Speaking to Gadgets 360, Coolpad India CEO Syed Tajuddin said that the company aims to capture 13-15% of the sub-Rs. 8,000 smartphone market. He also confirmed that the first batch of Coolpad Mega 2.5D will come from China. The handset will then be manufactured in India under the ‘Make in India’ program. We spent some time with the Mega 2.5D at the launch event in New Delhi. How did we like this smartphone at first glance? Let us tell you.
Coolpad Mega 2.5D The smartphone appears to have a full-metal body, although only the frame is made of metal. It feels sturdy, but due to the 5.5-inch display, it is not easy to use it with one hand. While using the Mega 2.5D, we had difficulty reaching the notification shade with one hand. Apart from this, since the edges are not curved, it feels very sharp in the hand. The weight of 140 grams is less considering its size.
The power button is on the right side. It is not easily accessible. The volume buttons are on the left side. The audio jack is on the top and the micro-USB port and microphone are on the bottom. The Coolpad branding is present below the display on the front panel.
The rear panel of the Coolpad Mega 2.5D is quite clean. The primary camera with LED flash is present on the rear panel. Speaker grills are provided at the bottom along with Coolpad branding.
The 5.5-inch HD (720×1280 pixels) IPS display has a pixel density of 294 ppi. As the name suggests, it has 2.5D curved glass on the front. During use, we found that the display was sharp but the black levels were not very good. Viewing angles were decent.
The main feature of Coolpad Mega 2.5D is its 8 megapixel front camera, which the company is promoting with great enthusiasm. The sensor of the front camera has an F/2.2 aperture and is equipped with a field of view of 83.6 degrees. The handset also has an 8 megapixel rear camera with Sony sensor. Features like smart beautification and edge detection have been provided in the camera app. Apart from night, beauty and pro mode, photo and video modes have been provided in it.
In the brief time we spent with the Coolpad Mega 2.5D, we found that photos taken with the rear camera were crisp in adequate lighting. However, some of them lacked details. Photos taken with the front camera were vibrant. Photos taken with the front camera in low light were better than those taken with the rear camera. However, these too were a bit blurry and lacked details. For more on camera performance, you’ll have to wait for our review.
This phone comes with the company’s CoolUI 8.0 skin which is based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. It is highly customized. You will not find an app drawer. Icons of all apps are divided into three home screens. The company has told about the ‘Screenshot 2.0’ tool. With its help, users will be able to take screenshots with three finger gestures. Coolpad Mega 2.5D uses 1 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6735P processor with 3 GB RAM. Inbuilt storage is 16 GB and users will also be able to use a 32 GB microSD card. In the little time spent with the phone, we found that it works fast. There was no problem in switching from one app to another. However, we will give the final verdict on the performance and software of Coolpad Mega 2.5D in the review.
The smartphone has a 2500 mAh battery. It is claimed to give up to 9 hours of talk time and up to 200 hours of standby time. The phone supports 4G LTE.
Final Thoughts
At Rs 6,999, the Coolpad Mega 2.5D is a good package. However, the quad-core MediaTek MT6735P processor seems less powerful for this price range. This phone will be available via flash sale. So it will be interesting to see how much demand there is for this phone?
Xiaomi Redmi 3S is also available as an alternative to Coolpad Mega 2.5D for customers. Its price is also Rs 6,999 and it comes with a metal body and 4100 mAh battery.