Micromax has now started afresh with the Dual series. And has launched the first smartphone Dual 5. Talking about the specifications, Micromax Dual 5 looks powerful and the software is also good. The company also claims that Dual 5 has the best camera in its segment.
Micromax plans to capture 19 percent market share in the premium smartphone category (above Rs 20,000) with this new series. But the road is not that easy. Will this new phone be able to compete with other big names in the market? Let’s find out in the review.
Micromax Dual 5 design
The Micromax Dual 5 has an all-metal body with chamfered edges. The phone feels sturdy when held in the hand. The 2.5D curved-edge glass on the front gives the phone an attractive and premium feel. The phone looks good from the rear. There are antenna bands on the top and bottom. Apart from this, there are two cameras on the rear, dual-tone LED flash and a fingerprint sensor. There is a Micromax logo at the bottom of the rear and we like this branding style as the phone looks clean without many logos. The curved edges give the phone a good grip and it can be held comfortably in the hand. Micromax has named it ‘Arc Design’.
The phone has power and volume buttons on the right side. There is a customizable ‘smart key’ on the left side. There is a hybrid dual-SIM tray on the left side. The phone has a 3.5mm audio jack and an infrared emitter for controlling electronic appliances on the top. The phone has a USB Type-C port and speaker grille on the bottom side. The Dual 5 has a capacitive navigation button for Android navigation just below the display. These buttons are not backlit which is a problem for a phone of this price.
Despite the 5.5-inch display, the Micromax Dual 5 is easy to hold and can be used with one hand. However, we recommend holding the phone with both hands as the metal back panel can make it slippery. The Dual 5 comes with a light weight of 164 grams considering the display.
In our opinion, the Dual 5 is one of the most beautiful smartphones that Micromax has ever launched. It certainly looks better than other smartphones in this price segment.
Micromax Dual 5 specifications and software
The Dual 5 is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor. The phone has 4GB of RAM and a massive 128GB of storage. Storage is one of the biggest features of the phone. There are very few options in the market that come with 128GB of storage at this price point. The Xiaomi Mi Max Prime is another handset that comes with 128GB of storage and a Snapdragon 652 processor, but it doesn’t have any of the other features of the Dual 5.
Micromax Dual 5 has a 5.5 inch Full HD (1080×1920 pixels) Super AMOLED display which comes with 2.5D curved Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. Apart from this, the storage in Dual 5 can be increased up to 128 GB through microSD card by removing the second SIM card. For connectivity, the phone has features like 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 AC and Bluetooth 4.1. The phone has accelerometer, ambient light sensor, gyroscope, infrared sensor and proximity sensor. This phone has a 3200 mAh battery which supports Quick Charge 3.0. The company claims that the phone’s battery gets charged up to 95 percent in just 45 minutes.
The phone runs Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow with the company’s own UI on top. Micromax has developed a new UI which is expected to be seen in other devices in the future. The new interface doesn’t have an app drawer which means all apps will be on the home screen. The app icons, quick settings toggles and the Settings app itself have been completely redesigned. The new skin has a lot of animations and we really liked the Speedup memory management app that comes preinstalled. You can set a ‘smart key’ to launch apps without unlocking the phone.
The phone has a Theme app that lets users choose from six default themes, as well as wallpapers, ringtones and fonts. There is no way to add more themes to the phone right now, but that is expected in the near future. The phone also has a dedicated Wallpaper app that lets you change wallpapers with just a tap on an app icon. A Freezer app lets users drag and drop less frequently used apps to the phone, which helps speed up the phone.
Users can set up an anti-theft app by linking a Google account to the phone. The device can then be tracked in case it is lost. We liked Micromax’s new SafeSwitch feature, which keeps data safe in case the phone is stolen. At the launch of the Dual 5, the company clarified that the physical buttons will automatically lock when the SIM card is removed from the phone and can only be disabled if a password is entered within 30 seconds. The non-activation of the buttons will not turn off the phone and will help users track the phone. Also, if a password is not entered within 60 minutes of removing the SIM, personal data can be deleted from the phone. Also, if someone tries to unlock your phone, their picture will be taken and sent to the account you have set up.
Micromax says that the Dual 5 has an independent security chip for strong passwords and fingerprints and EAL 5+ military grade security. The Dual 5 also has a feature called SecureVault. This is a place for which a separate fingerprint can be set. The information stored here cannot be accessed without unlocking. This feature worked as expected in our attempt. Apart from this, the phone also has security apps like 360 Security and 360 Clone. With an app called Heat Source, you can know those apps running in the background due to which the phone is getting heated.
As you can see, this phone comes with a lot of pre-installed apps. But the good thing is that many of these can be removed. We think it would have been better if the phone came with Android Nougat. This is becoming a common feature in this price segment these days.
Micromax Dual 5 Camera Performance
As per its name, Micromax Dual 5 has two 13-megapixel rear cameras. Photos can be taken simultaneously from both the cameras. After this, the phone’s software processes a single picture. These two sensors are used for focus and depth-of-field. Aperture F/1.8 and phase detection autofocus (PDAF) have been used in both the cameras. The phone has bokeh effect. This effect has been seen in very few phones so far.
The camera app defaults to dual sensor mode, although this can be changed manually. The main features of the Dual 5 camera are colour reproduction, detail and sharpness. In good light, the phone took great pictures, especially close-up shots. We liked the Micromax Dual 5’s fast focusing feature. But the images take time to process, which can be a nuisance for the user. We were surprised to see that the regular mode took the same amount of time to process images as the dual mode. Hopefully Micromax will fix this issue through an upcoming software update.
In low light, the images taken with the Dual 5 vary depending on the lighting. Some of the images we took looked attractive, but the quality of the images deteriorates in the dark. There is a lot of noise in the images taken in low light. However, the texture and colour remained good. The images looked good on the phone’s display, but noise can be seen in the images on a larger screen.
The Dual 5 has a 13-megapixel front camera with aperture f/2.0. There is a SmartBeauty mode in the app to make selfies more beautiful. We got good color reproduction and detailing in the selfies taken with the Dual 5 in daylight, but the same quality is not there at night.
There are many modes in the phone’s camera app. White balance, ISO, focus and shutter speed can be set manually in Pro mode. Macro mode is provided for close-up photography. Apart from 4K video recording, the camera supports slow motion, GIF and time lapse videos. There are also some filters in the phone.
Micromax Dual 5 performance
The overall performance of the Dual 5 impressed us and we had no issues while multitasking. The phone plays HD videos without any issues. We also liked the sound output from the speakers as they sounded clear even at high volumes and are good enough for a room. Our review unit did not come with the retail box so we cannot say anything about the bundled earphones. However, the sound output from our earphones was excellent.
The call quality on the Micromax Dual 5 is excellent and it supports VoLTE (Voice over LTE). According to Micromax, the Dual 5 has stereoscopic antennas which make the signals 3 times faster. During our review, we found that there was no problem even in weak areas of the network. The Super AMOLED panel is bright and sharp. The colors are vibrant and the touch response is also excellent. The viewing angles are excellent. The fingerprint sensor also works fast. The Dual 5 scored well in benchmark tests, which is similar to other phones in this price segment.
During our review, we noticed that the Dual 5 got heated up while using benchmark apps or using the camera for long periods of time. The phone also got warm during navigation using Google Maps. The rear of the phone also got a little warm when playing graphics-intensive games like Dead Trigger 2, Asphalt 8 and Super Mario Run. Though it is not too bothersome, it is noticeable.
With normal use, the Dual 5’s battery lasted a full day and we have no complaints about the battery. In our HD video loop test, the Dual 5’s battery lasted 10 hours and 50 minutes, which isn’t bad. But we’ve seen better battery performance from other phones with similar battery capacity. The phone can be charged from zero to 40 percent in 20 minutes of charging and fully charged in less than an hour.
Our verdict
The overall performance of the Micromax Dual 5 surprised us. As promised, the dual rear camera produced high-quality photos. The company is offering a free replacement warranty for one year. Apart from this offer, Micromax also claims that the company has improved its sales service network.
In terms of price and specifications, the Dual 5 competes directly with the Vivo V5 Plus (Review), Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) and Asus Zenfone 3 (Review), all of which are priced around the same price. The Dual 5 can also be seen as an alternative to the Honor 8 (Review), which is more expensive than the Dual 5. If you’re willing to spend a little more, the OnePlus 3T (Review) starts at Rs 29,999 and is a much better package.
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