Coolpad has introduced its new entry-level phone Coolpad Note 5 Lite for those who are looking for a budget smartphone. The phone is priced at Rs. 8199 and will be available via Amazon.in starting March 21. The phone will compete directly with Redmi 3S and Redmi 3S Prime. Here is our first impressions of Coolpad Note 5 Lite.
Coolpad Note 5 Lite Impressions
Coolpad Note 5 Lite is good in terms of design and carries same form factor that was found in Coolpad note 5. This phone is smaller with the 5-inch display but with similar design. It has curved around edges for easy grip and silver lines around edges and on the back makes it beautiful. The phone has metal build but plastic has been used on the top and bottom side.
Above the display, the phone has front LED flash, front camera, and proximity sensor. Below the display, the phone has three capacitive keys that are not backlit.
It has the volume rocker on the left side but the right edge has the power button along with SIM card slot. At the top side, the phone has 3.5 mm audio jack and the base side has the microUSB port.
Rear camera, LED flash and the fingerprint sensors have been placed on the back panel. The speaker is also placed at the bottom side of the back panel.
As the phone carries smaller form factor, it is easy to hold and work with. The weight of the phone is just 148 grams.
It has 5-inch IPS LCD display with HD resolution. The display has the 2.5D scratch-resistant curved glass panel. The display looked decent with nice color reproduction and good viewing angles. At this price, one can not expect more than this.
The phone comes with 1 GHz MediaTek MT7635 chipset which is the Quad-Core processor with 3GB RAM and Mali T 720 GPU. This setup is good to offer stable performance, but the company could get better chipset. In out initial testing the phone was performing good and I do not want to conclude anything just by seeing specs. It runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow with Cool UI 8.0. I love this UI due to its clean look and smooth performance. While there were few pre-installed apps that may irritate few, I liked the software features the Cool UI offers.
The phone comes with 16GB internal storage and only 10 GB is available for users. The storage can also be expanded up to 64GB and it also supports USB OTG.
The phone has the multi-functional fingerprint sensor. It can unlock the phone, make or receive calls and open apps. I tested this and found it working pretty well.
The phone has 13 megapixels rear camera with LED flash and 8 megapixels front camera with front LED flash. The camera app is smooth and offers various modes including a Pro mode. You also get beauty mode to capture good selfies.
I tested the camera and got the decent experience. As I only used the camera for short time, I do not want to comment on this. The front camera looked average, but I need more time before I jump into a conclusion. Here are few camera shots I captued.
The phone has 4G with VoLTE. Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and micro USB connectivity options. It is packed with 2500 mAh battery. For a phone with HD display, this battery can work well. If you compare it with rivals, you will be disappointed because Redmi 3S Prime comes with 4000 mAh battery. At this moment, I cannot say how long the battery will perform, but it should be fine considering the specs of the phone.
Final Words
Coolpad Note 5 Lite looks to be a good device, but it lacks in the battery. If you see the other options available, Redmi 3S Prime is still better. The primary advantage with Coolpad Note 5 is its availability. The phone will be available on open sale
