Review: Kyocera Echo
Camera
The Echo has a 5-megapixel camera with auto-focus and flash. The camera opens up reasonably fast and the viewfinder offers plenty of room for composing shots.
To the far right, there is a stock-looking set of software toggles for jumping to the video camera, the gallery, and a software shutter button. Next to this set of tools, there are five icons sitting in the viewfinder area. Press any of the icons, and a drop-down menu appears for adjusting the cameras settings. It's easy and you don't have to leave the viewfinder to make any of the adjustments.
Press the shutter button and the Echo takes a second to focus and then shoot the image. The review screen lasts about one second, and then the camera reverts to the viewfinder.
If you open the Echo up and attempt to use the camera with the device in tablet mode, you'll notice that all the tools located on the far right side of the viewfinder are relocated to the bottom screen. This makes them bigger and easier to work with, though holding the Echo in tablet mode for shooting pictures feels ridiculous. Also, in tablet mode, it is practically impossible to avoid covering the camera with your finger (or at least smearing finger oils all over it).
Gallery
The gallery is the stock Android option. Photo albums float in stacks in the main gallery view, and you can sift through them in the chronological timeline in which they are arranged. It has a neat 3D look and feel to it. When opened in tablet mode, the image fills most of the 4.7-inch space, with some navigation tools and controls sprinkled across the bottom on the screen.
As far as editing goes, the options are somewhat limited. The Echo offers crop, rotate and "edit." Opening the "edit" tool actually does nothing of the sort, however. Instead, it lets you write on, stamp on, draw on, or otherwise mark up your photo. There's no "editing" in the traditional sense if you're expecting the ability to adjust brightness, color tone, contrast, etc. (with the exception of rotate and crop).
Hands-On: Kyocera Echo
Kyocera Echo Sports Two Displays, Hinged Design
Kyocera Echo
