A week with the Coolpad Dazen 1

Coolpad the popular chinese smartphone manufacturer which is actually doing good in China had entered the Indian smartphone ecosystem on May 28 after the good likes of Xioami, Honor etc. On the launch day, Coolpad had announced two smartphones under its online only brand called as Dazen 1, the cheapest 2GB RAM smartphone and Dazen X7, the flagship smartphone from Coolpad. Dazen 1 being the budget smartphone is targeted for average Indian audience who wishes to spend not more than 10k INR on a smartphone. Relating the same, Coolpad had introduced the Dazen 1 first in India even before China for Rs. 6,999. Coolpad Dazen 1 will be available online exclusively via Snapdeal.com with already having more than a lakh registrations for the flash sale starting tomorrow.

For the last one week we have been using the Coolpad Dazen 1 smartphone regularly and we found it pretty well for the price. Giving a brief description about its specifications, Dazen 1 is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor coupled with 2GB of RAM along with 8GB of built-in storage. It could easily handle day-to-day tasks including social networking on five different channels which are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ (Yes, Google+ is not yet dead for me) and rarely Pinterest for browsing boards. With emails and instant messaging apps all around, it worked absolutely fine standing by our expectations. Hence, this proved that the 2GB RAM its its USP and not just a gimmick to attract attention.

Design

The design of the smartphone might not look impressive and we have surely seen better built smartphones in the same category itself. The phone will be available in Moon Dust grey and baby snow-white colours. Thankfully, the back on this baby snow-white color is not glossy else it would have looked really cheap. The black front and the white matte plastic back makes for the appealing looks. The product design is pretty much standard with the same shape and everything, nothing revolutionary. We found the handset to be a little heavy, but not that significant. The physical buttons are hard to press and we believe this definitely will take some time getting used to.

Camera

It also sports an 8-megapixel rear camera with a f/2.2 lens and a single LED flash. It also features a 5-megapixel FF front camera and is backed by a 2500mAh battery. The camera however, was acceptable because we weren’t expecting it to be any better. It does the fairly good job sometimes even surprising with great clicks under good lighting conditions. On an average day, we could run for about 14 hours on a single charge and to be honest this isn’t bad. Although there are some more tests that need to be done to verify the survival period.

The Dazen 1 runs on Android 4.4 KitKat with their own home blend CoolUI. This CoolUI feels like a mixture of Xiaomi’s MIUI and Gionee’s Amigo UI. I believe the user interface have a lot to be improved to get the fluidity in the operating system. It has a similar experience like MIUI with apps directly on the homescreen along with widgets. Although there is an option to go back on the traditional UI with app drawer. It has few pre-installed apps, including Snapdeal, WeChat, WhatsApp, Facebook, Swiftkey, and WPS Office. We are too digging up what’s different and unique about the new user interface and hopefully will update soon in a separate post or video.

Comparison

Comparing with the competitors, closest one being Xiaomi Redmi 2 with the exact same price point we believe both the smartphones are suited well. If we look at the specifications Dazen 1 takes the lead, most significant win being 2GB RAM from 1GB on the Redmi 2. The battery too is better on the Dazen 1 with 2500mAh comparing to 2200mAh on the Redmi 2. Coolpad Dazen 1 also features a bigger screen, 5-inch compared to 4.7-inch on the Redmi 2. But one significant thing that matters is MIUI which provides a great user experience. CoolUI is new and needs improvement to stand in the competition. MIUI has been open sourced and has undergone a lot of development from the community which makes it one of the best Android forks out there.

Sample Pictures from the Coolpad Dazen 1

If you are looking for a buying advise, we will definitely have Dazen 1 in the under Rs. 7,000 list but maybe or maybe not over the Redmi 2. This primarily depends upon the after sales service if the service centre is in your town or not, or if you really dig for that 2GB RAM or if you have MIUI as your first preference. Either way in case you have any questions, feel free to ask them before you order one. The Coolpad Dazen 1 will be available via the same flash sales model starting June 9 at 12 noon, on Snapdeal.com.