Canvas WIN W121 vs Lumia 630 vs WIN Q900S : Which One to Buy
We recently review Xolo’s Win Q900S and Micromax’s Canvas WIN W121 which are not only the first Windows Phone from the OEMs, but they are also in direct competition with the Nokia Lumia 630, which is selling at the same price range. It’s a war for mid ranged Windows Phone with these phones in market, and so in this post we compare to figure out their strengths and weaknesses.
Video Review
Build & Design
All these three phone deliver great experience in this section, and it will boil down to what a consumers like. Lumia 630 is an ideal example, if you are looking for a phone, which maintains a balance between design, and build. It’s not very heavy, delivers strong build, and good looking form factor which is the traditional Lumia design.
However, if a consumer is looking for a light phone with great form factor, Xolo’s Windows Phone is heart throbbing. Personally, it’s my favorite phone for many reasons including its lightness.
Looking for a big screen phone with solid build quality? Pickup a Micromax Canvas WIN W121. Except for the front design, the phone gives you a number of reasons to buy it. Premium rear case with leather finishing and a 5 inch screen.
Button Experience: WIN Q900S > Lumia 630 > Canvas WIN W121.
I loved the arrangement of having volume knockers on the left and lock button on right instead of having all the buttons on one side. This way, I was able to access both of them easily compared to Lamia’s buttons, all of which were on one side.
Verdict : This will completely depend on personal choice.
Display & Screen:
Resolution:
Both, WIN Q900S & Canvas WIN W121, are new generation of device which has 720P display. They not only look awesome, they up the whole reading, media consumption experience by multiple folds. If you compare the Xolo’s with Micromax, the former does even better because of Xolo WIN Q900S One Glass Solution which makes the display looks floating.
Compare to both of these phones, Lumia 630 take a step back as the resolution is only 854 x 480. While it does miss the wow factor of the HD display, its not really that bad using it, and no, I am not taking sides. The display is sharp, the colors don’t change when you change viewing angles, and so on. It is just not as good, as the above two phones.
Screen:
- Lumia 630 : 4.5 inch IPS LCD Screen with Corning Gorilla Glass 3.
- WIN Q900S: 4.7 inch IPS LCD with Scratch Resistant Dragon Trail Glass
- WIN W121: is a 5 inch phone with no mention of on board screen protection.
Now, to my experience, WIN W121 and Lumia 630 performed really well with no scratches after using it over a week. While WIN Q900S had 2-3 scratches.
Day Light or the Sunlight Readability:
I was expecting Lumia 630 to perform better because of the Clear Black Display technology, but both Xolo and Micromax phones have more brightness which compensate enough to read in broad day light.
Swipe Experience:
WIN Q900S is a total winner here. I found the swipe better, compared to both the phones.
Verdict: Xolo WIN Q900S > Lumia 630 > Micromax Canvas WIN W121
Camera (Picture and Video Quality)
Our camera expert, Kuntal, did individual camera review of the Micromax Canvas WIN W121, Xolo WIN Q900s, and Lumia 630. Looking at all these reviews, WIN W121 completely wins, as it was able to capture more details in the picture compared to others.
Lumia 630 doesn’t have a flash, nor the day light pictures turned out to be real good. I will be coming up with a separate and detailed review of all these three cameras, next week.
Verdict: Micromax Canvas WIN W121 > Xolo WIN Q900S > Nokia Lumia 630
Application Performance:
If you look at the hardware specs, you might have a different thought about the Lumia 630 which has 512 MB RAM, compared to both WIN Q900S and WIN W121, which houses 1 GB RAM, but the real experience is different. Also, Lumia 630 is powered by Snapdragon 400 compared to Xolo and Micromax devices which are powered by Snapdragon 200.
We ran similar applications on all three devices, and performance wise, none of the apps were lagging. The app list included WhatsApp, Facebook, Messenger, Twitter and games like Asphalt 8 heat. Things are smooth, does multitasking nicely and app launches are fast.
Verdict: Xolo WIN Q900S = Micromax Canvas WIN W121 = Nokia Lumia 630
Game Performance (Asphalt 8 : Airborne)
All three device performed satisfactory with Asphalt 8 Airborne. While gaming experience on Xolo and Micromax devices were better, because of the 720P display.
Xolo’s WIN Q900s is best of all. It doesn’t heat up at all, even though its thing and game rendering looks amazing because of the display. Lumia 630 does heat up a little, but its way less than Micromax device, which tops the chart.
Verdict: Xolo WIN Q900S > Nokia Lumia 630 > Micromax Canvas WIN W121
Also, check out gaming review(video) of Xolo, Micromax and Lumia 630
Battery:
The newly introduced processor in WIN Q900S and Canvas WIN W121 makes sure that battery life of the devices is better, compared to the Lumia 630. Looking at the test results we had during the review time, 630 lasts for 14 hours, while the Xolo and Micromax devices can extend for 18 hours.
Lumia 630 is packed with 1430 mAh, WIN Q900Swith 1830 mAH and Canvas WIN W121 with 2000 mAH.
Verdict: Xolo WIN Q900S = Micromax Canvas WIN W121 = Nokia Lumia 630
Storage:
All the phones come with 8 GB internal storage with micro SD Support. While nothing differs here, Canvas WIN Q900S and WIN Q900s supports up to 32GB while the Lumia 630 goes up to 128 GB MicroSD Support. All the devices lets you install and update apps right on the SD card. You can directly store movies, video, pictures to SD card as well.
Verdict: Nokia Lumia 630 > Xolo WIN Q900S = Micromax Canvas WIN W121
Audio:
- In-Calls : All the phones worked perfectly and none of them had any type of network issue.
- On Speakers: Lumia 630 > Canvas WIN W121 > WIN Q900S
- Using Earphones: Equal Performing and none of them have equalizer
The Lumia Experience
It is very difficult to understand what a Lumia experience means, unless you actually use a non Lumia device. After using two of them, I truly understand the meaning of it, and why Lumia devices are little low on specs.
While, you can keep away the Lumia design factor, what you cannot miss to afford are the apps, which are exclusive to the Lumia devices. Nokia Camera, Here Drive, Lumia Selfie, Lumia Creative Studio, Mix Radio, Video Tuner, are few of the apps which make a Lumia, A Lumia.
For example, a Here Drive+ will cost you USD 40 or approximately Rs 2400 if you want turn by turn navigation. Though third party apps like gMaps are there to hold things up, the experience is still not the same.
Conclusion:
Looking at all the aspects, its really hard to recommend one over the another. To make it simple, if you want a Lumia experience which includes both the Lumia design and the Lumia Apps, go for Lumia 630. However, if you want better hardware specs and display, pickup either Xolo WIN Q900S or the Micromax Canvas WIN W121.
Comparing between Xolo and Micromax devices. If you want a light weight phone with brilliant display experience, Xolo WIN Q900S should be your choice. While, Micromax Canvas WIN W121 is for those who prefer big device and premium looks.
