Coolpad Note 3 Lite First Impressions: A Budget Smartphone That Seems Promising

Coolpad made some noise in the market when it launched the Note 3 smartphone back in October 2015 in India. The smartphone was a brilliant combination of hogh-end level specs and good design, for its price of Rs 8,999. At this price, the phone brought fingerprint scanner, 3GB of RAM, 13MP snapper and more, which was quite an impressive package of specs for a budget smartphone.

Chinese smartphone maker, Coolpad has now come up with the Coolpad Note 3 Lite, which is a lighter version of the Note 3. The newbie has been named as 'Lite' but it packs in attractive features like a fingerprint pad and 3GB RAM among other specs that were also seen on the older version.

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At a price of Rs 6,999, the Coolpad Note 3 Lite is undoubedly a steal. We used the phone for some time and here are our first impressions.

Display and design

Coolpad Note 3 Lite dons a plastic chassis with a golden RIM running on the side of the display. The back panel of the phone has a texture on it, which as per the company claims makes it slip-free. The Note 3 was launched with a matt back shell which was smooth but slipery. Hence, Coolpad chose to replace it with a grainy back panel design. The back is where the company has placed a fingerprint scanner pad right below the camera. This time, Coolpad has added golden rim around the camera and the fingerprint scanner.

The phone doesnot have anything extra ordinarily great about its desigm, however it still looks better than its rivals, and is easy on eyes for its price. The arch design of the phone makes it look good. The phone offers good grip and feels comfortable on hand. Moreover, it is pretty light and feels nice on hand.

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Speaking of display, Coolpad Note 3 Lite features a 5-inch HD display with 720×1280 pixels resolution. It reproduces colours well, and offers good viewing angles.

Processor and storage:

The processor is one hardware part where Coolpad Note 3 Lite varies from the Note 3. The new and lighter version of the Coolpad Note 3 is powered by a 1.3GHz MediaTek 6735 quad core chipset, while the Note 3 runs on an octa-core chipset.

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The Note 3 Lite phone has the same storage space as that on the Note 3. So you get a 3GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, and expandable memory support via microSD card.

Camera:

The Coolpad Note 3 Lite sports a 13MP rear snapper which work pretty well in daylight and performs fine in ambient lighting conditions. It offers detailed macro shots, and reproduces colour well. The 5MP selfie camera is also a good performer indoors, in ambient light, for a smartphone in this price range. To know more about the canera performance of this smartphone, wait for our details review. Meanwhile you can check these shots we clicked in different lighting conditions:

In Open, Daylight:

In Ambient Light:

With Flash Light:

Macro Shot:

Fingerprint scanner:

The fingerprint scanner on the Note 3 was surprisingly good, and the Note 3 Lite carries forward the trend. When tested, the fingerprint pad on the Note 3 Lite worked pretty smoothly and recognized impressions quickly. It is easily accessible, due to its placing at the rear panel. You can register up to 5 fingerprints for five different apps.

Software:

The Coolpad Note 3 Lite runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop wrapped under the company's native UI, which looks neat. Interface is simple and easy to use, and ran pretty smoothy during the test. The company has not given any information on whether this phone will be upgradable to the next Android iteration.

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The Coolpad Note 3 Lite is quite an impressive smartphone considering that it has been priced for Rs 6,999. It has 4G LTE connectivity, supports dual SIM, and features a removable battery. It is not a revolutionary smartphone in terms of design, however it surely hogs limelight for featuring its storage space, 3GB RAM and fingerprint scanner.

The drawback of the phone is that it does not have a display protection glass to protect it from damages. Moreover, considering that Xiaomi's recently announced Redmi 3 smartphone brings powerful specs and features a metal body chassis, Coolpad Note 3 Lite might loose its charm soon, when the Redmi 3 launches in India. Also, capabilities of resistance to water and dust could have been added advantage to the phone.

As far as other things are concerned, Coolpad continues its partnership with Amazon.in to sell the phone exclusively via later's online media in India, however this time, the phone will be avialable in a flash sae model. The company has opened the registration windows for the phone on January 15, for the first flash sale session at 2:00PM on January 28. For the after sales service, the company has partenered with HCL to provide customer care assistance.

Overall the Note 3 Lite seems for an impressive package in the low-end segment. As for its performance, stay conneected to read our detailed review of the device.