The smartphone budget segment in India is heating up as more and more entrants continue to provide value for money smartphones at low prices. Samsung recently unveiled its latest contender for the budget segment, the Galaxy A12. With the Galaxy A12, the Korean manufacturer wants to widen its reach to the budget segment this year but will other companies let it do so?
Micromax, which made a comeback late last year is also trying to impress users with a smartphone that comes with stock Android – Note 1. The Galaxy A12 and the In Note 1 fall in the same price segment which means one of it might give out a better value for its price. So let’s compare them and have a look.
Design and Display
On the back of the Galaxy A12, we have a square camera design consisting of 4 Sensors and a flash below it. On the front, the device has a water-drop style notch housing the front camera. The smartphone has a fingerprint sensor integrated into the power button itself.
The Micromax In Note 1 has a rectangular camera array with quad cameras and a flash. There’s also a fingerprint sensor along with the ‘In’ branding at the bottom. We also have a dedicated Google Assistant button which is a nice addition. In our opinion, the design on the In Note 1 gives a more modern feel with the X-patterned back. The Galaxy A12’s design looks ordinary and similar to some other devices launched by the company recently.
The Galaxy A12 features a 6.5-inch HD+ display with an Infinity-V notch and 20:9 aspect ratio. On the other hand, In Note 1 comes with a 6.67-inch FHD+ display.
While both of them have LCD panels, the size of the display is slightly bigger on In Note 1 and it also has a better resolution, which means you get a sharper and clearer image and a more immersive experience on Micromax’s smartphone.
Software and Performance
The In Note 1 packs a Mediatek Helio G85 Chipset clocked at 2.0Ghz under the hood. The device comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of storage.
The Samsung Galaxy A12 is powered by the MediaTek Helio P35 octa-core chipset with CPU cores clocked at 2.3GHz and 1.8GHz respectively. It is paired with 4GB of RAM and up to 128GB of Storage with expansion upto 1TB.
Both the devices have processors from the same chipset manufacturer but the In Note 1 comes with a better Processor that will provide you with better gaming as well as performance experience in all scenarios. The chipset used in Galaxy A12 was released back in 2018 and is now outdated. The RAM and storage on both devices are identical and won’t be an issue on either of them.
On the software part, In Note 1 runs on Stock Android 10 with Android 11 arriving in the month of April as promised by the company. The Galaxy A12 is running on Android 10 based on OneUI 2.5 with no information available in sight regarding the Android 11 update.
This again means you get an updated and a bloatware-free experience on the In Note 1. Stock Android paired with the latest G series processor from MediaTek will not only give you a better overall experience, but will also feel faster at the same time along with quicker updates. Micromax will not have to modify their software much before releasing an update for the In Note 1 as it runs on Stock Android whereas in the case of Samsung, the company will have to first heavily modify its software.
This means In Note 1 is a better choice in this segment as well.
Read More: Samsung Galaxy A12 vs Poco M3
Cameras
The In Note 1 has a 48MP Quad Camera setup at back while the other three cameras are the standard 5MP Ultra Wide, 2 MP Macro, and 2MP depth sensors. It has a 16MP camera on the front for the selfies.
The Galaxy A12 offers a quad-camera setup including a 48MP Samsung ISOCELL GM2 primary sensor, a 5MP ultra-wide lens, a 2MP macro, and a 2MP depth sensor on the rear. For selfies, the smartphone has an 8MP front-facing shooter.
On paper, the specifications of cameras on both the smartphones match meaning the result for a better camera now relies on real-life image samples. Higher megapixels do not matter anymore in the smartphone world and we would have to compare them side by side to tell you which of the smartphones has a better selfie shooter, and the rear cameras as well.
Battery
Galaxy A12 comes with a 5,000mAh battery and 15W fast-charging support rechargeable through the USB Type-C port at the bottom while the In Note 1 also packs a 5,000mAh battery that has 18W Fast charging support along with reverse charging support.
The battery capacities on both of them are 5000mAh but the one on In Note 1 will charge slightly faster as it supports a higher wattage for charging. Also, the device gets reverse charging support through which you can charge other devices using a cable. The battery life usage depends on the user’s use-case scenario and the number of apps installed. But because of higher charging wattage support and reverse charging support, the In Note 1 is clearly the winner here as well.
Price
Micromax In Note 1 is priced at Rs 10,999 for the 4GB RAM + 64GB storage variant, while the 128GB variant is priced at Rs 12,499.
The Galaxy A12 is sold in 2 variants where the 4GB + 64GB variant is priced at Rs 12,999 while 4GB + 128GB is priced at Rs 13,999.
The Micromax In Note 1 is a clear winner and has dusted the Galaxy A12 in every segment by a considerable margin. A better display, faster charging, reverse charging, stock Android and a better processor, all at a less price than Galaxy A12 have LED to In Note 1’s victory in this battle.