Doodle some more

Micromax has come up with another big addition to its already large arsenal of phones with the A240 Canvas Doodle 2. The Doodle 2 is for those who like to draw or scribble on their phone and picks up where its predecessor, the A111 Canvas Doodle, left off.

Doodle draw
Coming straight to the phone's highlight feature - drawing on the Doodle 2 is pure fun. What adds to the fun is a bunch of pre-loaded drawing apps such as Draw!, M! Doodle and Skitch. You can either use your hands or the stylus to draw. The screen is pretty responsive but falls short in terms of multi-touch experience. We would rather suggest you use the stylus.

Unfortunately, the phone's highlight feature happens to nest a few of its gaps. The intricately-designed stylus lacks a carrying slot. So, what that essentially means is you will have to carry the phone and the stylus separately - quite a hassle. Also, the Doodle 2's screen is a fingerprint magnet. Frequent drawing and scribbling on the phone left quite a few smudges. Drawing on the Doodle 2 will be fun, the mess it will leave you with will not.

MICROMAX A240 CANVAS DOODLE 2

Display:  5.7 inch, 1280x720 pixels
OS: Android Jelly bean 4.2.1
Processor: 1.2 Ghz Quad Core
Camera (Rear/Front): 12 MP/ 5 MP

Battery: 2600 mAh
RAM: 1 GB
Internal Memory: 16 GB
Doodle design
The Doodle 2 is big, and at times a bit bulky. It sports a 5.7 inch display, which is about one inch bigger than the first Doodle. It has a high-definition resolution of 1280x720 pixels and an IPS display. The viewing angles on the Doodle 2 were quite impressive as well. The front side of the phone has the three capacitive touch keys, primary sensors and the front-facing camera. The power key is on the right and the volume rocker on the left. A 3.5 mm jack rests on the top, whereas the USB port is at the bottom. Turn it around and you will notice the Doodle 2's impressive aluminium-clad finishing. The one problem though is that the back side of the phone has been divided in to three parts. The topmost part acts as a cover for the rear camera and houses the slots for two SIMs. Removing that topmost part is tough. We were not impressed with the slots designed for the SIMs, with half of the card actually protruding out. The middle part, that covers the battery, and the lower part of the back cover are not accessible. The Doodle 2 comes with a designer flip cover that doubles up as a stand. At 220 g, the Doodle 2 is a tad heavy and the inclusion of the flip-cover adds to the weight.

OS and battery
The Doodle 2 runs Android Jelly Bean 4.2.1 which was quite smooth and had no lags as such. A 2,600 mAh battery provides enough juice for you to draw and scribble on the Doodle 2 for a day-and-a-half. A word of caution though: the battery is not user removable.

Memory, processor and storage
A 1.2 Ghz quad core MediaTek processor and 1 GB RAM keep the engine up and running in the Doodle 2. The storage part is disappointing though, with just 12 GB, out of the internal 16 GB memory, at the disposal of the user. The presence of a microSD slot would have helped immensely.

Camera
The Doodle 2 has a rear 13 megapixel camera that teams up with a front-facing 5 megapixel camera. The picture quality was acceptable, and in spite of a powerful flash, the rear camera takes some time to focus.

Worth a doodle?
It's a mixed verdict on the Doodle 2. It's all about the appealing design. It starts at Rs 22,999. Of course, the prices will fluctuate, but I only see Micromax fanatics shelling out that kind money for the Doodle 2. The non-user removable battery and absence of a microSD slot might also tick off a few users. There are a few other features like Blow or Shake to unlock the device, that will surely catch the eye, but it ultimately depends on if you want to keep drawing or not.