Jan "Jenkings" Škoda - blog

Well, this phone is actually called the Cubot KingKing Mini, but I'm not really sure if that's a better name than the one in the heading.

However, it is a Chinese phone with a very unusual format and size. It is small enough that you can comfortably reach any part of the screen with your thumb while holding it in one hand. This is not a bad thing, and not many phones are suitable for this.





Unfortunately, the phone is from 2019 and is stuck on Android 9, and the specs are also really low-cost: It has 3 GB of RAM, a 2,000 mAh battery, 32 GB of internal storage, and a screen resolution of 540 x 1080 pixels. This is quite fine for making calls and sending messages, but not much else. However, I can really imagine a similar device with up-to-date Android and better specs that would be fine for a lot of people who just want a simple device and don't really want to carry phones with 6-inch screens. It's a nice idea, but the lack of power and support really lets this phone down.

Also, my phone came with a blown battery, so I had to disassemble it by unscrewing about a billion screws and solder a tiny spare LiPol battery to the contacts. Fortunately, these Chinese phones do not have any sophisticated mechanisms preventing these replacements, so it works perfectly, which is great.

I guess this phone will be fine for testing apps though, as I'm getting lots of responses from users of these Chinese no-name devices reporting various problems, so maybe I finally have a device to debug. These Chinese phones usually come with a heavily modified version of Android, with many missing features, possibly due to licensing issues, so it is often difficult to run certain apps on them.