Micromax Unite 2, launched last year made an impression in sub 8K smartphone category as there were not many contenders in this range that time. But now the budget category has completely changed and you have to come out with something that can woo the customers and gives a tough fight to its rivals. Just like Micromax’s own Yureka did. Xiaomi’s Redmi 2 and Lenovo A6000 are some other examples. And how can we forget Moto E, which started all these in the affordable category.
Having said that, Micromax has launched the successor of Unite 2, with some minor changes in design, camera and underlying OS. Let’s check out how the new budget smartphone from Micromax performs in the most competitive category of smartphones.
Design and feel
There’s not a huge difference in the design of the smartphone when compare to its predecessor Unite 2. The latest Unite 3 is comparatively thinner and have a more subtle design. The camera module is now positioned on the left corner of the rear panel, power and volume rockers are placed on the right. Micro USB port for charging sits at the bottom and the 3.5 mm headphone jack is placed at the top.
The look and feel is quite basic, unlike Yuphoria, which looks amazing with its metal frame and nicely designed rear panel and comes at Rs. 6,999, not a huge difference in price.
Display
There’s no such improvement in the display when both the generations of Micromax Unite are compared. Micromax Unite 3 has the same 4.7 inches display with a resolution of 480x800. It is a disappointment as most of the smartphones priced under 8K comes with a 720p display. Lenovo A6000, Redmi 2, and Micromax’s own Yu series integrates an HD panel.
The display of the smartphone fails to impress as the 199ppi pixel density results in not so crisp images, texts, icons, etc. Moreover the viewing angles are also bad, which makes it quite difficult to use the smartphone in outdoor conditions. We do not recommend this smartphone for consumers who are looking for a decent display unit under 8K. You can go for the options we have mentioned above.
Performance
Under the hood is the same 1.3 GHz Quad Core Mediatek MTK6582 processor that powered the last generation Unite 2. The RAM is also the same, i.e. 1 GB to take care of the multitasking performance. The smartphone loses the specifications game in budget smartphone category as most of the contenders integrates an octa-core chipset and double the RAM.
Micromax Unite 3 is good for basic multimedia tasks such as video playback, casual games, some occasional photography, browsing, etc. You will be disappointed if you would expect something more than this. Talking about the multitasking performance, the smartphone stutters with more than 8 active applications in the background. And there are frequent lags during games such as Dead Trigger, Spiderman Unlimited, etc. Something which we did not experienced in Redmi 2, Lenovo A6000, A7000, Yuphoria, etc.
Software
Micromax Unite 3 runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop and delivers fluid performance. The OS is very well optimized and we did not face any issues with the software performance on Canvas Knight 2. Micromax has emphasized on the software side in the new generation Unite smartphone.
The smartphone comes pre-loaded with 10 pre-loaded regional languages, just like Unite 2 however, there’s more to this. In the keyboard, you can simply swipe right to translate your message from English to the language of your choice and vice versa. You can also transliterate your message from English to your mother tongue with a left swipe. This minor software feature comes quite handy in everyday usage.
Moreover, you also get the regional keyboard for typing in the language of your choice.
Micromax Unite 3 also integrates Smart Awake, a feature that lets you access your favorite apps quickly by setting pre-gestures. Besides this, Micromax Unite 3 also comes pre-loaded with App centre, Ask me, Clean master, Dr Safety, Facebook & Facebook Messenger, Hotstar, etc.
Camera and battery
The camera performance is also average. Micromax Unite 3 is good for taking pictures in daylight as the snapper is not able to do justice in lowlight conditions. The pictures comes out to be noisy and colors also looks washed out.
Micromax Unite 3 is backed by the same 2000 mAh battery unit (as seen in Unite 2), which offers 7 to 9 backup with moderate usage. Under heavy usage, which includes video playback, maps, gaming, etc. the smartphone does not last for 6 hours, which is not acceptable. Micromax should have added a more powerful battery to improve the overall experience.
The smartphone comes with 8 GB internal storage that can be further expanded up-to 32 GB via microSD card.