 1.3GHz MediaTek MT6582 32 bit cortex A7 quad core processor with Mali 400 MP GPU. Performance is smooth and handset does not heat up much the max temperature I encountered was 40 degree.
Benchmark compared with InFocus M2
| App | Result (Canvas Spark) | Result (Infocus M2) |
| Quadrant | 5626 | 7001 |
| Antutu (32-bit) | 20192 | 18759 |
| Vellamo | Metal (627) Multi core (1071) Browser (1731) | Metal (825) Multi core (1193) Browser (1715) |
| Nenamark 2 | 54.2 fps | 57.8 fps |
| Multi Touch | 2 point | 2 point |
Gaming
I played Asphalt 8 that got installed on the internal storage. Game was smooth in high visual quality mode.
Camera
There is 8MP AF camera with LED flash and 2MP camera on the front. Rear camera can shoot FHD videos. You can check the sample images and videos at the end of this review.
Camera quality is above average (considering the price) and it is as good as seen on the Infocus M2 (though Infocus M2 comes with 8MP on the front that is better as compared to 2MP on MMX.
This smartphone can play full HD videos with ease.
Others
CPU-Z app crashed, I was not able to run that app, the handset would auto restart whenever I ran the CPU-Z app. There are some apps that came preinstalled including Dr Safety security app that might cause the handset to slow down a bit, I disabled that app before using the handset.
Sound is loud, clear. No other issues found with 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth.
Battery
There is 2000 mAh built in battery. The battery performance is decent about 3 to 5 hours of continuous moderate to heavy usage.
| Task | Time | Battery drop (%) (max temp) |
| Running Benchmark apps | 25 minutes | 7% (33) |
| FHD video playback with Wi-Fi on + full brightness | 30 minutes | 10% (36) |
| Asphalt 8 Game Play | 17 minutes | 8% (38) |
| Full Wall Charge | 2 hours 40 minutes | 25% to 100% |
Verdict
The Micromax Canvas Spark does a pretty good job and is afford-ably priced at Rs. 4,999. Now the InFocus M2 is also available using the same hardware for the same price of Rs. 4,999. The M2 comes with 4.2 inch LTPS screen with WXGA resolution with a much better screen quality when compared with Spark.
M2 also comes with 8MP front camera with LED flash on the front so that makes it better, also when it comes to battery performance it is again better than M2. There is hardly any difference in the camera quality.
Canvas Spark has an advantage, it is running lollipop and sports a 4.7 inch screen.
Both the handsets are good and have their own Plus points and Minus points, and there are very few things to compare, so depending on what you want and what you are willing to give more preference to, make your choice.
Micromax Canvas Spark = 139 grams, 8.6mm thick, Lollipop, 4.7 inch screen with gorilla glass 3, decent battery.
Infocus M2 = 146 grams, 11.09mm thick, 4.2 inch screen much better than Spark but without gorilla glass protection, better battery + better built quality when compared with Spark.
Micromax Canvas Spark is available for Rs. 4,999.
Infocus M2 is available for Rs. 4,999.
Image Gallery
Rear Camera sample
Front Camera sample
Canvas Spark video review