Micromax has now once again made a new beginning with the Dual Series. And the first smartphone Dual 5 has been launched. Talking about 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 path is not that easy. Will this new phone be able to compete with other big names in the market? Let us know in the review.
micromax dual 5 design
The Micromax Dual 5 is made of an all-metal body and has chamfered edges. The phone feels solid 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 when viewed 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 way of branding as the phone looks clean without too many logos. Due to the curved edges, the phone has a good grip and 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’s a customizable ‘smart key’ on the left. On the left side is a hybrid dual-SIM tray. The phone has a 3.5mm audio jack and an infrared ammeter at the top to control electronic appliances. The phone has a USB Type-C port and speaker grill at the bottom. 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 at this price.
Despite the 5.5-inch display, the Micromax Dual 5 is easy to hold and can be easily used with one hand. However, we suggest holding the phone with both hands as it may slip due to the metal back panel. Considering the Dual 5 display it comes with a light weight of 164 grams.
In our view, the Dual 5 is one of the most beautiful smartphones Micromax has ever launched. This phone definitely looks better than other smartphones in this price segment.
Micromax Dual 5 specifications and software
The Dual 5 has an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor. The phone has 4 GB RAM and 128 GB large storage. Storage is one of the biggest features of the phone. At this price, there are very few options available in the market that come with 128 GB storage. The Xiaomi Mi Max Prime is another handset that comes with 128GB storage and a Snapdragon 652 processor, but it doesn’t have any other features of the Dual 5.
Micromax Dual 5 sports a 5.5-inch Full HD (1080×1920 pixels) Super AMOLED display with 2.5D curved Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. Apart from this, the storage in Dual 5 can be expanded up to 128 GB via 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 an 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.
This phone runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow on which the company’s UI is given. Micromax has developed a new UI which can also be seen in other upcoming devices in the future. The new interface does not have an app drawer which means all the apps will remain on the home screen. App icons, quick settings toggles, and the Settings app have been completely redesigned. The new skin has a lot of animations and we especially liked the pre-installed Speedup memory management app. You can set ‘Smart Key’ to launch apps without unlocking the phone.
The phone has a Theme app that lets users choose between six default themes, as well as wallpapers, ringtones and fonts. However, there is no way to add more themes to the phone right now, but this is expected to happen in the future. The phone also has a separate wallpaper app from which the wallpaper can be changed with a single tap on the app icon. A Freezer app lets users drag and drop less-used apps. This helps in running the phone at speed.
Users can set up an anti-theft app by linking a Google account to the phone. After this the device can 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 time of 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 be disabled only after entering the password within 30 seconds. The phone will not be switched off due to the button not being active and will help the user in tracking the phone. Additionally, if a password is not entered within 60 minutes of removing the SIM, personal data may be deleted from the phone. Additionally, if someone tries to unlock your phone, their photo will be captured and sent to the account you set up.
Micromax says that the Dual 5 has an independent security chip for strong password and fingerprint and EAL 5+ military grade security. The Dual 5 also has a feature called SecureVault. This is a space for which a separate fingerprint can be set. The information stored here cannot be accessed without unlocking it. This feature worked as expected in our testing. Apart from this, the phone also has security apps like 360 Security and 360 Clone. With the app named Heat Source, you can know the apps running in the background due to which the phone is getting heated.
As you can see, many apps come pre-installed in this phone. But the good thing is that many of these can be removed. We feel that it would have been better if the phone came with Android Nougat. Nowadays this is becoming a common feature in this price segment.
micromax dual 5 camera performance
Micromax Dual 5, as per its name, has two rear cameras of 13 megapixels. Pictures can be taken simultaneously from both 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 phone has been seen in very few phones till now.
The camera app has dual sensor mode by default, although this can be changed manually. The most important feature of the Dual 5 camera is color reproduction, detail and sharpness. In good lighting the phone took great pictures, especially close-up shots. We liked the fast focusing feature of the Micromax Dual 5. But it takes time to process the photos, which can cause problems for the user. We were surprised to see that it took the same amount of time to process images in regular mode as compared to dual mode. It is expected that Micromax will correct this flaw through the upcoming software update.
In low light, pictures taken with Dual 5 vary depending on the light. We found some of the photos attractive, but the phone quality degrades in darkness. A lot of noise is visible in photographs taken in low light. However, the texture and color remained fine. Pictures looked good on the phone’s display but noise could be seen in the pictures on the larger screen.
Dual 5 has a 13-megapixel front camera with aperture F/2.0. The app has a SmartBeauty mode to make selfies more beautiful. We found selfies taken with the Dual 5 in daylight with good color reproduction and detailing, but the same quality does not remain the same at night.
There are many modes in the phone’s camera app. Pro mode allows white balance, ISO, focus and shutter speed to be set manually. Macro mode is provided for close-up photography. The camera supports slow motion, GIF and time lapse videos in addition to 4K video recording. The phone also has some filters.
micromax dual 5 performance
The general performance of the Dual 5 impressed us and we faced no issues while multitasking. HD video plays in the phone without any problem. We also liked the sound coming from the speaker as the sound is clear even at high volume and is fine for a room. We did not receive a retail box with our review unit, so we can’t say anything about the earphones that come with it. However, the sound we got from our earphones was fantastic.
Call quality on the Micromax Dual 5 was excellent and it supports VoLTE (Voice over LTE). According to Micromax, Stereoscopic antenna has been provided in Dual 5 due to which the signal comes 3 times faster. During our review, we found that there was no problem even on networks with weak areas. The Super AMOLED panel is bright and sharp. The colors were bright and the touch response was also excellent. The viewing angles are very good. The fingerprint sensor also works fast. The Dual 5 scored well in benchmark tests, which is in line with other phones in this price segment.
During our review, we noticed that the Dual 5 did get warm while running benchmark apps or using the camera for extended periods of time. The phone gets hot even during navigation while using Google Maps. The rear of the phone also gets a little warm while playing graphics games like Dead Trigger 2, Asphalt 8 and Super Mario Run. Although it doesn’t cause much trouble, it does attract attention.
Under normal usage, the Dual 5’s battery lasted a full day and we have no complaints about the battery. The Dual 5’s battery lasted 10 hours and 50 minutes in our HD video loop test, which isn’t bad. But we have seen better battery performance in other phones with similar battery capacity. In 20 minutes of charging, the phone gets charged from zero to 40 percent and in less than an hour the phone gets fully charged.
our decision
The overall performance of Micromax Dual 5 surprised us. As promised, the dual rear camera produced high-quality photos. The company is giving free replacement warranty for one year. Apart from this offer, Micromax also claimed that the company has improved its sales service network.
If we look at the price and specifications of Dual 5, its direct competition will be with Vivo V5 Plus (Review), Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) and Asus Zenfone 3 (Review). All these phones are available around this 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 want to spend a little more money, the OnePlus 3T (Review) starts at Rs 29,999 and is a much better package.