Micromax A84 Superfone Elite set to compete sub 10k Android devices

3.5/5 stars

My Rating: Good, 3.5 stars out of 5

The sub 10k category is the most important one when it comes to the smartphone market. All major device manufacturers are bringing in their best efforts to provide users with a good combination of features along with affordability. HTC Explorer, Samsung Galaxy Y, Samsung Galaxy Pocket, Spice Mi 425, Karbonn A9  are some of the popular options available for those looking to buy a sub 10k Android phone.
As you can see from the above small collection, there was no good option from the brand name "Micromax" in this category. That's why Micromax has recently launched the A84 handset aka Superfone Elite.

Specifications:

Display: The Superfone Elite boasts of a nice IPS LCD capacitive screen measuring 3.98 inch and supports 16m colors which is surely enough going to boost the gaming and video viewing experience. With a pixel density of 234 ppi, the display has a resolution of 480x800.
Processing Power: The gaming experience is supposed to be enhanced by the 1 GHz CPU, though details about the GPU haven't been rolled out yet.
Camera: The back camera is of 5 MP and also includes LED flash to boost its snapping capabilities even in low lighting conditions. A front camera, though just a vga, has also been added for video calling features.
Connectivity Options: As present in almost all Android devices, this one also supports 3G, Edge, Bluetooth, USB 2.0 and WiFi. The only thing that disappoints me here is the Bluetooth 2.0 which is surely outdated. Even my year and a half old Spice Mi 310 has Bluetooth 2.1
Operating System: That's surely the most dealbreaking part. The phone is running on Android 2.3.6 aka Gingerbread, and that too, even after it's over a year, ICS has been launched and over a month, Google introduced Jelly Bean. Sorry Micromax, we expected it to have at least ICS on board. The company hasn't said anything about any future upgrades.
Other: The dimensions of the phone are 125x65x10.6 mm. The battery (1630 mAh) is said to give a decent talktime of about 4 and a half hour on 3G. A84 will be available only in black color. The phone supprts external micro sd card of upto 32 GB. Nothing has beeen revealed yet about RAM and the internal memory which can surely make or break the deal.
Price: It has been officaily priced at INR 9,999.
Head over to Gsmarena or Micromax's official site for more detailed specs.

The Competition:

The superfone elite according to me seems to be Micromax's response to the hot selling Mi 425 from Spice. HTC and Samsung's offerings in the same price range don't stand anywhere with A84 beating them off in each and every specs. The competition with Spice Mi 425 is quite tough and currently the Spice Mi 425 wins the race with Spice promising to update it to Android 4.0 ICS real soon. Micromax might outcalss Mi 425 if the internal memory is greater than Mi 425's lame 150 MB.

My Review: If you're not too much addicted to a single brand, I don't find any reason to not buy any Micromax or Spice mobile just because they're not Smasung / HTC. If you're tight on budget and want to have the best value for money, then this is surely an option to watch out for. Even I'm using a Spice Android for over a year and find it nowhere less than any Samsung or HTC in the same price range. Also, take a look at the other availble choices I have mentioned above before going for this one.