Kyocera Hydro Life: hidden price/performance gem

[camelNotation]

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

 

[JeffMD]

This is on par with the likes of the made for pre pay lg volt, trade .5 megs of ram for a better camera and a much bigger battery. Not a bad phone setup for most but the 400 series is a little long in the tooth these days. Also you would not notice a .2 ghz speed increase.

Btw have you tried a 64gb sd? No devices officialy support them for some reason but most phones today work with them.

 

[camelNotation]

With respect to the CPU speed increase I agree, perhaps the 410 (both +.2GHz and maybe +15%-20% IPC for A53) would be more worth it.

I discovered a video on youtube after I bought a 32GB card; it looks like you can use a larger card. If I run out of space this will be a good option.

Edit: holy $$$$ the battery on the LG volt is huge, larger than the galaxy S6 :O. With the frugal soc, battery life for days.

 

[RossMAN]

Will it allow you to install apps onto the microSD card?

 

[camelNotation]

No, that is the downside.

There is a 4.42GB partition on the internal storage for apps. I've installed 22 apps and it's about 1/3 full.

 

[RossMAN]

Thanks, guess I'll keep looking.

The new Nexus 5 can't come soon enough, October is so far away

 

[jana519]

I have a Hydro Life for Metro. When I first bought it for $39, I was shocked at the difference between it and my old Sprint Optimus S. I could hardly believe the screen real estate and processor power I was getting for an Android phone under $50.

It still boggles my mind the price/performance of this phone. It does have a WiFi hotspot and there are 2 laptops in my household connecting to it. On top of that it does all the essential apps wonderfully. What an age we live in.

Since using it I haven't had any problems with the system memory even though there are lots of complaints about running out of space. Never been an issue for me. The major setback of this phone is the camera is shite and it comes filled with bloat. Can't complain about these issues for the price I paid, though.

 

[JeffMD]

looks like it started with 4.3, is it up to 4.4 now? Still, no kitkat phones support the installing to external storage, I BELIEVE this is now lifted in 5.x .

Camel, it was not unusual to see 2 full days of use out of the volt, although I have to say that was harder to do when I started wearing a smart watch. It has great sleep life but if it has to keep waking up, even a 3k battery will drain.

The 410 may be a good revision of the 400, but we've had the 800 for a couple years now and there is a noticeable difference, esp when web browsing. The 400 snapdragon is like the tablet market. 2 years ago they offered manufacturers to put a surprisingly good cpu/gpu in dirt cheap devices. Now it is 2 years later and he upper flagship models are even faster, but the low end market just said "meh.. why bother?" and dusted off the 400, changed the spark plugs, and called it the 410.

Luckly if you dig hard enough, you can find a number of good 800 based phones that will work in the prepaid market, even if they arn't sold by the MVNO itself.

 

[camelNotation]

Still 4.3. Kyocera doesn't seem to update their phones, with newer phones sporting newer versions of android and older phones staying on their original OS.

I agree that the low end/midrange can be upgraded, but I think it should be done with "right-sized" cpu cores that don't have to be throttled in a smartphone. Something less than an A15/A57/Krait but more than an A7/A53 in the 400 and 410. Perhaps a 64 bit version of the A12/A17

Still, snapdragon 800 would be killer at the mid-range/value prepaid price point. My friend has a Nexus 5 and loves it.

 

[kaerflog]

Thanks, guess I'll keep looking.

The new Nexus 5 can't come soon enough, October is so far away

Why ?? You can get a brand new G2 for less than $200.

 

[kaerflog]

Listen I understand its a prepaid phone but the problem here is comparing to a 3+ yr old phone. Of course a value phone will run faster than a 3 yr old phone.
I also understand its only $100 but squeeze another $100 and you can get a brand new G2 which will runs circles around this phone.
The only good thing is its waterproof. Bad camera, bad soc, bad screen, bad battery life, bad storage, NO LTE. I don't care how poor you are, if you can't afford another $100, then don't buy this phone until you have another $100 to buy the G2.

 

[camelNotation]

The G2 looks like it is a good phone for $200-$250. If this is the one you have, I am glad you are happy with your purchase, just as I am with the Kyocera. To each his own.