CoolPad Mega 2.5D Review: Good Budget Phone

Coolpad has come up with the Mega 2.5D in the budget range at Rs. 6,999. Coolpad is a company that has  established itself as a solid player in the budget phone sector. They are well known for making value for money devices with very impressive specifications that do not hurt your wallet. So when we got this one, we were looking forward to it. Here is our review of this device.

At first glance the device looks impressive. As with other Coolpad devices, this device also has plastic casing. Despite having plastic casing, the faux metallic gold colored finish gives a very shiny good look to the smartphone. The slightly curved back makes the phone easy to hold in the hands. The phone is very light to hold at 140 grams.

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As the name suggests, it has 2.5D curved glass display which gives a very impressive look. The volume keys are placed at the left and the right houses the dual sim card tray and the power button. The 3.5 mm audio jack is on the top and the micro USB port and the microphone are at the bottom. The phone uses on software key controls and so there are no buttons in the bottom. Coolpad branding is  seen below the screen. The rear has a 8 MP camera with LED flash and Coolpad logo and the speaker is at the bottom. Overall the design of the device seems good. Coolpad phones are famous for their fingerprint scanners, but the Coolpad Mega 2.5D doesn’t come with a fingerprint scanner.

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Let us list the key specifications of the device below.

Display: 5.5 inch HD IPS display with resolution 720 × 1280 pixels

Processor: 1GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6735P

Memory: 16 GB of internal storage, expandable up to 32 GB via micro SD card

Operating System: Android 6.0 Marshmallow

SIM: Dual SIM (Nano with one hybrid slot)

Camera (Back): 8 MP with autofocus

Camera (Front): 8 MP for the selfie

Connectivity: 4G LTE supporting, WI-FI, Bluetooth

Battery: 2500 mAh

It also has a 3.5 mm headphone jack and comes with a micro USB socket for data transfer

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This smartphone runs on Android  6.0 Marshmallow with CoolUI 8.0.  The shortcuts  can be accessed by swiping from below. As we switch on the phone, the phone takes quite some time to boot up. There were also instances of delayed responses to touch and sometimes there was very clearly noticeable lag when the phone ran a while without rebooting or shutting down. While a restart fixed it, we are hoping that there is a fix coming in OTA updates.

With a crisp and clear 5.5 inch HD display the device looks cool. The display is bright and is visible better in sunlight. The text and fonts are sharp and the color reproduction is good. Video display is also neat and clear. The device has an IPS capacitive touchscreen with 1280 x 720 pixels resolution and 267 ppi pixel density.

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It has 1GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6735P processor and 16 GB of internal storage, expandable up to 32 GB via micro SD card . The processor is not that impressive. When we use the phone we can see a lag which is much visible and it makes the experience of phone very bad. The touch screen is unresponsive most of the times especially in the bottom. The app drawer is not present and you can see the icons all over the screen. The phone doesn’t heat up that much even after playing games or videos for a long time.

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The phone supports 4G LTE with wifi, Bluetooth and a micro USB slot. The battery is 2500 mAh. The battery does not last long and is a bit of a drawback for this phone. There is a hybrid sim tray with micro SD slot. You can use 2 nano SIM’s or a nano SIM plus a micro SD card.

We tried music with a headset and the speaker, sound was clear and loud on the headset, the speaker was satisfactory too. Videos were also clear and nice. The display is good for HD video and watching movies. Colors are neat and there is no distortion or pixelation that is visible anywhere.

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Coming to the camera part. With the 8MP camera the photos are quite good. Long shots also came out well. The photos we took were very clear but low light photos were not as clear as the daylight or well lit shots with the Coolpad Mega 2.5D. There was visible noise when taking  pictures in dark indoors. Selfies also do not come out very well in low light conditions.

At this price range, the device could have had the fingerprint scanner which would made a much difference as the speciality of cool pad is the fingerprint scanner.

Here are some photos taken with the phone.

Verdict

Given the price and Coolpad’s reputation in the budget segment, the expectations are high from this one. When you take the Coolpad Note 3 and the Note3 Lite as a reference point, this phone is a tad bit on the simple side. But given the price and the specifications, it is definitely worth a shortlist. It has the Redmi 2s and Swipe Eliteplus for competition here. All in all, a good option.

About Hema

Likes Food, Technology and Mobile Devices in that order. Started as a programmer, became an architect and now a blogger. Topped University Ranks once, been in tech for two decades. Wants to travel the world and climb the everest!

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