Cubot King Kong 9 Review – The Cubot King Kong 9 is the latest rugged smartphone from the house of Cubot and is meant for industrial purposes and people who work in those industries. Most smartphones you see on the market are consumer-centric smartphones that are not built to withstand the harsh work environment inside large industries. On top of that, rugged smartphones also tend to have better water and dust protection which is needed by people working in such industries.
These smartphones can also endure significant torture, including shocks, moisture, extreme temperatures, and drops, and still won’t break easily. That’s why rugged smartphones are sought by many professionals. But since rugged smartphones only cater to a single market, not a lot of companies provide decent options in the rugged space. Cubot wants to change that with their KingKong 9 and that’s what we are reviewing today to find out everything this smartphone has to offer. So, without any further ado, let’s proceed with a detailed review of the Cubot KingKong 9 rugged smartphone.
Table of Contents
Cubot KingKong 9 Smartphone Review
Highlights
- The Cubot KingKong 9 features a 6.58-inch IPS LCD display with a secondary screen on the rear side of the smartphone.
- The smartphone is powered by the Mediatek Helio G99 chipset, which can reach up to a 2×2.2GHz clocking speed.
- The Cubot KingKong 9 comes pre-loaded with the latest Android 13OS.
- The smartphone has a 100MP triple-rear camera system, and there’s also a selfie camera with a 32MP sensor.
- The Cubot KingKong 9 has a massive Li-Ion10600 mAh battery with 33W wired fast charging support.
Design and Display
The design of the Cubot Kingkong 9 is not too different from other rugged devices on the market, but it has one crucial trick up its sleeve that others usually don’t. It has a clock on the back, which is available for you to access at all times. Technically, it’s a secondary display on the back that displays the clock by default, but you can customize it to show anything you want, including music playback, a compass, or the time of the day. The body of the Cubot Kingkong 9 is made out of durable materials and can withstand anything.
Whether you drop it on a solid piece of concrete or in the river, the smartphone can survive it all. No shock is too much for a smartphone of this nature. The smartphone is also protected by IP68/IP69K, dust or water-resistant protection. Unfortunately, the smartphone is only available in Black color. On the front, there’s a 6.58-inch IPS LCD display with Full HD+ resolution.
Most smartphones in the price and category just provide a low-resolution 720p display and call it a day, but not Cubot. They provided a proper 1080p panel, which looks color-accurate and the text looks sharp. It’s a good-quality panel that also supports a 120Hz refresh rate, for a decent visual experience. The display is also large enough to view all your favorite content. The device has a tiny waterdrop notch at the front and weighs around 390 grams.
Memory and Internal
The Cubot Kingkong 9 is powered by the -popular 6nm Mediatek Helio G99 chipset. This chipset is featured on many smartphones now and that’s because it’s a capable chipset It can reach up to a 2X2.2GHz clocking speed and it has a total of 8 cores, which means it can easily handle most day-to-day apps, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, or any industrials apps that you use.
Also, since the chipset is built on a 6nm manufacturing process, it is very efficient and doesn’t consume a lot of power. The large size of the smartphone allows the chipset to dissipate heat more efficiently, so it doesn’t overheat. The GPU inside this chipset is Mali-G57 MC2 GPU and it can play games such as PUBG and CODm, but don’t expect crazy high graphics. After all, it’s not a gaming smartphone, it will run the games just fine with average framerates.
The Cubot Kingkong 9 is running on the latest Android 13 OS with a stock user interface experience. Unfortunately, the chipset doesn’t have a 5G modem, so the smartphone is not 5G capable, but the speeds provided by the LTE connection should be more than enough. When it comes to internals, the phone comes with 12GB RAM and 256GB internal storage. There’s also support for a MicroSDXC card for further storage expansion. All in all, you will receive uninterrupted performance for daily use with this device.
Camera
The Cubot KingKong 9 sports a triple rear camera system with a 100MP sensor as the main camera, a 24MP sensor as the night vision camera, and a 5MP sensor as the macro camera. The pictures coming out of the main rear camera are actually more than decent. The pictures have a high dynamic range, true-to-life color, and excellent detail level and are way better than any other rugged smartphones in the same price range.
The second camera is a night vision camera which carries 2 IR emitters that are needed in an industrial work environment and can be of great help. Besides this, the third sensor is a 5MP macro sensor Aside from this, it can capture pictures at night with a good amount of detail and colors. The selfie camera has a 32MP sensor, which can take decent selfies with detail levels. The smartphone is also capable of recording videos in high definition. Everything in the camera department is the best possible combination as per the alternative offer in the same segment.
Battery and Others
The Cubot Kingkong 9 has a huge Li-Ion 10600 mAh high-capacity battery that can easily power the smartphone for 3-5 days. If you are a light to moderate user, expect around 4 – 5 days’ worth of battery, but with heavier usage, you can still get 2–3 days’ worth of battery life. However, the smartphone has support for 33W wired fast charging, so it will be faster, but compared to most other smartphones, it will still be slow that’s because recharging such a high-capacity battery will always a long time.
So, overnight charging is recommended. Apart from that, the phone also has Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.2, GPS, NFC, and a USB Type-C port. The smartphone also has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner to keep your phone secure. The smartphone is available in China at $299.99 (Rs 24,760 in India) approx.
Cubot KingKong 9 Pros and Cons
Cubot KingKong 9 Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the Cubot KingKong 9 smartphone.
| Specifications | Cubot KingKong 9 |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G |
| Announced | 2023 |
| SIM | Hybrid Dual SIM |
| Dimensions | 6.77 x 3.21 x 0.70 inches |
| Weight | 390 g |
| Size | 6.58 inches |
| Display | IPS LCD 120Hz 20:9 ratio ~401 PPI density Secondary screen on the back |
| Protection/Others | IP68/IP69K dust/water resistant |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2408 pixels |
| OS | Android 13 |
| Chipset | 6nm – Mediatek Helio G99 |
| CPU | Octa-core 2×2.2 GHz Cortex-A76 6×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 |
| GPU | Mali-G57 MC2 |
| Card slot | microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot) |
| RAM | 12GB |
| Internal | 256GB |
| Camera | 100 MP (wide), PDAF 24 MP (night vision camera), 2 IR emitters 5 MP (macro) LED flash, HDR, panorama |
| Selfie | 32 MP (wide) |
| Loudspeaker | Yes |
| 3.5mm jack | Unspecified |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band |
| Bluetooth | 5.2, A2DP, LE |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS |
| NFC | Yes |
| Infrared port | No |
| Radio | Unspecified |
| USB | USB Type-C, OTG |
| Sensors | Side-mounted fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass |
| Battery | Li-Po 10600 mAh 33W wired |
| Colors | Black |
| Expected Price | $299.99 (Rs 24,760 in India) approx |
Conclusion
The Cubot KingKong 9 is a very well-built rugged smartphone that will serve all your needs and requirements at your workplace and then some more. The secondary display will also come in handy and you will come to appreciate it. The cameras are so on point and so is the performance of the smartphone that can help keep up with your activities. On top of that, it ticks all the right checkboxes that mark this smartphone as one of the strongest and most rugged smartphones. It is built like a brick and at 390 grams, it even weighs like one.
This is partly thanks to the huge battery that will keep your phone running for days, another strong point for the Cubot Kingkong 9. However, if you want an alternative smartphone, then keep in mind that the features provided by the Cubot Kingkong 9 cannot be provided by other smartphones, and definitely not at this price range. The device is a worth-it option if you want a rugged or durable smartphone and provides value for your money.
If you are looking for an alternative option in the same price range you can check out the Ulefone Power Armor 19 smartphone which comes with similar specifications. Either way, the final decision is in your hands, so choose a suitable device.
