Kyocera Jet / Angel
Phone Scoop Review
Mar 29, 2006 by Jesse Lewin
In-Depth Review of the sleek Kyocera Jet EVDO phone for the new content-oriented MVNO Amp'd. read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
new Jet from Amp'd!
The Jet is the first phone available from Amp'd Mobile, so it is all very new. As can be expected, there are some glitches. For example, out of the box the Amp'd Live feature (Amp'd's live/streaming media portal) does not work. Tech support is very friendly and assures me this will be fixed but at this point I cannot try out all the phone's features.
The hardware itself looks very stylish. The case is plastic which feels a little cheaper than my previous phone but it seems to be sturdy and it is all put together well. The pieces are well-machined, the buttons respond well, and the styling is consistent and attractive. My only reservation is that the slide seems a little awkward, but this does not interfere with the operation of the phone.
The display, in a word, is beautiful. High resolution, high contrast, good color, and quite responsive. Paired with the graphic-rich interface, it makes for quite an enjoyable user experience. The built-in camera is not a very high resolution but the photos look good. In video mode, it is very capable and the results are on par with the quality of the display.
While the interface looks great, one thing I felt right away was lacking is customizable hot-keys. All the phone's features are available through a menu, and when outside of the menu the arrow keys are each programmed to short-cut the user to a commonly used feature (e.g. contacts list, messaging menu, etc.) However, only one of these keys is customizable. Otherwise, features and settings are easy to find in the menus.
Provided Amp'd can work out the software bugs, this could shape up to be an impressive phone for the price.
Great Phone
Not at first though, when I first got the phone on Jan 16th, it rebooted all the time, the extended battery didn't charge movies wouldn't play, sometimes MP3s wouldn't play at all.
Now the everything works and I even figured out how to make my own MP3 ringtones for it, screensavers, and wallpapers. I'm so happy!!!
Pros:
-Games look great
-Loud speaker
-Stereo headset
-Big Clear screen
-Takes Mini SD
-Extended battery last long time
-I love the interface
-Love being able to make my own Screen Savers and MP3 ringtones and Wallpapers having to buy that stuff sux.
-No more flip phone!!!
-I cut a PSP screen protector to fit and it works great, do it!
-I also use a sock made for a Gamboy Micro fits so perfect, you can even Wash them becouse sometimes ear wax from the phone gets on the inside.
-their are more pros.
-Verizons service but none of Verizons crap!!!
I'm sure you wish you could play with it before you buy it but I am a very picky person, I've had many many phones and this one is by far the best accept for:
Cons:
-Camera not great(but if you want to take photos buy a camera, it's good for what it does, just hod it steady and have good lighting becouse the LED doesn't do $#@T!Movies look good though!!
-Can't get to the speakerphone button without opening phone, as far as I know...
-Onthe JET(black one) my buttons are black with the numbers that light up, so it's not lit very well, I have the angel aswell it has better lit buttons.
-One thing I hate the most, there are quick links on the phone so when it's shut you can get to almost everything, but you have to hold down the button, and every time you do a help window pops up telling you to hold down that button to make what you wanted to happen, happen. I wish you could turn that off, example I push and hold the camera button and it tells me to push and hold for camera, then you have to let go and hold it again.
But I still like it!
I like the plans to accept for no family plans yet.
Good luck in your shopping
Overall better than the Hollywood
Why did i leave the Angel for the Hollywood? The Angel was good
Pros:
Not one dropped call (on my end, anyway).
Good camera for a VGA
Internet/downloads always worked for me.
Not Very Bulky
Came with micro sd card (128, but still useful)
Cons:
Low internal memory
15 second videos
The Angel was way better than the Hollywood in every way. If you're gonna hook up w/ Amp'd Mobile, i recommend this phone.
Pretty Good Phone For The Money
This phone is now offered by Pocket smart wireless and I have to say its a pretty good phone.I was a little hesitant after my last kyocera but I have to say its a good phone. To make the best use of the MP3 you really need to get a stereo earpeice. I found mine at wal-mart for $25.
Pros:
-MP3 Player...its a cut and dry mp3...once you have the micro sd its just like working a flash mp3 player.
-USB cable included
-Basic VGA Camera
-True Tone
-Decent Reception and Sound
-Great Speaker
-Average LCD Screen
-Solid Built
-Looks Sharp
-pretty good battery life
Cons:
-No Bluetooth...were it went i dont know
-Stub antenna
-Hard to slide open the first few times
-No flashlight feature...most kyoceras have this feature
-15 SEC video record...only 15 seconds
-Stuck with default message tones
-Doesn't vibrate and ring at the same time
-No music equalizer.
-Keys are flat against the phone
Overall i like it but i just bought it so we'll see what i have in store for me.
alot of features for under $150
Overall this is a very nice cdma phone. I like it because its a slider, an mp3 player, it can play clear video with 3g2 format (if the videos WERE transfer from your computer). It has a camera and can record 15 seconds of video. But this phone does needs major improvement. The camera pixel is not very good..It is not even A mega pixel camera. The video is also not very clear when you record a video. When you play music, you cannot skip tracks..manufacturers defect. The screen is not very good, especially if you try to watch video sideways. It is a blur. Also the viewable size is too small. But the best thing about this phone is it is loud , It has nice loud speaker. And It is durable..I dropped it couple times on cement and it doesn't break.
NOT a good phone
This phone is good when it comes to style and features, that is...if the features worked!!
PROS: nice size, buttons are easily accessible.
simple slide design.
mp3 player.
good reception.
cheap priced.
CONS: powers itself off and on every 3-4 minutes when not being used (even if you're listening to music or watching TV)
Vibrate function on phone broke after 2 months of normal use.
A few buttons on the keypad stopped working.
OVERALL: This phone is more of a hassle to own than it is a pleasure to own, I would suggest going with a different model. =]
Probably the best BANG for your buck!
For the Price of this phone, it gives you a TON of great features.
Pro's:
-Live streaming video/music.
-Great color quality.
-NEVER ANY DROPPED CALLS! Crystal clear sound from this phone.
-The price.
-Camera
-Video playback has great sound
Cons:
-15 second video play back... Not enough =( but then again, for the price your lucky you get anything... if it was more the phone would probably be another $50 or so and you don't really need it...
-Screen scratches easily (seriously get case for this phone if you could... I had the phone in my pocket the first day I got it and already it has scratches.
- SHORT BATTERY LIFE OMG!!! you have to recharge it like every other day!
So all In all this is the best phone you could possible own for the price of it. I love the video streaming, I watch MTVU on the train when Im bored and its just great. I bought the phone for $100... and Im telling you, that there is no phone that could beat the features that this phone has for the same price... Personally I think this phone is worth $200+ but Im not complaining :P. This is probably why Amp'd is getting so popular... its there unbeatable prices. One thing thats alittle awkward about the phone is the slide, Im personally not a fan of slides so I kinda wish it was a flip. So if your shopping around for a phone with a budget of $100, then get this phone, its totally worth it. But if you like talking for hours on the phone than don't get this... because the battery life is very short and you'll probably end up recharging it every day... Be a smart shopper, go for the quality, not the appearance of the phone... you don't need to throw all your money away on a phone that just has walkie-talkie and thats it... So when it comes down to it, the phone is very good for the price.
Buyer Beware: Avoid like the plague
The phone had so many software glitches that I eventually cancelled my service with Amp'd. The Jet phone itself & the Amp'd mobile service is the worst I've ever had..
The only PRO I can think of is the physical phone profile itself.. it's small and the slider is, well, just cool.
CONS:
-The Amp'd Live content was tedious to browse through and content was rarely even available w/o throwing out errors. Streaming content was terribly slow and glitchy.
-Calls frequently dropped or were extremely choppy
-Buggy mp3 player(it either errors out or requires a reboot to stop it from playing).. amp'd also failed to mention that their internal memory limits the mp3 player to something rediculous like 96bps resultion for mp3's
-Their customer support didn't know what they were talking about half the time and had no suggestions to offer. ..and these were the rep's that didn't mumble or talk like they'd never taken an english class.
-Many internal phone features errored out or froze the phone such as: assigning pics/photo's to contacts, messaging & menu browsing
I wouldn't recommend this phone or the service to my worst enemy.
Great phone! Personally, a must buy!
I recently bought the Kyocera Jet from Amp'd. Overal, I liked it better that the RAZR (call me crazy) I am a person that just likes newer things. When I bought it, it was awesome. The activation was easy as cake, and when I called my friend, his voice was so clear that my old cell phone wouldn't compare. I tried all of it's gadgets and stuff, overall, kicks my old cell phone's butt. When I first took a look at it, I was a bit apprehensive; it looked so cheap, but, when I tried the demo, it surprised me.
PROS:
-Great user-friendly interface, high resolution, great variation of colors.
-Loud speakers (usually I couldn't even hear my old phone)
-Voice clarity
-Pretty nice bass for a cell phone (my old phone sounded like old-time elevator music)
-Nice earphones included;seals out a lot of background noise.
-Nice games
-Option of using external speakers as well as internal speakers.
-When calling, people next to you wouldn't hear and eavesdrop. (Huge PRO, because everytime I talk about *erhem* embarrasing issues, everyone near me can hear what the peron i'm calling is saying)
-Great area coverage, fast downloads of songs, movies, and videos.
-For me, not a single dropped call (you've got some competition,, Cingular) since iv'e used it, and i have always gotten at least 4 bars or more!
-Movie quality in good shape....sorta
CONS:
-Sometimes, when I start the camera, it restarts. HELP ME!
-Camera is a little shaky
-LED Flash doesn't do anything significant; unless your in pitch dark...
-Amp'd LIVE is...let's see... they said that you can watch LIVE TV, movies, and videos, but not really. (sounds like false advertiesment to me)
-15 sec. movies (-.- who thought of that????)
-If your package didn't come with a 128 meg microflash card, then you've got 8 megs of internal flash memory to enjoy 4 songs and 1 20 sec. movie clip!
-The mp3 player....trust me. Once you stop, you can never start agian....unless you reset your phone or something. Get an Ipod!
Potentially great, unfortunately buggy & lacking in content
I purchased the Kyocera Jet in late January and have tested it thoroughly for two weeks. My interest in the phone was to have access to a wide variety of video, web, game & customizable phone content and the ability to side load my pre-owned MP3's.
By appearance, the phone very cool. It's small and relatively resistant to easy scratching. The slide up function gives it a slight "Matrix" appeal, and is a nice vacation from the standard snap-open phones on the market.
The Amp'd Live portal is still in a relatively new state, and requires a strong EVDO signal. Unfortunately, mine constantly drops in & out in the Northern VA/DC area, which prevents me from accessing the portal at all. Although the manual says that you can preview content, there appears to be no real ability to do so without paying for it first. Although the portal has several content channels, it's limited to mostly small clips & trailers. Channel surfing is extremely annoying because you're stuck hearing music and channel intro's over & over.
The process of copying MP3's over a USB connection is straight forward. Unfortunately, the media player refuses to play music once you use the song controls. Power cycling the phone was the only way to unfreeze the player, and even then it would only play if I let it go synchronously through the whole list without pausing or stopping it at all. Tech support's only solution was for me to purchase music through the Live portal. This was obviously out of the question.
Pros:
Physically good looking, high resolution & contrast, cool graphics, ok camera.
Cons:
Very weak battery, automatically powers off after it's done re-charging(this is unconfigurable), the MP3 player is non-functional w/side loaded music, weak EVDO signal in a widely covered area, lacking content & annoying Live portal browser, large fonts make web browsing difficult, lackluster tech support.
Phone: Kyocera Jet
Software version: IM10021
Location: Northern VA/DC area
