Kyocera KX414 (Phantom)
Average Ratings
THIS PHONE SUCKS
This is my 5th cell phone, my 4th with Verizon and i must say it is the worst one ive had with them.My dad got me this phone last spring after my Sprint Sanyo 5300 was stolen. At first it was ok-i mean thats an adjusment from a flip, camera phone-with the ringtones that you didnt have to pay for and all to a small, very small phone, that doesnt have half the stuff my other phone had and with that Get it Now crap. You dont even have games on this phone!wtf?? My Samsung A310 was the best phone ive had so far w/ Verizon and I am thinking about buying one from ebay or something until i see another phone i want because this phone is the worst.
Pros:
-color screen
-polyphonic ring tones
-flashing lights
Cons:
-BATTERY LIFE IS THE WORST-ive had so many problems with this phone and charging, sometimes it doesnt even charge!! It says that you have 3 bars on it, but when you go to talk-it says you have low battery and turns off!! Oh and it doesnt charge while you are talking on the phone and doesnt last too long with out charging-never had a phone that did that
-Sometimes it freezes up-i press the ok button and nothing happens
-There is a removable case which i hate becasue it is always falling off
-A clip doesnt come with it, that i think it should because the phone is so small-its easy to misplace
-VERY SMALL SCREEN-and verizon wireless sign never goes off-only swithces with your personal adjustment-so annoying-oh and the screen is dark so if you want to look at the time u have to hit a button or something
-the headset thing fell off and broke like 2 months after i got it
-it doesnt ring and vibrate
-when it charges it only rings-you cant put it on vibrate- all my other phones didnt do this
-when i first got it the battery cover was always falling off-had to get another one
-lots of dropped calls because of antenna-doesnt extend
-no games
-its small so sometimes i have to hold it to my mouth for people to hear me at times
Go get ur money's worth and buy something else.
Rock Solid
I've had my little Phantom for almost a year now and I have no complaints. What it lacks in bells and whistles it more than makes up for in reliability. Some have complained about the lack of ring tones, however, I think it's display features balance it out.
Great Low-Tier Phone
I have three KX414s, two currently in use, and I've been very pleased with them all. Physically it's light weight, but solid; you can drop or throw it with reasonable force and not damage it. The stub antenna is firmly attached, even when you have the bad habit of using the stub as a handle. Sound and signal quality have been excellent for me. (I've used it in the Salt Lake City, UT area, and in lots of places in the deserts to the west where the maps say you shouldn't really be getting service). The backlight is BEAUTIFUL, that blue glow will hold a piece of my heart forever. The phone menus are easy to navigate: My father uses one, and he's your classic technophobe old man that has trouble with even simple electronics. Howver, the included personal information tools are a little cumbersome to use. Also on the downside, this display is small, and updates noticably slowly. The included browser is quite limited in capability. Finally, all the software versions of the phone seem to have a bug where the backlight gets stuck on, or the phone stays in analog mode for seemingly no reason, and etc. Just pulling out the battery clears these problems, and they don't happen too frequently, but it is mildly annoying.
+/-
+ Small, solid, sturdy antenna stub
+ Good menus, good text entry that learns the words you use, PIM-type applications built in.
+ Backlight is so awesome it brings me to tears.
+ 'UP' key is customizable to be a shortcut for one out of many functions.
+ Tri-mode, works good and sounds good!
- Small display that is a little slow-moving
- Can't use vibrate mode while connected to power cable (common Kyocera behaviour)
- Needs the battery pulled to reset the phone now and again.
- Browser and PIM-applications are a bit on the clumsy side.
If you want a phone for someone that primarily wants a solid telephone, this is it. Even as I get new phones I'm never letting my KX414s go. I know for sure they'll be there for me if I am in need!
volume problem
Have had this phone since Dec. Thought it was just me, but other Phantom owners at work agree, the outgoing volume on these is terribly loud. That is, the person I'm speaking to hears my voice very, very loudly. Tried volume adjustment, but that's for the sound in my earpiece, or the ringer. Others agree, or have found solution? Thanks.
Bad Product
My entire organization recently switched to this phone. I get complaints daily. The issues below are the same for all eleven phones my org has.
PROs: More than 9 programmable speed dials!
CONs: Sound is distorted like you are too close to the mouthpiece, but it sounds the same no matter how far you are from the phone. The caller cannot understand what you are saying. Battery life is 1 to 2 days even with minimal use.
Love it, best bargain basement phone!
SW Version MX1.0.242
I have US Cellular in Marshalltown, IA, and I have excellent reception (updating the PRL list as often as I feel necessary, my last version is 39920)
I like this phone for the ease of use, bright keypad, decent sized screen, use of colors, easy to handle size, small fixed antenna, interchangeable trim piece (love it for that)
Cons of this phone are: OK/SND, CLR/END buttons are too close together and easily hit the wrong buttons, sometimes the phone locks up and you have to remove the battery, but sometimes that can be caused by the PRL list, also, I have friends who updated the software on their phone and got much better results...dunno how though.
As a point, I had this phone for about nine months, and I had to replace my battery because it was acting up and not charging for long, I replaced it and got 2 days worth of usage (talk and standby) just like its supposed to have. So my advice to anyone else who has that problem is to replace it.
Not a great phone, but easy to use
I used this phone for 12 of the 14 days Verizon Wireless allows before return. It was to replace a LG VX6000 that had problems with echo and poor audio quality. A funny thing happened during these 12 days, I had the same problem with the Kyocera as the LG. I expected the Kyocera to have better reception because of its analog capability, but it turned out to be no better than the LG.
Location: SF Bay Area, CA
Usage Dates: 10/1 - 10/13/04
Weather: Clear and very warm for Fall
Where Used: At work site in Mountain View, CA; San Jose, CA; Gilroy, CA; Redwood City, CA.
Pro's:
- Phone was easy to use and had a rather intuitive interface
- Multiple numbers can be stored per contact
- Good selection of ring tones and alerts
- Charged up quickly even when battery was dead
Con's:
- Menu system takes some getting used to (takes a few more keystrokes than the average phone to do some functions like send a message)
- Battery life was not very good (2-3 days on standby)
- Audio reception would fade in and out like volume was getting louder and softer
- Occasional dropped calls
- No better performance than an all digital phone
- Echo's and audio artifacts would muddle conversation
- Not much viewable information on screen (small screen)
Signal was usually 2 to 4 bars (strongest is 4 bars) but the phone audio quality was sort of "in and out" in several local areas (in my home calling region). Programming the phone was easy but took more than a typical number of keystrokes per entry.
Overall I did not like the phone very much because its analog capability (tri-mode phone) did not solve audio issues experienced with the all digital LG VX6000. My Motorola v60i had *Much* *Better* audio quality, held signal (no variation in audio quality), did not drop calls, and was a great "basic telephone".
I was lured by the camera phone of the 6000 and suggest you avoid any "all digital" Verizon phones.
great little phone
got this phone with verizon prepaid recently
call quality is good and also reception.menu is easy to use also. nice size phone.only drawback is i cant get The get it now feature to work, says it is unavailable.
Decent but clunky interface.
Tried this phone out for a week with Verizon. It has decent features but the interface is awkward.
Cons:
Just getting to your list of contacts was a 4 button process. This may be in part because the phone is modified by Verizon for there specs. The manual said one thing but the phone would do another because of a Verizon feature. Display a bit on the small side and buttons are hard to press as well. Almost too small for my large hands to hold well and dial.
Pros:
Excellent reception and listening volume/quality. The microphone quality for the other party sounded a bit thin but was still clear. Bright display once the back lighting came on. Lots of good basic features for most users.
Aside from going to see your contacts being a chore the phone wasn't too bad. But since the main feature of the phone was awkward(finding your contacts) I don't recommend to highly.
