Cubot KingKong 11 Review

Cubot KingKong 11 OS, UI, and software

Cubot KingKong 11 runs on stock Android 15. In addition to the standard huge Clock widget and tiny Date widget, the Lock screen also has a shortcut to the Wallet app. The Home Screen includes the usual Google search bar with embedded voice search and Lens, a Clock / Date widget, a row of favorite apps, and a row of docked ones. Desktop shortcuts are supported. The Customization Picker offers a standard selection of wallpapers & styles, widgets, and Home settings. The Home settings are very limited. From here, you can switch on/off the notifications dots, the addition of app icons on the Home screen, Google Discover, and switch the launcher style - with or without an app drawer. The Task Manager tiles the app previews horizontally with the option to access the app info and/or enter split-screen mode. The Notifications shade is accessed after a swipe down from the top of the display. The Quick Settings are accessed after a second swipe down. Both are in their stock Android 15 layout and design. Cubot KingKong 11 also arrives with a standard set of pre-installed apps, and each is in its stock design. They include Calculator, Calendar, Camera, Chrome, Clock, Contacts, Drive, Files, Find Device, Gemini, Gmail, Google Discover, Keep Notes, Maps, Meet, Messages, Pedometer, Phone, Photos, Play Store, Safety, Settings, Sound Recorder, Toolbox, YouTube, and YT Music. The Pedometer app is usually a part of the Toolbox app, but in this case, it has been taken out as a separate app. The Toolbox contains a noise meter, compass, bubble leveler, magnifier, height measuring tool, protractor, plumb bob, alarm, pic hanging tool, and a mirror (using the front camera). The Settings app lists the various menus without any grouping, using as minimalistic a layout as possible. The settings search bar is on top of a list of 23 menus. The first two menus are about connectivity and are listed in detail in the next section of this review. "Apps" is the third in line and contains everything you need to individually manage app screen time, permissions, status, etc. The "Notifications" menu is next and, as usual, is quite expansive, comprising options for app-specific notifications, notification history, conversations, bubbles, notifications control, lock screen options, DND, flash notifications, wireless emergency alerts, etc. "Smart Assistant" is the fifth and offers three functions. The first is about setting up emergency rescue signals and contacts. The second contains three gesture toggles for a three-finger screenshot, three-finger camera activation, and a double-tap to lock the screen. Finally, there's a toggle to turn on/off the screenshot prompt sound. "Battery" is next and is described in detail in the corresponding section of this review. "Smart Key" is the seventh menu and allows you to associate an app or function to a single click, a double click, or a long press to the customizable button. "Storage" is the eighth, containing a storage manager toggle and a shortcut to the Files app for more granular built-in memory management. The "Sound & vibration" is the ninth and contains the five standard slide bars for media, calls, rings, notifications, and alarm volume. You can also choose a ringtone, alarm, and notification sound, manage the Live Caption options, the vibration and haptics one, as well as the DND mode. The usual toggles for screen lock, touch, etc. are also present along with the sound enhancement features. This menu is followed by the "Display" one with the usual brightness level bar, adaptive brightness toggle, dark theme toggle, night light toggle, display size and text, lock screen options, screen refresh rate, etc. Additional features include the color contrast settings, always-on-display options, pocket mode settings, and LED notification light options. "Wallpaper" and "Accessibility" are the next two menus and they are in their stock Android set of options. The "Security & Privacy" menu follows, and in Android 15, it is quite streamlined. It begins with the five major security-related settings in the context of applications, accounts, device finder, updates, and device unlock options. Then you get the three major privacy-related options - permissions and controls, privacy dashboard, and private space with its corresponding options. Setting up a private space is quite easy and may turn out to be useful. Finally, there's the "More security & privacy" sub-menu with Android system intelligence, autofill service, extended unlock, app pinning, Android safe browsing, and many other additional privacy-related options. A set of standard menus follows, including "Location", "Safety % emergency", "Passwords & accounts", "Digital wellbeing", and "Google". These are followed by the "Memory Expansion" menu that enables virtual RAM expansion with up to 16GB for a total of 32GB. For the changes to take effect, you have to restart the device. The "MiniScreen" menu manages the rear display. From here, you can select from several clock plate designs, set the screen timeout and the backlight level, synchronize it with the main display, select the music app, set notifications options, and activate the option to snap photos with the front and/or rear camera. "DuraSpeed" is next and can be used to restrict background running apps in favor of the foreground ones. When an app is included in the DuraSpeed list, it won't be restricted when running in the background. "Schedule power on & off" is an option that used to be standard in earlier Android versions, and it has found its way back to Android 15 on the KingKong 11. "System" is the last but one menu with the usual options for languages, keyboard, gestures, date & time, back & reset, and user management. The gestures allow you to set the system navigation, manage the power button behaviour, toggle on/off prevent ringing, and activate the quick camera access feature. "About phone" is the last menu and provides the standard device information such as model name, the software build version, etc.