Micromax Launches Canvas Win W092, Canvas Win W121 with Windows Phone 8.1; Should Nokia be Worried

Nokia had been one of the most preferred mobile brands for Indians in earlier days. As the world moved from just mobile phones to smartphones, the Finland company started losing its ground in the subcontinent.

After a short break from being the leading handset brand in the Indian market Nokia once again started getting into the pockets of mobile users with the launch of its Lumia series running Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system.

However, Indian smartphone maker Micromax seems to be planning of giving some sleepless nights to Nokia as it debuts it first two smartphones running Windows Phone 8.1 out of the box.

Micromax launched two Windows Phone-based smartphones — Canvas Win W092 and Canvas Win W121 – and both the handsets fall into the budget category.

The common specifications in the handsets are: Windows Phone 8.1 OS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 1.2 GHz quad-core processor, 1 GB of RAM and dual-SIM connectivity.

The Canvas Win W092 is priced at just Rs 6,500 and sports a 4-inch WVGA IPS display, a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera with a flash light and a .3 megapixel front-facing camera. The handset has 8 GB of internal storage that can be extended up to 32 GB with the help of a microSD card, and is juiced up by a 1,500 mAh battery.

The Canvas Win W121 comes with a 5-inch 720 pixel display. The smartphone has an 8 megapixel rear-facing camera with a flash light and a 2 megapixel front-facing shooter. The storage capacity of the Canvas Win W121 is just as of the Canvas Win W092. However the battery of the Canvas Win W121 is of 2,000 mAh and the handset comes with a leather finish back panel. The phone is priced at Rs 9,500.

With the launch of these two Windows Phone-based smartphones, Micromax has become the first Indian brand to offer Windows phone.

With not many big brands opting to release their products with Windows Phone, Nokia had been enjoying most of the Windows Phone user space. With its budget products like Nokia Lumia 520 the dependency on Windows Phone was also paying back Nokia in terms of blocking the lower end of smartphone market.

Smarphone makers providing Android-based handsets had been facing cut throat competition in the budget segment as there are so many players sharing a small section of the pie.

However, as Micromax has already shown its performance and worth in the Android-based device and given Samsung a very tough time in Indian market, now it’s time for Nokia to face some heat.