By Chris Chang, posted Nov 24, 2011 at 1:25 AM, 13,800 views,

It’s a Phone… It’s a Tablet… It’s Coolpad’s New 5-inch Android Smartphone (video)

You know, the Chinese gadget market isn’t just about tacky shanzhai or knockoff products — look closer and you shall find the odd pearl on the seabed. Introducing Coolpad 9900 Magview II, featuring a 5-inch screen and 1.5GHz dual-core processor. It’s probably the strongest Chinese-branded Android smartphone on Earth. Full photo gallery and video after the jump.

Hands-on with Coolpad 9900 Magview II

Coolpad, the little known Chinese brand, has launched a new Android smartphone that doesn’t look too shabby with its 5.0-inch 960 x 480 IPS-rivalling Sharp ASV display, Qualcomm’s 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 768MB of RAM, 4GB of on-board storage, and a 8-megapixel camera that is capable of recording 1080p30 video. The Coolpad Magview II runs Gingerbread with the company’s own developed UI over it, has both GSM and CDMA radios built-in, allowing the phone to switch between GSM and CDMA accounts on a whim, making you wonder why on Earth this didn’t arrive before you plunked down for a second handset. The phone is announced jointly by Coolpad and China Telecom (China’s largest CDMA carrier), and this is actually the second offering of Coolpad’s Magview smartphone series, and use the same 5.0-inch Sharp display as its predecessor Coolpad 9930. Below is a video showing the features of the Magview II.

Coolpad Magview II is aimed at both the 7 inch-tablet and the 4+ inch-smartphone market, according to a spokesperson for Coolpad. We think that’s smart. There is a good chance of both the crowed (4+inch and the 7-inch crowds) buying the Magview II. And there are equal or better chances of none of them buying it. The Dell Streak has been a good example. If people are buying a tablet, they know what to expect. And if people are buying a smartphone, they know what to expect. Samsung Galaxy Note is a similar device with a massive 5.3 inch screen. At least Samsung isn’t trying to target both the sections. Samsung is clear in its marketing message. Samsung Galaxy Note is a smartphone which can do more and it is not clearly targeted at the in-betweeners, like the Magview II.

Coolpad compares their phone’s 5-inch screen with the 3.5-inch screen on the iPhone 4

It’s pretty big huh?

The screen looks gorgeous. We wonder if it could compete with Samsung’s Super AMOLED HD and Apple’s Retina Display.

The phone shows good contrast and bright colors in low-light situation.

Demonstrating the viewing angles of the Magview II.

There are three soft touch buttons below the 5-inch screen.

At 9.9mm thick, the Magview II is slightly thicker than the Galaxy Note (9.3mm).

On the left side of the phone, there are two buttons for adjusting volume, and a micro USB port (we’re not sure).

We really love the matte coating on the back. No fingerprints!

The 8-megapixel camera. Wait, there’s no flash? WTF?

The Magview II includes room for a pair of SIM cards, since it includes GSM and CDMA radios. Pretty cool feature.

The hold-back? It comes with a 1800-mAH battery, while the Galaxy Note has a 2500-mAH battery. We think the battery life of the Magview II could be weaker than the Galaxy note. However, Coolpad is telling us that the Magview II has a better battery life than Apple’s iPhone.

The Magview II introduction video compares the phone’s battery life with iPhone 4

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Wrap-up

Coolpad has crafted a phone that’s multifaceted like no other Chinese branded phone — a massive 5-inch screen. It may look like Samsung’s 5.3-inch Galaxy Note has ushered in a new era for super-large-screen smartphone, and chances are that we will see more and more 5.x-inch smartphone in the forthcoming years, especially from Chinese phone makers. For the price and availability of the Magview II, the company has not revealed the price point, however, we think the Magview II will be priced at least 4,000 yuan. It will hit the shelves in next month, and since the Magview II is currently preloaded with Android 2.3 Gingerbread, it is expected to upgrade to Android 4.0 ICS in the first quarter of next year.

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One More Thing

Coolpad also launched a cloud computing platform named Cool Cloud, and it is upgraded 2.0 version today. Cool Cloud is aimed for the mobile users and market in China. It is basically an online storage service for users who are using Coolpad’s smartphone or tablets. Users could sync photos, documents and other content wirelessly. So, the new Magview II is based on the Cool Cloud 2.0 platform, and that is one of its best features.

Source: it168

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TAGS: Culture:China, Android, Android phone, Coolpad, coolpad magview II, photos, Samsung, Samsung Galaxy Note, Smartphone, videos