The budget category for smartphones is one of the toughest competition in the market since it is full of devices that are perfect for their price. There are also tons of brands that have already established themselves as solid competitors in the budget market. Coolpad is the latest brand in the budget market and they recently released two devices in the entry-level market.
One of the devices that they put out is the Coolpad 20+ and we are going to talk about some of its specs and how will it compete in the current market for budget phones.
Design and Build
First and foremost, let’s look at its design. It showcases a decent and premium-looking style. It is also quite surprising that it features a glass back considering its price point. The back design looks like it has splash of paint and if you look at it as a whole it looks like the night sky with stars in it. You can see the logo at the bottom left of the back and a vertically aligned camera module on the top left. Around the device is a plastic frame and the features around it are the 3.5mm audio jack on the top, SIM tray on the left side, power button and volume rocker on the right, and the USB C port along with its speakers at the bottom.
Considering its build, the Coolpad 20+ is one of the devices in the budget market that features a thick and sizeable build with a 197g weight which is quite heavy.
Display
When buying a budget smartphone, one of the main features that we are looking for is the display. The Cool 20+ boasts a 6.52″ HD+ display with a 20:9 aspect ratio. In terms of borders and chin, it is quite thick but it is pretty common at this price point. As per quality, despite it being an HD+ display it still outputs decent colors.
It is a decent display for multimedia consumption, still having an FHD+ display is a better option. It doesn’t come with a high refresh rate display but navigating the phone is smooth. However, if you’ve used a device that features a 120Hz or 90Hz display, transitioning from that refresh rate to a standard 60Hz you can see the difference.
Camera
Moving forward to its cameras, the Coolpad 20+ packs a 48MP along with a 0.3MP sensor. Using it outdoors delivers good images however it doesn’t have full control when it comes to exposure. Despite that, it still outputs detailed images with decent shadows and sharpness.
As for portrait photography, it has good subject-to-background separation with decent vibrant colors and a good amount of detail.
As for its selfie, It outputs a true-to-life skin tone but just like the rear camera it has a hard time controlling its exposure. Background tends to have blowout highlights if the photo is taken in an environment with too much natural light.
As for video recording, both the rear and front cameras can shoot videos up to 1080P.
Software and Features
In terms of power, the Coolpad Cool 20+ is powered by a MediaTek Helio G85 chipset which is quite old. The configuration of our review unit is 6GB of RAM paired with 128GB of storage which is also expandable via microSD card. Despite the age of its chip, back then the G85 is one of the most efficient gaming chipsets in the budget category. With that, the Cool 20+ can handle some light gaming and can even run competitive titles like Mobile Legends, Call of Duty, and Wildrift. For you to have a clearer look at its numbers, here are some benchmark results.
Battery and Charging
As for battery, the Coolpad COOL 20+ is backed by a 4500mAh battery capacity which is a decent battery for an entry-level device. Its battery life took us about 7 to 8 hours of heavy usage and almost 14 hours of casual use. As for charging well it doesn’t come with fast charging so juicing up the device took us a while.
Price and Conclusion
All in all the Coolpad COOL 20+ is a nice phone. It has a premium and aesthetically pleasing look plus the glass back which is a rare find in the budget market. But if we are going to talk about performance, COOL 20+ is not going to hold up. Aside from that the device also runs on Android 11 and with no visible update to Android 13. We think that the COOL 20+ is going to have a hard time competing in the market for budget smartphones.
For the price of Php 5,699, the Coolpad COOL 20+ is a decent phone in the budget market. However, buyers are going to have a hard time choosing this phone since there are more established devices with better kits at the same price point.
