Micromax A110 Jellybean update (Mobistel)

Sweet, isn't it?

Recently, thanks to the release of kernel code and an entire working ROM by Mobistel company of Germany, we the users of Micromax A110 phablet can actually enjoy the sweet taste of Jellybean on our devices. While the update isn't official in the strictest sense of the term, it is as good as one since it is being backed by a commercial organisation rather than a group of volunteers or just one of them. Flashing the update on existing devices is very easy for people with similar experience in the past, such as flashing new ROMs, messing things up occasionally and then reverting back to original firmware using Flash Tool and so. For casual users however, who just want to use their phones for general purposes such as calling and receiving calls, messaging friends and updating their facebook status, I wouldn't recommend upgrading, because any glitch in the process might corrupt the system and they might not have the technical skill to make things alright. Still, we all should thank XDA community and Gaurav Ghalyan of Droidiser techsite, for the working guide (which is flawless if followed properly) written to help us install the upgrade.

Our much beloved buddy

Now, the main purpose of this article is to serve as a review. If you just want to install the ROM without much fuss, just go to http://www.droidiser.com/2013/02/micromax-a110-canvas-2-gets-unofficial.html and follow the procedure carefully. For others wanting to know how things actually worked, let me say that in my case the entire upgradation process was flawless as usual.



A few things to know before upgrading:


1. The update has been released by Mobistel, a German company which re-branded Micromax A110 as Mobistel Cynus T2 in Germany. So, upgrading to this ROM will void your warranty, although you may have already voided it by rooting your device. In any case, you always have the option to unroot the device and go back to original Micromax firmware in case you need to use the warranty.


2. The ROM can only be flashed if and only if you actually have flashed the Micromax V2 ROM by the Flash tools method, i.e the internal memory of your device has actually been partitioned. Otherwise, if you're still using old Micromax V1 ROM or just used CWM to install a backup of V2 ROM taken (as I did initially), you won't be able to install the upgrade.


3. This ROM needs to be flashed only using stock recovery, and not CWM. Stock recovery can be flashed easily using the method posted by Droidiser HERE. But if you're unwilling to flash the stock recovery, flash the ROM and revert back to CWM again, there is an easier method. You can flash DrBhokali ROM (Jellybean) simply using CWM, and since the ROM is based on the kernel code released by Mobistel, the experience will be more or less the same.


4. Mobistel has packaged the update brilliantly, but don't expect anything miraculous after you upgrade to Jellybean. It is just little better than stock (clean) JB image. But you can always flash a different ROM such as Jalebi by JiggarPattani or DrBhokali ROM etc in case you prefer customized settings.

A photo shot with Jellybean camera (4.1.1)

Caution: Upgrading to Jellybean will make your camera a 12 MP one instead of the 8 MP it originally was, because Mobistel brands its phones with 12 MP camera. This can degrade your camera quality to some extent, especially in case of low-light photography. Also, 12 MP pictures are just larger, not better in terms of quality. In the original Mobistel T2 ROM however, since the kernel code was almost the same, we could just flash Micromax's V2 camera apk and get back the quality, but in case of Jellybean firmware relased by Mobistel folks, this won't work. Installing other camera apps won't get your quality back, because everything is based on Mobistel's kernel. Also, no matter what ROM you install, as long as it's jellybean, it's based on Mobistel. So, this problem is likely to persist in case of other ROMs such as Jalebi and DrBhokali too.


However, there are a few things to keep in mind:


1. Daytime photography is actually enhanced, and the degree of clarity hasn't been affected in that regard. Also, since the photo-size is larger, you can actually expect better photos with 12 MP camera released by Mobistel than from original Micromax camera.


2. You can always flash Jellybean 4.2 camera application using CWM, the details of which have been posted by Gaurav HERE. This brings back your camera quality.


3. The app called Camera ICS (a free one) in Google Play brings back low-light photography efficiency to some extent.



So, now you might be asking, why should I upgrade to Jellybean then? Well, as I have said, it doesn't increase your phone quality very much, but there's Google Now, Project Butter, more uptodate apps etc after you get Jellybean. As such, it is always recommended to upgrade. Micromax isn't likely to consider releasing an upgrade for A110, because they've already switched to supporting A116, Canvas HD which natively supports Jellybean. So now is the right time.



Also, after you upgrade to Jellybean, you can switch back to ICS any day. Even better, keep a backup of your existing ICS ROM, and in case you're not satisfied with Jellybean, you can easily get everything back.



The following things have actually been improved in Jellybean:


1. Daylight photography and camera quality.

2. Sound quality, by around 10% (you can always use engineer mode to make your phone a booming one. Click [here] to learn more).

3. Text-to-speech output by default, unless you're relying on IVONA Amy or Kendra for that.

4. Voice recording quality.

5. Wifi tethering capability.