Coolpad Note 3 Lite Review: Ready To Unsettle Budget Champions
In the last couple of years, a few new entrants have created quite a sensation in the smartphone market and CoolPad is one of them. It has introduced a few offerings that have found favor from buyers and critics for their nice blend of price and performance. The Coolpad Note 3 released last year made waves and the company has unveiled a stripped down version, named the Coolpad Note 3 Lite. This handset which comes with a 'made in India' tag has been developed in alliance with Videocon.
What is it?
Coolpad Note 3 Lite smartphone boasts of a fingerprint sensor along with whopping 3 GB of RAM within the INR 10k price tag. In the price sensitive Indian market, a lot of players are vying for attention with their pricing strategies including Lenovo, Motorola, and Micromax. However, unveiling of Coolpad Note 3 Lite may trigger another price war in the Smartphone sector. Does the trimming down lead to any compromise in performance or usage? For most users, the answer should be no. The screen produces punchier colors than the Note 3. The price also hits a sweet spot.
For its modest price, Coolpad Note 3 Lite has a lot of things- both in specs and features. Like many budget oriented handsets, it comes equipped with a MediaTek MT6735 quad-core chipset, Mali T720 GPU and the RAM is 3GB. The inbuilt storage is 16 GB and you also get a microSD slot. Regular features like Wi-Fi b/g/n, USB OTG, Bluetooth 4, GPS and FM radio are there. This is a dual SIM device with support for 4G LTE networks.
Design
The Coolpad Note 3 Lite is certainly not going to win any design award and that was not what it was meant to do either! It is a smartphone, which looks compact and build quality is good for its class. On the front you get a 5-inch HD screen and camera with a notification LED. A champagne hued metal band encircling the device lends it somewhat classy look. The back panel has mosaic texture which feels nice to hold. The fingerprint sensor sits below the rear camera. Overall, the device has a simplistic and ergonomic design.
Using it
The Coolpad Note 3 Lite has a 5-inch screen that has 720p HD resolution and pixel density of 294 PPI. This is quite respectable given its segment. The display is quite bright and responsive. There is no Corning Gorilla glass, but the company has provided alternate type of protective layer on the screen. The viewing angles are pretty good and you get color temperature tweaking options. The touch screen attracts smudges and fingerprints rather fast.
What is it?
Coolpad Note 3 Lite smartphone boasts of a fingerprint sensor along with whopping 3 GB of RAM within the INR 10k price tag. In the price sensitive Indian market, a lot of players are vying for attention with their pricing strategies including Lenovo, Motorola, and Micromax. However, unveiling of Coolpad Note 3 Lite may trigger another price war in the Smartphone sector. Does the trimming down lead to any compromise in performance or usage? For most users, the answer should be no. The screen produces punchier colors than the Note 3. The price also hits a sweet spot.
For its modest price, Coolpad Note 3 Lite has a lot of things- both in specs and features. Like many budget oriented handsets, it comes equipped with a MediaTek MT6735 quad-core chipset, Mali T720 GPU and the RAM is 3GB. The inbuilt storage is 16 GB and you also get a microSD slot. Regular features like Wi-Fi b/g/n, USB OTG, Bluetooth 4, GPS and FM radio are there. This is a dual SIM device with support for 4G LTE networks.
Design
The Coolpad Note 3 Lite is certainly not going to win any design award and that was not what it was meant to do either! It is a smartphone, which looks compact and build quality is good for its class. On the front you get a 5-inch HD screen and camera with a notification LED. A champagne hued metal band encircling the device lends it somewhat classy look. The back panel has mosaic texture which feels nice to hold. The fingerprint sensor sits below the rear camera. Overall, the device has a simplistic and ergonomic design.
Using it
The Coolpad Note 3 Lite has a 5-inch screen that has 720p HD resolution and pixel density of 294 PPI. This is quite respectable given its segment. The display is quite bright and responsive. There is no Corning Gorilla glass, but the company has provided alternate type of protective layer on the screen. The viewing angles are pretty good and you get color temperature tweaking options. The touch screen attracts smudges and fingerprints rather fast.
The star feature of Coolpad Note 3 Lite is definitely the fingerprint sensor. The sensor works quite well most of the times. You can use it to unlock the device and also for taking selfie when you want. It is better than some higher priced devices with quirky fingerprint sensors.
The device is good in terms of new or reception and 4G speeds are acceptable. Media buffs will like its audio and video players that offer plenty of options and editing options. The rear speaker is quite loud, too.
Performance wise, it is hard to find fault with the Coolpad Note 3 Lite. While the processor is not exactly stellar, the abundance of RAM does help it in racing ahead of most contenders in its segment. In fact, it offers better performance than a few mid range devices. In benchmarks like GFXbench and AnTuTu, it scores well. As for real world performance, the device puts up a good show too. It handles most games well and copes with multitasking without hiccups. Even the heating remains within tolerance levels. Even with several apps loaded, you will find about 1.2 GB or more free RAM.
The device is good in terms of new or reception and 4G speeds are acceptable. Media buffs will like its audio and video players that offer plenty of options and editing options. The rear speaker is quite loud, too.
Performance wise, it is hard to find fault with the Coolpad Note 3 Lite. While the processor is not exactly stellar, the abundance of RAM does help it in racing ahead of most contenders in its segment. In fact, it offers better performance than a few mid range devices. In benchmarks like GFXbench and AnTuTu, it scores well. As for real world performance, the device puts up a good show too. It handles most games well and copes with multitasking without hiccups. Even the heating remains within tolerance levels. Even with several apps loaded, you will find about 1.2 GB or more free RAM.
The device runs on Android 5.1 with Cool UI 6 skin atop. There is no app drawer, but the UI is smooth and intuitive. You can customize the UI to a great extent. The inbuilt themes, however lack polish. Some third party apps like WhatsApp, Amazon and Facebook are pre loaded.
Even budget Smartphone users want their devices to be equipped with a decent quality camera nowadays! It is commendable that the Coolpad Note Lite 3 has a 13 MP rear camera with flash. The front camera has 5 MP resolution. As is the case with most rival devices, Note Lite 3 can be used to capture decent quality images as long as the lighting conditions are good. In low light, the camera performance takes a nosedive and noise shoots up. It loses out to rivals like Xiaomi RedMi 2. The camera app, however, is quite good with plenty of options. The camera can capture FullHD videos.
Even budget Smartphone users want their devices to be equipped with a decent quality camera nowadays! It is commendable that the Coolpad Note Lite 3 has a 13 MP rear camera with flash. The front camera has 5 MP resolution. As is the case with most rival devices, Note Lite 3 can be used to capture decent quality images as long as the lighting conditions are good. In low light, the camera performance takes a nosedive and noise shoots up. It loses out to rivals like Xiaomi RedMi 2. The camera app, however, is quite good with plenty of options. The camera can capture FullHD videos.
Should you buy it?
The Coolpad Note 3 Lite has a lot of things working in its favor, as it is. It will impress most budget centric buyers looking for a handset that is fast and functional. This is the only device with 3GB RAM and fingerprint sensor at the price point. In performance, it is pretty good and multitasking is also superb. There are no heating issues with the device. From display quality to sound and network reception, it ticks nearly all the boxes. However, the charger which is painfully slow may dishearten some users. The middling camera performance is another downer in this otherwise superb Smartphone. The few niggles notwithstanding, the device has the potential to kick start another price war in near future.
The Coolpad Note 3 Lite has a lot of things working in its favor, as it is. It will impress most budget centric buyers looking for a handset that is fast and functional. This is the only device with 3GB RAM and fingerprint sensor at the price point. In performance, it is pretty good and multitasking is also superb. There are no heating issues with the device. From display quality to sound and network reception, it ticks nearly all the boxes. However, the charger which is painfully slow may dishearten some users. The middling camera performance is another downer in this otherwise superb Smartphone. The few niggles notwithstanding, the device has the potential to kick start another price war in near future.
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