- Sep 2, 2014
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Recently, I had to replace my old phone (HTC One S) quickly. I picked up a Kyocera Hydro Life from Wal-Mart for $100, prepaid T-mobile, expecting it to be a barely usable, cheap phone to carry me over until I had the time/money for a better one.
I was wrong.
There are many little awesome things about this phone. I will list them here:
-It has 1.5GB of RAM! My old phone, the HTC One S, had only 1GB RAM, and could not run Chrome and Pandora simultaneously. The Kyocera can run at least 5 apps at a time.
-The supplied charger is 1.5 amps! Much better than the HTC One S 1 amp charger. With the Kyocera's 2 Ah battery, charge time is under 2 hours
-Battery life is great with the Snapdragon 400 processor (quad A7). Much more efficient than the dual Krait processor on the One S.
-4 cores make up for lower single thread performance than the One S. The phone rarely hangs.
-Expandable storage. I promptly added a 32GB Samsung Evo microSD card.
It isn't a perfect phone, however, and I suggest the following improvements:
-Modify the texting app to send group texts to more than 10 people at once.
-Allow the the music player app to be closed once it is open
-The rear camera needs 1080p video capability and 16:9 aspect ratio picture capability
-Switch to a 1.4 GHz Snapdragon 400 or 410 processor will give this phone a good single-thread speed boost without compromising battery life too much.
-Support 64GB, 128GB, and 200GB microSD cards in case you want to turn your phone into a glorified MP3 player
-Be available unlocked
Overall, I am very happy with the phone. It is, in many ways, better than the One S. Compared to the Moto E and Moto G, it does not come unlocked and does not have stock android, but the 1.5 GB RAM makes a huge difference in real life usage. It is also cheaper ($100 vs $130+). Highly recommended.
Information:
Compared to Apple, Samsung, LG, Motorola, and other smartphone giants, Kyocera Mobile is a relatively little-known company based in Kyoto, Japan. Their line of smartphones includes ruggedized entries such as the Brigadier, the Duraforce, and of course the Hydro Life, which is the subject of this Post.
Specifications of the Hydro Life:
SoC: Snapdragon 400 (MSM8926)
CPU: 1.2GHz Quad Cortex A7, 1MB L2 cache
GPU: Adreno 305
RAM: 1.5GB
Storage: 8GB + supports up to 32GB microSD
Connectivity: Integrated wifi, bluetooth, and cellular modem
Screen: 960x540 IPS LCD
Cameras: 5MP rear, 2MP front
Battery: 2000 mAh
Charger provided: 1.5A microUSB
Edit: link to phone's website
I was wrong.
There are many little awesome things about this phone. I will list them here:
-It has 1.5GB of RAM! My old phone, the HTC One S, had only 1GB RAM, and could not run Chrome and Pandora simultaneously. The Kyocera can run at least 5 apps at a time.
-The supplied charger is 1.5 amps! Much better than the HTC One S 1 amp charger. With the Kyocera's 2 Ah battery, charge time is under 2 hours
-Battery life is great with the Snapdragon 400 processor (quad A7). Much more efficient than the dual Krait processor on the One S.
-4 cores make up for lower single thread performance than the One S. The phone rarely hangs.
-Expandable storage. I promptly added a 32GB Samsung Evo microSD card.
It isn't a perfect phone, however, and I suggest the following improvements:
-Modify the texting app to send group texts to more than 10 people at once.
-Allow the the music player app to be closed once it is open
-The rear camera needs 1080p video capability and 16:9 aspect ratio picture capability
-Switch to a 1.4 GHz Snapdragon 400 or 410 processor will give this phone a good single-thread speed boost without compromising battery life too much.
-Support 64GB, 128GB, and 200GB microSD cards in case you want to turn your phone into a glorified MP3 player
-Be available unlocked
Overall, I am very happy with the phone. It is, in many ways, better than the One S. Compared to the Moto E and Moto G, it does not come unlocked and does not have stock android, but the 1.5 GB RAM makes a huge difference in real life usage. It is also cheaper ($100 vs $130+). Highly recommended.
Information:
Compared to Apple, Samsung, LG, Motorola, and other smartphone giants, Kyocera Mobile is a relatively little-known company based in Kyoto, Japan. Their line of smartphones includes ruggedized entries such as the Brigadier, the Duraforce, and of course the Hydro Life, which is the subject of this Post.
Specifications of the Hydro Life:
SoC: Snapdragon 400 (MSM8926)
CPU: 1.2GHz Quad Cortex A7, 1MB L2 cache
GPU: Adreno 305
RAM: 1.5GB
Storage: 8GB + supports up to 32GB microSD
Connectivity: Integrated wifi, bluetooth, and cellular modem
Screen: 960x540 IPS LCD
Cameras: 5MP rear, 2MP front
Battery: 2000 mAh
Charger provided: 1.5A microUSB
Edit: link to phone's website