Kata Philippines recently unveiled the Kata V6 – an entry-level smartphone that offers basic features to accommodate simple tasks. As a successor of the V5, the V6 packs almost the same design and specs as its predecessor. It comes with minimal updates, though.
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| Kata V6 Review; Basic Features for Simple Tasks |
Now with a higher asking price, we spent weeks to see what this phone has to offer. Is it worth the jump? Let’s dig deeper here as we take it for a spin!
PHYSICAL:
The Kata V6 has an identical design with the V5. Considering its price, the handset offers decent aesthetics as it is dressed with plastic material and metal framing. The device is handy enough, so one-hand usage is possible. It can sit well on our hands, too, while its buttons are all thoughtfully placed somewhere we can easily reach it.
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| Top (3.5mm audio jack) |
Its front flashes a 5-inch screen, while its speaker and selfie snapper are located on the top of the display. There’s a huge space below the panel, as it sports on-screen navigation keys.
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| Bottom (micro USB port) |
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| 8MP Main Camera |
Flip the device on its back to reveal its protruding 8-megapixel rear camera along with its LED flash. As an upgrade, the special circular button that we met on the V5 is also present on the V6. However, it is now set as a fingerprint scanner. Its back also houses its company logo, and its speaker grilles.
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| Speaker Grilles |
Going back to its display, it offers a 5-inch FWVGA IPS panel that gives off an 854 x 480 screen resolution, translating to 218 ppi. While it still delivers decent viewing experience, we’re bit frustrated with its display as the brand somehow felt short in upgrading this feature. Although it now has bigger screen, the V6 only has 2-point multi touch compared to the V5’s 5 points.
SOFTWARE:
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| Software |
The Kata V6 runs on dated Android 6.0 Marshmallow. So, if you’re using the V5 that still runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop, jump to the V6 to experience a Marshmallow update. Kidding aside, we all know that a basic smartphone can now do better than this. Considering its price tag, you can get a phone that operates better software.
The interface is almost stock Android, as well. It comes with some pre-installed Google apps, though. Meanwhile, the device now has an app drawer, while it still features multiple home screens. To clean it up, users can simply organize it by creating app folders.
PERFORMANCE:
Just like the V5, the V6 still packs the same MediaTek MT6580 chipset with quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU cores clocked at 1.3GHz. It is paired with ARM Mali 400 graphics, while it is still coupled with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of expandable storage.
We didn’t expect much about its performance, though we still ran it on compatible benchmark apps to give us a preview of its raw processing power.
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| Benchmark Scores |
Here are the results:
- Geekbench – 420 (Single Core)
- Geekbench – 1221 (Multi Core)
- 3DMark – 2907 (Ice Storm Unlimited)
- 3DMark – 2025 (Ice Storm Extreme)
Having its price tag on our mind, we’re not surprised with its benchmark results. Geared with outdated software and only 1GB of RAM, actual usage isn’t the best experience you’d look for a phone. You’d be contented with its performance, on the other hand, as long as you know its capabilities. It can smoothly run applications if they’re opened one at a time, as opening it at once will surely freeze the device.
During our actual usage, it didn’t lag but it slows down when we heavily used it. The device tends to get a little hotter when we played games and videos with moderate graphics, too.
See Also: Kata X1 Review: An Affordable Stylish Laptop With Long Battery Life
CAMERA:
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| Camera Settings |
The Kata V6 features no camera upgrade from the V5. It is still equipped with the same 8-megapixel f/2.4 auto focus primary camera with LED flash, and 5-megapixel fixed focus front shooter. It is packed with various camera features, including beautification, panorama, and HDR.
Sample Photos:
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| Camera Test (Outdoor) |
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| Camera Test |
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| Camera Test (Night) |
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| Selfie |
It can produce decent images as long as good lighting is provided. The photos are grainy and have visible noises, too. Moreover, if you’re looking for a budget phone that can give you great camera performance, the Kata V6 might not be a good choice.
CONNECTIVITY:
The Kata V6 is a dual-SIM device that supports 3G connectivity, which allows users to surf the web while on the go. We never had a problem in receiving texts and calls, considering that we had good network connection. Other things include Bluetooth 4.0, and GPS with A-GPS, which all worked fine during our tests.
BATTERY:
The handset now comes with a bigger 2400mAh battery, which is good for basic tasks. Our actual usage suggests that it can last up for almost eight hours. It includes checking emails, SMS, calls, and casual social media browsing.
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| Battery Test |
We also did our traditional video loop test, where its battery was pushed for 7 hours and 39 minutes. Meanwhile, it scored 9 hours and 44 minutes on PCMark Work 2.0 battery test.
Also Read: Kata L1 Review; A Hit-or-Miss Smartphone
CONCLUSION:
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| Kata V6 |
The Kata V6 – the latest offering of the brand – is a dated phone if you’d look on its key specs. Moreover, you could get other device on its price range that can deliver a better overall performance.
Coming from its predecessor, Kata V5, the device is loaded with some upgrades. It now sports a larger display, bigger battery, fingerprint scanner, and now runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system.
It is able to give a decent performance considering its capabilities. Well, it's simply not meant to battle out other budget smartphones.
The Kata V6 is now available for only Php3,399.
Kata V6 Specs:
- Dual SIM, supports 3G connectivity
- 5.0-inch FWVGA IPS (854 x 480) display, 2.5D curved glass, 218 ppi
- Dimensions: 135 x 67.5 x 8.9mm
- Weight: 149 grams
- Android 6.0 Marshmallow
- 1.3GHz MT6580 quad-core processor
- Mali 400 GPU
- 1GB RAM
- 8GB internal storage, expandable up to 32GB via microSD card
- 8MP f/2.4 auto focus primary camera with LED flash
- 5MP fixed-focus secondary camera
- Multimedia player
- FM Radio
- 3.5mm audio jack
- WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
- Bluetooth 4.0
- GPS, A-GPS
- Sensors: gravity, proximity, ambient light
- Fingerprint scanner
- Battery: 2400mAh
- Colors: white gold, black
- Price: Php3,399