Cubot King Kong CS smartphone Review - waterproof phone for under 100 euros
Possible competitors in comparison
Bewertung | Rating Version | Datum | Modell | Gewicht | Laufwerk | Groesse | Aufloesung | Preis ab |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 68.6 % v7 (old) | v7 (old) | 01 / 2021 | Cubot King Kong CS MT6580M, Mali-400 MP | 236.5 g | 16 GB eMMC Flash | 5.00" | 1280x720 | |
| 73.5 % v7 (old) | v7 (old) | 02 / 2020 | Cubot Kingkong Mini Helio A22 MT6761, PowerVR GE8300 | 124 g | 32 GB eMMC Flash | 4.00" | 1080x540 | |
| 76.2 % v7 (old) | v7 (old) | 08 / 2019 | Ulefone Armor 6E Helio P70, Mali-G72 MP3 | 268 g | 64 GB eMMC Flash | 6.20" | 2246x1080 | |
| 73 % v7 (old) | v7 (old) | 03 / 2020 | Blackview BV5900 Helio A22 MT6761, PowerVR GE8300 | 268 g | 32 GB eMMC Flash | 5.70" | 1520x720 |
Case, features and operation - IP certification as a highlight
The outdoor smartphones from Cubot's King Kong series are quite popular and some of them do not perform badly in our tests. The features are often not bad at a low price, and the smartphones are robust. However, the manufacturer undercuts itself in terms of price with the King Kong CS: The King Kong Mini for just under 110 Euros was already a price hit, and the CS costs significantly less at just under 80 Euros.
However, the concept here is not a particularly light and slim outdoor smartphone, but a classic ruggedized smartphone in a compact format. This is noticeable in the casing, which is heavier than in the King Kong Mini, but the smartphone is also considerably larger with a 5-inch screen diameter. The casing looks sturdy and also offers classic outdoor smartphone elements with a rubber coating and solid metal sides
However, pressure on the screen is noticeable in the liquid crystal and the screen is not protected by a protruding casing edge, but by a glued-on protective film. The case is IP68 certified, so it can also be used under water. According to the manufacturer, it should also cope well with very low and very high temperatures.
With just 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of mass storage, the Cubot King Kong CS is very poorly equipped in terms of memory. There is also only outdated Bluetooth 4.0 and a micro-USB port where the plug sits a bit wobbly
Two SIM cards can be inserted and a microSD card for expanding the storage, but the smartphone did not recognize any of the microSDs we offered. Buyers should also note that the Cubot King Kong CS is not a 4G phone; it can only transmit according to the UMTS standard.
Quite pure Android 10 is preinstalled, the security patches are from March 2020 and thus hopelessly outdated.
There is no fingerprint sensor, but there is a face recognition that works passably. The hardware buttons on the side are spongy but easy to feel. There are dedicated controls below the screen, but they are touch buttons that cannot be activated with gloves.
| Networking | |
| iperf3 transmit AX12 | |
| Cubot Kingkong Mini | |
| Blackview BV5900 | |
| Ulefone Armor 6E | |
| Cubot King Kong CS | |
| iperf3 receive AX12 | |
| Cubot Kingkong Mini | |
| Blackview BV5900 | |
| Ulefone Armor 6E | |
| Cubot King Kong CS | |
Cameras - Little sharpness, little light
There is only one camera lens on the back, which has a resolution of 13 megapixels. The pictures look grainy and blurry, and details are rarely visible. In the picture of the plant, for example, they are completely lost in the sky, and objects at the edge of the picture, such as the church tower, also look strangely distorted.
In low light, some details are still present, but at the same time the pictures become very grainy and the lens glass tends to reflect. The camera also proves incapable of taking really sharp pictures in the test lab, and they also look pale at the edges. However, the contrast is at least okay in the center of the picture. At 1 lux illumination, almost nothing can be recognized in the photos.
Image Comparison
Choose a scene and navigate within the first image. One click changes the position on touchscreens. One click on the zoomed-in image opens the original in a new window. The first image shows the scaled photograph of the test device.
Hauptobjektiv PflanzeHauptobjektiv UmgebungHauptobjektiv Low Light
Display - Gloomy 16:9 screen
The screen resolution of 720p is OK for the price range. It is pleasant that the smartphone offers a 16:9 screen, so the entire screen can be used for videos in the currently common format. The screen brightness should be better for an outdoor smartphone, and the brightness sensor also reacts quite sluggishly.
The contrast ratio on the screen is in great need of improvement, as is the color accuracy. A clear blue cast is visible in the grayscale. We did not notice any PWM.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 95 %
Center on Battery: 418 cd/m²
Contrast: 624:1 (Black: 0.67 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 7.27 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.86
ΔE Greyscale 10.1 | 0.09-98 Ø5.1
91.5% sRGB (Calman 2D)
Gamma: 1.705
| Cubot King Kong CS IPS, 1280x720, 5" | Cubot Kingkong Mini IPS, 1080x540, 4" | Ulefone Armor 6E IPS, 2246x1080, 6.2" | Blackview BV5900 IPS, 1520x720, 5.7" | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Response Times | -16% | -17% | -45% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 34 ? | 48 ? -41% | 36 ? -6% | 52 ? -53% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 22 ? | 20 ? 9% | 28 ? -27% | 30 ? -36% |
| PWM Frequency | 845 ? | 100 ? | ||
| Screen | 22% | 30% | 26% | |
| Brightness middle | 418 | 545 30% | 357 -15% | 476 14% |
| Brightness | 409 | 545 33% | 352 -14% | 473 16% |
| Brightness Distribution | 95 | 84 -12% | 91 -4% | 92 -3% |
| Black Level * | 0.67 | 0.53 21% | 0.24 64% | 0.47 30% |
| Contrast | 624 | 1028 65% | 1488 138% | 1013 62% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 7.27 | 6.46 11% | 6.08 16% | 6 17% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 12.79 | 12.86 -1% | 9.46 26% | 10.09 21% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 10.1 | 7.4 27% | 7 31% | 5.4 47% |
| Gamma | 1.705 129% | 2.652 83% | 2.292 96% | 2.092 105% |
| CCT | 9339 70% | 7448 87% | 7695 84% | 7661 85% |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | 3% /
14% | 7% /
21% | -10% /
12% |
* ... smaller is better
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 22 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 9 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 13 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows good response rates in our tests, but may be too slow for competitive gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 45 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is similar to the average of all tested devices (20.7 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 34 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 19 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 15 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 43 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is similar to the average of all tested devices (32.4 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM not detected |  | ||
In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 8445 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 343500) Hz was measured. | |||
Performance, emissions and battery life - Outdated SoC
The MediaTek MT6580M is almost 5 years old, but Cubot still uses it in its outdoor phone. The fact that it was not enough for high performance rates back then does not make things any better, and the smartphone has a hard time coping with current benchmarks. Thus, those who have somewhat more demanding favorite apps that they want to run on the King Kong CS should be prepared for possible problems
Unfortunately, we do not have any data from the comparison devices for the few benchmarks that ran on the King Kong CS. Therefore, we use other, recently tested smartphones to classify the performance.
As mentioned, the microSD reader did not cope with any of the cards we used. The internal memory is extremely slow.
There is no noticeable heating even under high load in the Cubot King Kong CS. The speaker is at most suitable if you do not have any alternative, after all it gets relatively loud.
In terms of battery life, the Cubot King Kong CS is actually not that bad, but on the other hand it does not last as long as the King Kong Mini with a much smaller battery. However, the runtimes are suitable for everyday use; it should be enough for two days without a battery charge.
| 3DMark | |
| 1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Score (sort by value) | |
| Cubot King Kong CS | |
| Oppo A73 5G | |
| Gigaset GS4 | |
| Vivo Y70 | |
| Vivo Y20s | |
| Average Mediatek MT6580M (2841 - 2946, n=12) | |
| 1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Graphics Score (sort by value) | |
| Cubot King Kong CS | |
| Oppo A73 5G | |
| Gigaset GS4 | |
| Vivo Y70 | |
| Vivo Y20s | |
| Average Mediatek MT6580M (2396 - 2485, n=12) | |
| 1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Physics (sort by value) | |
| Cubot King Kong CS | |
| Oppo A73 5G | |
| Gigaset GS4 | |
| Vivo Y70 | |
| Vivo Y20s | |
| Average Mediatek MT6580M (7498 - 8913, n=12) | |
| Cubot King Kong CS | Cubot Kingkong Mini | Ulefone Armor 6E | Blackview BV5900 | Average 16 GB eMMC Flash | Average of class Smartphone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AndroBench 3-5 | 203% | 223% | 141% | 67% | 3365% | |
| Sequential Read 256KB | 45.6 | 246.9 441% | 287.5 530% | 179.6 294% | 164.5 ? 261% | 2054 ? 4404% |
| Sequential Write 256KB | 34.2 | 129.7 279% | 103.3 202% | 101.7 197% | 43 ? 26% | 1667 ? 4774% |
| Random Read 4KB | 20.5 | 26.9 31% | 43.4 112% | 40.9 100% | 21.7 ? 6% | 286 ? 1295% |
| Random Write 4KB | 10.6 | 17 60% | 15.8 49% | 7.6 -28% | 8.08 ? -24% | 327 ? 2985% |
Temperature
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 37 °C / 99 F, compared to the average of 35.1 °C / 95 F, ranging from 21.9 to 63.7 °C for the class Smartphone.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 37.9 °C / 100 F, compared to the average of 33.9 °C / 93 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 30.1 °C / 86 F, compared to the device average of 32.8 °C / 91 F.
Loudspeaker
Cubot King Kong CS audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (84.7 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 71.1% lower than median
(+) | bass is linear (0% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(-) | nearly no mids - on average 71.1% lower than median
(+) | mids are linear (0% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(-) | nearly no highs - on average 71.1% lower than median
(+) | highs are linear (0% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(-) | overall sound is not linear (119.9% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 88% of all tested devices in this class were better, 9% similar, 3% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 36%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 96% of all tested devices were better, 3% similar, 1% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 24%, worst was 134%
Cubot Kingkong Mini audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (86.7 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 28.8% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (8.1% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | higher mids - on average 10.6% higher than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (12.8% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(±) | higher highs - on average 14.5% higher than median
(±) | linearity of highs is average (8.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(-) | overall sound is not linear (41.6% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 86% of all tested devices in this class were better, 0% similar, 14% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 36%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 95% of all tested devices were better, 0% similar, 5% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 24%, worst was 134%
Battery life
| Cubot King Kong CS 4400 mAh | Cubot Kingkong Mini 2000 mAh | Ulefone Armor 6E 5000 mAh | Blackview BV5900 5580 mAh | Average of class Smartphone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battery Runtime | |||||
| WiFi Websurfing | 955 | 997 4% | 942 -1% | 1153 21% | 1035 ? 8% |
Pros
Cons
Verdict - Too cheap
With many benchmarks that do not run or break on the smartphone, the weak screen brightness, the mediocre camera quality, and the extremely tight storage, the Cubot King Kong CS is not exactly predestined for a recommendation. Especially since it cannot even use the LTE network.
The Cubot King Kong CS is an IP-certified phone at a bargain price, but it looks very cheap in many places and does not even offer 4G.
And then Cubot also has the fiercest competitor itself in house: Sure, the CubotKing Kong Mini is even smaller than the CS, but it offers more power, more storage and 4G for almost the same money.
Only those who absolutely want a well-protected phone at the lowest price and only use the smartphone for making calls anyway can consider the King Kong CS. At the same time, you should keep in mind that the German network providers, for example, have already announced that they will soon shut down their 3G network completely. This means that the King Kong CS will be cut off from the mobile Internet completely and can only be used for surfing via WLAN, where it was also quite slow and sometimes susceptible to interference in our test.
Considering all that, you should rather invest a few Euros more and get an outdoor phone with 4G like the Cubot King Kong Mini, which offers much more for a minimal surcharge, but there is no IP certification.
Price and availability
The Cubot King Kong CS is available from the manufacturer for approximately 80 Euros (~$80) at the time of testing. It is also available on Amazon, where there are numerous different offers. The cheapest, also for just under 80 Euros, can be found here.
Cubot King Kong CS
- 01/17/2021 v7 (old)
Florian Schmitt
Price comparison
