Kata i5 Review – A Proper Upgrade?

Kata i5 Review – A Proper Upgrade?

From our initial impressions of the Kata i5, we instantly fell in love with the build desing as it is far superior than most of the late Kata 2016 line. The textured metal adds a premium feel and a solid design that would make any potential feel that they invested in the right product.

Sharp with dreamy colors!

After extensive testing, we found more to love with the i5 so read on!

Display Quality

It has the standard 5 points of touch

The five point multi-touch 5 Inch HD IPS 1280 x 720 resolution with 267 ppi display has dreamy color rendering, sharp details and acceptable refresh rates. The 5 points of multi touch is responsive and we never experienced lag. This however is not ideal for touch demanding games that require at least 5 points of touch simultaneously.

Audio Quality

See that small speaker at the bottom left hand corner

The single speaker is loud and produces decent bass. At peak volume, distortion occur. It does suffer from loss of volume when turned face down. Which can be a downside to some.

The headphone output is decent with acceptable bass and decent volumes all around. We have nothing to complain about it. What surprised us was the clarity of each tones. At this price range, it is rare.

The built-in microphone on the phone works well for calls and other audio recordings. We never had a complaint from callers. 

Battery Life

Underwhelming compared to the 2,600 mAh Kata C2!

The i5 is packing a huge 3,000 mAh battery capacity which is rare for a 5 inch phone. We ran the PC mark Battery test twice and we got similar results of at least 5 hours which is only OKAY compared to the Kata C2 which had a bigger screen and a smaller 2600 performed at least 7 hours. 

Battery is a little underwhelming for 3,000 mAh HD device.

The phone also has a standby intelligent power saving functionality that limits the internal performance of the phone while it is on standby which helps prolong the lifespan of the battery.

Camera

The 13 MP f/2.0 main camera of Kata i5

The Kata i5 sports a 13 MP f/2.0 main camera. Photos can be taken using the usual on screen button, the volume up button, and the camera button under the rear camera. The shape and design of the button may mislead users that it is a fingerprint scanner. This button can also be used for increasing the volume and waking up the phone.

The phone has the basic features like the HDR and panorama modes but with added camera filters for those who want more unique picture renderings. The phone suffers from shakes especially with the HDR and video modes compared to other phones. This is what we also found with the C2. Tap to focus is okay. It isn't the fastest but we have had phones which are slower. 


The i5 surprised us with its decent performance at bright lighting and low lighting situations. Images are sharp with good color and depth rendition especially at brightly lit situations. In low light, grain / noise kicks in but the images are detailed enough to not suffer too much from it.

The 8 MP f/2.8 selfie cam on the front is one of the better selfie cameras we've encountered at the sub PHP 8K price point. In fact, we found it to outperform its competitors and phones on a higher price bracket. YES, we mean even in low light this camera is stellar! This is definitely something Kata should keep!

For videos, there is an electronic stabilization mode but it slows things down even further. The stabilization is okay, it's nice to have but OIS is still a better option. In front, its decent enough for video calls.

Selfie Camera Samples

Selfie daylight 1

Selfie daylight 2

Selfie lowlight

Performance

Respectable performance!

The i5 is powered by a 1.3 GHz 64 Bit MT6753 octa core processor which makes this phone is capable of running light to heavy tasks and be able to play some updated games for android devices without noticeable lags or performance degradation.

The phone utilizes 3 GB of RAM which made this an easy daily driver! It fits for a normal day to day activities like calling, texting, browsing, and heavy multitasking. Especially when browsing with multiple Chrome tabs! 

Having only 16 GB of internal storage, makes the use of an SD card a necessity. Without an SD Card, the users would need to uninstall other applications to make room for others. As most apps and more media (pics and videos) will eventually eat up the remaining space.

I hope Kata sees that 32 GB is the new standard.

The i5 already runs the Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS and includes a number of standard android applications. The phone runs the Kata Skin on top of Android as the launcher but without the app drawer. The icons, the wallpapers and the Kata software UI may feel dated for most people.

The OS is mostly stock except for the proprietary Kata apps and the bloatware. The bloatware is not that offensive though. It's bearable but I wish we could uninstall them. OTG is supported unlike the Kata C2.

Pros – Beautiful aesthetics, metal frame, HD screen looks good, decent performance, fingerprint is accurate, decent main camera, OTG support

Cons – Limited internal storage is not future proof, bloatware not uninstallable, battery life is only Okay, gets hot when super intensive apps are used, backplate speaker placement can be muffled when faced down

Verdict

For a phone with a sub PHP 8K price tag, the i5 is a great contender provided you can live with the outdated UI, the okay battery life, the bloatware and the heating issues when used with super heavy applications. Otherwise, it is one of the decent phones at its price-point for its camera, multitasking and audio performance! It's a device you can consider.

Kata i5 Review – A Proper Upgrade?
Kata i5 Review – A Proper Upgrade?