Micromax launches its first smartphones running on Windows 8.1 OS, prices starting at Rs 6,500

Home grown handset and tablet manufacturer Micromax has launched its first smartphone offerings running on the Windows Phone operating system. Earlier this year, Joe Belfiore, VP of Windows Phone at Microsoft had mentioned that the company had tied up with Micromax as a hardware partner for its mobile phone OS.

Christened Canvas Win W121 and Canvas Win W092, both the smartphones run on the latest Windows 8.1 operating system. Targeted at the mid-price range segment, the devices will be available for purchase starting next month for Rs 9,500 and 6,500 for Win W121 and Win W092 respectively.

"I am pleased that Micromax is the only Indian mobile phone brand to be present across the two most popular operating platforms in the world. Micromax's belief in strong partnerships has culminated in today's launch powered by Microsoft's UI platform. We will continue to introduce products and services that simplify and enhance the data experience of consumers across markets," said Sanjay Kapoor, chairman, Micromax.

Here is a look at the specifications for the devices.

Canvas Win W121 for Rs 9,500

The smartphone has a 5 inch IPS HD touchscreen display (1280x720 pixels resolution) and runs on the Windows Phone 8.1 OS. It is powered by a 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 quad-core processor and has 1GB of RAM. The internal memory of the device is 8GB that can be further expanded up to 32GB with a microSD card.

Win W121 has an 8 mega pixel rear camera with LED Flash that can also record videos, as well as a 2MP front facing camera for video calling. On the connectivity front, the device has Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 3G, & a microUSB port and a microSD card slot. The company has provided a 2,000 mAh battery with the device, which also come with GPS support and dual-SIM capability.

Canvas Win W092 for Rs 6,500

The smartphone has a smaller 4 inch IPS WVGA touchscreen display (800×480 pixels resolution) and runs on the Windows Phone 8.1 OS. It is powered by a 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 quad-core processor and has 1GB of RAM. The internal memory of this one is also 8GB that can be further expanded up to 32GB with a microSD card.

Win W092 has a 5 MP rear camera with LED Flash that can also record videos, as well as a front facing VGA camera for video calling. On the connectivity front, the device has Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 3G, & a microUSB port and a microSD card slot. The company has provided a 1,500 mAh battery with the device, which also come with GPS support.

At the prices at which they are offered, the smartphones will mainly compete with the likes of Nokia Lumia (Rs 7,499), Lumia 525 (Rs 8,577) and Lumia 630 (Rs 10,100) that also run on the Windows Phone OS. Note that while most of Nokia's Windows smartphone offerings also come with free SkyDrive storage, which is not the case with Micromax.

Apart from these, the smartphone could also fact competition from Motorola's widely popular Moto E offering in the country, available exclusively on Flipkart.com for Rs 6,999.