We unbox the Kata M1!

A few nights ago we were invited by Kata Digital Philippines to a night out with other tech bloggers at the Ace Water Spa in Pasig. Aside from getting some face time with their CEO, Mr. David Chen, we were also handed a review unit of Kata’s latest offering, the M1. The M1 is being marketed by the company as a phablet, and rightly so, since its 5.7-inch full HD display and accompanying chassis can’t be called anything else. Today we’ll be unboxing the M1, and will be taking a look at some of its features and specifications.

Kata M1 specs

• 1.5GHz quad-core MediaTek MTK 6589 processor
• 2GB of RAM
• 16GB of storage expandable via microSD
• 5.7-inch full HD LCD display, 1080 x 1920 resolution
• 13-megapixel rear camera with autofocus and flash
• 5-megapixel front camera
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, A-GPS
• Dual-SIM, dual standby
• 3G
• 4000mAh battery
• Android 4.2
• Php 9,999 (pre-order price)

Packaging and contents

The M1 comes in a box that’s similar to the I3. On the front of the box is the picture of the device itself, with Kata’s trademark Koi fish background. The words Kata M1 is printed on the side of the white box, denoting the model of the device inside.

Once you open the box you’re greeted by the white M1. Along with the device itself, the box contains a charger, USB cable, a pair of headphones and a user manual.

Initial Impressions: Low batt? What low batt?

The Kata M1 is pretty big. Like, really big. While it only has a 5.7-inch display, it’s definitely bigger and taller than the LG G Pro 2 that we’re currently reviewing that has a bigger, 6-inch display. People with small hands will definitely have a bit of a challenge trying to use the M1 one handed, because as big as our hands are, we still had trouble using the M1 with one hand. The device’s gloss white body has gentle curves and has an overall pleasant design, and while we’re not a fan of gloss finishes on plastic bodies, the one on the M1 was pleasant enough to the eyes.

The button layout on the M1 shouldn’t surprise anyone who has used a phablet before – the volume rocker is on the left side while the power button is on the right. Both the 3.5mm jack and the USB port are located on top, right beside each other. The camera module is slightly offset to the left of the M1.

The 5.7-inch full HD display of the Kata M1 is very nice to look at, and while Kata didn’t mention it, it looks to us that the company used a OGS solution for the display (though we could be wrong). As far as hardware goes, the Kata M1 uses a “turbo” quad-core 1.5GHz MediaTek processor paired with 2GB of RAM. While the M1 took a bit of a hit in AnTuTu scoring only 15,189 points, the overall user experience doesn’t seem to be affected much as navigation through the M1’s menus are smooth, with very little evidence of lag.

One nice thing about having such a large chassis is that you can put a very large battery in it to power everything. The M1 uses a 4000mAh battery, which means that it has the potential to last an entire day without charging and still have enough juice left over the next day.

While it’s not included in the package that you buy from retail, Kata also threw in a smart cover of sorts when we received our demo device. The cover is simple to put in (it basically attaches to the back of the M1 using a double sided adhesive) and covers the front of the device nicely. It’s not linked with your device in anyway unlike the Smart Cover that Samsung has for its Galaxy Series of devices, but it’s a nice option to have if you want a simple, relatively inexpensive way of protecting your phablet while adding some visual pizazz.