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The Coolpad Mega 2.5D is the latest entry-level budget smartphone from Coolpad after the popular Coolpad Note 3 Lite . With the previous launch of Coolpad Note 3 Lite , Coolpad was able to create some buzz around the device as it breached the price range of Rs. 7,000 with a smartphone that comes with fingerprint sensor for just Rs. 6,999. Coolpad Mega 2.5D tries to move away from their predecessors and targets the selfie lover consumers in India by offering an entry-level budget smartphone with a good 8 MP front shooter for selfies along with some decent design and build quality. We have used Coolpad Mega 2.5D as our primary device for almost two weeks and this review is based on the experience that we had with the smartphone.
The variant that we reviewed came with the Model No. Coolpad Y83-100, Golden color. It is available exclusively on Amazon.in.
Coolpad Mega 2.5D Technical Specifications
- Display: 5.5 inch 720p HD IPS, 294 PPI, 2.5D Curved Glass
- Operating System: Cool UI 8.0 based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow
- Processor: 1.0 GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6735P
- Memory: 3 GB RAM
- GPU: Mali T720
- Storage: 16 GB internal + upto 32GB expandable storage via microSD card
- Rear Camera: 8 MP, f/2.0 aperture, LED Flash
- Front Camera: 8 MP, 83.6 degree wide-angle lens
- Battery: 2,500mAh
- Weight : 143 grams
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi, GPS, 4G LTE +VoLTE, dual SIM cards, USB OTG
- Color: Gold
Design and Build Quality
In terms of design and build quality, Coolpad Mega 2.5D looks well designed & bit premium and not a cheap one for the affordable price tag . It comes with a metallic frame all around the device and a plastic back panel which looks like metal back panel unless you hold it in your hands. It is curved at the back and hence feels a bit thinner at the two sides. The back portion even though appears shiny, yet is not slippery and you can hold it comfortably. The power button is placed at right side along with the hybrid Sim tray, while the volume rockers are on the left. The 8 MP main rear camera is placed at the top middle along with LED flash and the noise cancelling microphone. The 3.5 mm audio jack is at the top while the micro USB port is at the bottom.
The device weighs just 143 grams and hence feel light to hold, but thanks to 5.5 inch display it’s not comfortable for one hand usage.
It comes with on-screen menu buttons at the bottom of the screen instead of physical buttons. The speakers are placed at the bottom of the back side. The battery is embedded and can not be removed.
Display
It sports a 5.5 inch 720p HD IPS 2.5D Curved Glass Display with resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels with a pixel density of 294 ppi. The display is curved 2.5 D at the edges and feels good but it is just the 720p display with decent on-screen performance. It appears decent in most conditions and its brightness adapts itself well if the surroundings changes using the adaptive brightness feature. It works decent in outside sunlight but falters when Sun is at its peak. It comes with great viewing angles, letting you view the screen even at steep angles. And yes, it is a fingerprint magnet and catches them on the front display unless you clean it up.
Performance, Gaming and Benchmarks
Coolpad Mega 2.5D is powered by a 1.0 GHz Quad-Core MediaTek MT6735P processor & Mali-T720 GPU with 3 GB of RAM. The CPU and GPU combination is similar to that of Coolpad Note 3 Lite but the CPU is underclocked at 1.0 Ghz. Presence of 3 GB of RAM is rare for a device priced below Rs. 7,000 and hence can be considered a bonus, but yes the Note 3 Lite priced in same range comes with 3 GB RAM and a better CPU.
The device performs decent under normal usage but it’s not as smooth as Note 3 Lite and you can feel that easily if you have used that device. Yet, it was able to do multitasking & run graphics intensive games such as Asphalt 8 etc. with decent performance, but with frame drops and a bit of stutter on those graphics intensive games. The graphics details in the games and HD videos was decent but not too good enough.
Coolpad Mega 2.5D comes with 16 GB internal storage with support for Micro SD cards. The operating system and preloaded apps take around 5 GB of storage and hence the end-user gets only about 10.10 GB of internal storage. Apart from Micro SD cards, it also supports USB OTG and hence you can use an external USB storage to add more capacity to the device on the go.
The call quality during voice calls was pretty clear without any issues. The dialer app comes with ability to record calls without installing any additional app or rooting the device.
The Antutu benchmark score for Coolpad Mega 2.5D coame out to be about 24,600+ points which is not so impressive for devices priced under Rs. 7,000 yet decent enough.
Camera
The phone comes with a 8 MP main rear camera with f/2.0 aperture & LED Flash and a 8 MP front shooter with 83.6 degree wide-angle lens for selfies . The camera app is good and comes with loads of options including a PRO mode. We tested the camera under different lighting conditions. The main rear camera was not impressive and produced some not so good shots under normal lighting conditions as you need to take those shots with concentration. Too much of noise creeps in the moment the lighting conditions go dark or artificial. Yet those images are good enough if you want them to share only on social media channels. The PRO mode was available for both the front and main rear camera which is a good addition. The camera app comes with loads of modes such as Face beauty, HDR, Night modes etc. The beauty mode comes with much more options to beautify your images.
The front 8 MP camera was impressive and produced some good selfies. The beauty mode too works great if you are interested in modifying your selfies. Selfie lovers will find the front camera great for shooting selfies.
Camera samples
Checkout the images below taken under different light conditions and different modes. Click on the images to enlarge to original full size image. Full resolution images on can be found on Flickr.
Battery
Coolpad Mega 2.5D comes with 2500 mAh non removable battery, but the battery life performance didn’t impress us much and was just decent (better than average) with dual SIMs, one of them on 4G always on connection and other on 2G.The battery lasted for a day with moderate use, but if you are one of aggressive user then you need to charge it before the day ends.Basically the battery performance is similar to the Note 3 Lite.
Operating System and UI
Coolpad Mega 2.5D runs on Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) with Coolpad Cool UI 8.0. We still have the same issue that we talked about with Note 3 Lite i.e. it comes with lot of preloaded bloatware including a default Xploree keyboard which is like a running adware showing you offers from different sites, some bloat placed in the form of widgets and even a Coolpad app store.
The good thing though is, you can switch to Google keyboard which comes pre-installed but needs to be manually selected. The notifications toggles are placed at the bottom of the screen instead of top and some of you may find it odd to use them. It comes with a launcher without an App drawer and for users like us, installing a different launcher with app drawer is recommended.
The CoolUI though comes with loads of customisation options including themes and gesture support.
Conclusion
Coolpad Mega 2.5D is a great device to buy if you are looking for a premium looking device with great design & build quality and a great front shooter for selfies. Yet, it faces a lot of competition in the same price bracket including from its predecessor Note 3 Lite which also comes with a fingerprint sensor but with a compact 5 inch display. Similarly, you have devices from Xiaomi such as Redmi 3S priced in same price range which offers better options for consumers in many departments.
