The Coolpad Note 3 Lite is the younger brother to the Coolpad Note 3. But being younger does not mean that the device is anything less than what the big brother is. Coolpad Note 3 is a highly competitive device, priced at just INR 6,999. We tested out the device for a few days and here is our full review of the device.
Coolpad Note 3 Lite Full Specs
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Coolpad Note 3 Lite Unboxing, Quick Review, First Impressions [Video]
What are Usage Reviews, Tests, and Opinions?
This review is based on our tests and usage done with the phone, we try to push the device to its limits and find out the results which will matter if you plan to buy this phone. We hope this review helps you to get your queries answered about the device.
Performance
The Coolpad Note 3 Lite features a 1.3GHz Quad-core MediaTek processor, with 3GB of RAM. This powerful processor at this price point and with 3GB of RAM, the phone practically has no performance issues. The device was able to fly through each task that we put it through. Be it gaming, recording videos, taking pictures or even just browsing YouTube.
App Launch Speed
The apps on the phone launch within a few milliseconds itself, sometimes even less if they are already in the RAM. Overall, I was happy with the app launch speed of the device as it was snappy, just the way I like it.
Multitasking and RAM Management
When you boot the device, you’ll find approximately 2.0 GB of RAM is free out of the 3 GB RAM that the device has. Having 2GB of RAM free makes the device launch a lot of apps easily, and keep them in the memory for later use. Even when multitasking with heavy apps and games, the switching between the apps was quick and seamless. Only a couple of times an app had to be reloaded, but most of the times the app was already present in the memory in the state that we had left it at. This is a sign of good memory management via the Software.
Scrolling Speed
To test the scrolling speed of the device, I loaded up our very own GadgetsToUse homepage, which is pretty heavy with a lot of elements on the page. While scrolling though the webpage, I did not find any stutters and the rendering of the webpage was quick and smooth.
Heating
Overall, while using the device, I did not notice any intensive heating. The device heated up a bit when I played Asphalt 8: Airborne on the device for a continuous period of 25 minutes. But even after that time, the phone did not become intensively hot. It was still good to hold, with just a bit of heating near the camera of the device.
Benchmark Scores
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Camera
The Coolpad Note 3 Lite comes packed with a 13-megapixel primary camera and a 5-megapixel secondary camera. The camera is equipped with a f/2.0 aperture lens that allows it to perform good in all lighting conditions. The primary camera features a 5P lens, to allow for better lighting and quality of images from the device. We have already done a dedicated camera review for the device.
Camera UI
The camera UI on the Coolpad Note 3 Lite is laid out exactly like the Coolpad Note 3. The camera has simple layout options with just a shutter button at the bottom and options to swipe between the video mode, photo mode, and the pro mode. The Pro mode allows you to control some specific features of the camera such as exposure, ISO and shutter speed. Other than the shutter button, you’ll find a quick access to the gallery button of the left and a scene mode button on the right that allows you to switch to different scenes for the camera.
Day Light Photo Quality
In natural lighting, the device managed to capture some great shots. The pictures that came out were full with detail and proper lighting on all parts of the photo. It performs way better than a phone of this price category.
Low Light Photo Quality
In low lighting conditions, the pictures that we took did not come out as clear as we would have expected from the device. The images captured in low lighting have a lot of noise (grains) in them, and will not look good unless you decide to use the flash.
Selfie Photo Quality
The front camera of the device performs decent, and we were able to take good pictures with the smartphone’s front facing selfie camera. You might have to hold the phone for a little longer in order to get a perfect shot, but other than that, the picture clarity is good.
Coolpad Note 3 Lite Camera Samples
Video Quality
The device can record videos up to 1080p on the rear camera, and up to 720p on the front camera. Videos from both these cameras look good and crisp, just as you would expect from the camera of such a phone.
Battery Performance
The Coolpad Note 3 Lite comes packed with a 2500mAh battery, which seems sufficient to power this compact device with a 720p display. Even while running the device, I did not find it to be a problem with this much battery. I played games on the phone, browsed the internet, watched a few YouTube videos, made a few calls and lastly continuously used WhatsApp for messaging. Even after all this, it would last me an entire day without any problem. At the end of the day, it would require me to plug it in for charging.
Charging Time
The charging time on the Coolpad Note 3 Lite is really high. It takes a really long time to charge from 0 to 100, as it took me around 3 hours to charge this device completely to 100% from a dead state. This seems unreasonable for a device with just 2500mAh battery.
Screen on Time
The screen on time for the Coolpad Note 3 Lite was around 3 hours and 30 minutes during my usage of the device. The standby time was good for me, but a lot of other people faced issues with the standby time.
Battery Drop Rate Table
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Looks and Design
The Coolpad Note 3 Lite features a plastic build, with metal rim all around the phone. The metal rim gives the phone a bit premium feel, but other than that the phone has a plastic build, and you wouldn’t call it premium. But given the price at which it is offered, it has a really good build quality. Coming on to the looks, the device looks really good with a clean design on the front and the back. The back houses the speakers, the camera and the fingerprint sensor along with the Coolpad branding. The front houses the 5.0-inch HD Screen with a selfie camera on the top and capacitive touch buttons at the bottom.
Coolpad Note 3 Lite Photo Gallery
Quality of Material
The quality of the material used to build the Coolpad Note 3 Lite is really good. It certainly doesn’t feel cheap when using the device. The metal rim adds a bit of support to the entire phone, which gives the material a good feel in the hand.
Ergonomics
Ergonomically speaking, the phone is really compact, with a 5.0-inch display and small bezels. This makes the device really good for one-handed usage. The phone weighs at 150 grams only, and that is light to hold in the hand. Even the back of the phone has a bit textured plastic that doesn’t let it slip out of your hands. It just stays in your hands, no matter what.
Display Clarity, Colors and Viewing Angles
The display on the Coolpad Note 3 Lite is just a 720p display with a resolution of 1280 x 720. But don’t let this number confuse you. The display didn’t fail to amuse me during my usage of the device. The text and icons appeared pretty sharp, and even the games that I played did not show signs of any display problems.
Coming to the colors and the viewing angles of the device, I could notice a really slight warm tinge on the display, especially when viewing something with a white or light background. The viewing angles are really great on the device, and I was able to view the screen at every possible angle, without a problem.
Outdoor Visibility (Full Brightness)
Outdoors, with full brightness and under direct sunlight, I was able to see the phone’s display clearly and without any problem. You can go ahead and use this phone outdoors without any issue with the screen.
Custom User Interface
The Coolpad Note 3 Lite is powered by the Cool UI 6.0, which is based on Android Lollipop 5.1 (Yes, it’s still Android Lollipop 5.1 with the Cool UI 6.0). The user interface is pretty well laid out, and just as we have been seeing with other brands, there is no application drawer to store all your apps in. It’s just the home screen without an app drawer.
The UI is smooth overall and it does not fail to amuse me. The phone also features CoolShow, an application that allows you to change the theme on the device by downloading additional themes.
Sound Quality
The speaker on the phone is placed at the back and hence it is really easy to cover it with your hand when holding the phone in landscape mode. Even the loudness of the speaker isn’t that great and since it is also placed at the back of the device, it reduces the effect of the loudness of the speaker. However, the quality of the sound coming out from the device is good. You can clearly hear everything, without any quality degradation.
Call Quality
The call quality on the phone is really good. I could hear the other person and the other person could hear me without any problem, even in areas with low signal strength. This is something good to see on a phone at this price point.
Gaming Performance
The gaming performance on the Coolpad Note 3 Lite is really impressive. It was able to handle any game that we threw at it, without a problem. This happens because of the 1.3GHz Quad-core processor that the phone is equipped with and the 3GB of RAM that it has. I played Asphalt 8: Airborne and Dead Trigger 2 mainly, and none of these two games showed any signs of slowing the phone down.
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Game Lag & Heating
While playing games continuously for a long time, the phone did heat up a bit, but nothing major. The temperature on the device rose to approximately 36 degrees, but it still wasn’t uncomfortable to hold. I did not notice any lag on the device, even when the other game was open in the background. This is possible because of the 3GB of RAM that the phone has.
Verdict
In my final words for the Coolpad Note 3 Lite, I’d say that the device is great for the price at which it is offered. If someone walked up to me and asked me to recommend them a phone under INR 7,000, I’d definitely recommend them the Coolpad Note 3 Lite easily. The device is just great, apart from a few issues with the Camera and the charging time for the device. But at the price at which it is offered, you definitely can’t complain.
