Micromax In 1 Review: Stock Android Saves The Day

After a long vacation, Micromax returned to the Indian smartphone industry with two ‘In’ series smartphones. Both were considerably good on paper, quite different from what I thought them to be, and the stock Android was cherry on top. Now Micromax is back with another In series smartphone, the Micromax In 1, the spiritual successor to last years In 1b. The question that arises is, MicromaxIn 1 any good, also can it survive the heat. So, I got a chance to spend some time with the Micromax In 1, and here’s my review of the same.

Design and Build

Starting with the design, it’s not something out of the world, and I was not even expecting it to be. Just like every other budget smartphone, the Micromax In 1 comes with a plastic rear panel with quite an interesting ‘X’ pattern over it, which changes as the light falls on it. Although the build isn’t quite robust, considering the price point, it’s good enough to handle some drops, and you get a TPU cover to save the day.

It’s quite a large phone, and frankly, button placements are better than most of the smartphones in this segment. You can find the power button beneath the volume rocker on the right side, and then there’s a dedicated google assistant on the left accompanied by the sim tray where you can put two nano-sim and one micro SD card to use. On the bottom, you get a USB Type-C port, 3.5mm audio jack and the speaker.

As I said, the back panel is quite fancy, but some would find it too flashy, and I don’t have anything against it as it depends on one’s preferences. The fingerprint sensor is on the back along with a not so colossal camera module which does protrude a little, and the best part is that it does not have any huge branding (which looks ugly); instead, Micromax went with a subtle ‘in’ branding at the bottom.

Weighing at 195 grams, the Micromax In 1 is quite heavy and oversized, too, thanks to its 5000mAH battery and 6.67-inch display.

Display

Micromax In 1 comes with a 6.67-inch IPS LCD panel which is a tad brighter than its competition. It produces vivid colours and has good enough viewing angles, plus its FHD+, so it’s all great. Speaking of bezels, it’s pretty thin, but the punch-hole cutout for the selfie camera is quite big enough, and at first, it was a bit distractive, but you won’t notice it at all after a day or two.

Now coming to screen protection, it is said to come with Rainbow Glass, and this is the first time I ever heard about it, and as far as I think, it’s just a marketing term. Since I haven’t dropped it till now, I can’t vouch for it. So better get a tempered glass before you start playing around with it.

Performance

The Micromax In 1 is powered by the good old Mediatek Helio G80 chipset, which is relatively abundant in the budget segment. The Helio G80 doesn’t disappoint in the In 1. The Helio G80 inside can handle day-to-day tasks very well, and yes, you can also play games on it though not on the highest graphic settings. 

For those intrigued about its RAM management, I have to say that it’s better than all the smartphones running custom Android skins. The stock android on In 1 holds up the apps much longer than MIUI and RealmeUI, and the 4GB RAM variant will be more than enough. 

What makes the Micromax In 1 different from the crowd is the stock android experience, and honestly, I never expected this from Micromax. But here we are in 2021, where we are getting a Micromax smartphone with a clean and reliable user experience. Although the In 1 is still stuck on the Android 10, let’s hope that Micromax rolls out the Android 11 update as soon as possible.

Coming to the battery life, I want to say one word, astounding. With its 5000mAh battery, the In 1 can get through a whole day even if you are a heavy user, and with light to moderate usage, it will last you more than two days. However, you need to be patient while charging it as it takes around 2 hours to get from 0 to 100%. 

Camera

The Micromax In 1 comes with three cameras on the back with a 48MP Samsung sensor leading the front with two 2MP sensors functioning as a macro camera and a depth sensor. 

I was a bit shoddy about the camera performance, but it did a great job, especially in daylight scenarios, while it did struggle a lot in low light conditions. During the daytime, the photos clicked with the primary camera had accurate colours, and even the dynamic range was better than I expected. Though, there are some focusing issues which mean sometimes you can end up with blurry photos. 

Things take a roundabout in the low light situations as the images turn out to be quite noisy and soft. But, night mode helps maintain a respectable amount of details with a reduced amount of noise.  

Speaking of the other two 2MP cameras, they are good for nothing. Instead, Micromax should have given a low-resolution ultrawide camera, or just that primary camera alone would have been more than enough. The 2MP macro shooter performs just like the other macro cameras found in the budget segment, while the 2MP depth sensor is of no use as the main camera creates well enough bokeh.

The 8MP selfie camera is average, and it takes good enough selfies during daylight, but it fails to deliver in the low light situation. However, you can click selfies in the Night Mode, although images come out with no visible difference.

Micromax In 1: Final Verdict

Micromax In 1 comes with average hardware, but the stock android makes up for its not so great hardware. It might lag behind its Chinese counterparts, but it’s not far behind. So if you are out in the market looking for a non-Chinese smartphone, then the Micromax In 1 is an excellent ‘Made in India’ smartphone that offers a cleaner and smoother user experience.