Coolpad’s Dazen lands in India with Dazen X7 @ 17,999 INR and Dazen 1 @ 6,999 INR

For the ones who do not know about a brand called Coolpad, it is a highly successful smartphone maker back in China and has been in the news lately for its plans for India. They have as many as 6000 patents which are astonishing for a Chinese brand. We also see a new, strong, and well-established pattern here! Phone makers are going to spin off online-only brands and Coolpad is taking the same route with their Dazen brand. Today, Coolpad officially launched its devices in India under the Dazen brand – not one but two! Dazen X7 which is a midrange and Dazen 1 which is more of an entry-level phone, will be sold exclusively on Snapdeal. Let’s look at the specifications of both phones.

Dazen X7

• Display – 5.2-inch 1080*1920 pixels Full HD Super AMOLED screen. Gorilla Glass 3 on BOTH sides
• Processor – MTK MT6595 Octa-core clocking at 1.7 GHz
• Memory – 16GB, expandable up to 32GB
• RAM – 2GB of LP-DDR3 RAM
• OS – Cool UI 6.0 built off Android 4.4
• Camera – 13MP Sony IMX214 rear camera with f/1.8 aperture, 8MP front camera
• Battery – 2700 mAh Lithium Polymer non-removable battery
• Connectivity – 4G LTE, Dual SIM (Mini & Nano sim)
• Form factor – 6.5mm in thickness and 141 gms in weight
• Colors – Gold and Titanium white
• Price – 17,999 INR

There are few things here that will really stand out – Gorilla Glass 3 protection on both sides, the wicked awesome 13MP shooter in the back in the form of IMX214, the same found on the Xiaomi Mi4 and the 8MP front shooter, and the SUPER AMOLED screen and we saved the best for the last – 6.5mm thickness! So how does this pitch against the other phones out there? Well, looking at the looks and the build quality of the phone, the Dazen X7 has a tough chance of beating the competition. Yes, it does have all the goodies stated but does it have a processor that will turn heads? NO. Does it have an OS that will make people good? NO – it is KitKat! Does Dazen have good post-sales support? – big question mark.

And with so many question marks and drawbacks, this phone is offered at 17,999 INR and being sold in the online-only channel, it does come off as a PRICEY phone. Spend 1,000 INR more and you have a OnePlus One! There are tons of options for which we think D7 has long uphill tasks. If only the price was around the 15,000 INR mark it could’ve appeared better. We’ve to wait and see how it goes!

Dazen 1

• Display – 5.0-inch IPS LCD 1280*720 screen
• Processor – Qualcomm Snapdragon Quadcore 410 clocking 1.2GHz
• Memory – 8GB, expandable up to 32GB
• RAM – 2GB
• OS – Cool UI 6.0 built off Android 4.4
• Camera – 8MP rear camera, 5MP front camera
• Battery – 2500 mAh Lithium-Ion battery
• Connectivity – Dual SIM, 4G LTE, 3G, Bluetooth, and GPS
• Form factor – 9.3mm in thickness
• Sensors – G-Sensor, Proximity sensor, and Light sensor
• Colors – Moon Dust grey and Baby Snow-White
• Price – 6,999 INR

Now, the Dazen 1 is pitched against the Lenovo A6000 Plus, the Redmi 2, the Yuphoria, and the Moto E (2nd Gen). Let us cut to the chase and as much as we hate to say it, it will be a TOUGH TOUGH fight! Yuphoria has received 5,00,000 registrations and most of the reviews hint at it being a good phone with good performance, a decent camera, and not many issues barring CM12. There is the Redmi 2 which has the best camera in the range with MIUI v6. We will have to wait and see how it does actually – honestly no guessing how but we reckon that response if any at all will be lukewarm.

So with both the phones being offered with some good specs, Dazen might have put themselves in a tricky situation with the pricing. But they are not to be blamed – the increase in import taxes in India is affecting them all. We will wait to get our hands on the device and let you know how they perform! Registrations start today and the device goes on sale from June 9th on Snapdeal.