The smartphone market in India is crowded across all price ranges but there are always new phones to add to the fray. Two that have been attracting a lot of attention lately are the Micromax Canvas Nitro A310 and the HTC Desire 816 Dual SIM. Today we have a Micromax Canvas Nitro vs. HTC Desire 816 specs and India price contrast and there’s a real dilemma here, which we’ll point out as we proceed.

Many phone buyers in India are big fans of HTC smartphones as they generally offer good build quality and specs. However, Micromax is coming up with some devices that offer extremely decent specs at more affordable prices. The Desire 816 is around twice the price of this Micromax phone in India, but its specs are not twice as good as the Canvas Nitro. We’ll run through the key specs so you can see how they compare.

Processors
The Canvas Nitro has a 1.7GHz Mediatek MT6594 octa-core processor and Mali-450MP4 graphics. The Desire 816 has a 1.6GHz Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor and Adreno 305 GPU.

Display
The Canvas Nitro has a 5-inch IPS LCD display with resolution of 1280 x 720 and 294 ppi. The Desire 816 has a 5.5-inch Super LCD2 display with resolution of 1280 x 720 and 267 ppi.

RAM and Storage
There’s 2GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage that’s expandable via microSD to 32GB for the Canvas Nitro. On the other hand the Desire 816 has 1.5GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage, this time expandable to 128GB.

Camera set-up
Both phones have a 13-megapixel rear camera with autofocus, LED flash, and 1080p video capture, as well as a 5-megapixel front-facing camera.

Battery
The Canvas Nitro has a removable 2500 mAh battery while the Desire 816 has a non-removable 2600 mAh battery.

Connectivity
Both phones support 3G, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPRS, EDGE, and microUSB 2.0, and the Desire 816 also has NFC and DLNA.

Operating System
The Canvas Nitro runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat and the Desire 816 runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat skinned with HTC’s Sense 6 UI.

Price
The Micromax A310 Canvas Nitro price at launch was Rs. 12,990 whereas the Desire 816 Dual SIM launched in India at Rs. 23,990. However, prices vary by retailer and we’ve seen the Canvas Nitro on offer for around Rs. 11,400 and the Desire 816 at around Rs. 23,000 depending on color option.

Usually when we compare phones with similar specs the prices are also in the same range, but by looking at the above we can see that’s clearly not the case this time. The Desire 816 is around double the price of the Canvas Nitro but looking at specs alone there are similarities such as the camera capabilities and the same version of Android. Both phones are also dual SIM and have a 3.5mm audio jack and FM radio.

As far as differences are concerned the HTC Desire 816 has a larger display, a higher level of expandable storage, NFC and DLNA, and slightly higher capacity battery than the Canvas Nitro. However, the Micromax phone has a faster processor that’s also octa-core, more RAM, and the benefit of a removable battery.

With this in mind it’s difficult to recommend paying approximately twice as much for the HTC Desire 816, although there will be some buyers who prefer the design and build, and features such as the Sense UI experience. However, the extra money for the Desire 816 seems disproportionate for what it offers when compared to the much less expensive Canvas Nitro.

When you’ve considered the specs and prices of these two phones we’d be interested to hear which of these handsets you are more likely to purchase. Are you happy with what the Micromax Canvas Nitro brings to the table for its cheaper price? Maybe you’d still rather pay the extra for the HTC Desire 816? Let us know with your comments.