(Read: Coolpad Note 4 Light vs. Coolpad Note 3,
In the first glimpse Coolpad Note 3 Lite Impressed us, but after using it for a while, our thoughts change. Will coolpad be able to make an entry-level Android market to rock through this handset? Let’s know.
Look and design
Coolpadon Note 3 Lite has all the properties of the budget phone, but due to the good choice of design, it manages to make its own identity. Gold trim, camera lens and fingerprint sensor work on the edge to make the phone attractive. Plastic quality and handset finish is quite good. The phone also gives a strong and durable.
The next part has a 5 -inch HD IPS display with scratch protection. There is a black colored border appearing on the edges of the screen, it does not freeze with this slim phone. Capacitive buttons given for navigation do good work, but they are not backlit. There is a 5 -megapixel front camera above the display and the notification LED as well.
Power and volume buttons are built on either side of the phone and they do not have trouble using with one hand. The design of the rear cover is a grip and it is also possible to remove it. There is also a 13 -megapixel front camera and along with LED flash and fingerprint sensor. The speaker is at the bottom of the previous panel. The logo of the company is present above it. If you do not like white plastic, then there is also a black color option for you.
Like its senior version, the Note 3 Lite is a good build quality smartphone. Its front panel is not the most attractive, it looks better than behind.
Specification and software
When the device is in the budget segment, the specifications will also be of the budget segment. But coolpad in this department has tried to do better. It has used quad-core MediaTek MT6735 chipset. It is also the cheapest phone equipped with 3 GB RAM and 16 GB storage. You can also increase storage with the help of microSD cards up to 32 GB. The phone has two microsim slots and both support 4G LTE.
The phone runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop on which the cooluI 6.0 skin has been used. We wrote about this interface in detail in the review of Coolpad Note 3. You will find a layer with UI default and you can also get a two -layer setup if you want.
You will get apps of company like cool service, cool stores and explores. Through FP lock, you can lock any of your apps with fingerprint. And you will be able to use them. With rock wallpaper you can change wallpaper.
The interface works without any problem, but the skin does not appear polished. For example, you do not get much options for theme. In every theme, custom icons will sometimes make you confused. It also has many third-party apps that can be removed when needed.
Performance
The viewing angles of HD display are good and there is no problem in reading it in sunlight. It would have been better if brightness was slightly higher to use in outdoor. The touchscreen gives good response but it easily stains fingerprint. Call quality is good and we did not have any problem in 4G networks.
The fingerprint sensor is very accurate and works at just once on most occasions. You will be able to unlock the handset by placing your finger in any angle. Five fingerprint scanners can be stored in the handset. And it can also decide which fingerprints have to open the app, call and take photos.
The Note 3 Lite gave fine results in the benchmark test. You will easily play games like Ski Safari 2 on it. The phone did not even have difficulty in running games like Dead Tiger 2. We did not have much problem in multitasking. 1.8 GB RAM is available all the time.
The default music player is well designed. The video player also has many work features. You can edit video. Can take screengrabs. The sound of alert comes well from the rear speaker but it is not for multimedia.
The good thing is that coolpad has not made any changes in the camera setup for the light version. The 13 -megapixel rear camera takes pictures of landscape and macros with details in natural light. However, we realized that sharpness was low in the closeup shot. Pictures taken in indoor and low lights were high. Panorama is easily stitch and their quality is also good.
You will be able to record 1080 pixels videos and their quality is fine. The camera software is not very good and there is no option to change it. However, its interface is simple and easy to use. The 5 megapixel front camera is effective in taking selfies, but only in daylight.
The 2500 mAh battery lasted for 9 hours 11 minutes in our video loop test. Battery on 4G network ran easily for a day in common use.
Our decision
Coolpad Note 3 Light 3 Lite available for Rs 6999 is a great package. There is not much compromise in this version compared to the original version. In this price range, this is the only phone that comes with fingerprint sensor, 3 GB RAM and 16 GB of storage. This was bound to be this late and coolpad won it. The display of this phone is also good. The fingerprint sensor works rapidly. The battery life of this strong build phone is also a competent.
However, despite all this, it is not the best handset in its segment. Fantastic specifications do not perform as expected in common use. There is scope to work on camera, design and cooluI skin. In this range, Oppo and Gionee’s phones come with better finish. In such a situation, you have to decide which features and specifications you need more.