While at first glance, the QWERTY keyboard appears impossibly small, we got used to the feel of the keyboard over time. Plus, the raised buttons are adequately spaced, which helped us type quickly and with minimal mistakes. With the keyboard, you'll also find a second set of navigation and shortcut controls. On the top row of the keyboard from left to right, the Kyocera Switch Back has a dedicated camera button, a Talk key, two soft keys, an End/power button, and a dedicated speakerphone key. The five-way navigational toggle (with the same shortcuts) is centered between the letters, and there's a space bar underneath. The QWERTY keyboard is flanked on the left side, with a dedicated shortcut key to the messaging menu, a shift control, and a symbol button, while on the right are Back and enter keys. All controls are backlit blue. The phone opens not quite 180 degrees, but it was comfortable to hold in the hand while typing.
Each of the 500 contacts on the Kyocera Switch Back stores up to six separate phone numbers, as well as two e-mail addresses, two Web site addresses, a physical address, and notes. You can assign contacts a picture and a ringer ID, and you can program numbers for speed and voice dialing. There are two preset caller groups, and we were able to create our own as well. The handset supports 32-chord polyphonic ring tones, but the Switch Back comes with only five overall--a skimpy number for a youth phone. The preloaded content on this handset is definitely demographic specific (including a tone that screams "Hey baby, pick up your phone"), and extra tones can run a hefty $2.50 each. Even worse, you can't preview tones before buying. The vibrate feature works only at the highest volume level or in silent mode. Strange, we know, but it's true. The Switch Back also provides several alert settings for messages, pages, new voicemails, and missed calls. There's a smart sound setting, which sets the call volume automatically based on surrounding noise, and a programmable minute alert that beeps 10 seconds before each call minute passes, which is a good feature to help teens keep track of their minutes.
The Kyocera Switch Back's organizer features include a voice memo of up to 2 minutes; an event scheduler with day and month views; an alarm clock with three settings, plus a quick alarm; a tip calculator; a calculator; a timer; a single-setting stopwatch; and a flashlight. Although the speakerphone is a great addition, the actual one is located next to the internal display--an odd decision all around. As a result, it's best to keep the phone open when making speakerphone calls.
Text messaging includes options to send a message to up to 10 contacts at a time. We also had fun playing with the different emoticons and sending out the preloaded auto texts, such as "Bite me," "Kick-ass," and "Busted." Also, we liked the fact that we were able to save our own autotexts for future use. Options for multimedia messaging were similar. We could send a picture message to 10 people at a time, create contact groups, preview the message after adding sounds and pictures, and label the message urgent. You get instant messaging as well, but Virgin Mobile must have struck a deal with AOL here, as you can access AIM only. Another odd note was that when we were using AIM, incoming calls went directly to voicemail.
The Kyocera Switch Back has a VGA camera with flash; a 5X digital zoom; 640x480-, 320x240-, and 160x120-pixel resolution settings; a low-light mode; a 3-, 5-, or 10-second self-timer; a multishot setting; 10 shutter sounds but no silent option; four white-balance choices; four color-tone options; three quality settings; a brightness adjustment; and five (not so) fun frames. One frame has a butcher's knife and lots of blood--gross.
The Kyocera Switch Back has an impressive 256MB of shared memory. In our tests, we were able to store up to 90 pictures. Once you snap a photo, you can send it in a multimedia message, assign it to a contact for caller ID, use it as wallpaper or a screensaver, erase it, lock it, rename it, or upload it to your Virgin Mobile My Pix account. It would be more intuitive and save several steps if all options were available immediately after taking the picture, however. The picture quality is mediocre at best, and the images don't look any better when viewed on the aforementioned dull display. There's no video capability, FM radio, or music composer on the Switch Back, though these options would be perfect for the teen demographic.
The WAP 2.0 Web browser was poky, but the Virgin XL service offers a range of content that should appeal to the younger set. You can purchase additional ring tones, games, wallpaper, and screensavers, and you get exclusive content from MTV and Comedy Central. Be careful when buying, though, as prices can range up to $6 a game. It's all too easy to imagine a scenario in which a download shopping spree gets out of hand--see Virgin Mobile's Web site for a full explanation of charges. It sounds like options are plenty, but we thought the content was sparse overall. Moreover, some applications were problematic. Gaming applications crashed several times, forcing us to power down the phone. The Kyocera Switch Back comes with two Java (J2ME) demo games: Lemonade Tycoon and Tetris.
We tested the triband, dual-mode (CDMA 800/1900; AMPS 800) Kyocera Switch Back in San Francisco on the Virgin Mobile network. The audio quality on calls was decent, with good clarity and volume. The speakerphone was especially nice; no one could tell when we used it in place of the normal calling mode. We did not note any interference with other electrical equipment, and the handset did not heat up when used for an extended period of time.
The battery life of the Kyocera Switch Back is mediocre. Kyocera claims 3 hours of talk time, and we got 3.5 hours in our tests. The standby time was close to 5 days, compared with the promised time of 6.25 days. Using the Internet browser for games drained the battery quickly. According to FCC radiation tests, the Kyocera Switch Back has a digital SAR rating of 1.1 watts per kilogram.
What You'll Pay
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