Kata B1s Unboxing and Review, B for Budget-Friendly

Kata B1s Unboxing and Review, B for Budget-Friendly

INTRODUCTION:

Kata Digital is one the regional brand that has few devices in the local market, although they have only a small number of offerings, they still have something for consumers in the lower magnitude of the spectrum - the Kata B1s.

CPU-Z

The B1s is made for budget-conscious buyers that are looking for the best bang for the buck for their hard-earned money. For a very affordable retail price tag of 1,999 pesos, you already have a 3.5-inch smartphone powered by a dual core processor coupled with 512MB of RAM.


UNBOXING:

Unboxing Video

Retail Package

The retail package covers the basics, it has the unit with pre-installed screen protector, battery, charger, USB cable, headset and user manual.


HARDWARE:

Front

The capacitive keys are located below the display while the hidden sensors, earpiece grill and secondary camera are placed above the screen.

Back

The back has a rubbery finish, this makes the cover resistant to dirt and smudges. The main camera without the flash can be found slightly above the fish logo.

Back without cover

Removing the back cover will reveal the modest 1200mAh battery, the two regular SIM slots and the micro SD slot.

Left

Right

The left side holds the micro USB port while the right side has the volume rocker.

Top

Bottom

The power key and the 3.5mm audio jack are both located at the top of the device while the bottom was kept bare.

The B1s is relatively a small device, most, if not all operations can be performed with just only one hand. Design wise, all I can say is that it is still has a pretty decent look, despite having a bargain price.

Related: Kata i3s Unboxing and Review, It Is Incredibly Sleek


DISPLAY:

2-point touch

For Android phones that belongs to the entry-level, we all know that there are things that need to be trimmed down in order to achieve the price ceiling. For the B1s, one of the cost-saving measure is its display, it is only 3.5-inch with HVGA resolution and only capable of detecting two fingers at the same time. There is also no IPS panel or similar technology, this makes the viewing angles limited.


SENSORS:

Sensors

The AndroidSensorBox detects several sensors, namely accelerometer, proximity, light, orientation and magnetic. However, only the first two are confirmed working, the remaining three do not have any reaction during the test.


BENCHMARKS:

Antutu

Quadrant

NenaMark2

Vellamo

The benchmark scores are reasonably accepted, when compared to other dual core devices, they are on the same level.


INTERFACE:

About Phone

Start-up

Interface

The Kata B1s runs on slightly outdated Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, it uses the stock interface with some added applications installed by default.


BASIC FUNCTIONS:

Basic Functions

Telephony, call logs, messaging, contacts and email are all working as they should, no issue or problem encountered during the review period.


MULTIMEDIA:

Gallery:

Gallery

The gallery is where you can find all the photos and videos stored on your device, you can filter them by albums, locations or times. Under each picture setting, you can find the photo editor app which you can use to do simple enhancements to your pictures.

Video Player, Music Player and FM Radio

Video Player, Music Player and FM Radio

There are two video players installed, the stock Android app and MX Player, I prefer the latter due to more flexible options. The music player displays album art and other song information during playback. Meanwhile, the FM radio requires an antenna to work, channels can be searched manually or automatically.

Camera and Video:

Camera and Video

The camera and video use the same old Android interface, their shutter keys are placed side by side at the lower part of the UI.

Sample Photos:

Day

100% Crop

Day

Day

The B1s has a 3.2MP camera on its rear, there is no other shooting mode except for the normal shot. During daytime, the images produced are relatively decent with the right amount of brightness, contrast and resolved details. However, during night time, it struggles a lot, especially that it has no LED flash. In addition, it is only fixed focus.

Browser:

Browser

Due to the small screen and low resolution display, we recommend viewing the website on its mobile mode, unless you want to strain your eyes on tiny texts. In terms of speed, you will be glad that it manages to load web pages with ease.

Gaming:

Arcane Soul

CSR Racing

Dungeon Quest

Legendary Heroes

Plants vs Zombies 2

Stone of Life

Storage and Install Location

The B1s has 1GHz dual core processor coupled with 512MB of RAM, with these specs it can handle casual games and some less-graphics hungry RPG games smoothly, although loading times are longer when compared to more powerful devices. The main downside like other Kata devices, is the inability to transfer apps to the SD card.

Related: Kata Digital M2 Review: M for Mammoth


CONNECTIVITY:

Connectivity

One advantage of B1s to other budget smartphones is its 3G capability, actually both SIM slots has this function. You can then share this high speed connection via tethering or portable hotspot. Of course, WiFi is also on board and it is pretty reliable too, no sudden dropped on signal encountered. Other connectivity options include Bluetooth, 3.5mm audio jack and a micro USB port.


PRODUCTIVITY:

Productivity

On top of the usual productivity tools (calculator, calendar, clock, file manager, to do and sound recorder) Ever Note, WPS Office and Adobe Reader are installed by default.


GPS:

GPS

Navigation on the road would be easy with the help of the phone's functioning GPS, with A-GPS data pre-loaded, it can get a satellite lock in less than 10 seconds.


OTHERS:

Kata Apps

The Kata Digital home brew applications are also there, namely Fish Marker, Hotspot, Owtel 3G, Wipe Out and Kata Cloud with FREE 5GB of storage.

Google Apps

Tons of Google apps are also pre-installed, the only time you can uninstall them is after you root your device.


CONCLUSION:

The Kata B1s is aimed for people that are either migrating from feature phone to a smartphone or those that simply looking for the best budget-friendly device. It has a very affordable price tag yet offers good specs and performance.

PROS:

1GHz dual core processor
512MB of RAM
Decent main camera (daytime)
Affordable price tag

CONS:

Unable to move apps to SD
No LED flash
Slightly outdated Android version

Specifications:

• Dual regular SIM, dual standby, dual 3G
• 3.5-inch capacitive HVGA (480x320) touchscreen display
• Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
• 1GHz Dual Core Cortex-A7 CPU, Mali-400 GPU, MediaTek MT6572 chipset
• 512MB of RAM
• 4GB internal storage, expandable up to 32GB
• 3.2MP fixed focus main camera without LED flash, VGA video recording
• 1.2MP secondary camera
• Multimedia player
• FM Radio
• 3.5mm audio jack
• GPS with A-GPS
• WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
• Micro USB 2.0
• Bluetooth
• Sensors: accelerometer, proximity
• 1200mAh battery
• Price: Php1,999