Unknown brands, buyers still do not trust. Some people doubt their quality, others are dissatisfied with an unrecognizable name. But, as time and the history of Chinese brands have shown, even an interesting, productive flagship can grow out of the most unknown manufacturer.
This can not be said about the CoolPad A8 Max. This smartphone collected a few reviews, but this did not get worse. What can a little-known brand say to the buyer, we will find out further.
Coolpad
The observed model appeared on the market in 2016, and a year earlier the manufacturer as a whole became known in the CIS countries.
This Chinese company was founded back in 1993. She explains her unpopularity among the Russian-speaking buyer by the fact that she is focused on her national market.
It is known that in 2012 CoolPad took a tenth of the global production of this equipment. The following year, it released nearly 7 million devices, ahead of the popular BlackBerry and Nokia.
Finding reviews on the CoolPad is not so easy at the moment. A8 Max has become one of the few smartphones that buyers from CIS countries have begun to talk about. Despite the fact that few people still know about him, he was able to find his consumer and gain confidence.
About phone
The model appeared on the market last year, but it was mentioned in various reviews in 2017. This is also due to the fact that they first consider popular and iconic phones, and then pay attention to the budget segment and little-known manufacturers.
If you see a new product, then you can clearly understand where the designers got their ideas from. The Chinese smartphone is very similar to the HTC One A9, which has been on the market for 2 years. But the device got its own personality, since the CoolPad A8 Max smartphone has a 5.5-inch screen. So, it is already exceeding its prototype in size.
The manufacturer could not decide which segment this phone belongs to. The design turned out to be quite good and copies all modern flagships. “Inside” of the apparatus, on the one hand, also have high parameters.
And then we notice a bunch of shortcomings: an outdated operating system, a mediocre processor and a small battery capacity. But the cost of this "handsome" confirms its budget and simplicity.
Packaging
A full review of the CoolPad A8 Max should begin with a description of the box. And it’s very nice when you can say something about this.
They laid the model in a beautiful thin rectangular box. It is made of high quality matte black cardboard. In the middle is the golden logo of the manufacturer. Similar packaging could already be seen in earlier versions from this developer.
It opens like a pencil case. Pulling out the main part of the box, you can immediately notice the phone. To get it out of the tray, you need to pull the ribbon. Considering that we have a telephone that, if you are lucky, can be purchased for 8 thousand Russian rubles), such details in one box are promising.
Having removed the device, remove the top cardboard and find small stylish black boxes. Each of them housed a barely noticeable golden icon. So you can understand that in one of them is a USB cable, in the second there is a charging unit, and in the third there are headphones. The fourth elongated box has a paper clip for removing the tray and documentation.
Opening the last box, we also notice a transparent bumper with a protective film as a gift. If we consider all the modern configurations, then in this case we can say with confidence that we are facing one of the most generous.
Reviews about the configuration
The CoolPad A8 Max smartphone reviews regarding the packaging and everything that is in it received the most positive. Firstly, the instruction in Russian is always useful to someone. Moreover, the translation here is not machine, but competent and understandable. A protective film is a good gift, because initially it is not on the screen.
The bumper is plastic, which means that it will most likely begin to crack in a couple of months, like all Chinese covers. Better buy a silicone version.
Separately, it should be noted cables. Usually you don’t expect anything remarkable, but there are still a lot of surprises for the user. The white wire at the micro-USB connector is equipped with a special rubberized lock, which allows you to store and fix the cable laid. Also in this part of the wire, a button was placed on the micro-USB block. It turns on the blue backlight. During the day, it is barely noticeable, but in the dark, it helps to get the plug into the device the first time.
The USB connector is standard on one side and unusually implemented on the other. He was left only that part of the interface on which there are contacts.
The headset also received good reviews. Outwardly similar to "apple" in the form of ear pads. Users said that the sound in the headphones is not bad, although it falls short of expensive accessories.
Appearance
Well, after such a long description of the CoolPad A8 Max and its configuration, you can proceed to the design. You can say a lot about him, but you can not say a word. Appearance turned out to be strange: very similar to everyone and not like anyone.
And it’s even difficult to understand, this is the idea of ​​the Chinese manufacturer or its flaw. One way or another, we have before us the familiar metal case, with plastic stripes at the back and with convex 2.5D glass.
Such models appear on the market monthly. All of them have found a similar design and the presence of the Home button, the appearance of the main camera and a couple of details may differ.
It was very strange that this model entered the market in a single color. Moreover, you definitely can’t call him male, and not all girls can like champagne. Judging objectively, the model would look very cool in black, since there is a noticeable black frame around the screen.
The case is large, since the screen diagonal is 5.5 inches. The CoolPad A8 Max 4G Smartphone is only 7.6 millimeters thick. The height of the device is 15 cm, and its width is 7.5 cm. The weight of the device is 170 grams.
If you previously had a smartphone with similar dimensions and a diagonal, then you will not feel any discomfort in operation. But if you previously used a smaller phone, then a couple of weeks will have to get used to.
Details
Despite its budget, the smartphone is well assembled. No backlash or creaks, cracks or cracks are not visible anywhere.
Not everyone may like the placement of elements on the case, especially if you are switching from another device. But objectively all the details are in place.
In front, most of the display is convex with 2.5D glass. Around it you can see a black frame, which would have looked better on a dark case. Under the display is the manufacturer’s logo, above the screen is the earpiece, front camera, indicators and sensors.
The back panel looks fashionable and good. CoolPad A8 Max design reviews received similar. Almost all users have noticed a resemblance to the iPhone 6. Firstly, color contributes to this. Secondly, dark plastic inserts for antennas play an important role. Noticed even the similarity of the main cameras.
In the middle, closer to the top, there is a round window of the fingerprint scanner. Below we see the company logo again. The camera is located above the plastic insert in the middle, a flash is placed next to it.
Location
The left end is occupied by the volume rocker. It has two dedicated buttons with a good move. The right side got a combined tray for SIM cards and memory cards. Below it is a power button.
The bottom end in the middle received a connector for the charger, on the sides of it there are two screws, and behind them a pair of grilles. Under one of them is an external speaker, under the second - the main microphone. By the way, you will still have to look for an additional microphone, but if you put a bumper on the device, you will immediately understand its position on the body through the hole.
For unknown reasons, he was hidden on the top plastic insert. This solution is not entirely convenient, since you can accidentally block it with your finger during a conversation.
Screen
Often you can find a comparison of CoolPad Max and Samsung Galaxy A8. Someone is trying to choose from these two models only because they have the same index in the name.
It is immediately worth noting that these are two completely different smartphones, both externally and internally. Therefore, there can be no question of any comparison, if only because the hero of our review has a 5.5-inch screen, and the Korean device has 5.7 inches. Displays have different matrices and are the same only in Full HD resolution.
Our Chinese phone was presented with a good IPS matrix. At the moment she is one of the best. It always produces good brightness, contrast, saturation. The colors of the picture are natural and realistic.
The top of the screen is covered with a protective glass Gorilla Glass 4. It does not have moisture protection, but it perfectly protects against scratches and dust.
Questions in this case only to the sensor. For some reason they did not take care of him. The screen takes up to three simultaneous touches, and this is a very nasty indicator by 2017. And if it is enough for programs and surfing the Internet, then in some games you will have problems.
Camera
CoolPad A8 Max received average reviews about the camera. Despite the parameters that she received, the photos are mediocre. The main camera is equipped with a 13 megapixel module, the front camera received a resolution of 5 megapixels.
Good pictures are obtained only in the daytime, and even then in good light. Although here it is not always possible to achieve a cool picture. If you shoot moving objects, they come out blurry. Everything is bad with autofocus, which does not always work where necessary.
If twilight begins, then no night modes and manual settings will greatly help. At night, the picture becomes grainy and "noisy." If you use macro photography, bokeh is of poor quality.
Video on the main camera does not bode well for you, but it can record in 1080 resolution. The sound on the rollers is normal, and given its placement, it can often overlap.
The 5 megapixel front camera also does not stand out. In the daytime, he will take good selfies for social networks, and in the dark, he will “season” your photos with noise and grain.
"Filling"
Thanks to the Qualcomm processor, the CoolPad A8 Max reviews were unreasonably good. The fact is that many buyers know about Qualcomm Snapdragon, and if they notice that the device works on this processor, then there is nothing to worry about.
But the whole point is that the monitored hero received a version of the 617 chip, and by 2017 it is a long-obsolete model. The Adreno 405 graphics accelerator also lost its performance against the background of new products.
As a result, we have an apparatus with an average power. It easily works with a number of office and utility programs, copes well with surfing the Internet, but not every game draws.
In all this history, the most remarkable thing is that the model appeared with 4 GB of RAM. There is no internal 64 GB and there is no more or less capacity. But as you remember, you can use a memory card, the volume of which, by the way, can reach only 32 GB.
Wireless interfaces and all the newfangled technology is. The only thing someone can notice is the lack of NFC.
The unpleasant news was that the Android 5.1.1 operating system was outdated as early as 2 years, and for some reason it got into the device reliably. It is covered with the signature CoolUX launcher. As a result, the “shell” is rather mediocre and not everyone may like the look. Therefore, before buying, take a good look at it.
Autonomy
The review of the CoolPad Max smartphone is coming to an end, which means that it's time to talk about autonomy. This is another weak point of the device. Still, 2800 mAh is a low indicator, but for a phone with such a diagonal it is completely deplorable.
The smartphone can be charged in two modes, which is surprising for the budget segment. There is a “quick charge”, which will charge the device from scratch in 55 minutes, there is an “intelligent” one, which makes it 20 minutes longer.
Reviews
So practical, simple and inexpensive is the new CoolPad A8 Max smartphone. He collected different reviews. Someone expected incredible performance from him when they saw the Qualcomm Snapdragon, others hoped for a cool camera.
As a result, a complete set was selected from the pros, which, undoubtedly, remains one of the best. The materials of the case and the assembly as a whole turned out to be quite good. It’s good that there is a combined slot, 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal memory. This is a standard set, which is enough for everyone who needs a work phone.
Among the minuses, it is definitely worth highlighting the color of the device. It is not universal, not even suitable for all women, not to mention men. Automatic brightness control turned out to be poor and inoperative. Performance was also noted as weak.
The camera, from which they expected more, did not like the users. Also, autofocus failed. According to the "five-point" system, the phone has earned a solid "three". If you are a potential buyer of this model, do not expect supernatural from it. She will cope with all everyday tasks, but nothing more.