Xolo unveiled its new smartphone Era 2X at an event in Delhi yesterday. The device comes in two variants a 2GB RAM for Rs 6,666 and 3GB RAM for Rs 7,499, both will be available exclusively via Flipkart starting 9th January. On the other hand, Coolpad last month brought its Mega 3, priced at Rs 6,999 and is available on Amazon India. Both the smartphones come really close when looked at their spec sheet. Further, selling it at a similar price, let’s put these two smartphones head to head and see who comes out to be the winner.
Design and Display
Hitting the design element first, both the smartphones are somewhat similar in terms of the design. A polycarbonate removable back which though is a rare breed these days still feels solid in both the devices. While the back on the Era 2X comes with a matte finish, the back of the Mega 3 is texturized providing a solid grip in both the cases. Interestingly, the Era 2X has a fingerprint scanner at the back while the Mega 3 misses out on this one. Overall, the build quality is not outstanding but it does a job for the price. For the dimensions, the Mega 3 measures at 152 x 77 x 8.2 mm and weighs around 170 grams. On the other hand, Xolo Era 2X measures 144.00 x 72.30 x 9.50 mm.
Moving to the display, this is where the first real difference pops in as the Era 2X comes with a 5.0-inch HD OnCell display with 1280×720 pixels resolution whereas, the Coolpad Mega 3 comes with a 5.5-inch HD (1280×720) IPS LCD display. The quality based on the Pixel density will be better on the Era 2X, given it sports the same resolution display in a smaller package. If you have small hands, then Xolo Era 2X is a better choice here. Otherwise, you can go for the Mega 3 if a larger 5.5-inch display is your priority.
Performance and Memory
Digging inside, we don’t find much of a difference in terms of the internals. Both the smartphones are powered by a 1.25GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6737 Processor paired with 2GB RAM. However, the GPU does differ on the two. While the Mega 3 comes with a Mali-T860, the Era 2X sports a Mali-T720MP1. Both the smartphones come with 16GB of internal storage which is expandable via micro SD card up to 32GB in both the cases. Both the smartphones also run on Android 6.0 Marshmallow with their respective skins on top. For the performance, both the smartphones look equally good on paper, however, a lot will depend on the actual performance. Nonetheless, these smartphones are surely not for the gamers and will only serve you up till day-to-day light on GPU games.
Camera
In the camera department, things tend to differ a bit especially in terms of the front camera. Starting with the Xolo Era 2X, the device comes with an 8-megapixel Autofocus rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, LED Flash and a 5-megapixel camera on in its front for selfies and video calling. On the other hand, the Mega 3 also sport an 8-megapixel camera with a f/2.2 Aperture on both the front and back. The rear-facing camera comes with autofocus, LED flash and can record 720p video at 30fps. Well, it is too early to comment on the actual performance of the camera on these smartphones as we are yet to get test the new Era 2X. Nevertheless, a higher resolution front facing camera might come with a bit of advantage in this case.
Battery and Connectivity
This is where Coolpad Mega 3 clearly take the lead with a 3050 mAh battery. On the other hand, the Xolo Era 2X comes with a 2500 mAh battery. However, the battery on the Era 2X is removable. Not only this, though both the smartphones share the same display resolution but the bigger display size of the Mega 3 might dip in a bit of battery life. Also, the battery on the Mega 3 is not removable. Further, it also depends on software optimisations on both the devices. Still, we would pick the Coolpad Mega 3 in this department.
Lastly for the connectivity, both the smartphones come with 4G with VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, WiFi Hotspot, Bluetooth, GPS, and a Micro USB port. The Era 2X comes with Dual SIM functionality whereas the Mega 3 boasts Triple SIM functionality. Not to worry, both the smartphones have a separate dedicated slot for memory expansion.
Wrapping Up
Now for the verdict, things really get on to the personal preference of a user. The Xolo Era 2X will offer better display quality, compact design, and the fingerprint scanner while it lacks in the battery capacity as compared to Mega 3. On the other hand, the Mega 3 offers a bigger battery, a slightly better front facing camera and a larger display but lacks out on the fingerprint scanner. To sum up, if you can’t manage a 5.5-inch smartphone, pick the Xolo Era 2X while if you absolutely want a bigger display and a better battery performance, Coolpad Mega 3 is not a bad choice for this price.