The Indian smartphone market is flooded by exceptional mid-range smartphones providing outstanding performance at rock bottom prices. Today we will pit two such smartphones which in spite of being sold under Rs. 10,000 have the potential to compete with high range devices. Let’s compare the Coolpad Note 3 Plus with the LeEco Le 1s.
Display
Each of the smartphones come with identical 5.5-inch Full HD 1080p displays. Both are IPS LCD panels supporting multi-touch and sport a pixel density of 403 pixels per inch. While the Le 1s Eco comes with a Gorilla Glass 3, the Note 3 Plus uses some undisclosed scratch resistant glass.
Winner – Le 1s Eco wins here by a small margin due to more dependable display protection.
Processing Power
The Coolpad Note 3 Plus comes with an octa-core 64-bit MediaTek MT6753 SoC. The processor has eight ARM Cortex A53 cores running at 1.3 GHz each. The GPU is a tri-core Mali T720 MP3.
A slightly underpowered 64-bit octa-core MediaTek Helio X10 chip is in the realm of the LeEco Le 1s Eco. There is eight ARM Cortex A53 clocked at 1.85 GHz each. The graphics performance is handled by a PowerVR G6200 GPU. Both the chipsets are manufactured by the 28 nm process.
Winner – The Le 1s Eco is the winner here. Even though underpowered, the Helio X10 can still beat the MT6753 by a significant margin.
Memory and RAM
Both the smartphones come with an LPDDR3 RAM of 3 GB capacity. The Note 3 Plus comes with 16 GB of internal memory while the Le 1s Eco sports 32 GB inbuilt storage. To compensate the low internal storage, Coolpad ropes in a microSD card slot, which is lacking in the competitor.
Winner – Tie. Although Coolpad Note 3 Plus has less inbuilt storage, it makes it up with the microSD card slot.
Camera
Both the devices sport a similar set of camera modules with 13 MP camera at the back and 5 MP selfie shooter at the front. Le 1s Eco comes with an additional Phase Detection Auto Focus (PDAF) capability with its rear camera and its camera modules are higher end than the Note 3 Plus.
Winner – Le 1s wins with additional camera features and better camera modules.
Software
The Coolpad Note 3 Plus runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop with Cool UI 6.0 layered on top. The LeEco Le 1s Eco comes with a little older Android 5.0.2 customized with EUI 5.5. None of the manufacturers have promised about any future updates.
Coolpad Note 3 Plus wins by a thin margin.
Network and Connectivity
Both the handsets can take in two SIM cards at the same time and supports 4G LTE. The Le 1s Eco comes with a better 802.11ac WiFi modem which supports dual bands 2.4 GHz + 5 GHz, while the other one supports only 2.4 GHz 802.11n WiFi networks.
Coolpad Note 3 Plus comes with the conventional microUSB 2.0 port while the Le 1s Eco boasts the latest Type-C USB port. The latter will enjoy better data transfer speed and faster charging.
Winner – Le 1s Eco emerges as the winner for more contemporary features.
Others
A finger sensor is present below the primary camera aperture in each of the smartphones. The LeEco one has an additional infra-red emitter for remote controlling home appliances like Televisions, Air Conditioners, etc. It also has a digital compass which is absent in the Coolpad Note 3 Plus.
Both feature a similar 3000mAh Lithium-ion battery to fuel the respective smartphones.
The Coolpad Note 3 Plus is exclusively available in Amazon India for a price of Rs. 8,999. The LeEco Le 1s Eco is only sold in Flipkart and costs Rs. 9,999.
Final Verdict
The LeEco Le 1s is a much better device altogether. Although it costs Rs. 1,000 more than its competitor, it is still a better choice as you get a better display protection, significantly improved performance, better cameras, more internal storage, advanced connectivity and a handful of other things.