Coolpad Illumina Review: Android at $40? By JuanBagnell

It's like living in the past, but in the present taking a minute out of a pretty Frizzy review, scheduled to take a look at an entry-level phone where my blast, several phone reviews have been floating mere that thousand dollar price tear I got an itch to see what the other book end of the market might currently feel like. How does an Android phone perform not at the $500 tier $400 tier, not even the $200 tier? No, no, nothing. This grand I want to see how a phone handles daily use at 40 bucks.40 bucks enter the cool pad Illumine on Boost Mobile. It's an Android Go device pinned hard to the entry-level of the spectrum, and it should serve as a great tattoo point to see how much tech really is filtering down into lower cost devices, a look which recalls phones like the HTC EVE. This bill does feel anachronistic, but handling the illumine. There are a few design elements, I really miss on current flagship phones.

The back is a matte textured plastic. It's simple: it's not flashy won't catch anyone's eye, but it's a practical material. Well-Executed, that's more grip! Bull than current premium glass on glass and witches better still, you can still pop the back off and get at the battery I really miss having user replaceable batteries, and it's just nice. Knowing this feature lives on in low-cost options. If you're inclined to you can pause the video here to get the full spec sheet, but I'm going to be moving on to specific features.

Immediately at this price tear the screen is going to feel like a noticeable compromise over more expensive fare. A lower resolution would be one thing, but this LCD panel I, like some of the critiques we've had in the past, on color contrast and viewing angles, as you really only want to look at this screen. Dead-On using this I have to admit I kinda do miss dedicated capacitive navigation buttons, but I definitely do not miss using pattern unlock to open the phone. This is one of the areas I'm most spoiled by modern handsets and current fingerprint sensors having the phone ready to use before I ever hold it up to my face and another area I've been spoiled by mid-range, the Illumine sports, a Qualcomm, Snapdragon 210, and it's still a pain point that Google has not managed to polish up the performance of Android on this kind of hardware. That chipset is similar to what we found in Lucia devices like the Lucia 550 from 2015, which also had one gigabyte of RAM I.

Actually don't have a Lucia.550 I only have my 520 here, but it was remarkable how smooth Windows Phone operated on ultra low power Hardware. This is my first real long-term experience with Android go. It just doesn't quite live up to how much more fluid the I was on Microsoft's operating system. From years ago, the alumina is usable. I was able to get all of my daily communications and social media tasks completed I couldn't install a ton of services on the phone.

This really isn't the kind of hardware you had torture tests like that, but the whole time I was using it with the few regular lags and stutters again just how much smoother this would be if we could pair it with a more efficient operating system. Cool pad doesn't really have much of a choice there. This is the only software and really the only platform available to hit this price point, but I think this manufacturer is being let down by the current solutions available from Google that end in streamlining Android for this kind of hardware, I'm a bit troubled by some services like YouTube go where to get into the app you have to log in and confirm with a phone number, it's nifty that some videos come with the option to download for offline playback. You get better upfront info on video streaming size if you're on a metered connection, but I don't think Google needs to tie that user behavior to phone numbers. That's my own personal tinfoil hat wearing bias, and you don't shop a phone like this for its multimedia prowess, but there is a camera onboard, and it does functionally acquire light to reproduce an image, but, as you might imagine, it's not going to unseat phones that costs just a little more like the plastic back and the removable battery.

There are some old-fashioned ideas on display, but I'll always be happy to see any phone in 2019 with a built-in headphone jack, especially when the mission of a phone to be budget-conscious supporting the jack gives the user more options for good audio at lower prices. The Illumine is by no means an audiophile device, but it did a respectable job of driving a low cost pair of dual driver, low, impedance earbuds. The convenience of the headphone jack cannot be overstated when you're comparing quality to cost. The speaker is also a bit old-fashioned in that it's my all-time least favorite placement for a speaker, I'm, so glad we moved away from rear mounted loudspeakers. The Illumine hardware is surprisingly decent.

Considering the price I wish, it could get a little louder. I wish it wasn't so tinny and flat, but I was expecting a lot worse. Just like the headphone conversation. No one would confuse this with a premium multimedia experience, but it is decently usable testing. The battery also requires just a bit any once this isn't a huge capacity, but I was hoping software optimization would help offset that capacity under my social media, email and communication needs.

I was definitely needing to top it off halfway through the day and the recharge rate is not the fastest again, no huge surprises. But again, this is another area where I feel Google software influence could help in future iterations on this platform. Okay, that's enough rambling from me, and my laryngitis is starting to shut this video down where's that leave us with the cool pad aluminum. The forty dollar Android phone I'm, actually kind of impressed. I am just a little with the amount of phone you can get for 40 bucks.

This phone can really try your patience, but if you absolutely need something to get you through the day to cover the basics as cost-effectively as possible, this phone can do it. It's difficult discussing these devices like they live in a vacuum, and I've made comparisons to other phones like old Limits. So it's worth remembering that when the Lucia 550 launched with similar internals to this Illumine, it launched at 140 dollars over three years ago, I wouldn't say the consumer experience has gotten any better, maybe even a touch worse, comparing Android to old-school Windows Phone, but we can't hit this phone too hard when it cuts $100 off that old Lucia price tag and I also have difficulty comparing it against older flagship phones, even a used Galaxy Nexus, if it's in good condition, will sell for more than what cool pad is asking as you're shopping a handset with your cash. Only you can answer how low is too low for you and your family I personally would not recommend this phone be purchased for older, less tech-savvy family members. They likely won't be able to get a feel for some lag and inconsistency in the UI.

But I am happy to report that a $40 Android phone is not a gimmick. It's not. This could be a viable cost saving device. So long as you understand, and you can live with some of its compromises, as always thanks so much for watching, sharing, subscribing I had fun putting this video together, going to get back on track covering some more high-end gear, some more audio tech, and if you would like to support production on this channel, please consider checking out the community over at patreon. com slash some gadget guy, where we've got fun.

Discussions on every post, behind-the-scenes production, Diaries and the exclusive home to all of my camera and audio deep dive reviews, I, hope, you'll check it out once again, patreon. com slash some gadget guy, alright folks, you know where you can catch me around the rest of the internet at some gadget guy on the Twitter's, the Facebook's and the Instagram and I will catch you all on the next review.

Source : JuanBagnell