The phone packs all the essential features when it comes to connectivity with 4G VoLTE support, Bluetooth, WiFi, FM and USB OTG. In my testing the call quality of the phone was very good. The voice is transmitted loud and clear and the in call speaker is also loud enough to hear what the other person is saying even in outdoor conditions. One thing to note is that if you choose to put two SIM cards at once the only the first slot supports 4G while the second one is limited to 2G speeds.
The 5-inch display on the device sports a 1280X720p resolution and has an IPS panel for great and wide viewing angles. The colour reproduction is vibrant and the brightness is adequate for outdoor usage. The 2.5D curved glass adds to the attractiveness but also makes the display reflective under the sun but you can still view the on-screen content if you crank up the brightness. The fingerprint sensor here can store up to 5 fingerprints and unlocks easily about 95pc times.
The rear 13MP rear camera on the Coolpad Note 5 Lite delivers a good performance in well lit conditions and but starts to show noise when dealing with extremely low light situations. Thankfully it gets a powerful LED flash that can really change and save your night shots (the close range ones at least). You get a bunch of modes including beauty, night, panorama and a pro mode as well. The camera also supports HDR and has an option to capture gif. Sadly this rear camera only shoots video at 720p or 480p which is a bit of a letdown and I expected it to shoot videos up to 1080p. The front facing 5MP auto focus camera actually performed better than I expected. The photos were well lit and it is great for taking selfies. There is an LED flash for the front camera but it is not mighty powerful but gets the job done when you do not have the support of any other light source. The front camera records video at 720p as well and the videos come out good for the most part.
The 2500mAh battery will last you a full day on moderate usage and can go beyond that if you tread carefully. On heavy usage as well the phone lasted for a little more than half a day. In my usage which consists of watching some videos during my travel to office and back, playing some games in free time, making calls and using data on 4G and WiFi, the phone lasted till evening on a single charge. The supplied charger is quick enough to get your phone going with about half an hour of charging. The phone does get a little hot while charging but that can be attributed to the metal back of the phone and nothing to worry about.
As of now you can buy the Coolpad Note 5 Lite from Amazon for a price of Rs 8,199 which is quite a decent price for what the device has to offer. Yes it is not the fastest among the competition but it is just about good enough to do all that you need it to. Where the Coolpad Note 5 Lite wins hearts are its premium looks, a metal body (which is a bit hard to come across these days), the variety of software utilities that come with Cool UI 8.0 and a camera that can capture your favorite moments beautifully.