Coolpad recently has launched a bunch of devices in India that offer a good set of specifications and features at pocket-friendly prices. The recently launched Note 5 is one such smartphone that too falls under this category. The Coolpad Note 5 has been launched for Rs 10,999 and is available in two color variants -- gold and space grey. Currently, the smartphone is only available online via Amazon India. One of the highlights of the smartphone is that it is 'Made in India'.
As the name suggests, the Note 5 is the successor to the Note 3, which was launched in India back in 2015. Despite the price range, the smartphone features a unibody metal design, and up front, the screen is covered with 2.5D curved glass. The overall look and feel is quite similar to the Mega 2.5D, which Coolpad had launched recently in India.
Coolpad Note 5 specifications
The Coolpad Note 5 flaunts a 5.5-inch full HD (1920×1080 pixels) IPS display with 2.5D curved glass. It is powered by a Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 617 octa-core processor paired with 4GB of RAM. There is 32GB onboard memory on offer, which can be further expanded up to 64GB using a microSD card.
In the photography department, the Note 5 is equipped with a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, while up front is an 8-megapixel selfie camera with 80-degrees wide-angle lens, f/2.2 aperture and LED flash. The smartphone also comes with a fingerprint scanner which is placed at the back, below the primary camera.
The Note 5 is backed by a 4,010mAh battery that the company claims is good enough to offer up to 350 hours of standby time, and up to 14 hours of talk time. The battery also supports Quick Charge support. Connectivity options include dual-SIM card slots (hybrid setup), 4G with VoLTE support, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and USB-OTG. On the software front, it runs on Android Marshmallow 6.0 out-of-the-box, wrapped under Cool 8 UI.
While we are looking at budgets smartphones, there are many brands that have launched smartphones in this price range. To start with, the Coolpad Note 5 faces tough competition from the likes of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, LeEco Le 2 and the Lenovo Vibe K5 Note to name a few. These smartphones are similarly priced and compared to Coolpad Note 5, boast specification and differ only in few aspects.
All four smartphones come with a 5.5-inch full-HD 1080p display, 32GB onboard memory, fingerprint scanner, and connectivity options like dual-SIM card slots, 4G with VoLTE support.
While the 5.5-inch Full HD display is standard for all these devices, the Coolpad Note 5, comes with a 2.5D curved glass, which is missing from other smartphones. In terms of processor, the Note 5 and Redmi Note 3 are powered by Snapdragon 617 and 650 processors respectively. The Vibe K5 Note, on the other hand, is powered by a MediaTek Helio P10 processor. The LeEco Le 2 has a powerful Snapdragon 652 octa-core processor. Where the Redmi Note 3 and Le 2 come with 3GB of RAM, the Note 5 takes the charge in this department with 4GB of RAM. The Vibe K5 Note too has a 4GB of RAM variant but it is priced a bit higher at Rs 13,499.
In terms of camera, the Redmi Note 3 and Le 2 feature a 16-megapixel snapper at the back. The other two smartphones come with a 13-megapixel rear snapper. Up front, the Note 5, Vibe K5 Note and Le 2 come with 8-megapixel selfie cameras, while Xiaomi’s smartphone features a 5-megapixel snapper. The Note 5 has a front-facing flash feature which is something that is missing on the other smartphones.
On the connectivity front, all four smartphones include dual-SIM card slots, 4G LTE and VoLTE voice calling support, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth and GPS. LeEco's Le 2 is the only one in this competition to feature a USB Type-C port for charging and data transfer. It also happens to be the only one that doesn't come with the standard 3.5mm audio jack.
Battery wise, the Coolpad Note 5 is equipped with a 4,010mAh battery with Quick Charge support, whereas the Redmi Note 3 is armed with a 4,050mAh battery. The Vibe K5 Note is equipped with a 3,500mAh battery along with support for fast charging, and lastly, the Le 2 features a 3,000mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0 support.
Software wise, all four smartphones run on Google’s Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out-of-the-box. The Coolpad Note 5 is wrapped under Cool UI 8.0 on top, Lenovo has its Vibe UI, Xiaomi has MIUI 8 whereas LeEco has its EUI wrapped under the hood.