Coolpad has launched the new Cool 3 Plus phone in India, citing a come-back in the sub-continent smartphone market. The device is aimed at young smartphone buyers who are planning to buy an exciting phone in the budget segment.
Cool 3 Plus Design and display:
The device measures 145.7*70. 9*8.2mm and weighs about 135g which makes it a compact phone and comfortable to use it with one hand. The phone is made of plastic but feels premium to hold especially with the attractive gradient colors the device is available in. On the front, there is a 5.71″ HD+ 19:9 Dewdrop Display with a tiny chin at the bottom. The display is quite good for the price and is bright producing vibrant colors. We have the power/lock button and volume rocker on the right side while sim card tray on the left side. The bottom houses micro-USB port, speaker and microphone grille while the top has 3.5mm audio jack. On the back, we have a 13MP camera along with LED flash and the fingerprint sensor.
Overall, the build and design of the Cool 3 Plus are what you would expect in this price range except for the DewDrop notch which is not offered by many phones in this segment.
Cool 3 Plus Performance and Camera:
Cool 3 Plus is powered by the MediaTek Helio A22 quad-core processor clocked at 2.0 GHz paired with either 2GB or 3GB RAM depending on the storage option. The phone performs reasonably well in day-to-day tasks but sometimes stutters when many apps are open or some intensive task is carried out. The storage is either 16GB or 32GB which can be expanded via microSD card slot. When it comes to gaming, the device can handle some basic games but not heavy ones like PUBG where you need to play or low settings and still see some frame drops.
Cool 3 Plus runs on 360 OS which is based on Android 9. There is no app drawer on 360 OS similar to other Chinese ROMs but offers a lot of customizations and animations in the UI. There are many pre-installed applications that come with the OS but fortunately, they can be uninstalled. There are some utility apps like Game booster and Power saver for power management during low battery or while playing games. Cool 3 Plus also provides a Health app for monitoring daily activities like walking, sleeping, etc.
The fingerprint sensor is a good option but not fast enough compared to other devices in the segment. Cool 3 Plus also comes with face unlock which is useful sometimes when you need to unlock the phone lying on a table.
The Cool 3 Plus would have performed better with a better UI or stock Android but still given the price, the performance is adequate.
Cool 3 Plus Camera, battery and audio:
Cool 3 Plus features a 13MP rear camera and 8MP front camera for selfies. The rear camera could be the weakest point of Cool 3 Plus which could have been certainly better. The camera takes time to focus and the shutter speed is also slow when compared to other phones in this segment. The image quality is adequate and could have been a little better. The front camera also carries the same story as the rear sensor.
There is a 3000mAh battery which keeps the device running for 1.5-2 days easily with moderate usage. On heavy usage which includes videos, games, and browsing, the battery life is easily a full day before you need to charge the phone. The audio is another feature which needs improvement in Cool 3 Plus because, during calls, we need to speak loudly and also the caller’s voice is not loud enough for us to get it clearly.
Overall, the Cool 3 Plus is a good device with Dewdrop display for the price it is being offered at while there is some serious competition from Redmi and Realme at this price point. Some shortcomings like camera and audio need to be tuned further in order to provide a better fight against the competitors. The phone is available at INR 5,999 for the 2GB/16 GB variant and INR 6,499 for the 3GB/32GB variant.
