Cubot KingKong AX Review

Design, build and controls

The Cubot KingKong AX has quite an appealing design that unites opposites such as roughness and elegance. The device is made predominantly of metal and the weight of almost 300 grams testifies to that. It feels cool and solid in the hand. At the same time, the profile is quite manageable for one-hand operation. It has a soft octagonal outline with reinforced corners. The top and bottom frames as well as parts of the side frames are covered with TPU, while most of the side frames are made of metal in dark slate gray color. There are three visible screws on each vertical side attaching it to the chassis. The top of the rear shell is covered by texture TPU. This area is followed by the display-camera module and the rest is covered with transparent Panda Glass unveiling a textured back with red accent lines and the Cubot logo. The model is IP68 and IP69K rated for being resistant to water, dust, dirt, sand, humidity, and drops. It is 80.9 mm wide, 172 mm high, and 12.7 mm thick. The device tipped our scales at 296 grams. The only available color is black. The front of the KingKong AX is adorned with a 6.583-inch display. It is protected by a Panda Glass. The bezels are with a manageable thickness - 5 mm on the top, 3 mm on the sides, and 7 mm at the bottom. As usual, the display casing protrudes a bit from the glass surface to provide additional protection should the device drop flat on its screen. A V-shaped notch with an option to be hidden houses the selfie camera. The light and proximity sensors together with the LED notification light are placed to the left of the earpiece in the top bezel. The device supports on-screen gesture navigation and navigation with virtual buttons. Both options can be customized. The rear shell is dominated by the big camera-display module. The secondary display has a round shape and occupies the middle of the module. The main camera and the LED flash are positioned to its left. The macro camera and the depth sensor are positioned to its right with the macro unit being on the top the depth-sensing one. The single speaker is positioned at the left bottom corner of the rear shell and there's a microphone hole to the right. The top frame of the device is bare and the bottom one houses the USB Type-C 2.0 port that's covered with an insulating cap. The right corner of the device has a lanyard hole. The left frame is the home of the hybrid, dual-SIM tray that is also protected by an insulating cap and you'll need a SIM pin to extract it. It is adjoined by a customizable button with a textured surface. The Volume Up and Down buttons are separated one from another and are placed on the right frame. The power button is positioned right below them. It does not protrude as much and has an embedded capacitive fingerprint sensor that can be used not only for fingerprint ID unlocking but also for other functions such as answering calls, returning to the Home Screen, and others.