Kata L1 Review; A Hit-or-Miss Smartphone

Ciara Alarcon
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INTRODUCTION:

Our team has spent some time with the Kata L1 – the brand’s latest phablet. It is Kata’s latest smartphone that sports a huge display and battery capacity, promising that it would meet your entertainment and multimedia needs.


Kata L1 Review; A Hit-or-Miss Smartphone
Kata L1 Review; A Hit-or-Miss Smartphone

To know more about the device, here’s our full review!

PHYSICAL:

When we published our initial impression about the L1, we’re already vocal about how we commend its look. Housed in a metal casing, the device is disguised as a more expensive smartphone than its actual price. In fact, it is dressed with materials usually seen on smartphone giants' handsets. Big enough, one-hand usage isn’t advisable. It is heavy, as well, which means solid grip is needed.

Front (8-megapixel camera with LED flash)
Front (8-megapixel camera with LED flash)

Non-backlit Keys and Home Button
Non-backlit Keys and Home Button

The face of the device is ruled by its 6-inch screen. It has thick bezels, too. Its 8-megapixel front camera, LED flash, and speaker are located above the display, while its non-backlit keys and home button that doubles as a fingerprint scanner are placed below the screen.

Right (Volume Rocker and Power/Lock Button)
Right (Volume Rocker and Power/Lock Button)

Speakers and Micro USB 2.0 Port
Speakers and Micro USB 2.0 Port

Its volume rockers and lock/power button are situated on the right side of the device, while its left side accommodates its SIM card tray. Its 3.5mm audio jack port is alone on the top of the handset, while its speaker grills and charging port are located on its bottom part.

Back (13-megapixel camera with LED Flash)
Back (13-megapixel camera with LED Flash)

Flip the device on its back and you’d see its metal plate, which gives the device a premium look. Its 13-megapixel rear camera and its LED flash are sited on the upper-left corner of the L1. Its back also shows the brand’s logo.

Multi-Touch Test
Multi-Touch Test

Going back to its display, it features a 6-inch IPS HD capacitive touchscreen that has 1280 x 720 resolution, and is protected by 2.5D curved glass. The device scored 10 on multi-touch test, however, we felt like its screen reacts slowly when we navigate it. Also, when selecting an app, there were times when we had to tap its icon for multiple times before it recognized the action. Swiping the screen wasn’t responsive, as well.

On the other hand, the 6-inch screen offers a good viewing experience. Playing games were decent, too.

SOFTWARE:


Software
Software

The Kata L1 runs on dated Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS. It features the same old Kata skin, as well. It has no app drawer, as a result, it gave us messy multiple home screens. Fortunately, users can still organize their apps by simply creating a folder.

It comes with some pre-installed apps, including Google apps, Netflix, and Facebook.

PERFORMANCE:

Having a huge 6-inch display, Kata decided to settle for MediaTek MT6580A quad-core processor clocked at 1.3GHz, and is paired with Mali-400MP GPU. Unfortunately, the device only packs 1GB of RAM and 8GB of expandable storage.

Knowing this, our team had to lower down our expectations with its performance. To show us an overview, we ran the device on various benchmark apps. Here are the results:

Benchmark Results
Benchmark Results

  • AnTuTu: 22439
  • 3DMark: 2862 (Ice Storm Unlimited)
  • 3DMark: 1957 (Ice Storm Extreme)
  • Geekbench: 371 (Single Core)
  • Geekbench: 1011 (Multi Core)

Kata designed the L1 to be an entertainment-centric smartphone, but the company failed to equip the device with something that could power up our multimedia needs. During our tests, we noticed a slow performance even if we’re not using it heavily. It couldn’t handle multitasking, as well. What appeared to be the most frustrating thing about the device is that it lagged several times whenever we tried to open another app.

To solve this issue, our team had to adjust our usage just to have a smooth experience. Nevertheless, it still gave us a decent viewing and gaming experience. Watching videos and playing games with heavy graphics would freeze your unit, though.

See Also: Kata M4s Review; Road To Redemption

CAMERA:


13-megapixel Rear Camera
Thirteen-megapixel Rear Camera

The L1 might have one of the simplest camera set ups that we’ve encountered. It boasts 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, and 8-megapixel front shooter with LED flash, too. It features typical camera modes, including HDR, Face beauty, and Panorama.

Camera Settings
Camera Settings


Sample Photos:


Outdoor
Outdoor (W/ HDR)

Outdoor
Outdoor

Outdoor
Outdoor (Night)

Outdoor (Night, W/HDR)
Outdoor (Night, W/HDR)

Camera Test
Camera Test

Camera Test
Camera Test

Selfie
Selfie

Selfie
Selfie

Both rear and front cameras could deliver good photos in places with good light conditions. Its HDR mode gave us great images, as long as we remained still while taking photos because a little shaking would give blurry images.

CONNECTIVITY:

The L1 is a dual SIM device that supports dual standby and HSPA+ connectivity. It has basic connectivity features, as well, including WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS. All of these worked well during our tests, as it has good signal reception. It features 3.5mm audio jack port, and Micro USB 2.0 port, too.

Read Also: Kata V5 Review; Good for Basic Usage and Beyond

BATTERY:


  PCMark Battery Test
PCMark Battery Test


The L1 is equipped with 3500mAh battery. The device lasted for a longer time than expected, too. Used as a basic phone, it lasted for more than three days, but basic activities only include sending SMS and emails. As our main device, it lasted for almost a day (continuous usage). This includes basic communications, browsing social media apps, and some multimedia experience.

We also did our video loop test, where the device lasted for 17 hours and 04 minutes. During this process, we put its brightness and volume at its maximum level, while its WiFi connection was connected, too.

Its PCMark Battery Test result shows that it will last up to 15 hours, as well.

CONCLUSION:


Kata L1 Review
Kata L1 Review
Once again, Kata has come up with an almost hit smartphone. Considering its price, the device is successful in offering an elevated viewing experience through its huge 6-inch screen. On the other hand, the screen itself has some issue, as well, as it appeared to be unresponsive most of the time.

Meanwhile, its cameras were able to produce decent photos during our tests, but L1 will find it hard to battle out other offer affordable camera-centric devices from other brands. Thus, Kata still has to improve its cameras and add more features to enhance photos.

Tagged at Php4,999, you might consider buying the Kata L1 if you’re up to a smartphone with huge display and battery capacity. But as a hit-and-miss smartphone, you might as well wait until Kata drops its price down.

Kata L1 Specs:


  • Dual SIM, dual standby, supports HSPA+ connectivity
  • 6-inch IPS HD (1280x720) capacitive touchscreen display
  • Dimensions: 167.5mm x 83.9mm x 8.5mm
  • Android 6.0 Marshmallow
  • 1.3GHz quad core Cortex-A7 CPU, Mali-400MP GPU, MediaTek MT6580A chipset
  • 1GB of RAM
  • 8GB internal storage, expandable up to 128GB via micro SD card, uses dedicated slot
  • 13MP main camera with LED flash
  • 8MP secondary camera with LED flash
  • Multimedia player
  • 3.5mm audio jack
  • GPS with A-GPS
  • WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
  • Micro USB 2.0
  • Bluetooth v4.0
  • Sensors: fingerprint, light, proximity, ambient
  • Battery: 3500mAh
  • Price: Php4,999


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