2020 has notoriously been an eventful year — both generally speaking and in the realm of smartphones. Among the many things that happened, plenty of good budget phones were launched by brands across the board. One of these is Micromax, which made its comeback after a long hiatus. The homegrown company announced two new smartphones under its In branding, one of which is the In 1b.
I have been using the device for a couple of weeks now and here’s my journal of it.
Micromax In 1b Unboxing
- The Phone
- Charger
- USB-C cable
- SIM Tray Pin
- Screen Guard
- User Guide
Micromax has done a good job with the packaging and in-box contents (especially including the tempered glass is a nice touch). The turquoise blue color of the box is an eye-pleaser.
On to the phone now. Here’s everything it offers on paper:
Micromax In 1b Price and Specs
| Model | Micromax In 1b |
| Dimensions and Weight | 164.5 x 75.8 x 8.9 mm; 188 g |
| Display | 6.52-inches, IPS LCD, HD, 82.3% screen-to-body ratio, 400 nits brightness |
| Selfie Camera | 8MP; 1080p@30fps |
| Rear Camera | 13MP + 2MP; 1080p@30fps |
| Software | Android 10 |
| Processor | MediaTek Helio G35 (12 nm) |
| Memory | 32GB 2GB RAM, 64GB 4GB RAM (up to 128GB via microSD card) |
| Battery | 5000mAh with 10W charging |
| Price | 2+32GB: ₹6,999 4+64GB: ₹7,999 |
Cut to the chase, here’s all you need to know —
Page Jumps
Micromax In 1b Design and Display
Taking out the phone off the box, the few things I noticed are its ergonomics, the additional button to summon G Assistant, USB-C port, and the mere exposure effect the device brings to the table. The latter is due to the dual-tone finish at the back, which is reminiscent of the Realme C11 (review). I also like the textured feel it endows on the palm.
I have here with me the pretty and palatable purple palette. I call it so for the range of shades it presents with slight twists and turns. If you don’t prefer this paint, you can also choose the Blue and Green hues. Rest, the arrangement of the camera domino, round reader, speaker slit, and In insignia look neat.
Flip to the fore, and again it’s quite a familiar face. You’ve got your selfie snapper sitting right up top within a dewdrop notch, and the black borders are pretty slim save for the bottom bezel. There’s a large 6.52-inch HD+ LCD display front and center. It delivers close to natural colors with moderate viewing angles, sufficient sharpness, and mediocre peak brightness. Yea, your eyes might struggle to read the screen under a scorching sun.
As mentioned already, there is an additional Google Assistant trigger on the left-hand side beneath the (2+1) SIM tray. I don’t rely on that button much. But I can see some of you might. So, it’s alright. What’s not so right is the key travel offered by all the buttons. They feel a little mushy to my liking. Oh, and before we move on, know that both the fingerprint and face scanners do an okay-ish job. I say so because sometimes they don’t seem that seamless or smooth. I’ve had to try a different registered finger or tap the face unlock icon on the lock screen to get ’em working.
Whence it unlock, you will be welcomed by the following affair.
Micromax In 1b Performance
Micromax In 1b ships with MediaTek Helio G35 CPU aided by Mali-G52 GPU, up to 4gigs of RAM, and up to 64GB onboard storage (with expandable option). There is Android 10 software slapped on top of this hardware setup. If you go with the 2GB model, you will get Android Go as expected. But regardless, the vanilla experience will appeal to not just purists, but pretty much everyone. You see the stock Android isn’t bogged down by the bloatware and heavy animations found within other OEM skins.
The result is a reliable runner that can piggyback most everyday tasks without much fuzz. Still, there are the occasional jitters, frame drops in high-end games, noticeable app loading times, and memory retention issues. While playing Asphalt 9 (in both default and High graphics), there were lags which sometimes resulted in the car crashing. I also tested Call of Duty Mobile which was playable at low GFX and high FPS settings.
Finally, here’s how it performs in synthetic tests:
| Benchmarks | Scores |
| Geekbench 5 Single | Multi | 168 | 952 |
| PCMark Work 2.0 | 5544 |
| 3DMark Slingshot Extreme OpenGL ES 3.1 (Vulkan not available) | 420 |
| 3DMark Slingshot | 758 |
| GFXBench Car Chase | Manhattan 3.0 | T-Rex (fps) | 5.3 | 18 | 27 |
| Androbench Sequential R/W (MB/s) | 247.89 | 138.67 |
| Androbench Random R/W | 46.11 | 21.7 |
Micromax In 1b Audio, Battery, and Connectivity
Micromax In 1b’s 5000mAh should easily cover your daily round. In our PCMark Work 2.0 testing, the phone ran for 10 hours 36 mins (with 20-percent juice remaining), something which we have seen from this size of a battery. The 10W charger is also slow as you’d think.
Bless you, Micromax, for giving a USB-C at this price. It is good to see both this oval socket and the headphone jack sitting side by side. The speaker grille, as you’d recall, has been shifted to the back. The sound output is reasonably loud but the placement makes it easy to get blocked and muted.
Even call audio was alright for both parties. In case you need to know, there’s a single microphone by the bottom. There is support for 4G VoLTE, VoWiFi, dual-band Wi-Fi, Hotspot, Bluetooth 5.0, and GPS/ A-GPS for your connectivity needs. The internet speeds were alright.
Micromax In 1b Cameras
In terms of optics, you are getting an 8MP sensor on the front and a 13MP plus 2MP duo by the back. The secondary rear sensor is meant for the bokeh effect in your portraits.
The camera app is pretty straight forward with common modes such as Portrait, Video, Beauty, and Night by the bottom and some quick toggles atop. There isn’t a lot to tweak within the settings too.
Coming to the captures, here, take a look —
The daylight shots come out with near-natural colors. That said, some shots may seem dull. If that’s the case, toggle HDR on, which will embellish the saturation, making the photos more attractive.
Details and dynamic range are typical to phones of this ilk.
When you get closer to the subjects, the camera can struggle at focusing.
Moving to mug shots (lockdown life), the results present ample facial features. Sometimes, the phone decides to nastily oversharpen the details, while other times the result is oddly hazy. Then, there’s the case of a weird smear on the viewfinder, when you take portraits. This appears to be some sort of software issue (probably a fault with my pre-retail unit) and should be resolved through an OTA patch. Also, note that it takes around 3 seconds to take the shot upon clicking the shutter. But, the edge detection and subject separation are okay.
Once the sun goes down, the camera fares as you’d expect it to. The night mode raises the exposure, but there isn’t a discernible difference in details.
As far as videography is concerned, you can record up to 1080p videos at 30 frames per second from both front and back. You can shoot and store moments albeit with some shakes.
And speaking of which, it’s finally the moment of truth.
Micromax In 1b Review: Verdict
You know I was eager to get my hands on the new Micromax handset. Sure, there was some excitement for the return of an INdian brand (Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera BGM) to the scene. But, I was really more curious to see how it fares against the stiff competition. Well, through a conscious choice of ingredients, I must say, In 1b has cracked the recipe for an inexpensive value phone. Micromax has knocked down my skepticism with feather, one that will stay in its cap.
Having said that, the comeback kid isn’t without issues. You’d feel the lags and limitations of the hardware in general use. Then there’s the case of inconsistencies with the camera app. But, I guess, that can be ironed out with software treatment.
So, for the price tag of ₹7,999, you’re getting a phone experience that’s mostly par for the course. O, and if you’re thinking of saving an extra grand by picking the base variant, I suggest you don’t. The performance hiccups are likely to be compounded on that one due to lesser system resources.
Pros
- Chic design
- USB-C port in this price
- Reliable connectivity
- Ad-free, bloat-free software
Cons
- Average display brightness
- Camera UI bugs
- Not for demanding games and workloads
Micromax In 1b FAQ
Q. Does Micromax In 1b has a dedicated microSD slot? How much is the supported memory card size?
A. Micromax In 1b supports memory card expansion up to 128GB using a dedicated slot.
Q. Q. What is the SAR value of Micromax In 1b?
A. Micromax In 1b SAR values are: 0.574 W/kg @ 1gm (Head) & 0.897 W/kg @ 1gm (Body)
Q. Does Micromax In 1b feature Gorilla Glass Protection?
A. The glass protection is unspecified.
Q. Does Micromax In 1b have FM Radio?
A. Yes, Micromax In 1b features FM Radio. You need to connect a headphone to use it.
Q. Does Micromax In 1b support Dual 4G VoLTE?
A. Micromax In 1b does support Dual 4G VoLTE.
Q. Does Micromax In 1b support dual-band WiFi?
A, Yes, Micromax In 1b supports dual-band WiFi.
Q. Does Micromax In 1b support VoWiFi or WiFi calling?
A. Yes, Micromax In 1b does feature VoWiFi.
Q. How many microphones are on the Micromax In 1b?
A. Micromax In 1b comes with a single microphone by the bottom. There is no dual-mic system here.
Q. Which is the Android update on Micromax In 1b?
A. Micromax In 1b ships with Android 10 stock software. Do note that the In 1b base variant comes with Android 10 (Go Edition). At the time of writing, it has the November security update. The Google Play System update is dated August 01, 2020. Micromax has promised Android 11 as well as an Android 12 upgrade.
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