Cubot King Kong ES

R1,500
SKU: 4357
Brand: Cubot
Category: Mobiles
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Available

CPU:
RAM:
Storage:
Display:
Camera:
OS:

Our Rating

The overall rating is based on review by our experts

6.3

Display 6 / 10
Camera 6 / 10
Performance 6 / 10
Battery 7 / 10

PROS

IP68/IP69K dust/water resistant.
6.75-inch IPS screen, 90Hz refresh.
6GB RAM and 128GB storage.
Dual rear camera with 48MP, 16MP selfie.
10200mAh battery with 33W charging.

CONS

Unisoc Tiger T612 processor.
No Fingerprint sensor.
13MP main camera.

The Cubot King Kong ES completely redefines what an ultra-budget smartphone can do in South Africa. Starting at a remarkably low baseline of ZAR 1,500, it stands out as a highly specialized device—bringing heavy-duty, military-grade rugged durability to a price bracket typically dominated by fragile, entry-level plastic phones.

South African Pricing & Realistic Availability

While the starting baseline sits at approximately ZAR 1,500, final retail costs across South Africa will depend on localized courier fees, seasonal merchant promotions, and regional stock distribution.

Because Cubot is a specialized brand known for niche, rugged hardware, its actual physical availability varies compared to traditional commercial smartphone brands.

Where to Buy in South Africa

Online Platforms & Tech Specialists: Takealot, Hi Online, HiFi Corp, Cellucity, and 4U.
National Megastores & Retail Chains: Makro, Game, Foschini, and Mr Price.
Cellular Networks & Partners: MTN and Chatz.
Value-Focused Retail Outlets: PEP and Ackermans.

Availability Reality Check: While Cubot products can occasionally be found via third-party sellers on large retail platforms, they are not typically stocked on the physical shelves of traditional mobile networks like MTN or value supermarkets like PEP and Ackermans. For the King Kong ES, your most reliable and consistent bet will be major online marketplaces like Takealot, which regularly facilitate distribution for rugged smartphone importers.

Core Pillars: What Makes the King Kong ES Unique?

By looking past the dense technical specification sheets, we can isolate the practical, real-world advantages that make this phone an absolute tank for fifteen hundred Rand:

Certified Rugged Armor Protection: This is the absolute headline feature. The King Kong ES is built with a heavily reinforced chassis featuring shock-absorbent rubber corners and full dust and water resistance. It is certified to survive accidental drops onto hard concrete, heavy mud exposure, and water splashes—making it virtually indestructible compared to any other phone at this price point.
Built for Tough Environments: Whether you work on a dusty construction site, enjoy hiking and camping in the wilderness, or simply need a highly resilient device for an active outdoor lifestyle, this phone is engineered to handle environmental stress without needing an expensive protective case.
Reliable All-Day Battery Stamina: To complement its rugged nature, the phone is equipped with a robust battery pack optimized for efficiency. It ensures that you have plenty of power to stay connected via calls, WhatsApp, and navigation maps throughout a long working day or outdoor excursion.
Bright Outdoor Display & Essential Cameras: The screen is engineered with enhanced visibility in mind, allowing you to read text and view notifications under daylight conditions. It also features a straightforward camera setup capable of capturing clear document scans, work progress photos, and video calls.

Full Specifications

General

Brand	Cubot
Model	Cubot King Kong ES
Announced	20 August, 2024
Released	20 August, 2024
Status	Available
Price	ZAR 1,500

Design

Type Design Type called form factor refers to a mobile phone's size, shape, and style as well as the layout and position of major components of phone. There are three major form factors seen in mobile phones => bar phones, folding phones and sliding phones.	Bar
Dimensions	172.6 x 81.2 x 12.8 mm (6.80 x 3.20 x 0.50 in)
Weight	268 g (9.45 oz)
Protection	IP68/IP69K dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 min)
Colors	Black/Orange

Network

2G Network
3G Network
4G Network
5G Network
SIM SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) is a small card that contains mobile network subscriber's account information. This allows the phone using the card to attach to a mobile network. The SIM card is most commonly associated with GSM and UMTS mobile networks. Moving a SIM card from one phone to another allows a subscriber to switch mobile phones without having to contact their mobile network carrier. SIM cards can also be used by a phone to store limited amounts of data, such as phone numbers and text messages.	Hybrid Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)

Display

Display Type Display Technology => A number of display technologies and types used in mobile phones => TFT (Thin Film Transistor), IPS (In-Place Switching), OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode), AMOLED (Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode), Super AMOLED (an even advanced version of AMOLED), Resistive Touchscreen (Resistive touchscreens contain two layer of conductive material with a very small gap between them which acts as a resistance), Capacitive Touchsceen (Capacitive touchscreen technology consists of a layer of glass coated with a transparent conductor)	IPS LCD, 90Hz
Size	6.56 inches, 103.4 cm2 (~73.8% screen-to-body ratio)
Resolution	720 x 1612 pixels, 20:9 ratio (~269 ppi density)

Media

Audio Playback
Video Playback
FM Radio	No
Ring Tones
Loudspeaker

Camera

Main Camera Camera is able to capture photographs and usually videos, The most important characteristics of a camera are the resolution (measured in megapixels), lens focus type (fixed or automatic), higher megapixel cameras are known to capture higher quality photos, but not always a good measurement of the photos quality.	48 MP, (wide), PDAF 2 MP, (macro) Auxiliary lens
Video	Yes
Selfie Camera	16 MP
Video	Yes

Software

Android 14

Hardware

Chipset Chipset is a group of integrated circuits designed to perform one or a more dedicated functions, often with real time computing constraints, Popular smartphones are equipped with more advanced embedded chipsets that can do many different tasks depending on their programming.	Unisoc T606 (12 nm)
CPU CPU (Central Processing Unit) mostly known as processors, CPU processes instructions in order to carry out certain functions that make your device operate properly. Processors are often described as the brain of computers, smartphones and tablets, Smartphones and tablets rely on processors to carry out their every task, Processors are an incredibly important factor in selecting any type of computing device, including your smartphone.	Octa-core (2x1.6 GHz Cortex-A75 & 6x1.6 GHz Cortex-A55)
GPU GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) is a single-chip processor designed to rapidly manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display, This includes things such as lighting effects, object transformations, and 3D motion.	Mali-G57 MP1
RAM (Memory) RAM (Random Access Memory) is a type of computer memory that can be accessed randomly, any byte of memory can be accessed without touching the preceding bytes that allows information to be stored and accessed quickly from random locations. RAM is the most common type of memory found in computer systems, smartphones, tablets and other electronic devices.	6GB
Internal Storage Internal Storage is a data storage space (flash memory) mostly used in smartphones, tablets and other electronic devices where operating system, apps, music, photos, videos, files and other user data Is stored.	128GB
Card Slot Memory Card Slot is a special slot for inserting a memory card. Memory cards allow you to expand the phone's built-in memory, A memory card (sometimes called a flash memory card or a storage card) is a small storage medium used to store data such as text, pictures, audio, and video, for use on small, portable or remote computing devices such as mobile phones, mp3 players, digital cameras.	microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot)
Sensors Sensors are electronic components that detects and responds to some type of input from the physical environment. The specific input could be light, heat, motion, moisture, pressure and location, The output is generally a signal that is converted to use in computing systems, a location sensor, such as a GPS receiver is able to detect current location of your electronic device.	Accelerometer, proximity, compass

Connectivity

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a wireless communications technology for exchanging data between mobile phones, headsets, computers and other network devices over short distances without wires, Bluetooth technology was primarily designed to support simple wireless networking of personal consumer devices.	5.0, A2DP, LE
Wi-fi Wi-Fi is a popular wireless networking technology using radio waves to provide high-speed network connections that allows devices to communicate without cords or cables, Wi-Fi is increasingly becoming the preferred mode of internet connectivity all over the world.	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band
Wi-fi Hotspot
USB	USB Type-C
Positioning GPS The Global Positioning System is a satellite-based radio navigation system, GPS permits users to determine their position, velocity and the time 24 hours a day, in all weather, anywhere in the world, In order to locate your position, your device or GPS receiver must have a clear view of the sky.	GPS, GALILEO, GLONASS, BDS
NFC NFC (Near field communication) is a set of standards for smartphones and similar devices to establish peer-to-peer radio communications with each other by touching them together or bringing them into proximity, usually no more than a few inches.

Battery

Battery Type Battery Type => Cell phones run on various kinds of batteries depending on the manufacturer, phone size or shape and features. There are basically four types of cell phone batteries => Lithium Polymer, Lithium Ion, Nickel Metal Hydride and Nickel Cadmium.	5100 mAh, non-removable
Charging Wireless Charging (Inductive Charging) uses an electromagnetic field to transfer energy between two objects. This is usually done with a charging station. Energy is sent through an inductive coupling to an electrical device, which can then use that energy to charge batteries or run the device.	Wired

Reviews

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Display: Screen size, image quality (brightness, colors, contrast, etc), visibility in sun light, angles of view and touchscreen.

6
Camera: Usability of Camera interface, image and video quality in different light conditions and environment.

5
Performance: Is this device perform good while watching videos, playing games, taking snapshots, browsing internet and navigate through other applications?

5
Battery: What about battery life, while calling, listening music, watching videos, playing games and doing other tasks.

6
Average Rating 6 / 10 based on your selection