Coolpad, the smartphone maker has launched its true wireless Bluetooth earphones accessory for the first time in India in the entry-level segment. As we know the TWS earbuds are growing rapidly, Coolpad has also joined the league with its Cool Bass Buds which is their budget TWS earbuds featuring a digital battery indicator onboard and a battery life of 20 hours currently priced at Rs 1,299. Here’s what we have to say in our Coolpad Cool Bass Buds review.
Coolpad Cool Bass Buds Specifications
- Driver: 13 mm dynamic drivers
- Connectivity & Ports: Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type-C
- Wireless Range: 10 meters
- Compatibility: Android, iOS, Windows
- Battery: 40 mAh (each bud), 400 mAh (case), Quick Charging
- Battery Runtime: Up to 4.5 Hours (Single Charge), Up to 20 Hours (With Case)
- Color: Blue, Black
- Price: Rs 1,299 (Rs 999 on Amazon Deal of the Day)
- Availability: Exclusively on Amazon India
Design & Build
In our first look, the Cool Bass Buds looked seamlessly compact and pocket friendly, the design is something new here, Dolphin Design 2.0 with a smart digital battery indicator on the case. It’s lightweight and easy to carry around, you can instantly zip it into your pocket, thanks to its compact design.
The matte-finish casing is made from a smooth plastic that gives you a nice feel and you can see a small faux-leathered belt on the side to hook it up. The case has a Coolpad’s Cool logo on the top, the overall case has rounded edges and an oval-like shape.
Surprisingly, opening the case and you will see an LED display that shows you the battery level of the case as well as the battery life of the left and the right earbud. The earbuds come with buttons on the side, there are no touch controls, you have to press the button on the bud to control the music.
The earbud has an in-ear design but no ear cups at the end, hence it may not perfectly fit in your ear. The buds may fall while you run or doing any sports activity in case you haven’t properly fit. Coolpad could have made the earbuds slightly better at comfort, even though it looks cool and stylish.
In the box, you get a pair of earbuds along with the charging case in the box, a USB Type-C charging cable, user manual, and warranty card.
Features & Connectivity
On the connectivity side, the Cool Bass Buds offers Bluetooth 5.0 which means it instantly connects to your device the moment you open the case. Pairing is easy, just open the case, plug in the earbuds in your ear and search for the Bluetooth device. You will see the LED lights glowing Red and Blue on the earbuds meaning it’s ready to pair.
You can also use a single earbud for voice calls if you are not listening to the music. In case you just want to use only one earbud, you can put one earbud in the case and use it for voice calls or so.
You get buttons on the side of the earbuds, there are no touch controls on it, you have to press the button on the bud to control the music. Since it’s budget TWS earbuds, you won’t find any high-quality audio codecs support (LDAC or LDHC ~900 Kbps) as well as ultra-low latency for gaming and real-time lag-free audio.
Audio Quality & Battery Life
The Cool Bass Buds comes with 13 mm deep bass dynamic drivers with support for Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity. The advantage here is the drivers, they are large especially in this segment, 13 mm might give you better bass quality as compared to 9 mm or so. The sound quality of the earbuds is good at this price, the audio is clear on full volumes with no distortion.
The downside is that the wireless connection disconnects at times if you block the earbuds and the sound leaks if you didn’t fit it properly in the ear. Considering that you are wearing a helmet, chances are that the connection may drop and the music will stop playing.
In terms of battery life, the earbuds offer a 40 mAh battery on each side and they are capable of providing up to 4.5 hours of music playback on a full charge without the case. The case can be used for extending the battery life up to 20 hours, the charging case packs a 400 mAh battery with support for quick charging via USB Type-C port. You can get up to 3 hours of music playback with just 15 minutes of charging.
What is surprising is the charging case, it has an LED screen that indicates the battery life, it shows you how much battery is remaining on the charging case as well as on the earbuds. This is something that you don’t usually see on many earbuds, in fact, the budget as well as the midrange TWS earbuds category doesn’t seem to have one.
Pricing & Verdict
The Cool Bass Buds has surprised us with its sleek and compact pocket-friendly design and the smart battery indicator on its LED display. Moreover, the 20 hours of battery life with 15 minutes of quick charging feature is great. The only downside is the connectivity, the connection drops at times if you block the earbuds.
The price of the Coolpad Cool Bass Buds starts at Rs 1,299 and with that price, this could be one of the highly affordable TWS earbuds in the budget wireless earbuds category.
