Micromax Canvas Turbo: a 5-inch Full HD phone with a 13MP camera
When Micromax unveiled the Canvas Turbo in late 2013, the Indian manufacturer signalled a clear shift in direction. Rather than leaning solely on aggressive entry-level pricing, the brand pushed a handset with a true 1080p panel, a 13-megapixel rear camera, and a faster 1.5GHz quad-core chipset. For shoppers in Australia who keep a close eye on the budget-friendly end of the smartphone market, the device is worth a closer look, especially as grey-import channels made their way to online sellers and parallel importers serving Sydney and Melbourne.
The phone arrived at a moment when the Australian mobile landscape was dominated by Samsung, HTC, Sony and Apple, with Telstra, Optus and Vodafone subsidising handsets from those brands. A budget Full HD device from a less familiar name was an unusual proposition, but buyers in Brisbane and Perth willing to skip carrier subsidies and warranty paths found the Canvas Turbo's spec sheet surprisingly generous for the asking price. For anyone tracking smartphones from this era, the Turbo occupies a memorable corner of the conversation.
Display and build quality
The Canvas Turbo ships with a 5-inch IPS LCD running at 1920×1080, which at launch gave it one of the sharpest screens in its price bracket. Pixel density sits comfortably above 440 ppi, so text in messaging apps, Google Maps and Chrome looks crisp at typical reading distances. Colours lean a little cool out of the box, though brightness is high enough for outdoor use under the harsh midday sun common around Adelaide or regional Queensland in summer.
The body uses a metallic-finish frame wrapped around a removable back cover, which feels reasonably solid for a handset in this category. At roughly 8.66mm thick and around 137 grams, the phone sits in similar territory to a Samsung Galaxy S4, though the Turbo lacks the S4's microSD slot. Small touches such as the slightly raised camera ring and the recessed power button help the device sit comfortably in one hand during a commute on a Melbourne suburban rail service.
Processor, memory and day-to-day speed
Under the hood, Micromax paired a MediaTek MT6589T chipset with four Cortex-A7 cores clocked at 1.5GHz, alongside 2GB of RAM. The MT6589T was MediaTek's flagship silicon in 2013, designed to bring Full HD displays and high-megapixel cameras to lower price points. Real-world performance is solid for everyday tasks: opening apps, scrolling through feeds, switching between browser tabs, and managing two SIM cards all feel responsive.
Heavy 3D gaming pushes the chip harder. Titles such as Asphalt 8 or Modern Combat 4 run but with occasional frame drops on medium settings, while older casual games stay smooth. The 2GB of RAM makes a tangible difference compared with the 1GB fitted to earlier Canvas models, allowing more apps to remain alive in the background. For Australian buyers who wanted a phone capable of handling basic productivity without lag, the chipset delivered, even if it could not match a Snapdragon 800 found in true flagship rivals of the same year.
Camera system and imaging
The 13-megapixel rear camera is one of the headline features and uses a backside-illuminated sensor paired with a single LED flash. In daylight, the camera captures detailed shots of street scenes around Sydney's CBD, the vibrant coastal colours along Bondi Beach, or the foliage of the Dandenong Ranges just outside Melbourne. Colour reproduction favours punchy saturation, which suits social sharing without heavy editing.
Low-light performance is more modest, with visible noise creeping in at indoor events or evening markets. The 5-megapixel front camera is adequate for selfies and video calls over Wi-Fi, holding its own against the front sensors fitted to other budget phones of the period. Video recording tops out at 1080p at 30fps, which was standard for 2013. The camera app itself is straightforward, offering HDR, panorama, and a handful of scene modes, but it lacks the granular manual controls found on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 or the Nokia Lumia 1020.
Software, dual-SIM and connectivity
Out of the box, the Canvas Turbo runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with Micromax's own skin layered on top. The interface reorganises the app drawer and adds a few custom widgets, but stays close enough to stock Android that users coming from a Google Nexus device or a Motorola handset will feel at home. Micromax never shipped a stable Android 4.4 update for the Turbo, a point worth weighing for buyers who value long-term software support.
Dual-SIM support is a defining feature, with one slot accepting a regular SIM and the other a micro-SIM. Both can run on 3G networks, useful for travellers who frequently cross state lines between, say, Sydney and Perth. Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, and GPS with A-GPS round out the connectivity suite. There is no 4G LTE, which rules the phone out for Telstra's 700MHz network or Optus's 4G Plus bands, both of which were expanding across Australian capital cities during 2013 and 2014.
Pricing and how it stacks up
In India, the Canvas Turbo launched at roughly ₹19,990, placing it in the upper-mid-range bracket. Grey-import prices reaching Australia varied, but the handset typically landed between AUD 320 and AUD 400 including shipping, undercutting most Australian Full HD phones of the era. Once 10 percent GST and any customs duty were added at the border, the savings narrowed but rarely disappeared entirely. Stockists such as JB Hi-Fi and Officeworks were not part of the supply chain, so buyers relied on independent importers and warranty claims sat outside Australian Consumer Law protections.
Value depends on what a buyer prioritises. The phone offers a sharp Full HD panel, a competent camera, dual-SIM flexibility, and clean-enough Android in a package that costs less than a Samsung Galaxy S4 outright. Against premium flagships such as the Galaxy Note 3, the Canvas Turbo cannot compete on processor speed, software polish, or display accuracy, but it does not need to. For shoppers in Adelaide or Hobart browsing comparison lists, the handset represents a thoughtful balance rather than a stripped-down compromise.
| Feature | Micromax Canvas Turbo | Samsung Galaxy Note 3 | Samsung Galaxy Note 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Display | 5.0-inch IPS LCD, 1920×1080 | 5.7-inch Super AMOLED, 1920×1080 | 5.5-inch Super AMOLED, 1280×720 |
| Processor | 1.5GHz quad-core MT6589T | 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 | 1.6GHz quad-core Exynos 4412 |
| RAM | 2GB | 3GB | 2GB |
| Rear camera | 13MP, 1080p video | 13MP, 4K video | 8MP, 1080p video |
| Front camera | 5MP | 2MP | 1.9MP |
| Internal storage | 16GB, no microSD | 32GB, microSD up to 64GB | 16GB/32GB/64GB, microSD |
| Battery | 2000mAh, removable | 3200mAh, removable | 3100mAh, removable |
| OS at launch | Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean | Android 4.3 Jelly Bean | Android 4.1 Jelly Bean |
| Dual-SIM | Yes | No | No |
| 4G LTE | No | Yes | No |
Readers weighing their options in the late-2013 generation often put the Canvas Turbo side by side with the Note 2 and Note 3, a matchup laid out in this Note 2 vs Note 3 comparison.
The Micromax Canvas Turbo stands as a reminder that the smartphone race was never purely about brand recognition. Spec sheets, real-world performance, and price together shape what a phone is worth, and in 2013 the Canvas Turbo ticked enough boxes to earn a place on many shortlists. Drop a comment below with your own experience of the device, share this write-up with a friend who still owns one, and subscribe for more deep dives into the handsets that defined the early 2010s.