Red Kyocera Cyclops

for Virgin Mobile USA

The Kyocera Cyclops for Virgin Mobile has long been the bargain in prepaid camera phones. It's a fairly basic flip phone with big 1.3 megapixel camera stuck on top! The camera, a step above the VGA-resolution camera found in most basic camera phones plus its relatively low price still make it an attractive option. The phone originally came in a white finish but now comes in red. The camera even has flash so you can get some decent evening pics with your friends.

Basic Features

Unique "Cyclops" Look

The flip phone comes with a small B&W external LCD which at least tell you the time without needing to open the phone. The design prominently incorporate the camera's eye hence the name.

Storage

The Kyocera Cyclops has 256MB of Flash memory so there's plenty of space to store your photos

Internal LC screen

The phone has a pretty standard 126 x 160 color screen which you can use to preview your pictures. You can also download your . . .

Cyclops Wallpaper

Downloadable graphics are available from Virgin Mobile for a small fee. Or, even better, use one of your own pics as your cyclops wallpaper.

What can you do with it

In addition to taking photos with your mobile phone you can of course . . .

Talk

While fairly ordinary, the handsets feel is like that of hundreds of thousands of flip phones created by the likes of Samsung, Sony and Kyocera. They don't look distinctive but are quite comfortable to talk with and the buttons are big enough to dial easily.

You can talk via the handset or using the

Speaker phone

The speaker phone allows you to use the phone in a quasi-handsfree manner though you are vulnerable to ambient noise and some echo.

Text

You can compose text messages using a predictive entry mode called "eZi" which uses its dictionary to try to guess which word you are trying to enter. Check the Virgin Kyocera Cyclops manual(pdf) for more information.

Mobile IM

You can do instant messaging with the Cyclops. Check the plans.

Surf the Web

As long as your prepaid plan included Mobile Web, then you can surf the web and you're only restricted by how usable the site is, as Virgin Mobile doesn't appear to wall off the internet to just the site they want you to visit.

More features

M3 HAC-rating

The Kyocera Cyclops has been tested for hearing aid compatibility and scored at M3 which is not as good as M4, so if you need this feature and are still interested in the phone, make sure to test it out beforehand somehow.

Battery Life

Talk time is the usual 3.5 hours, but the standby time of 7 days is a below average, though if you remember to try to charge it every night, that should not matter.

Bottom Line

If you want a cheap basic phone with a better camera then this is one of your best choices.

You can check out some . . .

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