Kata X1 Unboxing and First Impressions

Kata is a well-established brand that is known for producing smartphones and tablets. They are now venturing into the laptop scene with the entry level Kata X1.

Meet Kata X1

You read that right. Kata is releasing the Kata X1 which is an entry-level laptop priced at PHP 9,999. That is just under PHP 10k. This is a good laptop for students who are looking to have something that can do basic work such as documents, slideshow presentation, web browsing and even a little bit of media consumption.

Let's check out what's in the box and our first impressions!

Kata X1 Specs

Display: 14-inch 1366 x 768 resolution at 118 ppi

CPU: 1.8GHz Intel Z8350 quad-core processor

GPU: Intel HD

RAM: 2GB

ROM: 32GB expandable via microSD card slot up to 128GB

Selfie Camera: VGA

Battery: 8,000mAh Li-ion Poly

OS: Windows 10 Home Edition

Connectivity: WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, mini HDMI, 2x USB 3.0

Others: 3.5 mm headphone jack, stereo speaker

Dimensions: 344 x 220.5 x 22.7 mm

Weight: 1,300 g

Price: PHP 9,999

Disclaimer: This is a seeded unit from Kata Philippines, but rest is assured of our honest review always.

Unboxing and Accessories

Accessories

The Kata X1 has a rather attractive and colorful box. Out of the box, it has the 14-inch laptop, a few styrofoam shock absorbers, the manual and a box containing the charger. The laptop itself is looks and feel great with that matte finish. However, the charger has an uncommon plug that calls for an adapter if you look to use it on the go.

Build Quality / Design

Rubber stoppers below

The Kata X1's build is a combination of tough plastic and metal materials. The whole laptop, except the screen, has a matte finish that feels good on the hands. It has pretty good weight in it and it actually feels more premium than its PHP 9,999 price point.

Left ports

Right ports

Full-sized keyboard

Spacious touchpad

The keyboard has great tactile feedback and it also has a nice feeling matte finish as well. There is no back-lighting though but that's alright given that this is a sub PHP 10K laptop. The track pad could have benefited from a better material though as the plastic surface has a textured finish that makes it a bit unresponsive.

There are two bottom firing speakers at the bottom of the laptop. It also has four rubber feet that gives the Kata X1 a pretty sturdy stance on a table. The display is also pretty standard and decent.

Initial Findings

1. Using the Kata X1, it is pretty clear who they are aiming for here. The PHP 9,999 price makes it a good graduation gift for someone who will enter college and would need a device to help in research, paper works and projects. It heats up after extensive usage though.

2. The display could use an improvement. There are times that the viewing angles become an issue when working in a pretty bright room or area. Brightness could also be tweaked to be a little bit, well, brighter.

3. The track pad is something that can be easily improved with better material choice. The current surface is, to say the least, a bit uncomfortable to use after a few hours of work. The rest of the design language is a step in the right direction though.

4. If you are going to use the Kata X1 as your workhorse then you would need an external drive or a bigger flash drive as the 32 GB built-in storage won't cut it nowadays. In addition to that, a better choice of a power adapter will be appreciated as the current one is pretty uncommon.

5. The 8,000mAh battery lasts a while since you are going to be mainly using this for basic stuff. It lasted me 5 hours of continuous from 100 percent to 25 percent.

As of the moment

The Kata X1 exceeds it's PHP 9,999 in our opinion. In paper, the specs might be lacking, but for basic productivity workload, it is really a good budget friendly laptop. You won't be doing any extensive gaming or photo editing here but remember that it is not designed for that. You are getting a full laptop experience for under PHP 10K and that is where we set our bar at.

For our review: Kata X1 Review - Decent laptop under PHP 10K?