Micromax, one of the biggest Indian smartphone makers was going to make its comeback today but as the headline says, it was a disaster. Well, not all of it was. The social media campaign behind the return of Micromax in the Indian smartphone market was top notch and so was the hype. There was actually a lot riding on Micromax's comeback in India. A wave of anti-china sentiment along with the people boycotting Chinese smartphones was making the situation ideal for the company to return but a lot went wrong as well.
Starting with the leaks that were coming out of the In series devices, we already knew that Micromax is planning to make its return only in the budget segment. Not because they revealed the price of the In series smartphones but because of the components they were using. Both Micromax and MediaTek had partnered up to make the In series of smartphones in India but to make a comeback in the world's biggest smartphone market with budget smartphones and no premium flagship even in the horizon left a lot to be desired.
Wait-- Did Micromax just set up a website to leak their own phones?
— Ishan Agarwal (@ishanagarwal24) November 3, 2020
This is come clownery lol, at least don't be so clear about it 😂
I didn't copy from here though but whatever.#MicromaxIsBack #INMobiles #INForIndia #MicromaxIN1b #MicromaxINNote1 pic.twitter.com/cBvWyaAxq6
Especially if you take into account that Micromax In Note 1 and Micromax In 1b are not even priced that competitively or have an inspiring design or anything even remotely exciting. Just to give an idea, the Micromax In Note 1 is the bigger one of the two In series smartphones. This device is using a MediaTek Helio G85 processor with 4GB RAM and 64GB of storage and will be sold for Rs. 10,999. Without even thinking we can tell that Realme 7i offers a far superior value to this smartphone.
You can buy a Realme 7i for Rs. 11,999 in India and for that price you get a device running on Snapdragon 662 with 6GB RAM and 64GB of storage. Just for Rs. 1000 more there is a device that destroys the Micromax In Note 1 in every way, shape, and form. That's not all, even before the launch could even happen we had the specifications and renders of both Micromax In Note 1 and Micromax In 1b were leaked. A prominent leak source Ishan Aggarwal found out what the specs of these two Micromax In Series devices were hours before the launch.
Another one:
— Ishan Agarwal (@ishanagarwal24) November 3, 2020
Micromax IN 1b Full Specs
-MTK Helio G35
-2+32GB, 4+64GB
-6.52" HD+ IPS 20:9
-5,000mAH, 10W Charge
-8MP Front
-13+2MP Camera
-Assistant Button
-Pure Android 10 OS, 2 yrs of Updates
-3.5mm Jack, USB Type-C#MicromaxIsBack #INMobiles #INForIndia #micromaxin1b pic.twitter.com/ciVTrg30eZ
Also, this should be mentioned that these leaks were not part of the original plan Micro max had for its comeback. Here's our reason for thinking so, if Micro max had not given even a tiniest of detail about the In Note 1 or In 1b then a small leak about their camera specifications or something would be considered part of a plan or marketing strategy. That is not what has happened. The leaks had everything as you can already see. There have been dumpster fires that were better executed.
Micromax IN Note 1 Details and Renders
— Ishan Agarwal (@ishanagarwal24) November 3, 2020
-MediaTek Helio G85
-48MP Camera
-5,000mAH Battery
-4+64GB
-USB Type-C
-Green & White Colour Options#MicromaxIsBack #INMobiles #INForIndia pic.twitter.com/EpY4Q8XY39
There is a real question to be asked here. Is this the best a big Indian smartphone maker can do? Let's not forget that it was this very company and not Oneplus who brought CyanogenMod to India, though it was mostly because Micromax filed a lawsuit against Oneplus and won it. The point is, Micro max did bring CyanogenMod to India with the Yu line of smartphones. Today, after years of waiting and when they could have made an impact in the country, this is what they bring to the table. A bunch of uninspiring smartphones that will be forgotten by tomorrow.