Coolpad Cool 3 Plus REVIEW! Best smartphone under Rs 7k? Has stylish looks, decent performance

Chinese smartphone company, Coolpad has rolled out its latest budget series smartphone- Cool 3 Plus. The affordable and stylish looking smartphone may attract your attention at first sight. The cool looks and practical screen size make it a fine handset in the market in its segment. Cool 3 Plus is an entry level smartphone in a sub category of Rs 7,000, that promises to deliver amazing user experience from new age mobile phones. With latest specifications like Android 9, Quad-core Helio A22 processor, rear fingerprint scanner and face unlock option bundled with 5.7-inch HD+ screen with a dew-drop notch 13 MP AI primary camera, Cool 3 Plus does hold a strong position in the segment. 

Considering the competition in the market in the price segment, the phone competes with products like Realme C2, Redmi 7A, etc. Though it has a smaller screen size, an average processor and a decent battery life, it does catch eyeballs, when comes to its design and looks. So is it the best smartphone under Rs 7k price bracket? Considering the stylish looks and a decent performance, should you give it a try and buy? Read on to find out. 

Coolpad Cool 3 Plus design and looks

Coolpad Cool 3 Plus features a a dual-tone gradient design and comes in two colours - cherry black and ocean blue. On the front, it has a 5.71 inch display with dew drop notch, that adds beauty to its design. Though it has wide bazels and chin at the bottom which could have been replaced with fine borders to add a clean display look. 

Coming to the backside, the panel features a dual-tone gradient design which is made up of a poly-carbonate material. Though it is made of plastic, it looks like a metal finish on back. However, the worst part of the back panel is that it is prone to bruises and scratches, which may force you to put a protective case. The good thing is that this ships along with the handset. 

Overall, it has a neat design that offers premium looks for a sub 7k category smartphone. Gradient design, comfortable fit and compact size makes it a considerable option for the one, who is looking for a small or compact sized smartphone that caters every function. 

Coolpad Cool 3 Plus display

The Budget smartphone comes with 5.7-inch HD+ screen with a dew-drop notch with a 19:9 aspect ratio. Bazels around it, with thick chin at bottom, tiny notch at the top (dewdrop-shaped), accommodating the front camera. There is a provision to turn off the notch view, but that reduces the phone’s overall usable screen area. The screen has a good viewing experience, and its performance under sunlight is also satisfactory. 

The display looks impressive, colors are crisp and the phone does every job to give you the best user experience. Though, if you are in a habit of using a big screen smartphone, you may find it difficult to operate this one. However, ideally this is the best screen size for smartphone user that allows you to handle it from one hand and fetches you comfortable grip. 

Coolpad Cool 3 Plus camera 

The smartphone comes with a 13 MP AI Single camera along with LED flash, while a 8 MP Selfie shooter is at the front. Nothing to boast about, but then, we are talking ''affordable'', na. Cool 3 Plus captures decent photographs in daylight situations, while the photo quality at night is not impressive at all. You may get overexposed images after clicking a photo, while the details after zooming are fine if not that crisp. 

Though, at this price bracket it features a decent camera that comes with latest features like bokeh mode, outline detection, beauty mode, face-cute etc.

The front camera comes with AI beauty feature and captures decent selfies. Overall, until and unless you not a heavy/advance level photographer, it delivers decent results on the camera department. 

Watch Coolpad Cool 3 Plus review in hindi here:

Coolpad Cool 3 Plus performance

To perform every new age task of a smartphone user, Coolpad Cool 3 Plus features amazing specifications like 5.71-inch dewdrop notch screen, 1520 x 720 pixels, quad-core Helio A22 processor, 2/3GB RAM, 16/32GB storage, 13PMP rear camera, 8MP front camera, Hybrid dual SIM slot, expandable storage, rear fingerprint scanner, 3,000mAh battery, Android 9.0 etc. 

But talking about the performance during real time, the device stuttered a bit. It keeps sending an abnormal power usage message, which is irritating sometimes. As far as gaming on this phone is concerned, it showed a satisfactory performance form an average quad-core Helio A22 processor bundled inside. Even if you are playing videos through YouTube or playing games or using it for heavy tasks, it gets hot and keeps sending notifications for RAM management (Yes, it is irritating). 

Coming on the battery backup, it comes with a 3000mAh battery which serves the full day of usage in a moderate use. As there is no fast charging available, you may need to charge for long hours. The fingerprint sensor and face-recognition works fine but they are not as smooth as you would find in a slightly expensive phone.

Should you buy Coolpad Cool 3 Plus or not?

The smartphone comes in two options, i.e 2GB+16GB and 3GB+32GB variants, which can be extended up to 32GB. The base variant comes at a highly aggressive price tag of Rs 5,999, while the upper variant is priced just Rs 500 more at Rs 6,499. 

The phone’s performance was average, as it was little sluggish while switching between apps. It also takes an extra second to unlock through face-unlock or fingerprint-unlock system. Lags while opening apps and multitasking was expected with the processor it uses. 

However, considering the stylish looks, latest specifications and premium design, if you can compromise with the performance just a little bit, then Coolpad Cool 3 Plus could well be the best smartphone that you could buy under Rs 7k. It is for those who are looking for the latest smartphone, that has all the basic features/specs at an affordable price range and is comparatively smaller in size - most other smartphones these days are massive and barely fit into pockets or even bags. 

However, if you are looking for a phone that delivers slightly better performance in areas like camera, gaming and battery you can go for Realme C2, and Redmi 7A, but only after spending a few more bucks. They are more expensive than Cool 3 Plus. For you, this is exactly where the deal will be killed or made!