Kyocera KE413 / KE414 (Phantom)
Average Ratings
Wuz A Great Starter 4 Me.....
This phone was given to me, and it was my very 1st phone-I have had 3 more phones since this one-But during the time I had it(approx. 8mnths)-It was really nice.
It has nice game, cool screensavers, and the blue back-light is really nice.
My only problem came in that in about my 6 mnth of having the phone the reciever blanked out- So I ended up having to buy a hands-free handset just to make simple everyday calls..eventually I just decided to part with the phone.
Overall, the phone was reliable for the time I had it, and it was a great mobile starter for me.
Overall, my Nokia 8260 was more functional
Used the Phantom about a month. I wish I had my old Nokia 8260. The Phanton has a fashionable shape, fluff such as downloadable rings, and a color screen. Unfortunately it lacks the Nokia's phone functionality.
Cons:
1. No adjustment of either ringer or listening volume. Nokia had both.
2. Silent ring function limited to vibrate only, flash light, or vibrate and later ring. Nokia offered a customizable Outdoor setting to simultaneously ring at maximum volume and vibrate. I miss numerous calls because the Phantom first vibrates and then rings not that loudly. Where I work, I need both vibrate and a loud ring to easily detect a call. Never had this problem with my Nokia settings.
3. Poorly used screen space.
For missed call details (missed due to problem #2) I first select the missed call from listed missed telephone numbers. Then the next screen tells me "Missed" (duh!), a blank line or name, and the number once again (duh again!). To get the time I go to a third screen with the time, date, and call duration. How about that 2nd screen showing name, time/date, and duration and no 3rd screen?
Second, names over about 14 characters display truncated to fewer characters then ... My family's last name is long; all I see is a list of our truncated last name without first names. The only workaround is drop last name letters, no comma+space, first name. Thus instead of "Rabinowitz, Chuck" which displays "Rabinowit...", enter "RbnowtzChuck" so it truncates to "RabnowtzC..." and I know which Rabinowitz it is. Nokia used up to two lines to display a name.
4. Inconsistent menu navigation. Sometimes you can "wrap" over the top to last item, some you can't (eg Convenience menu).
Pros: EasyEntry capitalizes a word's 1st letter. Relational database of several numbers under one person (but limited to home, work, fax, mobile).
Kyocera did not do their homework on usability well on this one.
Correction to "Overall, my Nokia 8260 was more functional"
Item 1. Ring tone volume CAN be adjusted; earpiece listening volume can only be adjusted on a per-call basis.
Item 4. The only menu which allows you to 'wrap' or scroll over the top to the last item in the list is the Main menu. Inconveniently, none of the submenus allow this feature.
Rating adjusted accordingly.
LOVED It!!!!!!!!!!!
I had this phone for many years and i have nothing bad to say about it at all! it was all ready great!
Kyocera KX414 Phantom
Now I realize I didn't give this phone much of the adequate review that it deserved, so I decided to correct it up a little bit. The Phantom is a good phone, and you should get it for the Verizon network if all you need is a durable phone. Kyocera really did an excellent job even though its an older phone.
I got this phone in 2004 when I got a new job. IT ALWAYS WORKED and never dropped calls or disappointed me AT ALL. It always turned on and worked great. But the battery started to go after about 3 years, and the phone looking really battered. I thought this phone was amazingly awesome though! After using this phone for the first time I went and got a Kyocera Koi, as I considered this a much of an excellent replacement. My buttons 4 and * started to act up on the Kx414 and the battery life as I said was not as it should be, and I went and upgraded. I loved the KX2Koi too. It always worked and was an awesome swivel-type phone, until it was tossed around, and then a friend tried opening it the wrong way, which I also did when I first got it, or tried to do anyway.
Well after that phone, I went and moped that I lost this phone. Just then I got the Next KX414 from a family member and got it working on my account. This one too was durable and too, had the battery life issue, but these phones are incredible for what they can hold up to, which is why I STRONGLY recommend this phone if you can get it.
Reliable Phone for 3 1/2 years
Since this phone probably isn't on the retail market anymore, I'll keep it short. I've had this phone for 3 1/2 years without any major problems.
Usage: This phone is both my mobile and home phone, so it gets a lot of use, both talking and texting. It's been in a leather case the entire time and looks/works like new.
Battery: The software locked up a couple times - just remove the battery for a moment and reinstall to fix. Overall battery life has been fair, with about 2 hours of talk time with the phone plugged in while talking. Kyocera recalled the original battery, and I've purchased another replacement since.
Reception: Good for a mountainous area. Experienced "zero" dropped calls with Cricket service provider.
Controls: Menus are easy to navigate, fairly intuitive. Screen is easy to read, although the blue backlight is REALLY bright at night.
Basic Features: I've used the available features including alarm clock, timer, tip calculator - all the basics on today's cell phones.
I've read about other phone problems - how flip phones fall apart, loose hinges, buttons too small to push, slow software, uncomfortable earpieces - and my Phantom has none of these problems. But I will have to upgrade...someday. Email me if you can recommend another RELIABLE basic phone. Thx!
Signal Good, Battery Bad
PRO:
-Signal reception was good even in remote areas. (Bangor Area, Maine - US Cellular)
CON:
-The battery life was horrible. After a few months of use, I would charge this phone until it was full battery, and after a single phone call (2 minutes or less), I would receive the *BEEP* Low Battery warning. I was forced to leave this phone plugged in until the day I replaced it.
I seriously dislike this phone
I've had several phones before, nokias, siemens, alcatels and this is my most recent. I've found that this phone is constantly giving me problems, yet i have to admit that this could possible be because of my network (i'm not in America). Firstly, I had to get my previous one of these replaced as it was faulty; the battery metre is inconsistent (it says 3/4 full one minute, 1/4 full the next, then goes back to full and so on :S), and the main problem was it spewed out computer code and kept crashing and restarting. The one they replaced it with worked well for a week or so, and then started having the same sort of problems, the battery meter, whenever I try to write something in (such as a name for a phonebook entry or a text message or a number, etc.) it stalls and freezes, when I press 'ok' it doesn't register, it restarted on me the other day, it fails to tell me when I have voicemail, and text messages aren't being sent properly even on the same network (given, this may not be the phone's fault). I like the fone in some aspects, mostly the backlighting and ringtones, microphone/earpiece quality, etc. but other than that i cannot honestly say anything good about this phone.
good quality overall
I was really impressed with this phone! Especially for the price(free with rebate) it has a great variety of features and i don't think i've ever heard a better microphone for the ringer. This sounds great, and has a decent selection of ringers. also this phone has a couple of distinct new ring tones that i have never heard before (although other kyocera phones may have them) and it gets great reception. There are few cons to this phone. one of them is the auto-spell word option in the texting gives me problems (it will always pull up certain words and when you go to put the new word in the memory it will put the old word in still) the second is the fact that it will ring when it is charged,so don't think you can put it on vibrate to avoid those late-night callers. and this phone is LOUD (good thing during the day, bad when you try to sleep), and the only other problem i have with the phone is the face plates. I really wish there were more ways to personalize the phone, I mean the faceplates are so small and get looser the more you change them out. Overall i give the phone a well deserved 3.5 because it really is a durable and reliable phone with good reception and few flaws.
